03/23-04/04

Thank you again for trusting me with Sophie for her board and train! She was an absolute joy to have—sensitive, smart, and steadily gaining confidence throughout her stay.

Because Sophie can be especially sensitive in new environments, much of our early work focused on helping her acclimate without pressure. One tool we used consistently was the Give Me A Break game—waiting for Sophie to offer attention before we began walking, playing, or training. This not only helped her settle into new spaces, but also ensured that we weren’t asking for cues she wasn’t ready to respond to yet.

What We Focused On:

• Engagement in New Environments: Waiting for offered attention as a green light to begin an activity.

• Comfort with Equipment: We introduced the harness gradually—first as an object to explore, then through short, positive sessions where Sophie chose to participate in putting it on. To build Sophie’s comfort with the harness, we started by simply rewarding her for interacting with it—walking near it, sniffing it, or stepping around it while it was on the floor, then later in my hand. Once she was comfortable, we moved to this step-by-step routine:

  1. Sit down with the harness in your left hand, holding both neck clips in that same hand.

  2. Invite Sophie to come over and explore it.

  3. Once she’s comfortable, ask for a sit and lightly touch her neck with the harness, then give her a treat.

  4. Next, clip the harness around her neck, treat again, then clip it around her body.

  5. As soon as it’s on, head out for something fun—a walk, a game, or free time. This helps her associate the harness with good things and maintains her sense of choice and comfort.

  I recommend using this process for any new gear she might wear in the future—it helps her feel confident and included in the routine, rather than pressured.

• Long Leash Walks & Recall: We laid the foundation for recall by practicing collar grabs during name recall, rewarding check-ins, and building motivation to stick around after responding.

• Recall Games:

  • Structured recall included name → whiplash turn → hand target to your left hand → collar grab → treat → “okay!” to release.

  • Offered check-ins were rewarded with praise, treats, and the chance to run out again—helping her feel free while still staying connected.

We practiced fewer verbal recalls in the second half of her stay on these walks because she began offering frequent check-ins all on her own. This is a great sign that she’s feeling more confident and interested in staying connected without prompting!

• Jump ‘n Run Game (Predation Substitute Training):
  Knowing that Sophie has some strong prey drive (as Charlotte noted), we started introducing a simple but fun game from the Predation Substitute Training program: Jump ‘n Run. The idea is to redirect her natural instinct to scan for things to chase into a new “mission”—scanning for objects she can interact with.

  We began by using the cue, “What do you see?”—then guide her toward a nearby log, bench, or stump and encourage her to put her front paws on it. Once she did, we celebrated! The long-term goal is for her to start spotting these objects on her own and choosing to interact with them—turning scanning behavior into a game that taps into the same excitement as chasing.

  We’re just at the beginning, but she did choose to turn away from a herd of deer this morning to perch on a log—huge progress! I also think using the frisbee as a follow-up reward could be a really motivating add-on for her, though we didn’t get a chance to test that yet.

Her full Skill Tree is available right below this recap on your client portal, and a video with session clips will be uploaded shortly.

Let me know if you’d like to set up a handoff session—either in person for more practice or virtually to talk through any specific questions or challenges. And I’d absolutely love to have Sophie back anytime!