Layla 7 months Kelpie
A terrible film quality snippet, warts and all included, working on positional changes with Layla (7 months?) today. We donāt often see the sometimes āmessyā process as we work toward a polished final, this is what a dog whoās learning looks like (at times distracted by other dogs and people behind us)
Dachshund. Pronounced ādax - hundā NOT ādash-houndā.
Hereās little Sam, just coming into adolescence working on a bit of reactivity. Heās coming along quite nicely! Itās really important (as with any breed) to provide appropriate socialisation/habituation for these guys from the day you bring them home as a pup to avoid problem barking as they grow.
These little guys were bred to work, they are scent hounds (they used to stand much taller before selective breeding) originally used to hunt badgers. They will dig, destroy things and spend a lot of time with their nose to the ground without adequate exercise and stimulation.
Hereās a video from Winstonās first formal recall training with me. Heās a little nervous out and about so weāve gone to a quiet local park to set him up for success. Bull terriers have a genetic predisposition to being stubborn, so itās best to show a stark contrast between what we do and donāt want; hence the high-pitched, āover the topā tone in my praise. In a herding breed this would likely cause over excitement and loss of handler focus and āworkā drive. Winnie benefits from this distinction, and soon learns his advantage lies in staying close to the handler.
Look at Georgie go! š hereās another application of the Leave command to modify behaviour. In the past, Georgie has shown signs of reactivity and hyper arousal when unfamiliar dogs enter the environment. In this clip you can see that weāve already done some work on this because itās actually hard to get Georgie to break handler focus (which is a good thing! But here we were working on leave off distraction (other dog), this training only works if the dog is aware of the triggering stimulus and we work starting slightly outside of her threshold and moving closer as she is ready. Eventually what this will look like (with many many repetitions over successive sessions) will be Georgie voluntarily disengaging from other dogs and looking to her handler for guidance on how to move forward with the interaction (or non-interaction!). This will not only help keep her safe from potentially antisocial dogs in the community, but promote better connection between dog and handler and take any stress out of the dog if itās feeling like it has to deal with a potential āthreatā.
Edit to add: you can see the moment Georgieās herding instinct kicks in when she goes into classic Aussie Cattle Dog stalk mode š
weāre also working on outlets for this behaviour
Some short clips from two separate sessions working on desensitisation to fast moving objects (cars) eliciting herding response in Layla, a young kelpie pup. In the first session the leave command is repeated with each command, treats come thick and fast for handler focus, in the second clip, Iām expecting longer moments of focus, increasing the time between food rewards and extra encouragement for when she disengages from the stimulus of her own accord. This is a work in progress, but sheās doing well from lunging toward and attempting to follow each vehicle as it passes. Iāll make another post later with a different dog showing another application of the leave command and how it leans into behavioural modification. Well done Layla š„°
Who ever said you canāt train a pug? š„°
Pedroās first training session outside the home environment (in line with puppy vaccination schedule). Not bad for 18weeks old! š„°
Well done guys, a pleasure working with you and your lovely family š
The next stage in Giselleās impulse control work - moving ball. ā
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Missy has a case of wriggle bottom and zoomies in the house! Very rarely do we see training videos of the āprocessā, the failures and scaffolding that have occurred (successive approximation) on the way to a polished finished product.
Missy is a working - line pure bred border collie with subsequent energy I could only ever dream of possessing. Along with increasing opportunities for mental stimulation, increasing exercise for energy output, monitoring dietary intake for energy input and social exposure work; we are building impulse control and teaching the subtle art of doing nothing (sometimes trainers will call this the āoff switchā). This is our second session of place training, here weāre working on extending the distance from the place marker where Missy can successfully be āsentā to place. She can then move about freely again after hearing the release word. Itās not perfect but itās a great leap forward for her second formal session.
Love ya work guys keep it up š„°
More impulse control work with Giselle, ignoring the kryptonite (ball) and recalling on command.
Youāre a star āļø Giselle!
Note: Giselle is proofed in advance obedience and is being called out of a stay, I do not recommend recalling dogās out of stay when they are still in beginning - intermediate levels of obedience.
A little snippet of leave work with Eddie today, working on his social skills š very clever fella!
Beautiful Mr. Archie and I have been working on some reactivity issues. I always forget to take proper before photos š¤¦š¼āāļø but at the start of this reel you can see Archie exhibit some hyper-arousal based behaviours that could potentially result in unsafe interactions with unfamiliar dogs. This is his 3rd session working on reactivity. In the subsequent clips you can see a pass using a formal heel, note the change in my tone and delivery from the first clip. Here iām using the leave command which has previously been installed to break fixation on the unfamiliar dog. The next 2 clips show a less formal interaction with more lead and room to move with autonomy. Note Archie is choosing to disengage and the subsequent increase in praise. This is still a work in progress and by no means proofed. Very well done Archie! š
A little snippet of Giselleās beautiful off-lead heel work today. Weāve been working on tightening this up by increasing focus on handler and response to āstopā command. Several months ago turns and passing distractions (toys, food, other dogs etc) were difficult for Giselle, she would drift away from the handler and fixate on distraction. Doing very very well, proud of you guys š„°
Fenrir giving me the 3rd degree when I get home from work š āwhoāve you been patting that wasnāt me?šÆā
Beautiful impulse control work with Mel and Giselle today, a few weeks ago we started working on proofing attention to command under high stim, even a stationary ball was a complete distraction for Giselle as she is a Border Collie mix with high drive, we used to hide them all š¤ very impressive stuff
Oliver is such a little smarty pants! This clip is about 20mins into his first off-lead heel session.
Back on the 2nd of August I posted a reel with some snippets of Zuma and Summer on their walk and trains. They were short clips but you can note the constant and regular switching between praise when they match my pace in heel and arenāt pulling in free and verbal reprimand and leash corrections ā¦ here is a snippet of todays walk and train with Zuma, note the decrease in reprimand of pulling, Zuma has now learnt the end of the lead means slow down, not pull like a freight train and is switching beautifully between heel and free āmodesā. Pleasurable walks can happen! š„°š (weāve had about 4 or 5 half hour walk and trains, once per week and 2 individual training sessions and practice with owners at home to achieve this)
Extra note: Zuma isnāt food motivated so this training has been completed without treats/food based reward.
Here he is, everything went well, but heās still crying 2 hours after being picked up. Big sooky lala š„ŗš
Beautiful Malamutes Stormy and Sonny learning to walk in heel either side of their owner without trying to pull her arms out of their sockets. Great improvement guys!
