We're still working through some fitness exercises over on Instagram, today's challenge was the "hiccup" (example reel: https://www.instagram.com/share/reel/BA_dqJ_QfG). Me and the dog struggled to work the mechanics out but we managed to get a few after several minutes work. We'll wait on our feedback for this so we can get better. https://www.instagram.com/stories/reuben.and.the.bark/3541951461831292395?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=d3U3NDhmeXgzNmE3

Keep getting behind posting. Day 31 was last Friday - we had a grooming session again as the weather is not treating his coat well. I do a kind of bucket game, the food is visible in the pot, he holds position, I brush a little bit, then reward comes. If he moves away, that's fine, just wait for him to reset if he wants to, then continue. Day 32 - 35 we've been working on some conditioning exercises set by "canineapex" on Instagram. We've working through: Square stand on Saturday; kickback stand on Sunday; head lifts on Monday; down to stand yesterday and today we've tried shoulder dips. It's all been a lot harder than it looks, as is usually the case, and it's giving me basic exercises to do with him to build up baseline fitness. I've been receiving some useful feedback tips to help us both improve our mechanics and form. We'll be doing these for the next few days as well. https://www.instagram.com/stories/reuben.and.the.bark/3540897383818965066?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=OWJ0bnR0cG90NnNk https://www.instagram.com/stories/reuben.and.the.bark/3541231566785172225?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=MW5tbm5maXV4OTUzMg== (I also took him to Pets at Home today for a social call which is always good environmental exposure for him.)

We've had an influx of new members and many of you won't know each other so I thought it would be fun to share some photos. What's the photo you show people when they ask to see your dog? Here are mine; Lupe, Onyx, Louis, Pablo.

Day 26 (Sunday) - We attended a social walk at Clumber Park. The social walk is the next step up from a neutral walk where some dogs start to have dropped lines and go off lead, but the focus remains on neutrality/calmness. I took Reuben to work around the other dogs, not for any off-lead time yet. He did really well and even when we got charged by a random off-lead dog, he dealt with it well with diffusing play. He also wore his muzzle so good muzzle training exercise. https://www.instagram.com/share/reel/BA3Rgj7q55 Day 27 (Mon) - Took him to a coffee shop to do some settle work. It was nice and quiet, he had a pup cup, and Input down his settle mat and he made a lot of good choices, sitting and laying in the mat and taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the coffee shop. Day 28 NYE - Revisited the "placing the bone piece in the brain game" today. Started with asking him to pick up just the bone which he did good, then brought the game base back in and . I worked him in a smaller space so he didn't have room to wander too far and drop his bone too far off the target. Day 29 - NYD - We did our impulse control trick today, I asked him to hold a hot dog. We've not tried it before but his hold seems pretty well proofed as he did it for a few seconds. https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3ODY3MjI1MDQ1ODQ1OTM1?story_media_id=3535976263358408447_53805418799&igsh=MW55YTRtbTh1cGNzcQ== Day 30 - Did some foot targeting/proprioception games with his balance pods and targets. He loves this type of thing, as soon as I get any of the equipment out, he's on it. https://www.instagram.com/share/reel/BAHalTvhE_

Let's go again. As it's almost time for New Years Resolutions, and we've just got through Xmas maybe we could do something around the theme of self-control. I'll allow you to interpret it as you wish, for example you could do some tempting leave-its or impressive holds. Same rules as before. When you've done it post a video here, when we've got enough entries I'll make a poll and the winner recieves a £10 Amazon Gift Card. Looking forward to your entries!