Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

I Hear You…Day Three Hundred, Three

By

I hear you, I really do.

Okay, technically I can’t really hear you, but I read what you write in the comments and I mull them over in my head and then implement your suggestions.

Savy?

Example: I’ve written about how frustrated I’ve been with Delilah and her inability/unwillingness to “down.”  I threw it out to Blogville (I’ve changed it from Blogland to Blogville because I think it sounds cozier; like a small community.) 🙂 Anyway, I digress.  I read your thoughts and suggestions and decided I’ve become too complacent with my dogs.

When we first started training Sara always used to say, “You want this treat?” “What are you going to do for me?” I’ve kind of forgotten that.  But in the last couple of days your comments and suggestions has helped it to resurface.

I decided to really focus on the “down” command.

Let’s forget Sampson for a moment, honestly that guy is so well mannered as soon as a plate comes out of the cabinet he goes to his place.  If his mat isn’t down, he will go to Delilah’s mat.  Yes, for right now we will be focused on Delilah.

I bring the dogs to their mats and tell them “down,” I will only say it once.  If Delilah won’t “down” immediately I will sit and wait until she does.  I tell her to “stay” and I hold my hand out in front of me like I was telling someone to stop.  I wait a few seconds and slowly back away holding my hand out the entire time.  (She usually moves a little bit closer but will normally stay in the general area.)

For the past two days, I’ve been having her “down” before I feed her.  I bring her dish to her and I make her “down” and wait until I release her.   Tonight at obedience class, she went into most of her “downs” rather easily.  I was quick to praise with a stroke of her head and a really happy “Good Girl!” I did use treats BUT not every single time.

Around 9:00 pm Delilah let me know it was snack time; normally the dogs follow me into the kitchen and watch me get their treats dancing and prancing the entire time. Tonight I decided Delilah could “down” on her mat and wait for me to bring it to her.

Guess what?

Yup, she stayed in her down when I went to get the treat!

So a great giant THANK YOU to all of you who give me comments, make me think and generally support me on a daily basis.   I do appreciate you.  And yes, I am writing to YOU!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Comments

comments

Comments

  1. Hooray! I’m so happy for you! And Delilah.

    This success will hold you over for the next time she “forgets” she’s supposed to stay on her mat until you say it’s ok to move.

    Here’s my favorite story of when Oliver challenged me:
    We’d been working on housebreaking for months. He’d finally got it down cold. One night I took him to the backdoor to go out. He stood there and refused to move. I couldn’t coax him out so decided he didn’t need to go and I was being overly attentive. He proceeded to leave the backdoor, go directly to the closed front door, and pee. He stood there looking at me the whole time too. It was the last time he ever challenged me on the housebreaking thing though. Seems like they have to test you at least once to see if you’re really serious. Are you really, really sure you want me to do it your way mommy?

    Wishing you many more nights of harmonious supper and snack times!

    • OMG I would have been so angry!! How in the world did you hold your cool? And most importantly, what did you do?

      Sampson was really good at not getting caught in the house, but the first time I caught him was also the last time. He was/is such a good boy I swear if they were all like him I would have 10 dogs!!

  2. How wonderful! Congratulations!

    Kaleba’s story sounds very familiar. Sometimes with field training we will have a horrible session. It is like they are never going to get the concept. For example teaching Thunder his water blind work in the Spring. We almost wanted to give up we got so frustrated. However, trying again on another day it is like there never was an issue. He did it perfectly.

    I think doggie minds work that way. Sometimes it just takes time for the concept to soak in and even then they may want to challenge it. To see how far they can push the envelope (the smart ones try at least). If you just stay firm and consistent, usually they will get it.

    Sounds like Delilah is getting it!

    • You are so right! Jennifer Arnold wrote about that in her book, “Through a Dog’s Eyes.” She cited one particular instance when she was trying to get one of her dogs to carry a grocery bag, the pup just wasn’t getting it. Jennifer went to bed thinking that the pup was never going to get this, but the pup woke her up the next morning by prancing by the bed carrying the shopping bag!

      Even though they may not be doing what WE want them to do, they are taking it all in and one day…snap, they get it!

      Just like Thunder and the water blinds! Look how well he did in getting his titles. 🙂

      Great job!!

      • Our trainer is really big on teaching a concept and then letting it sit a bit. I think sometimes we try to rush it too much. That is why I always say I wish I could have a trainer-in-a-pocket so I could pull him out to help when we get stuck…lol.

  4. Yay, success! congrats 🙂
    You’ve already heard some of my ‘ARGH WHY WON’T YOU LISTEN!’ stories with Gwynn… it’s so nice when everything improves after one of those days!

  8. Congratulations. It’s a great reminder that it’s really the humans who need the training–to be consistent and patient and to have high standards.

    I saw just how badly I had fallen behind with Honey’s training at Saturday’s March for the Animals. She was so excited she couldn’t contain herself and even started jumping up again.

    Time to get back to the training.

  9. Pamela, when they behave so well it is easy to forget that we need to keep them focused. Please share your training tips, I would love to hear them!! I need to work on that with Sampson too!