Colin’s Canines

01/09/2026

Freedom is the reward for good behaviour. 🌿🐾

Lennie joined Gus & Pheebs for a countryside walk today, with plenty of opportunity to explore, run and enjoy some well-earned off-lead freedom.

Reliable behaviour doesn’t mean less freedom for your dog — it means more of it.

Three very happy dogs making the most of it 🤎

GundogTraining WorkingDogs CountryDogs

26/08/2026

First trip to the beach for Koda 🌊🐾

Buddy was off lead doing his thing, while Koda experienced the beach for the first time on a long line — and honestly, he smashed it.

New environment, new smells, people, distractions, the sea… and he stayed switched on, listened and worked brilliantly.

This is exactly why I love taking young dogs out into the real world. Training doesn’t happen in a vacuum — it happens around distractions. 👌

Koda’s still got plenty to learn, but he’s making a very good start.

22/08/2026

Koda’s training today wasn’t about finding a quiet field and ticking a few boxes.

We headed to a busy nature park to put some of his basics to work around real-life distractions.

➡️ Sit & stay
➡️ Lead work & heel
➡️ Hunting
➡️ Retrieves

The aim is to build a dog who can listen, think and work with me wherever we are — not just when everything around him is perfect.

Some of the best training happens when you take the work outside the training field and into the real world.

Great session with Koda today. 👏 Shout to for recordings

16/08/2026

A great session from our latest Foundation Gundog Programme 🐾🎯

Koda was one of the dogs taking part and did really well, showing great focus, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn.

But it wasn’t just Koda putting in the work — the whole group made some really good progress throughout the session. 👏

These sessions are all about building the foundations: engagement, steadiness, recall, whistle work, retrieves and learning to work around distractions — all while keeping things practical and enjoyable.

Great work from everyone involved! 🐕‍🦺💪

15/08/2026

Koda | Exposure & Training 🐾

A little exposure and training session for Koda this evening.

Taking the training out into a different environment, adding some distractions and giving him the opportunity to think, engage and work with me around the things happening around him.

It’s not always about teaching something new — sometimes it’s about building confidence, focus and reliability in the real world.

Good session from Koda tonight. 👏

09/08/2026

Calmness is a skill — and it deserves to be trained.
We put a lot of emphasis on keeping our dogs busy.
Walks. Games. Training. Enrichment. Retrieving. Playing.
All of those things have their place, particularly for young, working and high-drive dogs.
But there is another skill that is often overlooked:
Doing nothing.
Being able to settle.
Observe the environment without reacting.
Take in new information without becoming overwhelmed.
Switch off when nothing is happening.
That doesn’t mean suppressing a dog’s drive or preventing them from enjoying life.
It means building balance.
A dog that can move from excitement → focus → calmness is often much easier to live with and much better equipped to cope with the real world.
Calm isn’t the absence of fulfilment.
It’s part of fulfilment.
And for many dogs, learning how to switch off is just as important as learning how to switch on.

07/08/2026

06/08/2026

14 weeks old and already building the foundations. 🐾

Koda.

Today’s session wasn’t about teaching dozens of tricks. It was about laying the groundwork for a calm, focused dog in the future.

At this age, every session is short, fun and rewarding. We’re building engagement, introducing lead skills, and teaching Koda that paying attention to his owner is always worthwhile.

People often think puppy training starts when problems appear.

The best time to train is before they do.

06/08/2026

Words do not describe what this boy means to me, he literally has changed my life. The real OG, so thankful to have him. Top stooge work today for client sessions and the development day helping owners and their dogs