A little recall practice with Jennifur. Regular practice paired with generous reinforcement builds very reliable behaviour - an important part of recall.
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A bit of walk training with mommy. Starting them out right when they're young makes a world of difference! Note the reinforcement delivered every time Jennifur checks in with her handler. If WE don't reinforce, our dog will find reinforcement in the environment, and while that's ok, a poor history of reinforcement results in the environment being the ONLY reinforcer available, which can lead to a lot of pulling & frustration on both ends of the leash.
Just so nobody who saw her at the arena tonight thinks Jenny is always so calm & mellow...
Socialization for Jennifur at the Fast 'N' Furriest booth at the Iroquois Falls Vendor show. Pop by & say Hi if you're around!
Early stages resource guarding prevention is SO easy! Dog has a 'high value' item, walk up, drop a few goodies on them, then walk away. This conditions a more positive emotional (and by extension, behavioural) response to human approach. We don't try to take their item yet - that comes later, because we first just want them to eagerly anticipate our approach rather than dread it. A similar technique can be used for dogs with current resource guarding issues, though we would also condition some supplementary behaviours & do much more observation of posture and subtle signs of guarding.
This video shows early stages of training recall. The groundwork is laid in the house with backchaining & capturing, and now it's time to add some (but not too much) distance and distraction. Recall saves lives! Never take it for granted. Reinforce GENEROUSLY with exceptionally effective reinforcers. Here I'm using some leftover roast beef, but we can combine reinforcers as well. If your dog likes Tug, add that in, if they like to wrestle, a handful of treats (one at a time in rapid succession) and a bit of wrestling.
Also, be worth being around. The bond of love & friendhip is a powerful motivator - nurture that. If your dog doesn't want to be around you to begin with, they're sure not going to want to leave that awesome sniff they're on.
Recall is a million dollar ask. Be a million dollar handler.
Using the same strategy to teach kitchen boundaries as we use to condition so much else - reinforce the behaviour we want. The beauty of added reinforcement training is that such positive emotions are conditioned that the behaviours themselves become reinforcing. We reinforce that conditioning periodically, but rather than relying on punishment to make ourselves scary, we forge a bond of trust that ultimately makes for a better behaved dog.
A good example of different sized dogs playing. Davey was very gentle with Jennifur, and even 'self handicapped' by laying down. Well done Davey!! What a good big brother!
In the attached video, I'm using an incredibly simple strategy of just reinforcing desirable behaviour. This same tactic can often be (and will be with Jennifur) used to condition appropriate behaviour around the family cat, at human mealtimes, ..., any time the dog is offering behaviour you want to see more of in a given situation. Too often we want to train backwards. We wait until the dog fails & then try to put the pieces back together which is frustrating for everyone & often leads to punishments which don't teach what we DO want. Train smart. Be proactive.
Quick video of 10wk Briggs working recall. The 'monkey in the middle' game is a great exercise, creating a distraction (the person delivering reinforcement) for the other person to call the dog away from. Great for families to encourage appropriate response to all regular handlers!
Quick-ish video demonstrating default Leave It and also how we can incorporate training into our routine. Everything trained using Positive Reinforcement only.
Positive reinforcement dog training, behaviour modification & management. Servicing Timmins, Matheson, Iroquois Falls, and the surrounding area.
