Trust your dog.....

A line that I have said on many occasions to people since starting my business in 2010.

Your dogs natural instincts will tell you everything you need to know about your dogs needs, its personality and its drive to survive.

My passion for animal behaviour started in 2010 when I started a journey into dog training with a specific focus on the Gundog breed. Its willingness to learn and its ancient history as a hunting dog drew me in and helped me in developing my skills, and when I started on my ecology journey I knew there was a link between the two.

A common misconception is that the Gundog world is full of brutality and misunderstanding, yet the most efficient and caring people I have ever met come from the agricultural and shooting worlds. More on this in coming blogs as the focus of this one is about the training side of things.

I mentioned in my previous blog that there are some similarities and some challenges in transitioning from a Working Gundog to a Conservation Detection dog. But the best advice that I have had over the years was from my first shoot day....."TRUST YOUR DOG".

Nothing more evident than when I put Luna into my research garden just to see what she would do and without anything for her to deliberately find. As per her usual style, she tore about the garden investigating everything and then suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and wouldn't move from her spot. Forgetting myself, I tried to move her on but she wouldn't budge so I went to her.

In the corner of my garden, nestled under the native yearling hedgerow was a tiny Woodland Tulip. Completely wild as I hadn't planted any as they're non-native to the UK....she was very pleased with herself and then went off and sat again....this time finding some lovely blackfly in the wildflowers.

There is an element to detection and scent work where specific scents are imprinted onto the dog but there will never be anything as exciting as your dog detecting something on its own....for me anyway! Any dog owner gets excited when their dog surprises them and I look forward to seeing what Luna can do when trained to a scent if she is this good at spotting something unusual.

No matter what we do with our dogs, whether working or as pets, we are reminded to trust them....they know far more than we do and I am reassured that Lunas instincts are ever strong and I look forward to our journey together.