Boston
Fortunately, I have 2 careers where I don’t have to take in every dog that comes my way. I’m afforded a little bit of pickiness to take on the things I really enjoy…like PUPPIES!!!!
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This little fella is Boston. He’s a 12 week old wee little pit that has had a bit of a tumultuous start. He’s a touch unsure but he’s got a great personality.
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This puppy lesson was a bit of an information review where there were plenty of questions and scenarios for the adults to yammer on about. So while the adults adulted, Boston showed his little gaminess by selected a toy that he could really sink his little teeth into. No big surprise that he was in heaven and already showing candidacy for GRC.
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He also made a new buddy in Lukin and found out that when the mafia boss ki barks, everyone listens.
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He was a wee bit chilly at first but we makeshifted a wind breaker for him that did the trick and had the best saying “cats suck”.
😉
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What a life he’s got in front of him living with people who’ll do anything for this little guy. Don’t worry - he’s got a big brother at home to teach him a few bad habits. 😁
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I get a bit of grief because i tend to keep a bit of a hard ass “line” with the dogs. Meaning, I’m not afraid to tell them “no” when they’re either contemplating doing a dumb thing or, have gone through with a dumb thing. I believe it brings a lot of clarity and simplicity to the equation - saying no that is. And rest assured friends, there’s no relational detriment - the dogs greet me just as happily as they greet Michelle and they’re respectful. I can also assure you they’re rewarded with a ton of freedom.
I often think about the transformation of social media posts; specifically dog trainers social media. There was a time when everyone posted video after video of their feet in tandem with their dogs while in a heel position. Then it went to walk behind for reactive dogs Then retractables. Then all dogs off leash on some piece of land having a adventure.
Walking a small pack the other day I wondered….
Those dogs that are all adventuring, have they lost the ability to walk on a loose leash heel for the sake of freedom? Do they ever get practice ?
Has that idea of “tow the line dog” gone away ?
If you dropped your leash, will your dog do as Lukin did ? Not take off. Stay beside you. Calmly. Do you still have that “control” or better, that relational value and line in the sand of “this is good and that’s not”?
It looks good, but does it feel good?
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You can tell a lot from just watching a dog work, just who it is, where the training mistakes were made and how the dog feels about performing the tasks.
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It’s ok to take things seriously. But there need’s to be elements of fun; foot loose and fancy free peppered throughout.
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Be mindful when you correct for “non compliance”. Make sure you’ve done your due diligence in understanding who the dog is, what it enjoys, what motivate’s it, how it’s activated and how it learn’s before giving the dog a hard time for not listening.
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In the majority of cases, there’s a lot of boxes to tick off before going to correction.
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Like laying out and stacking lego or laying out dressing Barbie, it’s one bit at a time that build’s a ship and the uniform.
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First the straight sit facing me. Then the semi circle through my legs. Then the walk forward followed by the walk backwards maintaining the position between my legs.
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Additionally and separately, we spent time learning backing up and then adding distance and then again backing into the tunnel and one more step was going all the way through backwards. That’s where the distance came in handy.
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Now we put it all together. It’s complete useless but it keeps us fresh, thinking, learning, exercising, respectful of our needs and wants.
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Incidentally, Lukin does not belong to me. So....if I’m doing it with him, there’s really no excuse for any to not do it with their dogs. 😉.
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Also, Annabelle! See her run and bark after him? So good; if you’ve been following her story a bit.
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Ordinary. There’s a message i’d like to get out. Not because what i say is gospel but because there’s a trap.
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Maybe you’ve fallen into it? Scrolling through my IG, FB and TikTok feed it appear’s as tho many have.
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Flashy obedience. Super cool tricks.
Wicked fast agility.
Bone crushing bite work.
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Those EXTRAORDINARY moments captured, isolated, music added and then posted. I get it. I’ve done it. Still do. But to what end?
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The trap ? Greater than popularity, showing off or a bid to get more followers.
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No; the trap is getting so caught up chasing the extraordinary moments, we loose the value of the ordinary ones.
Because if taken away, the ordinary moments, the ones that happen on the daily, are the ones we’ll miss more than anything.
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Most know Annabelle’s struggles. And she is slowly coming around.
It’s not the extraordinary moments of her doing a high jumps catching a ball I miss.
It’s the everyday, ordinary “spins” and “downs” that I’ve leaned to cherish the most.
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I’m down to get the most out of the dog. Drive. Ambition. Flash.
So long as we don’t loose sight of the ordinary moments. The ones that are far more cumulative, reliable and the ones inevitably we will miss the most when they’re gone.
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Possibilities.
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This morning there was an interesting conversation between a diverse group of trainers. Some who get to an end result using both positive reinforcement and punishment and others who don’t.
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There were some things that everyone should consider but one of the things that was mentioned was how people undervalue their dog’s ability.
Meaning most times, we don’t give the dog enough credit that it can accomplish a task better, faster, smarter. But we would be wrong to think the opposite isn’t true.
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Over valuing is also a problem.
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Bottom line: it’s a tight rope of knowing when and how much to help and when and how to remove that assistance - that support.
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Finding that balance and capitalizing on it in your training is far more than the dog accomplishing tasks. It’s literally a mind shift on what you do.
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If the dog is unclear and cannot focus on toggling from say a heel into a sit, that’s less likely a sit problem and far more likely a focus problem. So while some would correct the dog for not sitting, others would think more critically and say “ah~ok. It’s not that you don’t know how to sit, it’s that you’re so focused on the heel, you didn’t hear me toggle you into the sit. That’s a focus problem not a sit problem.” Correcting for the sit is a way to go, OR teach a better focus on handler.
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See the difference?
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While Lukin is improving, and he knows these things (hop-up & tunnel) individually, and we’re walking the tight rope of thinking he can do great things vs being fair about getting there, we need to rethink the marriage of tunnel and hop up.
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Before giving him a hard time about not fully committing to returning from the tunnel, I need to bring the tunnel closer to the stump. Why? So he can more easily focus without confusion on what I’m asking him. Then we’ll add greater distance.
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Your dog can do amazing things - more than you know. We al
Keeping it interesting.
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One of the biggest issues I hear from the average pet owner is how boring it is to get out, train and put in some reps.
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Training is what you make of it for you and your dog.
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Taking it to different environments, involving different elements, obstacles and degrees of difficulties will most certainly keep
things fresh and fun for you and the dogs.
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This morning I took out my father’s old
pitching wedge and use it with Ki & Lukin.
Who know’s, maybe we’re on to a new dog
sport! Golfio Ring!
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It’s a beautiful morning - get out and have some fun before the heat settles.
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Even Lukin was impressed with Ki grasping the ball reward after hearing his terminal marker from being in a down at a distance.
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If you can ween them off the food reward and at the same time create an alternative, I’d encourage you to do it.
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If you’re going to, be mindful; it’s possible your fingers get mistaken for the toy.
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Start with something on a rope then move to something without a rope.
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Bottom line, get out there and have fun while you work whatever it is you have and whatever it is you’re teaching.
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#ottawadogtraining #gsd #germanshepherd #ottawadogtrainer #ottawa #markers #communication #obedience #summer #fun
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Sticking together.
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Yesterday Lukin was shown the concept of going between my legs. For every little step towards that goal, whether by fluke or thought, he was rewarded.
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The other thing we did was shape a straight sit directly in front of me. Actually, that was the first thing we worked on.
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Then we worked out the bits where he went from that sit, around my right side to end up in between my legs.
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Bottom line, we shaped three things, then after “sticking together” we named it “middle”.
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We have a few things to work out but conceptually he understands what I’m asking so now, we’ll clean it up a bit, remove some of the support queues and slowly get to where it’s just the word itself without help. Sometimes, you can teach things all at once without breaking down the individual tasks for the end result. Sometimes, like in this circumstance you can teach different things at different times then stick them together.
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His mum said “he really likes learning”. Indeed he does!
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I think once you start to create a problem solving dog - a thinker, life with dogs can be a whole lot more enjoyable and liberating - fun.
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