Training Classes & opening weekend!!

[Ann]

So....I've started obedience training classes, one on one. It has been really awesome!! I'm very surprised at how much I am enjoying this!! The trainer is a behaviorist also. We train with treats and a clicker. This has been very good and I have learned a lot about how dogs think. I just had my second lesson yesterday. When I arrive at the trainer's home, he has a lot of outdoor cats running around (he lives on a huge farm). Samson goes nuts when he sees them and he told me that we need to work on this. The first thing I needed to do was use a halti-collar, where it is around his nose. Not the harness I was using. It will help him not to pull, not to jump on people, and you don't need to tug on it, the dog basically teaches himself. It works!! The only problem is Samson getting used to having something around his nose. I have taught him to not lunge at food on the floor, not to run and try and push himself out the door whenever I open it. I am working on Sit and Stay and Down and Stay right now, which is hard, but it's worth it!! The only problem is finding time to practice training. The camp is opening this weekend, Easter weekend, and I will be now working a lot more. I think Samson will get used to this now that he is older. He has progressed a lot and I can see a difference in him already after two classes!!!! How is that possible??? I am impressed!! I noticed someone wrote a forum piece about sending their dog away for training, my trainer does this as well. He keeps the dog in his home and trains him all day. He does two weeks and he also does four weeks. I really like training Samson myself personally. Anyway, I'm happy this is going so well!!! It is well worth the money spent!!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Also try making them sit-stay before feeding time. If Samson is food motivated, that will be a tough one! We still work on that daily!

[Ann]

I really had it in my head that my doodle was so good, that he didn't need training, and I had gone to a class, like I said in my previous blog, about 12 years ago with my other dog, so I was using what I had learned back then, but they have come a long way in finding out how dogs think!! It is amazing to me how he shows me how to get Samson to do what I want him to do. I love the ideas that Lucy & Sophie's mom gave to use the obedience during your everyday doings around the house! Good ideas!!!!!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I totally agree with Lucy & Sophie's Mom and Adina once your dog knows the basic commands. It gives them a chance to practice and it makes life easier all around. I have found though that until they can reliably demonstrate the command, I need to have them on their training lead so that I can give a quick correction if they don't respond. It's by repeating this over and over that I have gotten Guinness to the point where I can tell him to sit, down, stay, etc. off lead. Even with that, I still find I need to have him on his training lead and work him through all the commands several times a week to keep him sharp and his response time quick. Maybe it's just him...he tends to get a little "lazy" and takes some time to "think about" whether or not he wants to comply if I don't stay on top of the more formal training.

[Adina P]

That's great Ann!
And Amen to what Lucy and Sophie's mom said. And not only is it 'practicing' but it's USING the obedience. Sometimes Rosco would be in the way while I was trying to get things done in the kitchen...and suddenly it would dawn on me: Wait! He knows how to sit and stay...why am I not using the obedience we worked so hard to establish? So I'd give him a command and voila I had room to move around in the kitchen and open the fridge door without a big doodle nose sneaking in!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I found that just incorporating the training into the things that I do on a daily basis was quite a bit of training! Just practicing the sit stay or down stay while you are sweeping, mopping or vacuuming the floors. Practice sit and wait as you go out to potty each time and also to come back inside. Sit and stay while you fix their meals, while you walk to the mailbox, to get in the car, sit/stay at bathroom door while you potty ..... each little thing is a practice session. You would be surprised at how many opportunities there are without adding a separate practice time. We were lucky in that Dh was off work for 10 months when we first moved here. This is when we got the puppies so we had lots and lots of training time, but even now, I still use the above opportunities for practice training reminders. Gotta agree on training your own dog. I learned so much that I would have missed if someone else trained them.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

It sounds like you and Samson are making great progress. I agree with you, I would never want someone else to train my dogs....the bonding you do during training is the best part. I also agree with you on the challenge of finding enough time for practice. I'm actually doing it in 10 minute increments a few times a day. It's not bad that way, and that's about as long as I have the dog's focus anyway.