Super dog trainer
I am not just a dog trainer.. I am the super dog trainer.
Happy holidays all!
Cruella
New member of the gang here - Cruella the orphan magpie.
Adira. Zoomies
I did a sneak attack on Adira, and it set her off. The step up thingy now has a new home 😬
Poodle and cobber
Poodle helping out little Cobber feel more comfortable around dogs.
There are times when I will ask my dogs to do something, and there are other times where I tell them they have to do something. In this instance poodle has to comply and he is not allowed to interact with Cobber. There aren’t any strong aversives if he doesn’t comply, I will calmly but firmly insist he has to. In situations where it’s a non negotiable I don’t back down.
We’re working with little cobber as he can get a little spicey with dogs if the encounter is uncontrolled. So we’re exposing him to very controlled encounters at the moment and figuring out what he wants to do and how well he can cope in certain situations and then we will figure out what the best plan we think is moving forward.
Obedience became a bit of a dirty word a little while ago with some people but I don’t really care what word is used, if you’re dog is responsive then they have a better and freer life. So having an obedient dog or a dog that will comply, especially in certain situations is a must for me. That doesn’t mean i march around with them at my side all the time. I rarely ask them to do much at all if we’re out and about and a lot of the time they’re infront and pulling. But occasionally or if I need them to do as I say, I will then tell them to do something I need them to do. That’s the compromise they have to give me to live safely in our society. Most of the time they can just dog, but every now and then, they’ll have to do as I say, regardless of anything else.
www.Thinkdog.nz
Poodle getting in his hill sprints.
Adira reunion
A little reunion with baby dog after 5 weeks away. I like her helicopter tail the most.
Resilience
If we want resilient dogs, we need to challenge them and put them through stressful situations.
This is very anecdotal but it seems like we have shifted so far from traditional based training that we’ve ended up creating absolute marshmallows of dogs. So many people, dog trainers included, seem so concerned with making sure our dogs experiences are all sunshine and rainbows we’re not preparing them for the real world.
This is not to say we need to be harsh with them and make them ‘get over it’ or flood them with stressful situations. But we do need to make sure we raise resilient dogs that can cope with some of the sh*t that is inevitably going to be thrown at them as they navigate the world.
One of the things we have always done with adira is challenged her through play. We’ve gradually added more pressure and more conflict with the game - we’ve asked her to endure a little stress or something that may be a little uncomfortable. When we play these games and add a bit of conflict, once she wins she always does a happy victory lap. It’s almost like she’s overcome the challenge, and that feels really good for her. Which is the same for us. Not many people like filling out tax forms, but once we complete them, we feel pretty good about ourselves… until we see how much we need to pay. But that’s a seperate matter.
Although she’s deaf and blind, she’s pretty bomb proof. Even with things she absolutely hates, like going to the vets, once we’re done, she recovers almost immediately and is happy to get on with life.
I guess with dogs, and especially pups, we shouldn’t be trying to avoid all the potentially scary and challenging things. There are times and situations where we should try to work through the challenges rather than avoid them. Granted, some dogs will always struggle and we may not be able to get very far (for example our sunrise) but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try and see how far we can get them.
Stress isn’t the
I don't very often read scientific articles (by very often I mean never) but the latest one that is floating about caught my eye...
I actually read this one and it struck me that the way these trainers went about teaching dogs to not chase a lure using reinforcement was a little different to how most trainers I know would go about it.
In saying that, they almost revealed the secret or MY secret to how I taught the Poodle NOT to chase a moving thingy, like a chicken.
I don't have all the answers, but seeing as this study looked at very realistic, effective reinforcement based methods I thought I would let everyone in on the ACTUAL way us trainers teach this that the study almost got right....
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And if you are wondering, yes this video is a joke...
Almost as much of a joke as that 'study'.
What you see online, isn't usually the full picture..
Kobe
Most of the training we do with dogs happens at home.
We like to prepare the dog, before we put them in front of the challenge.
If you’re watching the Olympics, you’re probably amazed at what the athletes can do. the athletes didn’t just rock up to Paris and know what to do without any preparation and be able to perform brilliantly in front of all those distractions. They have trained for years to perfect their skills. And then they practice some more.
When it comes to dogs, if we have high expectations, it can take a long time for a) the handler to be skilled enough to teach the learner and b) the dog to understand what to do regardless of what is happening.
The good thing about training at home is that short and simple sessions are better than long drawn out lengthy sessions.
And the most important thing about the training, especially initially is how willing are they to do the training and cooperate with you as opposed to any solid compliance. That can come later.
This is a very basic session I’m doing with Kobe to just teach him where I want him to be (where he gets the good stuff). It’s not brilliant training and it’s a bit messy but that’s dog training. This is where I’m at and something is better than nothing.
I promise you, if you neglect training at home and only try training when a problem arises you’ll not get very far.
Some quick math that I’ve just made up - do 80% of your training and 20% when you need it. Let me know how you get on to see if I need to change my math.
Adira walking
When we got Adira, we called her the kangaroo when we took her out walking. She would be on her hind legs with her front paws off the ground pulling.
We didn’t view it as a problem, we viewed it as a young dog figuring out how to navigate our world and it was our job as her new humans to help her out.
So we decided to teach her a few things that would help. She’s deaf and blind so we couldn’t use conventional methods due to her being both deaf and blind so we taught her a few simple concepts.
If we blow on your face, follow where it came from.
Finding our l right leg equals good things.
If we flick you under the chin, move that way.
The change didn’t happen over night. It didn’t happen over a month. I can’t actually remember how long it took before things became very predictable and very easy, but things did change. And that’s the important part.
We trusted the process. And that’s one thing I have to keep reminding myself with our foster pups. Change takes time and you always have those bad days creep in and unfortunately it’s the bad that us humans focus on.
So have a plan, stick to it, and remember that progress takes time and just keep going.
It’s not that some dogs are too hard to train, it’s usually because we give up too quickly and the result we’re after is just around the corner but we quit just before the turning.
Remind yourself regularly trust the process. Dog training works, that’s why we do it.
And yes, I am using a flexi lead. I don’t use them all the time and for all dogs, but they are not the devil and have their place.
www.Thinkdog.nz
We have a few flirt poles left in stock.
When I’m feeling lazy this is my go to to keep our dogs happy.
Very little space needed.
Very little time needed.
Very, very good outlet for lots of dogs.
If you’d like one, get in touch or visit our website here:
www.thinkdog.nz/shop
