Heart Like a Dog

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

Follow-up Friday….Day Three Hundred, Four

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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

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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!

K-9 Kamp….Day Three Hundred, Two

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Tonight ends week three of K-9 Kamp hosted by Koly and Kelly; I thought week two was hard.  PHEW!! We did much better last week than we did this week.

I did try to play tug with Delilah, the rope toys didn’t interest her at all, then I found the rubber chicken and squeak, squeak, squeaked it.

She grabbed hold of the chicken and pulled, and pulled, and pulled, and pulled!   She pulled me over.  And this is the REAL reason I don’t play tug with the dogs; I laugh too much.  She pulls so hard, that she pulls me over and I laugh so much that I can’t keep playing.

Eventually Sampson will want a piece of the action; he will grab hold of the chicken and try to take it away, sometimes they tug for a bit and sometimes he just grabs the toy and starts running like a crazy dog.

It’s best if I just stay out of their way! They don’t care who/what they hit when they start wrestling!

It may take the rest of kamp to complete THIS challenge!

 

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