Name: Elly
Breed: Alaskan Malamute
Born: 2004
Personality in 5 words: Friendly, Bold, Independent, Opinionated, Silly
Likes: toys with squeakers, being chased, zoomies in the backyard, belly rubs, meeting new people, being the centre of attention, "woo-ing" at people to get what she wants, walks with lots of sniffing time, jumping on freshly-made beds
Dislikes: dinner being late, the other dogs having food/toys/fun without her, the sound of the blender or food processor
Best trick: she will do the alaskan malamute "woo" with you
Most annoying habit: unsolicited alaskan malamute "woo-ing"
Elly is a "rescue" dog. I use inverted commas as she was not from a shelter or a reputable rescue group. My mother came across some people trying to sell her back to a pet shop as she had apparently grown too big. Long story short: she ended up in our household, living with our family's two elderly golden retrievers. Elly is a complicated creature. She absolutely thrives on human attention... in fact she will demand it. She loves being adored by anyone and everyone. She will stand there calmly and happily as strange children run up and throw their arms around her (those children who have never been educated about how to approach dogs!). Elly has received much less formal training than my other dogs. She is a challenge to train as she is not easily motivated and I have found it difficult to transfer the value of rewards to working with her. She could more accurately be described as working for bribes rather than rewards. I think this is a result of many factors - a lack of training early in her life, her own temperament and my own methods and motivation. One of my biggest training challenges and learning experiences with Elly has been dealing (mostly successfully!) with her resource guarding.
Name: Crosby
Breed: Labrador
Born: 15 September 2010
Personality in 5 words: Loving, Bouncy, Sweet, Happy, Fun-loving
Likes: eating (can be food or non-food items!), playing fetch with a squeaky ball, clicker training sessions, snuggling on the sofa, playing scent games, jumping on people, chewing toilet rolls, being wherever I am
Dislikes: not being able to jump on every dog he encounters
Best trick: making it easy for me to wake up and get out of bed every morning (he's just sooooo happy to get up!)
Most annoying habit: being an overly enthusiastic kitchen assistant
Crosby is the first dog that is wholly "mine" as well as being the dog that really sparked my passion for dog training. Until Crosby, the dogs I had lived with had been loved family members but they hadn't seemed to need "training" in order to fit into our family so to be honest, it wasn't really something that I thought about. Crosby arrived and I took him to puppy school and he seemed as easy as my previous dogs. Fast-forward 18 months of hectic life filled with work and study commitments and I suddenly found myself with an adolescent labrador that was uncontrollable (lunging, screaming) around other dogs. It honestly felt like it came from nowhere but looking back, I can see plenty of warning signs and things I should have done differently. From that point on, I have been on a journey of learning about dog behaviour and training. I discovered clicker training and a bunch of other stuff and it was as if I had found the one thing I enjoyed most in the world. I realised the amazing possibilities that training creates. Sadly, Crosby is almost completely blind now as a result of a hereditary condition which means we won't be able to do a lot of the things in his life that I had hoped to do (obedience competitions and such). But we continue to have fun together and learn new things every day. We recently completed all three Odour Recognition Tests (Birch, Anise & Clove scents) for nose work and are preparing for further nose work trials.
Name: Pippin
Breed: field-bred English Springer Spaniel
Born: 11 September 2012
Personality in 5 words: Cuddly, Energetic, Thoughtful, Intense, Cheeky
Likes: hunting lizards and bush turkeys, training sessions involving lots of action/movement/fun, playing tug and running off with the toy, stealing socks from drawers, parading around the house with his favourite toys in his mouth, snuggling with people under blankets
Dislikes: anything strange/unknown
Best trick: anything that requires aerial acrobatics (spins, jumps, leaps, etc)
Most annoying habit: finding/eating/rolling in poo
I decided to add a third dog to our household because... well, why not? (Although I should add that you should only have as many dogs as you have enough resources, space and time for!) Because Elly likes to do her own thing a lot of the time, I found myself wishing that Crosby had more of a playmate. After researching gun dog breeds, I fell in love with field-bred (or working) English Springer Spaniels. Pippin was the first puppy that I was determined to train "properly" from the get-go and from the time he came home at 8 weeks of age he has been clicked and treated and taught tricks galore. Pippin is a complete joy and a hilarious character. However, he is extremely sensitive and I have now learned (the hard way!) that for sensitive puppies in particular, socialisation needs to be handled very carefully. It is an ongoing process dealing with Pippin's anxieties around strange things but it is a valuable learning experience! Pippin is well-trained in obedience competition skills and I hope to compete with him when he is more confident and happy in trialling environments. He is also doing well with nose work training and has completed all three Odour Recognition Tests alongside Crosby.