ARE YOU A SPLITTER OR A LUMPER? How do you train your dog?
Following on from my post about teaching a chin target as an alternative to other attention seeking behaviours I was asked how I teach it. This video is from last year and explains the first stage.
CHIN TARGET - APPROPRIATE ATTENTION SEEKING BEHAVIOUR? YES OR NO?
For me, it’s a yes. This was Dreya at agility tonight when we were waiting our turn. I could ask her to settle and she would, but the chin target is an appropriate way of getting my attention. She will maintain the chin target for quite some time without a need to give her any reward. Plus, it’s cute!
If you have a dog that barks for attention, consider teaching a chin target as a more appropriate behaviour.
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🐾🐾 ADDITIONAL COURSES ADDED 🐾🐾
Due to demand I’ve scheduled a few new classes:
TUESDAY 4th FEBRUARY
6pm Puppy Course
7pm Junior Course
I also have the possibility of scheduling a Kennel Club Good Citizen Course at 8pm on the 4th February - message me if you are interested.
Above classes are at Walkerville.
https://www.ruffdiamonddogtraining.co.uk/dog-training-classes.html
When we started leave training I set it up so he couldn’t get it wrong by having the treat covered. We are now progressing to being able to drop a treat as this is more like a real life situation. At the moment I am still giving my leave cue before I drop it to ensure that he gets it right. Comment below or drop me a message if you’d like to know how we go to this stage.
TIPS FOR WALKING MULTIPLE DOGS
1. Teach them each to walk on a loose lead individually. Trying to teach two or more dogs together that both pull on the lead is very difficult
2. Decide where you would like each of them to walk and stick to that to avoid them swapping from side to side and getting their leads tangled.
3. Don’t use one lead with a dog coupler. This is where you have a lead that then splits into two at the end. Sometimes people get these if they have one dog that pulls to teach it not to pull. All that tends to happen is the dog that doesn’t pull will get pulled along by the other dog.
4. Initially get a friend or family member to walk one of the dogs with you, so you each have a dog to walk. That way the dogs get used to walking together but it is easier for you.
5. Start off going somewhere really quiet where there are minimum distractions
6. Initially keep your walks with both dogs fairly short and end on a positive where possible.
We’ve been working with this over the festive break. Rossi, Cal & Dreya are happy walking together and are easy to manage. We started to introduce Aldo to group walks with the help of my husband. He was very excited so his loose lead walking deteriorated a little bit so this is still a work in progress. Aldo is now starting to have regular walks where I take him out with Dreya. I will still do solo walks to really concentrate on his loose lead walking. Dreya is very tolerant and remains patient if I have to stop when Aldo gets a little over excited.
3 common myths about reward based dog trainingWhat do you think? Drop your thoughts in the comments
If you are starting to train your dog to walk on a loose lead or perhaps your dog has got into bad habits and you are starting again it is important to decide what loose lead walking means to you. If this is something you are struggling with and could do with a little help, drop me a message to have a chat. Keep following for more tips on loose lead walking.
IS THE STAND USEFUL? Whenever I am teaching positions in class the one that people haven’t considered teaching or struggle to teach is the stand, but it is so useful. For example drying your dog or health checking them is easier when they stand. Most harnesses are easier to put on if your dog is standing. These are just a few of the benefits of teaching a stand.
EMERGENCY STOP
There are lots of ways of teaching your dog an emergency stop and this is just one of them. We’d been doing this in a couple of my morning classes yesterday so thought I’d see how Aldo did. This is our first time of trying.
I threw a treat away to get him at a small distance from me. Then once he’d eaten the treat I asked for a down and was very pleasantly surprised when he did it!
We have a very long way for this to be a useful and reliable behaviour but it’s a good start.
How do you teach an emergency stop?
