New Year Planning Goals

The new year is a time for making New Year's resolutions, but we all know how long they might last. So, I'm making a plan for Dasher and keeping a Dasher journal. That's the best way to track his progress, evaluate what went right, and how I might do things better. Dasher is now 13 months old, and I have found in his first seven days of 2025 that he will train for food he likes. Because of Christmas, there has been leftover turkey, sausage, and even bacon on the menu for his training. I have found that he works enthusiastically with those treats but lacks lustre if I get out the healthy snacks. He loves tugging and chasing his frisbee, but all these rewards are of no interest to him if he is in a new environment. This all tells me something about how I might progress with his training. When I go out training, I can gauge the distance I need to be away from the triggers of his arousal. This is the threshold I have to be aware of for each new environment I take him to. We are visiting many car parks to get him used to training in different places. The doctor's car park has been the most successful because it is surrounded by grass and generally quiet. Yesterday, we trained in a busier car park without much success, which told me he wasn't ready for that car park yet, and tonight I plan to go to a quieter venue with a higher value of treat that I know he will enjoy. I must remember he is still very young; follow his lead and build his confidence.