Yesterday Diogo was picked up by dog trainer Heidi (from Transpawmation dog training) for his first ever pickup and train session.
These sessions basically see Heidi pickup your dog, and she takes them off on a walk and training session.
The training session saw Diogo go to a local orchard where he got to meet some other dogs to work on his reaction to other dogs. Which is apparently worse when he has Dolly around to encourage and support him! He then got taken to the local Pets at Home store which he’d never been to before.
Apparently Diogo wouldn’t take any treats from Heidi! Which is very weird.
What I liked about this is not only did I get a report afterwards of what was done, and how Diogo got on. But there was also advice on what to work on, and other recommendations.
When Heidi picked up Diogo it felt like dropping off your child at nursery/school for the first time. Diogo behaved really well going with Heidi and getting into her car.
Handing over Diogo to Heidi and not being there requires a lot of trust in the person you are handing over your dog to. And I have a lot of trust and faith in Heidi. That has been built up over the weeks since first meeting her. Seeing how well she has got on not only with Diogo and Dolly, but with other dogs. I’m so happy we have such a great trainer to work with who cares for your dog nearly as much as you do. Let’s face it no one will ever care as much as you do.
I also like that as well as the report afterwards there was a couple of short videos and photos showing how Diogo got on. Very reassuring.
We have a couple of socialisation walks booked, and arranging some more pickup and train sessions.