Well Mannered Dog grad class.
New session starting September 22
Grad class today! Thanks for being such a wonderfully super group 😊
*Jane
Over the years, my cats have taught sooo many puppies how to be calm around cats 🥰
Hartley dog with TOC
~Jane
One of my favourite things is having children in puppy class 🥰
These two are a great team!
Shyla - here because she was reactive to other dogs while on leash; today (finally!) was able to walk with an unknown dog close to her.
The "trick" is to look at the dog, keep the leash loose, look back at me.
For a few days there, I thought this might never happen. Proud of her!
When a dog has a history of being reactive to other dogs but only while on-leash, I attach a short light leash while playing with known friends. Moose thought is would be great fun to take Shyla for a walk 😆
Shyla's humans have done a great job learning new leash skills this past few months...my job now is to polish up those skills. When you see us out there in public land, I will still ask you to give us some space; neither one of us appreciate "friendly" pushy dogs coming right up to us. The goal is to teach Shyla to tolerate those "friendly" dogs for a brief moment. But, I wish more people would teach their dogs how to politely say hello.
Hint: your dog running up to a leashed dog and then barking, jumping, circling is Not polite, nor is it "friendly"...it is simply rude. So my job is to help Shyla tolerate rudeness. I can also help you with teaching your "friendly" dog say hello politely.
~Jane
My favourite cue is "break". It means stop what you're doing and reset.
Some dogs get humpy during play and Leo can be one of those.
Match to Sample. I present Zara with an object and ask for "the other one". It took her a while but she is matching shoes, socks, leashes, and today, dishes! Funny how each dog learns differently - this is something Clover could easily do by 6 months of age and after 3 repetitions. Zara seemed worried about this game, so her confidence needed to be built before she could grasp the concept.
Teach the dog in front of you. I like to remind my human students to see their dog, not their expectations.
~Jane
"Hand" means fetch what I point at and drop it into my hand. Or, if Zara has something in her mouth and I say "hand" then I want her to drop it into my hand.
This has taken forever to teach her!!
She would turn away, even though I never reach or grab or steal.
I simply wiggle my fingers - she knows this as target close to me - but the willingness to drop an item into my hand has been 8 months in the making.
Clover learned this in a day. Poncho learned this in under a week.
Sometimes, things take longer for dogs to grasp the concept of what is expected.
That's okay! Be patient. It will happen.
Yes, that's an old crock because crocks make the best chew toys.
I don't wear that one, so my scent is not as new as it is on the ones I wear. Dogs can learn the difference between legal and illegal items, even if the item is the same (old shoe vs new shoe).
I trust my dogs completely.
They can disappear down a trail, but return within moments.
I do not call for them.
Because training. Go have a bit of fun and then check in with me.
Trust is the foundation.
But, it takes many many repetitions of calling them back during training.
Start with your puppy, be extra fun during adolescence! Zara (Swiss Shep) has had tracking lessons because - true confessions of your dog trainer - she did disappear on me a couple of times in the summer.
Tracking lessons taught her how to find her way back.
Training taught her to not leave for so long as to get lost.
Clover is a wonderful big sister!
Did you know I do walks with you and your dog to teach you how? canineconduct.ca
