Just checking in with everyone. How are you getting on with your dog training right now?

The moment you've all been waiting for! Well.... @Lauren Edwards and @Sarah Green anyway😂 Sorry it has taken so long. See how you get on with this exercise, the focus shift. I get the feeling a lot of pet dog trainers will be drilling owners to reward eye contact from their dog. This isn't a bad thing at all, but can your dog also be cued to look at something else? Can you ask them to switch between the two? Many sports require a dog to be able to focus it's attention on something other than the handler - in protection work this will be a decoy, for agility jumps or other obstacles, hunting dogs will be looking at game and herders at livestock. Most of them are highly rewarding things to be focused on! Teaching your dog to switch between focusing on you and focusing on a "source" of something good helps to balance engagement with disengagement. You can do this with food or toys. Here I'm revisiting this exercise with Aster after a long time of not training it! It definitely needs some work but you get the idea. Looking forward to your videos! ❤️https://youtube.com/shorts/BMDCceukCtQ?si=U3StJrYynqYI9li2

Huge News! @Alex Lato & I have teamed up. In October we are going to be running the 4-Week Play with Purpose Challenge. It will be hosted here on Skool. If you’re an advanced handler or trainer, you already know: food fades, toys wear out, and pressure only takes you so far. But when you unlock the true power of play, you’ll: ✅ Create engagement that holds under pressure & distractions ✅ Use play as the ultimate currency — more powerful than food or toys ✅ Build confidence so your dog thrives in new, stressful, or chaotic environments ✅ Forge a relationship so strong, your dog wants nothing more than to work with you ✅ Turn training into the most rewarding game of your dog’s life Most trainers waste play. They treat it as a “break,” a quick reward, or just fun with the dog. But here’s the truth: 👉 Play is the most powerful tool you’ll ever have to build world-class engagement, bulletproof motivation, and unshakable focus — if you know how to structure it. In this 4-week challenge, Alex will show you the exact system he uses to transform play from a casual game into a high-value, competition-level reward that creates unstoppable dogs. What You’ll Get Inside the Challenge 🔑 Weekly deep-dive trainings on how to structure play for maximum impact 🎯 Step-by-step drills to build motivation, engagement, and confidence 💡 The system Alex uses with working dogs, sport dogs, and high-drive companions 📈 Feedback & coaching so you don’t just learn — you implement ⚡ A community of handlers & trainers pushing for next-level results This isn’t another £20 webinar you forget about. This is a 4-week intensive challenge where you’ll walk away with a proven system you can use for the rest of your dog’s career. ⚠️ This opportunity will pass quickly. Once the doors close, they’re closed. Join the Waitlist Now. Be first in line when enrollment opens. Secure your place before this fills up. The countdown has already started. If you want to join the waitlist for the challenge then you can do so here: https://playwithpurpose.scoreapp.com/

I have a confession. Sometimes, I am a 'lumper'. I make it harder too fast or worse stay on the same criteria/level too long. One idea I had was to have ChatGPT make detailed training plans with very finely split increases in difficulty. My first experiment with this gave me a decent starting place although I would definitely make quite a few adjustments. I'll attach what it gave me below for teaching my dog to stay on a raised bed for a 45 minute dog class. I've also used it for video review before which is OK but you have to ensure the video file is small enough for it to process. Has anyone else experimented with using AI to help them with their dog training? What have you tried?

I have a task for you. Go to the 'Map' and tag the person that lives closest to you. Leave them a hello in the comments 🙂