Training "Boot Camp"

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I had a really interesting experience today.  My brother has a pretty out of control Lab.  He's had a number of trainers over the past year, and nothing seemed to work.  So, he decided he would send her to a two week training "boot camp".  I was not in favor of this.  It was amazingly expensive, and I really had doubts that it could work.  Plus I worried about her being away like that for two weeks.  Today I went with him to pick her up, and I have to say I have totally changed my mind.  This was a different dog...and she was really a happy dog.  She could heel like a pro, did a sit stay for 30 minutes while we were talking, was totally focused on whoever was handling her leash (the trainer or my brother), understood and responded to the word "no" consistently, was never distracted by toys being thrown around her, and so much more.  She seemed so calm and really happy.  It was truly amazing.  There were a few things that I took away from this "debrief" that I plan to incorporate into my own training, and I thought I'd share them...

 

-Using the word "no" for whenever the dog is doing something you don't want them to do makes life so much simpler for them.  If they have to learn things like "leave it" or "drop it" it is more difficult for them to process.  If you can catch them as they are starting to do something (like pick up something they shouldn't have) and give them a "no" command that's the best approach (in his opinion).

-The volume of your voice should never change, but the tone should.  There should be a tone for giving a command, another one for praise, and a different one for telling them "no".  Your body language and facial expression should match your tone.

-This trainer does not use treats at all, but he does use lots of praise.  His thought is that praise is their reward.  I saw this Lab constantly looking at him to guage his reaction.  Even when by brother took over she was doing the same thing. (I will continue to use treats, but maybe a little less frequently.)

-He did use a training collar (my brother referred to it as a choke collar, and was quickly corrected).  He uses it to give a quick reminder when the dog is doing something wrong.  There was absolutely nothing punative in what I saw.  It was a very immediate, fast tug on the leash to send a message. He said once the dog is in maintenance mode you would probably not need the collar...instead you would use a particular sound.  That's what I do now.

-It was fascinating to hear him talk about how well our dogs read our body language.  He said they are even able to notice slight differences in our facial muscles, and can clearly understand our adrenaline levels through their sense of smell.  He believes it is almost impossible to hide our true feelings from our dogs....he said a stressed out owner will result in a stressed out dog.

-He believes that most of us really underestimate what our dogs are capable of doing.  We put them in a sit/stay for five minutes, and think that's great.  He puts them in that position for an hour.  He feels it teaches them self control which ultimately results in a more fulfilled dog. His thought is that most of us never provide the challenges that will result in a dog who is trully fulfilled, confident, and self assured. I think I fall into this trap.  I know I could be challenging my guys more.

-He believes dogs should be in training mode a good portion of the day.  Actually he keeps them in that state of mind unless he actually releases them.  I agree with this.  I used to do specific training times once or twice a day, but lately I've just been incorporating training throughout the day.

 

These are just a few key things that I took away.  There are so many more that I know I'm forgetting (Crafts).  The key will be whether my brother can keep it up at home.  This trainer is going to come to him home a couple of times over the next week, so that will help.  What really impressed me was how calm and happy this dog was....moreso than I have ever seen her.  I also noticed how totally bonded this dog had become with the trainer in just two weeks.  I'm really writing this because in the past I had said that I had serious doubts about these types of training experiences, and I'm feeling that I was wrong.  Of course, it depends on the trainer, but in this particular case I've seen an absolutely amazing transformation.  Maybe there really are true "dog whisperers"...LOL.  More likely, there are just some people who really understand how to gain the trust of a dog and then teach and reward them in a meaningful way which produces a very positive change in behavior.  We couldn't resist asking him about his opinion of Cesar Milan.  Of course, he was being politically correct, but he said he had seen him do great work with very difficult dogs.  Where he differed most signifficantly was in regard to praise.....he said that Cesar assumes that the dog is able to read that the trainer is happy when they are complying, where he doesn't want to take that for granted...so he always gives praise when the dog is following a command.

 

I'd love anyone's thoughts on this.  It is sort of a "brain dump" while it's all fresh in my mind.  I find this whole area of training to be absolutely fascinating.  My Doods are probably going to be saying..."here we go again...LOL

[Adina P]

Awesome story...thanks for sharing.  I've always thought board n train to be an effective option...it's the 2 weeks I have always been skeptical about.  I'm still in awe that this trainer accomplished so much in such a short time.  Wonder how long daily sessions were?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I didn't ask that, but I suspect that he must have been spending considerable time each day to accomplish this. He did say he works with two to three dogs at a time.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I think that anything humane that works is all to the good. Certainly, from what you personally observed, seeing the dog with the trainer, this seems to have been a positive experience for all concerned. If your brother was unable for whatever reason to do this himself, then this was a good alternative.It will be interesting to get updates on how well the training holds up at home. Where is this training boo camp?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

It's in Bethlehem, CT which is in the Western part of the state.

[Wendy and Eddie]

After reading this, I decided to see how my two would do in an hour down/stay. After 45 minutes, their favorite comfy beds were clearly too small for them:

and the cushions had turned to hard rocks and boulders:

It was so sad in fact that my camera ham wouldn't even look at me:

Just after this, their arch enemy, Mr. Robin, was out singing in the yard and they both jumped up. Too bad for them, they had to practice even longer. Once I released them, they both crashed, exhausted, on the hard laminate floor. The goofs!

[Camilla and Darwin]

LOL, the second one really shows the displeasure. Such cute photos!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

What good Doodles! I think it may be time for the bigger beds...LOL.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Maybe it wasn't that they were trying to bust their down stay, maybe they were just hot! Most of the time mine prefer the floor vs. their beds.

[Wendy and Eddie]

Mine do like the floor also, but they will happily curl up on their beds when it's THEIR choice. :-) They always manage to look absolutely miserable when they HAVE to lie down.

[Camilla and Darwin]

I think if it's a good trainer, and you agree with their methods, it would be a good thing. The only problem I see is that you didn't do the actual training, so it doesn't seem like it would be as solid or effective as if you had actually taken the time to work with them yourself.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

That's the unknown right now. The trainer is actually teaching my brother to follow through. He said that the dog would be watching to see if she has to "follow the rules" with him, especially over the first few days at home. That's why the trainer is coming to the house tomorrow and again on Tuesday to observe and help my brother with whatever he might be doing wrong. I'm so interested in seeing how this unfolds.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I remembered a couple more things last night....

-This trainer uses eye contact as a key "tool". When the dog is doing what is expected there is always eye contact along with the praise. When the dog is not doing what is expected, he withholds eye contact while he is correcting the dog and slightly turns his face away from the dog. He calls this "banishment". He feels this works much better than the "time outs" because it is immediate. He thinks they live so much in the moment, that often by the time you get them to their crate they have no idea why they're there. Makes sense. He kept talking about timing and how incredibly short their attention span is.
-Dogs are total followers...it's in their DNA to copy. He mentioned how if one dog barks, they all bark as an example. They copy us all the time. He gave the example of a dog who is jumping on a visitor, and owner gets nervous and excited (natural reaction). The dog copies that state of mind and gets more excited as well. At that point they are doing what they think they should be doing based on their handler's reaction. He said it is critical to stay totally calm (and you won't be able to fool the dog).