I don’t think the two-way communication through the camera would work for Henry. My OH tried to talk to him over FaceTime while he was away, and the dog completely ignored the sound of his voice. Whereas in real life the sound of my OH saying hello to the dog causes said dog to barrel him over.
Sorry, probably somewhat off-topic. General chitchat topic: how dumb is YOUR dog?
I thought I would be good and move us to a specific dog thread for everyone to chime in on when talking about dogs. There seem to be a few around SE23.
How dumb are my dogs, VERY !! lol Their breed does them no favours to start with, but they go from comical to frustrating very quickly.
Aana responds well to me speaking to her view the camera, and it helps her settle if she is distracted or worried by something. Tuvaaq is really not the sharpest tool in the box, responds to bother their names in person.
I’ve gone from not being at all bothered about dogs to a bona fide spaniel owner, complete with whistle and clicker. Currently teaching whistle recall (a SLOW process) and retrieving using the clicker. All I need now is a Barbour jacket and some Hunter wellies.
I’m sure they are not far away 
I tried doing the whole training thing at one point, but went from that to, being happy with “sit”, “down”, and “leave” sigh
Good luck with the training though, very rewarding when it all starts to fall into place.
Once he settles down, he’ll be off lead quite a lot (not on the street, obviously), so I have to have a solid recall. At the moment he is very interested in other dogs, and will bound off to play with them. It’s the one situation where he might ignore the whistle. Not fair on the other dogs at all. So he’s on a long training line (NOT a retractable death trap one) I can step on when in open ground, or the regular lead in the woods.
He’s great at chasing balls, crap at bringing them back. As he’s technically a gun dog, I’m going to teach him a classic retrieve so we can play ball properly, another way of keeping his attention on me when he’s off lead.
God. What have I become?
Puppy mum, that’s what lol
Haha that’s brilliant. Aana likes to chase the laser pointer, great way of getting her in a night when she is sleeping in the grass being ignorant.
I like the thread about the dogs. It brings me fond memories of my own dog (English setter mix, sadly no longer with us). We hadn’t realised she went deaf until a vet pointed it out. We continued talking and calling her and she responded as if she knew what we wanted. Who was dumb there?
Maybe because we had her from a puppy that she got to know us better than we did. I realise that we did a lot of body language to reinforce our messages.
You wave her to come, she does, you tap your leg, she follows your leg. You talk to her she sits down and looks at you bobbing your head. You open your arms she wags her tail and comes for a cuddle. You put your hands on hips and she bows her head. You get the lead it is walk time. You dress smartly, the dog stays at home…
We wondered why it would take her more than a 10seconds to come and greet us at the door. I guess it was time needed either to smell us or feel the vibrations in the flat. (Her favourite place was under my parents bed). Once we were around she just used to look at us for clues.
Hopefully your dog’s sense of smell is strong and with your love and understanding you will discover what works for you. Good luck.
Glad this brings you good memories. Bless her, they are clever little things really.
Some really good advice I was given was to include gestures with all my commands as so many dogs do go deaf when they are older. Difficult when you inherit a dog which already has hearing problems, I grant you. The selective deafness is a different issue, obvs. @anon64893700 - I loved the sliding in through the door, like that was completely different to just walking in and therefore TOTALLY acceptable.
I agree, I have got hand commands for mine which work sometimes better than voice. It all depends on what mood they are in.
@RachaelDunlop but of course, the Tuvaaq slide knows know boundaries, and is certainly not governed by any house rules. Haha
Where do people walk their dogs? We go to Crystal Palace Park and Beckenham Place Park. Not ventured to Sydenham Woods yet as Henry has been has been a bit ‘flighty’ with his recall. But that seems to have settled so that’s next on our list. Occasionally go to Peckham Rye.
Anywhere in SE23 to recommend? I don’t know the parks in Honor Oak / Brockley at all. We need somewhere that gives us at least 45 minutes of entertainment.
Mine usually get taken around the streets on a “known” route, so I don’t encounter too many wary dog owners. As proven by @anon65350507 , my two are pretty ok, but some people just don’t get the breed or their behaviours.
On the rare occasion they go to the park it is Crystal Palace for me. Sydenham is full of off lead dogs, which doesn’t work well for me.
Keston is also another favourite of mine.
Haven’t been to Keston since me and the kids got locked in one winter’s evening, many, many years ago. I’d assumed they’d come round and check before they locked the gates!
@anon64893700 - I find it really sad that people react that way to your lovely dogs. One of the reasons I’ve been working so hard with Henry and his recall is that he will approach any dog when he’s off lead, and it’s not fair to dogs who don’t like it. He did a perfect recall today as he was galloping off to greet some poor unsuspecting mutt. I was cock-a-hoop.
@anon65350507 - what’s the parking like around One Tree Hill?
To be fair @RachaelDunlop I can understand it to a degree. As @anon65350507 will tell you, they are quite strong characters, especially when you meet Tuvaaq for the first time. He is a little monster.
With other dogs there can be a lot of strange noises which sadly most interpret as aggression, but is more a breed thing. Not being barkers, they have a collection of other sounds to communicate with.
I tend to go around the ponds and into the woods in Keston, not a fenced area. Lovely little walk, especially over the other side towards Holwood Mansion
Huge thank you to the wonderful people at The Groom Room at Pets at Home in Sydenham for this wonderful transformation of Aana.
Still happy to transport Bailey if ever needed @anon65350507 
Haha if you want to meet the fluffy clean version don’t hang about, it doesn’t last long.
He is all done too now, can’t see as much difference with him.
It’s OK, I know he doesn’t cut it against her lol, no need to be kind haha.
Just doesn’t have the same fluff factor. 
