Week 2 of Mind Your Manners. These guys are awesome! Such happy engages dogs all working on some loose lead walking.
This is a game called dot to dot. It's perfect for teach dogs to walk at our side with consistent reinforcement.
These guys all nailed it and were able to follow up with beautiful loose lead walking past dogs and toward a distraction.
Fantastic work!!!
Did you miss out this time? Reach out by the comments or email and sign up for Pur next class.
Shout out to all dog parents, share with me a training win.
Big or small, share a training win over the last couple of weeks. Perhaps you trialled, or completed a trick, maybe you went on a walk and your dog stayed calm, perhaps a visitor stopped by and they didnt jump or you finally got them getting in their crate.
Whatever the moment share it here, I cannot wait to celebrate your wins with you
I love walking with my dog Atlas. Just him and me out on an adventure.
In my new book "Enriching The Lives Of Our Dogs" I talk about all the different types of walks you can do with your dog. Training walks are some of my favourite.
You can absolutely work on leash skills. You could practice not pulling, your heel work, remaining neutral when walking past other dogs, or waiting patiently at roads or as people pass. I start here but once we've got these basics down I switch gears.
Atlas and I love to parkour on random objects we find on walks. Teaching him to circle a tree and come back to me, balancing on rocks and tree stumps, crawling under park benches, jumping over logs and two paws up on any number of items. No objects, that's ok we stop somewhere and practice our tricks instead.
Training walks are a great way to work the mind. Give them a chance to move and think and burn off all sorts of energy.
Check out my new book here and learn about the different walks you can do
https://buff.ly/3BsiF2L
Mindset Matters!!
No matter what you're doing, how your dog thinks and feels about it should always be a priority. Take the time to build motivation and fun in to your training.
When your dog loves it, they put in more effort and will train for longer. They'll work to figure things out and make you laugh.
When I start with a new dog and client, we always start with some fun games before we switch to more formal obedience. It pays off in the long term when your dog loves to train. Take the time to have fun and get your dog wanting more, everything else is secondary.
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My puppy is scared of . . . what do I do?
In the moment I look to make the scary go away and help my puppy bounce back. This could be anything from leave to move away to turning it off. Once I'm away from the scary I look to play or cuddle but basically find some fun for my puppy. Something scary happened but it's ok is the message.
From a training perspective I make the scary as non threatening as possible. I keep the volume low, or ensure it moves slowly or perhaps not at all, I create distance and I utilise enriching activities to give puppy other things to do or interact with. This can be an intricate process so I recommend bringing in a trainer to help with the specific steps.
Here's a video of me introducing a vacuum cleaner to my puppy for the first time. I let him sniff it while stationary and turned off, then I turned it on and watched to see what he did with the noise. When I started moving it I didn't at any point move it toward him, he could leave or investigate on his terms or not at all.
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It might seem silly teaching your dog to catch treats is actually really valuable.
Firstly, it is fun. It is an alternative treat delivery method that your dog will enjoy and enables you to up the reward factor in your training
Perhaps most importantly it's a back saver. For anyone who has a small dog being to drop the treat for your dog to catch it will save you from bending over. This is fantastic for your back which can definitely get sore luring or treating small pooches.
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Teaching your furry friend to touch is enjoyable and beneficial! Initiate the training by enticing your dog with a treat, prompting them to gently nudge their nose against your hand. As they begin to understand, add a verbal cue such as 'touch' and fade out your lure. It's important to practice in various settings and positions to ensure your dog becomes versatile in this skill. Keep in mind, consistency is key to their learning! #dogtraining101
Last weekend Atlas and I did a private session with Jamie The Dog Trainer. Jamie has such a wonderful way of engaging training from the dogs perspective. His lure techniques are out of this world. He gets amazing precision with just the smallest movements. Atlas and I learned a lot. In this video Jamie was showing us how to move between sit and stand and down without Atlas moving his front feet. This keeps his positions nice and clean, without him shifting forward.
Back from holidays and ready to go. Atlas and I were back at agility over the weekend learning some new skills. This time around the course we practiced had obstacles closer together. Man! That jump out the first tunnel was a tricky one! We are having loads of fun playing and will continue to practice. #goldenretriever #positivereinforcementtraining #dogtraining #dogsofwollongong
I love to play around with Atlas and teaching him new skills. Mostly just figuring out the steps and making it a game. Atlas loves to learn new things and it helps to reinforce for him that training is fun.
In this video I am working on an emergency stop. As Atlas moves toward me I want him to STOP when I cue it. He's doing really well and we've even started to add in a skill at distance. To start this behaviour I simply created a pattern where I throw a treat, and when Atlas returns to me I throw another treat. A great recall game on it's own! Once he was returning I would fist my hand, raise it above my head and say STOP. Then immediately throw that treat, I did not wait for him to stop. It only took him a couple of repetitions to see that raised fist and wait for the treat to be thrown.
What do you think?
Follow Me part 2
This video shows how this game becomes even more fun adding in spins he follows. You can also clearly see how this shapes a loose lead as he follows at my side.
Have a play and let me know in the comments how you go
