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Holiday in U.K. with our 4 Rescue Dogs - Help

I thought the same as you @arealhuman at first. There was a bit of Facebook chat about exactly that. The feedback from the programme makers was that no dog was ever asked to do anything that was beyond it. If you look at the programme dispassionately then I think you can see that this is so. All the dogs did look comfortable if slightly stretched. It was this "stretching" that I found discomforting. At the end of the series all the dogs appeared to be unharmed and had made significant progress with many of their problems.

The one huge success, for me, was the conversion of the chap with the lurcher. He was a very domineering owner when he arrived and he embraced the modern methods of dog training to the benefit of his relationship with his dog.
 
I've just checked out the Scent workshop Gypsysmum, and the next date for the Level 1 within a reasonable distance to me is asaturday in October which clashes with the one week we are away!!  !  I have emailed the centre that are holding it and waiting to speak to them, in case they have any other dates.  If not I'll have to wait till the next round which I'm guessing may not be until early next year. 
 
I just started scentwork and it is the best fun I've had for ages. I really recommend it! 
 
Oh what a shame @Peegee. As we have a caravan, I have travelled to get to the workshops that suit my timetable.
 
Never mind.  I had a long chat with the scent lady and I've enrolled with her for a 5 week 'recall outside, with distractions' course and will do the scent workshop in the next round.  A caravan would be a great idea but not sure husband would agree!  Glad you enjoyed it Joanne.  
 
The caravan, (it's actually a Fifth Wheel) and we previously had a motorhome, is husband's hobby so he can't complain! The courses take us to places that we would not, normally, visit and he gets the day to himself while Tigan and I are busy sniffing and eating cake :)  
 
Luckyard Farm, Somerset, accepts families with dogs. Woods, fields, hills on doorstep.
 
I went on the Tracking course last week. It was run at the Developing Dogs facility and they used the 8 acre field there. Alyson Thome who teaches tracking is a very experienced tracer and judges all over the world. She explained that the dog must be set up to succeed and that is our responsibility. She tried several different methods, one was dragging a pop sock full of Lily's Kitchen food along a pre determined straight line towards a plastic fence post stuck in the ground. You drag your feet as you do this. Then you get your dog and encourage the dog to find the "pot of gold" at the end.

Another method was to take steps and drop food under each foot step until reaching the pot of gold at the end.

All the dogs differed in how they approached tracking. Lots of gundogs there and they wanted to quarter the ground which is not what is needed for tracking. My dog has some hound in him but I scatter feed him in the garden at home so, if he scents food on the ground, he quarters to find it. She explained that scatter feeding makes it hard for a dog to learn tracking :(

The major practical problem of tracking as a hobby is that you need fresh ground each time. This ground should not be near hedges or under the canopy of trees. Alyson hires local farmers' fields and uses motorway service stations too. Parks are ok if you live near one. You have to lay your scent and mark the beginning and end for your guidance but not so that the dog can spot it. This means you need to be organised :)

Given the two problems above I decided that, although I really enjoyed the course, tracking is not for Tigan.

We went on Talking Dogs Scent 5 on Saturday and Tigan loved every minute of it! Held in a lovely old heated barn with lunch laid on too!
 
gypsysmum2 said:
I went on the Tracking course last week. It was run at the Developing Dogs facility and they used the 8 acre field there. Alyson Thome who teaches tracking is a very experienced tracer and judges all over the world. She explained that the dog must be set up to succeed and that is our responsibility. She tried several different methods, one was dragging a pop sock full of Lily's Kitchen food along a pre determined straight line towards a plastic fence post stuck in the ground. You drag your feet as you do this. Then you get your dog and encourage the dog to find the "pot of gold" at the end.

Another method was to take steps and drop food under each foot step until reaching the pot of gold at the end.

All the dogs differed in how they approached tracking. Lots of gundogs there and they wanted to quarter the ground which is not what is needed for tracking. My dog has some hound in him but I scatter feed him in the garden at home so, if he scents food on the ground, he quarters to find it. She explained that scatter feeding makes it hard for a dog to learn tracking :(

The major practical problem of tracking as a hobby is that you need fresh ground each time. This ground should not be near hedges or under the canopy of trees. Alyson hires local farmers' fields and uses motorway service stations too. Parks are ok if you live near one. You have to lay your scent and mark the beginning and end for your guidance but not so that the dog can spot it. This means you need to be organised :)

Given the two problems above I decided that, although I really enjoyed the course, tracking is not for Tigan.

We went on Talking Dogs Scent 5 on Saturday and Tigan loved every minute of it! Held in a lovely old heated barn with lunch laid on too!
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Sounds good Gypsysmum.  Evie and I did the 5 week recall course with distractions.  Enjoyable and wish we'd found this trainer when we first started our training journey!  Still a work in progress and today my husband was not impressed with Evie at all - apparently she decided that the cheese in his pocket was nowhere near as good as a field full of horse manure!  I have found a local fun agility course though.  She loves it and we have a great time and it's indoors!   Hoping to do the scent workshop in the new year.
 
Did your husband do the course? Or did he spectate? If not he may not be using the right cues or rewarding at the right moment when she returns. I found out my husband was asking for a sit when my dog got back to him. This meant that the dog thought the treat was for a sit and that it did not get one for the recall. Soon decided not to come back when he called. He also kept calling the dog to put it on lead in spite of being told to do some "in between" recalls where he could treat and release.
 
He did come along to most of them to watch.  He is getting better at rewarding correctly and to be fair I think that Evie will ignore me if I'm competing against manure or pheasants!  Mind you I think I anticipate better and will distract if I see a potential hazard.  I've now printed off all the handouts we were given and must spend more time every day doing reinforcement activities with her.  She is very good with lower distractions which is good. 
 
@Agatha I just wondered if you were able to find a good dog friendly campsite?
 
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