The last days of summer
- Sep 24, 2025
- 7 min read
Updated: Oct 15, 2025
This summer has been quite a challenge! Between the war and my flights, I feel like I barely had time to work with Seraphina. And don’t even get me started on the difficulties of actually raising her!
With a short trip coming up, I had to rush our training sessions. I wanted to make sure we accomplished something meaningful together.
This week kicked off with two delightful morning sessions! Unfortunately, they didn’t have any sound, so you’ll just have to trust me when I say I was overjoyed and incredibly proud of her! :)
Our first session focused on moving backwards. It went soooo well! Her movements are shaping up nicely, and she’s starting to take stable steps. Of course, they’re still quite short, but the foundations are definitely showing! I can’t wait to see how she’ll perform in the future!
Next, we tackled delayed rewarding. First, she had to focus, then follow my instructions, and finally come to me for a social reward before the treats would come. She handled it like a pro and seemed to enjoy it!
However, I noticed we still have some issues with the “going around me” tricks. This is becoming a focus for our technical training. I suspect I might be losing the luring a bit too early, but I’m not worried. We’ll find a way to fix it!
That same evening, I took her out with her ball and tried to work on sequences for the “unseen” toy, with my hands helping, of course! She started off really well, but maybe it was a bit too exciting for her. We had to find the balance between fun and focus!
Once we found that balance, the session went super well! However, I still feel like I don’t quite know how to work with her best. I’m trying to learn if she reacts more to my voice, my movements, or the environmental changes around us.
But hey, the challenge is big for me! I’m just doing my best because there’s nothing else I can do.
I feel like she’s turning me into a beginner handler! Standing in front of her, I literally feel like I know NOTHING about dog training!!!
After some tricks and sequences, I decided to sit down and play fetch. I think this was her favourite moment of the session! She was totally engaged with me, ignoring everything else around. When I had her focus, I tried a sequence again, and she did it SOOOOO well!
The next morning, she was a bit more distracted, making it harder for us to communicate. I still don’t know what happened, but it was super frustrating! I was only asking her to stand still in front of me, and even that was almost impossible.
I tried to reward the right choices and encourage her to choose me, but I feel she might need more boundaries than my other dogs. She seems tougher on her brain and less obsessed with me.
Finally, I decided to use a platform to make things more engaging and clear for her. However, I can’t say I was happy about this session at all.
Next, we did an eye contact exercise on the platform, but she still wasn’t really with me. Looking back, it would have been better to stop the session and not ask her for anything. I was thinking, “I have to work with her!” because of another trip coming in just two days.
So, it became a forced training session. She lost focus, and I lost my confidence in training her. It was a tough moment for both of us.
The thing is, Seraphina isn’t a super resilient dog. The environment is a significant stress factor for her. For me, used to working with my dogs everywhere, it makes me feel uncomfortable training her.
Every time I think we’re improving, she shows me that the outside world affects her more than I realise. Sometimes it’s small things, like getting her eyes off me. Other times, it’s barking or disconnecting completely due to distractions—be it a human, a voice on a cellphone, a motorcycle, or another dog barking nearby.
While static exercises are tough for her, dynamic ones are a bit easier. So, I tried working on delayed rewards with food. She managed to hold the session, but barely—she was already extra tired from earlier.
Overall, this session felt more like a struggle than a collaboration, and I hate that feeling! I feel like I can never predict her reactions. It’s disheartening because I want more for her, and I feel like I’m not giving her what she truly deserves.
That same evening, I tried again with the front position. I started by rewarding any small interaction she made with me and releasing her before she did it herself. It was better than the morning session, likely because the area is calmer in the evening.
I can’t say it was the best, but it was definitely an improvement over earlier that day! I even tried moving in the position, and she sort of succeeded!
Next, I tried working on going around the cone. This has been super frustrating for us in the past because she often didn’t get it. Whenever the cone fell, I’d get her mouth in my face, which isn’t my favourite!
However, this time felt different. It seemed like we were more in sync, as if she was finally ready for it. It was far from perfect, but I didn’t get my face broken, and she didn’t hate it. That’s true progress for us!
After finishing with food, I took out the ball because she was so good that evening! We worked on accurate retrieval, and she excelled at this too!
The evening was a refreshing change from the earlier mess between us. It felt amazing to finally communicate well with my pup for a little while!
The next day, I didn’t have time to train in the morning because I had an event with Rhythm and Martha. When I returned at noon, I wanted to create a fun session for Seraphina to keep up the energy from last night.
I started with some front position setups, ensuring she came to the right place and understood what was expected of her. Then, I added some circular motion around me, focusing on her reaction to the verbal command. This was to test her understanding and gauge how she felt about it.
This session was for me to learn what Seraphina needs from my side to feel happier during our time together. I could see she was missing something with going around me, and it was frustrating her.
So, I changed the exercise after a few repetitions, ensuring we did something that made her comfortable and happy. I included plenty of breaks so she didn’t feel pressured to stay engaged.
For me, this session was super fun! I felt like I could read her well and communicate according to her needs, rather than just following my plan. Even though there wasn’t major physical progress, I felt significant growth in our relationship, and that’s what matters most to me!
We had time for one last session before my “no dogs allowed” holiday. I wanted to make the best of it, but as you know, perfection is never possible. So, all I could do was try!
I started with a static front position to set a good state of mind, rewarding her concentration. Next, I brought out a platform for her to stand on and worked on her spins to both sides. I also wanted to introduce some distance in the spins, so I slowly moved further away from the platform while still helping with my body language.
I added some “staying” rewards on the platform because I realised we hadn’t done enough of that. I can’t expect her to show commitment if I don’t reinforce it—that’s not fair to her!
Afterwards, I worked on the nose touch, which is finally becoming stronger! While we still need to work on duration, she’s showing much more intention when she comes to my hand, and that’s fantastic!
I did a few repetitions of lifting a hind leg, but not too many since she doesn’t fully understand it yet. I’m starting to think this is part of my problem with her—I didn’t realise she’s the type of dog that doesn’t like uncertainty. I need to learn how to make her more confident and comfortable with the unknown.
We also did some “ZEN” exercises with a treat, ignoring distractions happening in the street. She was successful with that too! At the end, after she performed so well and tried so hard, I took out a toy and gave her what she really wanted all along!
The toy is definitely her strong point, and I’m lucky because if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s playing with dogs and building a solid connection through play.
It was a quick session with fast toy rewards for tricks, which worked on both her reaction and accuracy with the toy. It was AMAZING! For sure one of our best sessions together!
After this incredible session, I felt we could do something more together. I pondered what the right thing would be for us to work on next. Finally, I decided to focus on moving backwards again. I limited the amount of food and repetitions and went for it!
My main goal wasn’t just the backwards movement; I didn’t want this exercise to “ruin” what we had accomplished earlier. I mostly tried to listen to what she was trying to tell me, and I did that 99% of the time.
Even with the last repetition, it still felt good, and she still liked me!
After our training, I went with Rhythm for a session, then quickly prepared to leave for the airport. I took out the rest of the pack for a last goodbye, hoping that when I return after five days, we’ll continue to improve as we did in the last two days!