Another venue update! Expect a lot over the next couple of weeks.
This one is kind of an appreciation post for my husband @solid_timber_fabrications who over his break has been doing loads of stuff at the venue. It's really important that the space feels welcoming, especially as I work with a lot of anxious dogs. He's made some lovely furniture, a coffee table, desk, bench and storage and the stock shelves. He also continued working on making sure the space is safe.
Venue update!
Safety is obviously really important to us so we've made some changes to the mezzanine to ensure humans and dogs safety while still being able to use the space
This weekend I spent two days @canineeducationacademy at a chicken camp run by @eva.bertilsson
Why? Well to be a better dog trainer. We spent time observing the chickens behaviour, setting up antecedent arrangements so the chickens could feel comfortable and engage in training, practising reinforcement timing and delivery. All these skills are important when working with dogs and working with a species I am less knowledgeable of is a big reminder. This also gave me the opportunity to work on mechanics around peers. We had a fantastic group from Canberra including Gel from Gel.dog Jackie from Leading The Way and Luke from @dog_savvy_act as well as several other great local individuals.
Why mechanic matter! A few weeks ago I shared a video of little Douglas learning how to use the scratch pad. This section of the video is a good example of how our mechanics can affect the training. In there first section of the video, I deliver the reinforcement to the right of the board. Dog's often orientate to the point of reinforcement and that's what Douglas has done. The issue with this is it will lead to him twisting his body (which isn't good for it) and not filing the nails down evenly. In the second section I adjusted and started reinforcing in the center, and you will see as a result, he's lined up straight on. This is a reminder that everything we do, including the delivery of reinforcement, may affect what they do!
A quick clip of the very clever Douglas learning how to use a scratch pad! Douglas is only 6 months old and learnt how to use the scratch pad in one session. Yes, he's a very switched-on little guy but I do find most dogs learn to use them quite quickly, we just have to prioritize this type of skill. The aim of the scratch pad is that as Douglas scratches at it, it files down his nails. Many dogs find having their nails cut really stressful and this an easy way to avoid or lessen the stress some may experience. Even if Douglas' people don't go one and teach more co-operative care skills (though I'm sure they will) just not having to restrain him for his front nails to be clipped is great.
Spit it out! (Give). Having both young dogs and young children, the 'give' cue is one we've practiced a lot! Not having a solid 'give' cue could result in my pup swallowing a small piece of plastic or a very upset child. My kids are pretty good at shutting doors, but they're kids (in this case it was me who left the door open) and we have indoor dogs, they're going to pick up things that we don't want them to have. When I give the 'give' cue, I use a relaxed tone and body language, rushing or threatening the puppy may result in him guarding the item, swallowing the item or picking it up and running away. My visual cue is a hand coming towards him, this is because if my kids put their hand out towards him when he has something, I want him to think it's the cue. With young dogs, I have food in most rooms in the house so that I can reinforce this cue immediately.
Teaching walking backwards to little D'Artagnan
Walking backwards is not only a really cute trick, but actually a really good skill for dogs who become easily highly stimulated. I'll be covering why in my 10th Birthday Workshop which is only 9 days away! There are a couple of spaces still available so jump on over to www.zddog.com.au/events to register
Teaching my puppy to make some noise! It's really common that puppies and adolescents go through stages of being worried by noise. One of the ways I can assist my pup through this is by giving him the opportunity to control noise making. In this video, you'll see a very short session we did where I shapped D'Artagnan pushing down on the end of the see-saw. You'll see I'm not luring, he's very food motivated, which is great, but I don't want him to be so focused on the food that he's unaware of the movement or noise. I'm sure some people will question, will that 'wreck' how he goes on the see-saw if I decide to do agility with him. I don't believe so. If we went down the track (and he's only 5 months, so I'm not making too many plans yet), I would spend a lot of time teaching the foundations of this piece of equipment.
Look at that recall! While I am very proud of this recall, I'm also very proud that my friend here has been brave enough to go away from (us person is right next to me) and explore. He has had struggled with confidence in the big wide world in the past and previously we would have been concerned about him panicking in this type of environment. While we have worked greatly on his engagement and recall, we have also been building up his confidence to he is able to go more places and have more freedom.
Some of my Saturday class participants learning how to slow down their bodies. Obviously going fast can be fun but slowly down a dogs body can be a good way to encourage them to focus more on their movement. For our young dogs in this class this activity was great for assisting them to move and remain focused. For our older dogs, it is so important to keep them moving but preventing injury is a top priority
When working with dogs who are reactive on lead, your mechanics make a huge difference! This is an example of a skill I often teach my clients to help get them and their dog away from something that they may find stressful, fixate on or react to. When the person spot the stimuli, they slide their hand down the lead so that it is shorter but so they have not pulled their dog back (as this may escalate the situation quickly), they take a step in front of their dog to block visual access, if they have time, offer food and walk quickly in whatever direction is safe to. I don't recommend this for dogs who have a history of aggression towards their owners or redirect. Given my dog here is quite small, I hold the lead in one hand and actually switch hands. With a bigger dog, I'd keep both hands on the lead. Practicing this type of skill is just like practicing defensive driving, hopefully you won't have to use it, but if you do, you want it to come naturally.
I often see dogs who guard things that people drop. One reason for this is when we drop things, we tend to rush towards the item to pick it up before the puppy does. This may lead to the puppy seeing the item as valuable or feeling threatened if we move too quickly into their space. We can lessen the chances of this behaviour developing if we are proactive and do 'set up' situations. In this video I'm practicing dropping paper towel on the ground. I'm using that because it's boring but also if Dart does pick it up, it doesn't matter. I also do not want to drop something noisy too close to my pup in case I scared him. This is the first time have practiced this skill so I don't mind if Dart shows interest in the paper towel as I am capturing the disengagement from it and rewarding with something I hope he finds more valuable. Over time I want him to learn that humans drop things that are so boring, they are not worth investigating.
