Perrin is an intact Bernese x Golden Retriever mix who is four years old. He is my first dog and started me into dog training and dog sports. He currently has his Expert Trick Dog, Geocaching (from Geo Pup Sports, not sure which ones, my husband does those!), Novice Parkour Dog, 4-On Specialty, and TEAM1 titles, and we are training towards his TEAM, Cyber Rally, Parkour-Intermediate, Trick Dog Champion, and Nose Work. We (I?) really like to dabble in many things! He is also my trusty hiking partner, sanity maintainer, and best friend. He loves cuddles, being a goof, cookies, and bum scratches. He hates has decided he likes to swim! Perrin is truly a happy-go-lucky guy who is down for anything, as long as we do it together.
Together, we fell in love with dog sports and trick training in March 2016 and all things dog have since become my passion. Prior to that, my only goal was a well trained pet,
- Photo Credit: Shaleena Jones
and I simply muddled along. We train with positive/force free/dog friendly/clicker methods (whatever term you want to use for avoiding positive punishment and pressure, for making the dog’s emotional wellbeing paramount in all things, and making on our relationship with each other the foundation of our training) and I am working hard to learn more about behavioural science and training theory every day. I love to shape behaviours, but am not so good at putting them on cue! I learn more from Perrin all the time, and I am so happy that he is my partner on this journey. We are still just at the beginning, but I am so excited to see where life takes us!
It has come time to introduce the newest addition to the family! Sei (full name, Avid’s Say Geronimo) the Australian Shepherd joined the crew in July 2017. He has a strong personality and likes to have input on everything. His happiness and zest for life are contagious. I am excited for us to get to know each other and for the things that he is going to teach me!
I am starting this blog for three reasons:
- To stop inundating my friends’ Facebook feeds with a never ending stream of dog related posts
- To act as a training journal to track progress over time, and to provide a place to log musings and thoughts until I have more time to think about them
- To keep me accountable for training and conditioning goals
Adventures in Dog Training 