Heart Like a Dog

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

Follow-up Friday….Day Three Hundred, Four

By

My follow-up Friday has to do with A Good Dog Trainer.

Last night at our Thursday night drop-in obedience class we were joined by “J” and her rescued bully, Diesel.

Diesel seems like a very nice dog, but he tends to be excited around other dogs.  J is devoted to him and determined to help him.  She has him on a gentle leader and from what I could tell he listens very well and appears to respond to J’s commands.  The bigger issue (as I see it) is his excitement around other dogs.

When Diesel gets close to another dog he whines, and you can see him amping himself up.  J was using a water bottle and a verbal command when he whined.

While we were walking around the room and Diesel began amping himself up, Sara suggested having him ‘sit’ and ‘down’, ‘sit’ and ‘down.’ This command is known to many of you as puppy push-ups.  What this does is distracts Diesel from whatever he is fixated on and instead helps him focus on something else; allowing his brain time to settle down.

When class was over I followed J out and gave her my card.  I explained that I wrote a blog and I had access to some really great people, some of who rescued bullies, I suggested someone who fostered/rescued bullies might have some different suggestions for her. I asked her to check out my blog or send me an e-mail and I would put her in touch with someone.

Today when I picked the dogs up from daycare at The Mellow Mutt I had a chance to speak with Sara.  I wanted to let her know what I told J.  I told Sara that her suggestion of distracting Diesel with the puppy push-ups was similar to something that Kirsten (Peaceful Dog) does with her reactive dog Lamar.  Using the clicker Kirsten has taught Lamar the “whisper” command.   Where Lamar moves his lips but no words come out.  “Whisper” is Lamar’s favorite trick and when Kirsten sees Lamar gearing up to become reactive, she says “Lamar, whisper” and diffuses the situation.

I said to Sara, “I know you’re not a fan of the clicker.”

Sara said, “I don’t use it, but I think for Diesel it might be the way to go.”

That’s what I mean when I say find a good trainer, someone who is wise enough to understand that not all dogs respond to the same methods.  Who listens and answers your questions, who cares about your dogs as much as you do; who doesn’t care about the money as much as she cares about the dogs.  When you find a trainer like that; you’ve struck gold.

I think I’ve struck gold with Sara.

 

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!

A Difference Of Opinion…Day Three Hundred

By

Hubby and I are having a difference of opinion.  He thinks I shouldn’t need to give the dogs treats every time I ask them to do something.

Example:

When dinner is ready, we put the dogs on their mats and go into the kitchen to prepare our plates.  Tonight I brought Delilah in and lured her down with a carrot.  I waited a minute, told her to “Stay” and went into the kitchen.

We were having my new favorite dinner (Nachos) and it took a bit longer than normal.  Apparently it was too long for Delilah; she got up very quietly and came to sit at the edge of the kitchen.

I heard the slightest jingle of her collar and turned around and noticed her.

“Oh, it was too long for you sweetie,” I murmured with a slight chuckle.

As I walked back to her place with her, hubby said just loud enough for me to hear,  “No she just wants to do it her way.”

Does he know how to piss me off, or what?

After dinner I was telling him about my friend Ann and her frustration with her new puppy and trying to get him to “Stay.”  Someone watching Ann with her puppy made the following observation, “How dare you put him in a down and walk away.”  In the puppy’s eyes he doesn’t know what Ann wants from him.

Which is why I put Delilah in a down and waited a minute before walking away.

Hubby then said, “I noticed you used a carrot to put her in her down tonight, you know you have to stop using treats with her at some point.”

I tried explaining that I don’t usually give her a treat when I’m putting them on their places, but his attitude is really frustrating me.

He’s not a real firm believer of the positive reinforcement school of dog training.  I haven’t had time to finish reading my clicker training book, so I wanted to throw this out to blog land and ask you all for your thoughts and advice.

Have you disagreed with your spouse/significant other about the best way to train your dog?  If you’ve encountered resistance, how have you handled it?  If you use the positive dog training method how do you work it with your dog?  Do you train every day? For how long?

I KNOW this is the method that will work best for training Delilah, I just need to figure out the best way to do this.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...