I just came across this gem in my inbox and weirdly it's like Andy knows what I'm working on and all the thoughts in my head about the information / feedbackI'm getting from my latest sessions with Aster 😂 I really enjoyed this video. I think we all know we need to take things one step at a time and increase incrementally but sometimes it's great to be reminded in the succint and entertaining way that Andy is so good at😂 @Nick Benger please have him on your podcast one day!! https://www.patreon.com/posts/148151669?utm_campaign=postshare_fan&utm_content=android_share

LONG POST: I can remove this if it’s not allowed. Hi, I’m new to the group. My five year old Border Collie, Nova is my only dog currently and we are struggling. Back from 2020 - 2023 I was living in a home I owned by myself with just her, my other Border Collie (who was rehoused due to increasing aggression towards JUST his sister to a great home..). They had a yard and I worked at a doggie day care as a training assistant that they went with me to every day. At the end of the year I moved south to be with my now fiance. She was in school and I had nothing going on at the time so I made the decision to move and rent my house to some friends. My dogs and I went from a 2 bedroom house with a yard to a 2 bedroom townhouse with a roommate and a small dog park. We have access to 40 acres with horses that she’s interested in but not aggressive to, and out good friend has a large acre lot but has 3 other dogs, one of which is a livestock guardian. My lifestyle has changed completely since moving. I’m a full time student, and I’m currently (trying) to also work full time without much luck. She’s developed awful leash pulling issues that I cannot seem to get under control and her recall has gone to the dogs (no pun intended) so my trust in her is completely gone when it comes to being off leash. Because of this even getting her out to walk is risking pulling my shoulder out of its socket. I love her endlessly. She’s my best friend, I’ve had her since 8 weeks old. I want nothing more than to be able to integrate her back into living with the family unit but right now we have to keep her and our cats separate. Not because of aggression. She loves them, she’s just SO high energy and can’t seem to calm in the house. If I could get her leash manners under control, her recall back in order and get her some semblance of calm again she would have a world of hiking, barn trips and going to our friends for play dates in her life… And I just feel like the biggest failure..

Today he was a bit sluggish which may have been his vaccinations, so we just did some more heeling around local streets as I feel like it needs some focus on it again to refresh it, it was a relatively short session for us (30 mins or so) but he was soooo goood. After his accuracy training with the pivot box yesterday, he was much better at remaining in position and we did shorter reps with more play and obedience drills in between. Lots of changes in pace, stopping, very good boy. We’ve been trying to introduce an auto sit-stay at the side of the road before crossing so we did some of this and also as he’s been a bit dramatic about collars lately (lying down as you try to put them on) we did loads of reps of putting them on and off which paid off later when I needed to put them on for his walk.

In tonight’s obedience class, Kairo practiced her skills for the multi rally. I was impressed by her heelwork at different paces, especially slow pace, and the retrieve over a jump was decent too. We gave directional retrieves a go, but that was a little ambitious - new dumbbells are rather exciting! Additionally, there was one major win - Kairo’s toy drive has improved enough that we were able to play with the distraction of other dogs!

Some very different days over the weekend and start to the week. We did a big family walk with babies, bikes and general chaos and he was brilliant. Rushed a couple of times by off lead dogs and didn’t react at all. Lots of natural engagement, really nice recall and I leaned on emergency downs quite a bit, they were clean and effective. We also did a fair bit of engaged play around some pretty intense distractions and he stayed very sensible with the kids, which felt like a big win and a nice marker of where his head is at right now. We took the weekend a bit easier after that, which he needed, then since I’ve been back at work I’ve slotted in some pivot box sessions to remind him where “heel” actually lives and work on some basic position accuracy. He is still forging in the heel on walks and it still takes more correction than I’d like, although it is improving. The pivot work definitely helps keep the picture clearer for him and also continues to build hind end awareness, which feels important after a lot of drivey sessions recently. We also had the vets for annual vaccines, which was a bit of a reality check. I realised I’ve not done anywhere near as much desensitising as I’d intended since he hurt his paw and needed treatment. He was nervous, but better than I expected with the slick floor which has been a problem in the past (but we’ve been going to a lot of shops to work on this), and we managed some play and searching for bits of pate in the consult room. He was unsure about the hands on physical exam but tried hard, and didn’t flinch at all with the vaccination itself. He switched off the nerves really quickly when the jab had been done which is a huge indication he was feeding into me and I was super pleased to have my trainer friend with me for a lift and emotional support 😅 We have been working on a chin target and source focus, but I didn’t feel he was advanced enough rely on it today, and I didn’t want to bring the ball in and tip him into higher drive when he was already a bit unsure. It felt like one of those moments where management and keeping things neutral was the better choice, rather than pushing a concept too far too fast.