Training - Experiences, Challenges, and Mindsets

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Comment by Adina P on December 28, 2010 at 5:22pm

There is NO leash dropping unless it is inside my house or yard.  Why drop it?  There's absolutely no reason to do so.  It doesn't "test" a dog any more than holding it.  If you need more distance, then bring a longer leash. 

 

Right now, Boca is not at the point where I can successfully be more than 6 feet away so I don't need a greater distance. Plus I don't want to be 15 feet away only to have some kid come around the corner and beat me to my dog.  There's just no reason to let go of a leash when you're working a dog that isn't off leash reliable or isn't at the point where you're teaching off leash stuff.

Comment by Jane, Guinness and Murphy on December 28, 2010 at 4:42pm

Right now we're dealing with the snow and ice.  The snow is not a big problem because we have a large parking lot at the end of the street that is always plowed (and almost no cars), but the ice is a killer.  We have not been able to train outside now for two days.  We just need one warmer day for the chemicals to melt the ice.  Thank goodness for the treadmill...at least Murph can exercise.  Dogs aren't allowed in our Home Depot, so I'll probably be back at Petco tomorrow.  Adina, do you drop the leash for your sit/stays in Home Depot?  Murph has been doing great with his sit/stays, but I've been reluctant to test it out by dropping the leash other than at home.

Comment by Adina P on December 28, 2010 at 3:48pm

Haha, true, Ricki.  Usually Eastern Wa, my side, isn't too wet (NOTHING like Seattle) and my town, in particular is a 'desert' -- but we've been homebound because I'm a wimp in snow and cold...and now that it's warm: RAIN :-( Today anyway, when I had grandma here for babysitting.  Yes, THANK GOODNESS, for Home Depot!

Comment by Ricki and Tara (doodle) on December 28, 2010 at 3:34pm

Adina there is a REASON why Washington is called the EverGREEN state! LOL!!

 

Thank goodness for home depots!!

Comment by Adina P on December 28, 2010 at 3:23pm

We beat the rain and did our heeling and sit stays in Home Depot today.  At first we only worked in that 'foyer' like section that is inside but not the main inside of the store.  Then as I trusted her more in this session, we heeled around the interior...not far into the store, but just enough to get some good work in.  Good stuff...we'll definitely go there again!  But we DO majorly need some heeling work in large open fields without distractions for more fine tuning.  Oh dry, warm weather, when shall I see you again?

Comment by Maryann,Roo and Tigger on December 20, 2010 at 11:15am

We took Roo and Tigger to Petco on Saturday. It has been raining for days and we are all crazy, especially the dogs. Tigger was good, but he has always been the easy one on the lead and meeting people and dogs.  Roo was really good also in spite of no real exercise for days.  He did great with all the people and dogs.  Still jumps on the ones who stop and talk to him.  He tries so hard sitting about 1/4" above the ground tail wagging so fast.... I am standing on his lead and he will self correct but if the person is really focusing on him he just cannot bear it and up he goes, lead digging into his neck.  Jane, the training you describe with the high value treat right on Roo's nose was the "breakthrough" for us - although clearly not finished. 

With Roo everyone is a new best friend and even chicken, beef, whatever are simply not as good as licking a new best friend! 

 

On another note Tigger is my stealer - as you know from the razor blade incident.  Well I have been working on retreive with Tigger, Roo is a natural retriever and it is an excellent energy burner with little work on my part.  Finally Tigger has learned the fun of retreiving and the three of us have a great time burning off some dog energy in the yard.  However, downside, Tigger now loves to retreive so well that he steals things to retreive to me.  Here is how it goes.... Tigger steals drying umbrella, sock shoe, paper etc. ...runs by me so that I know we are playing, if no reaction from me comes by again, and again, and again... I say Tigger "bring" ... game on  ... tail wags and he joyfully brings me his stolen item.  Better than the chase game, but still.......  If I refuse to play he lays down in front of me and chews up the stolen item - clearly I don't want it.  Dog is smarter than I am.  And no I did not teach retreive with treats, just fun.  Ah well... 

Comment by Becca & Lucy on December 20, 2010 at 8:13am

Lucy is 14 weeks old :) Just a babe :) The trainer did tell us to keep the walks short. (hope y'all don't mind I'm here! I would love to continue training as far as I can with Lucy, not just puppy train) She seems to pick things up very quickly. Our last dog was just awful. Bless his heart, it was due to bad breeding. Now we have this amazing dog and want her to be healthy and challenged.

Comment by Jane, Guinness and Murphy on December 20, 2010 at 7:29am

I didn't realize that Lucy was a puppy.  I would definitely agree with Adina that real meaningful "heel" training is not for young puppies.  They're just not ready.

Comment by Adina P on December 20, 2010 at 7:13am

How old is Lucy now?  Before 4-6 months, depending on the dog, most just aren't mature enough to hold a good walking position for an entire walk.  I would either put a training harness/head halter on her and walk her that way so she can't pull.  OR make training walks INCREDIBLY SHORT as you teach her some kind of command.  Otherwise, instead of trying to go on 'walks' just head to the park and run around with her on a long leash...dash this way, call her to come, dash that way--make it mostly a game and about keeping up with you while you give her treats here and there.  But for a pup that is as young as I'm assuming Lucy is...more than 10 minutes of any kind of good behavior on leash is asking more than her little attention span can give.

Comment by Jane, Guinness and Murphy on December 20, 2010 at 5:26am

Becca, I meet with my trainer twice a week, and he also gives me "homework" (daily exercises to do until the next session).  I'm sure there are many opinions on this, but with the approach we're using the dog has to EARN the loose leash.  So, usually when we're walking with no distractions, Murphy has about two to three feet of leash but he's in a "heel" right at my side.  When we encounter any distraction that will likely result in his losing his heel, my left hand goes right to the base of the training collar (where the leash clips on).  In this position I can feel the second he even thinks about reacting....he gets a slight collar pop "when he has the naughty thought".  Often that is enough to "wake him up" and he'll go right back to his heel.  Again when he's heeling well, I'll go back to the loser leash.  This works well for Murph with people or "smell" distractions.  For dog distractions at this point, that collar correction isn't enough to prevent the reaction.  For now, I'm putting him in a sit (with no leash available for him to pull) and moving his focus to me.  I've just started using very high value treats for this.  We let the other dog pass while he's in his sit/stay.  The idea is to send a message to him that, it's a good thing when we meet other dogs because it means "treats" if we sit and behave.  We're thinking that this will be a short term strategy, and ultimately he'll be desensitized to other dogs the way he now is to people.  It was just a month ago that he tried to "attack" a jogger in the park (while on lead), and now he could care less about people that we meet.  I think it's very hard to have dogs meet on leash until they're trained, and to be honest I don't allow that with Murph yet.  Becca, it does sound like you're working hard with Lucy, and that you're making some really good progress.  That's great news about the jumping.

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