Enjoy Happy, Safe Country Breaks and Suburban Walks With Your Dog
Does your dog chase birds and squirrels?
Are you worried about your dog around livestock?
Do you want to enjoy safe walks along the river or in the countryside?
The R+ Dog Training Country Canines course takes all the worry out of walking near wildlife: enjoy safe, country walks with your dog every time.
It is natural for many dogs to want to chase wildlife – not to mention your neighbour’s cat – but it is important that this desire is curbed. It could end in disaster if your dog is out of control and injures himself or another animal or if it results in a person being injured or worse and you could end up in court as a result.
The National Sheep Association undertakes an annual survey of farmers’ affected by sheep worrying. The majority of respondents had multiple sheep worrying incidents in 2022, some as many as ten, with an average financial loss of £1,232 per farmer. Most respondents received no or very little compensation. In 75% of cases, a single dog injured or killed multiple sheep with a corresponding affect on the mental health of farmers. The National Farmers Union Mutual insurance company estimated that farm animals worth £1.52m were injured or killed by dogs in 2021 and people have also been killed by cattle spooked by dogs.
It’s not just about the countryside, suburban areas also have a lot of wildlife, ranging from birds to deer and seals.
Prevention is better than cure. Training your dog to cope with wildlife and livestock will help you enjoy safe country and suburban walks to the full.
The Country Canines course provides a fun way of teaching your dog to be calm around birds, squirrels, sheep, geese, cattle, horses – and cats.
We start sessions practicing indoors with the R+ menagerie of stuffed animals. Here Bella is progressing from wanting to attack the chicken to learning to walk past and ignore it.
Bella had experienced quite a bit of training before taking this course and quickly progressed to recall off lead through the toy birds.
We then move outdoors where there are more distractions – including other toys!
Working indoors or on the field is just the beginning. Outdoors in the real-world, the challenges are much harder. Therefore, the course ends with a field trip so that you can practice under supervision around live animals. We usually end in some off-lead fun and a visit to a café.
The course runs for 6 weeks and costs £650 for private sessions and £200 for group courses (minimum 2 dogs, maximum 4 dogs).
We also run a Peaceful Picnic Workshop – contact us for a discount if you combine courses.