Lexi's looking for love All the fun of the flower festival! Training tips

Lexi is a young lurcher girl who loves everyone she meets!

She is currently in a foster home as she finds kennel life very stressful. The foster carers absolutely adore her!

She is such a pretty girl and is super friendly with both humans and dogs, although she doesn’t particularly want to share her stuff with other dogs.

She could possibly live with another dog that doesn’t want to play with toys. She has been around children in her previous home and could happily live with them again.

If you are interested in meeting this beautiful girl, please contact the centre on 01205 260546 or email slincs@jerrygreendogs.org.uk.

Last Sunday, we were lucky enough to attend the Holbeach Flower Festival.

We had such a lovely day with the sun shining.

We had a stall, where we had a tombola and a few treats for sale. From the day, we raised an amazing £112!

We are always happy to be invited to upcoming events to have a stall.

So if you know of any local events over the next few months, please do get in touch with us by emailing us on slincs@jerrygreendogs.org.uk.

Dogs have a naturally quicker pace than many humans, which is why so many of them can be seen dragging their owners behind them.

Dogs generally prefer to trot and can need some guidance learning to walk at a pace that suits the humans who walks them.

Loose lead walking training is relatively simple to do and there are different ways to go about it. If one method isn’t working for you, then another might.

Whichever method you try first, make sure you are consistent in your approach (don’t move the goal posts once you’ve set them) and try to begin training in a quiet area with few distractions. You can build up to training in more distracting places once your dog has grasped the basics.

Remember to keep training sessions brief (around 5-10 minutes will do), so your dog doesn’t become bored or distracted.

Short, regular sessions are known to consolidate learning more effectively than long, irregular sessions, so integrate sessions into your daily routine for the best results.

Rewarding attention:

Once you have your rewards ready, put your dog on their lead and stand still and wait. As soon as your dog looks to you, drop a treat onto the floor just in front of you. Repeat this a few times so your dog begins to anticipate treats.

Your dog should very quickly learn to look back to you for another reward as soon as they have found and eaten the treat you dropped. Now start varying where the treat lands; in front, to the side, behind your dog, etc.

Throw a treat about a metre away. As your dog is finishing his treat and starting to look back up to you for the next one, turn your body to the side and take a step forward. Your dog will follow. As soon as your dog is in walking position by your side with a loose lead, drop a treat to the floor. Practice this a few times before taking 2 steps, 3 steps, walking a short distance, changing direction and varying your speed.

Your dog should now be automatically walking alongside you on a loose lead without distractions. They should be attentive if you stop walking and should follow your lead if you change direction or vary your speed.

Practice your new lead skills in lots of different places with different levels of distractions to consolidate your dogs’ new lead training.