Happy Easter

Happy Easter to everyone whose faith celebrates easter. 

Silvestre dogs have had a wonderful weekend with everyone home and busy in the gardens, the weathers been fabulous. 

I have taken a load of photos which will be added to the website over time.

We have been training the adult dogs, as all dogs need to have commands refreshed.

Here you can see Maisie being taught again how to sit and wait but also to focus on the treat.   For dogs who find it difficult to sit and wait, we find teaching them on a raised stand helps.  Then we remove the stand once the dog remembers its early teachings.  We also use hand signals as our dogs know our hand signals and body language.   
Our raised stand is only used for sitting on, its large to get bottoms on with out slipping off. Before anyone says oh thats cruel, its literally a few inches off the floor.  Dogs can easily sit on it and jump off it.  
A refresher training session is good for everyone.  

You must find a treat which really ticks the box as not all dogs like biscuits. Some like sausage, or chicken, or liver treats.  Natural treats are also more yummier than processed foods.  If you find a food your dog absolutely loves then use this treat.  A dog must be shown repetitive commands, lots of treats, and praise.   The two main trainers at Silvestre is Joshua and myself. Both of us really enjoy being with the dogs.  It also gives the dogs something to focus on. They get mentally worn out by a training session. 

We only use kind methods and reward training. We have no time for harsh training here.  Dogs are not humans and we know this, and they have a place in our large pack of dogs. They are shown respect, love when time requires, and they are all well behaved dogs. 

I keep being asked about should someone do gun dog training, with my puppy?  To be honest if you want a pet, then I would do obedience training.   If you want to go on the beating line, or hunting then yes.  But if you have a pet dog, go to obedience training, and do not unlock the dogs potential looking for birds or fur. Of course everyone tells you something different. But in my experience you want a well behaved pet, not a dog running off hunting.   The Kennel club good citizen scheme,is ideal for a well mannered pet.  You can find a list of trainers on the Kennel club website. Linked of course in our hidden pages for our pet owners. 

​