Dogs that are playing will often use an obstacle, natural or otherwise, to not only enhance their fun but to also temper rough play. Adira the shepherd mix tends to nip at other dogs’ backs when chasing them, which can be annoying to little Wyatt, though he enjoys playing with her in general. Here he is using the dog walk to slow and block her while continuing the play.
If play is getting too rowdy and rough amongst your own dogs, you can either move them to an area with more natural obstacles like bushes and trees, or create some of your own. A few straw bales are cheap and fun to run around and climb over. You can also make a little maze with several!
Lowe’s trip with Isla! Always a great place to practice on a rainy day☔️
Board and trains Willie, Sam and Yannick made for some great pictures last week with their matching coats!
Off Leash Recall
Meet Ginny, a current student in one or our advanced private lesson programs.This dog has made so much progress with her training! Her owners have been very dedicated to the training, and it has paid off! Ginny has a lot of prey drive and loves hunting for rabbits and just about anything else she can find. As you can see from the video, she loves to run! We decided to incorporate an electronic collar to aid in off leash control and this has allowed her so much freedom, because she now has an excellent recall. We don’t use e collars in the majority of our training because often we are working on other skills that need more attention. However, when used correctly under the guidance of a trainer, they can be great tools to give a dog more freedom and the owner more control in situations where unforeseen situations can arise, such as a rabbit being flushed out of brush.
Holly is leaving today after completing her three week board and train! In addition to some of the usual work that I do with all of the dogs like place, loose leash walking and come when called, I decided to add some extra manners skills because of Holly’s size and friendliness.
In a previous post I showed her automatic down when I sit in a chair. In this video I have added the more challenging element of being outdoors and also an automatic down when I crouch on the ground. I love the idea of a dog assuming a down whenever a human becomes “smaller” by sitting, leaning down, or squatting. I think it could also be helpful around children, especially those nervous of a large dog.
Two weeks ago Holly’s response to me sitting in a chair was to paw me, crowd me and climb on me. I’m pretty happy to have changed those habits into something more pleasant that I actually want to praise and engage with!
This video is of three leash reactive dogs working out some hierarchy and play style preferences while off leash. I often hear from clients some frustration when they tell me that their dog does great off leash but not on, and I always want to explain to them that one has very little to do with the other.
There are plenty of dogs that get along great off leash and still struggle with on leash manners and reactivity, and we also see dogs that look fantastic on leash, very neutral with perfect manners, who we know one way or another do not do well with other dogs off leash, and may be quite dangerous if another dog comes into contact with them on leash as well.
What you can clearly see in the video is that all three dogs are using a lot of movement to diffuse minor disagreements at this early stage of playing with one another. When you attach a leash to a dog much of this movement is restricted, even with skilled handling, and it can build friction and miscommunication in both dogs.
Let me be clear, I am absolutely not saying that a solution to leash reactivity is to get rid of the leash. For one, it could end in injury or death for one of the dogs, and two, it will do little to fix anything about the leash reactivity itself. You will still encounter the same frustration when you leash your dog again, and it may even be worse now that they’ve gotten a recent taste of how fun play can be!
These three dogs were carefully matched by me after I had spent many hours with them separately and as twosomes, and I am still always ready to separate them or even break up a fight if things escalate in a negative way. What I want to highlight is that leash reactive dogs can often play together very well, but you will still need to work on leash reactivity specifically, no matter how much off leash socialization your dog receives.
This video is the middle section of teaching Yogi to automatically down when I take a seat. His owner had taught paw at some point, which had predictably turned into Yogi clawing your leg repeatedly every time you sat down.
Rather than go directly to correcting the paw habit, I chose to teach an incompatible behavior first and see if that would do the trick. There are several steps before and after this stage to teach the down from a seated position without a hand signal, and then to do away with the verbal command altogether.
Notice I ignore the paw slipped in before the down on the second sitting and just reward the down that follows. You don’t want to get too picky or the dog might opt out of the whole exercise.
Remember when teaching any trick to think of its most annoying manifestation and decide if that’s something you want. I always stay away from paw, touch, hug, etc, because they usually morph into clawing, nudging and jumping.
If you really want to teach these tricks, save them for when you have a mature dog with a solid foundation. They are easy and fun to add on, but because we bring such enthusiasm to teaching them they often become the dog’s favored behaviors and can undermine basic manners.
If you’ve put in the practice on your recall in many different situations it should work anywhere, hypothetically!
We usually recommend beginning work on a long line, then a fenced area gradually increasing in size, and finally, if your dog is doing well, off leash well away from a road. I personally don’t ever practice off leash near a road, or in a place where my dog’s failure to recall could result in an interaction with an unknown dog or walker. The longer I do this the more humble/cautious I become!
This is a journey and not a predictable one, so always keep working at it and try not to get too comfortable, or your dog will surely make an example of your hubris.
Here I am at Excelsior Pass with Adira. It was a hard hike for us both and I had unleashed to better navigate the snow. She may or may not have needed my whistle after her name, but it’s always a nice extra to have trained beforehand.
If your dog is well trained, sometimes it is a better choice at a water crossing to briefly unleash. I don’t often rely on dogs making good choices where water is involved, so knowing your dog and using common sense and caution is key.
Here Tommy and Adira show how it’s done on the way to Heather Lake!
I’m always careful about putting a large and a small dog together for play, no matter what their socialization history, for safety reasons. It can increase the risk of accidental injury to the small dog, even if the larger dog is playing nicely.
You can see in this match between Hudson and Bo, the terrier mix, that Hudson is doing his best to get small over and over again. I love when a big dog is accommodating like this, it makes the interaction less risky and also extremely cute!
As with any play match, dynamics can change daily or by the minute, so I will continue to keep a close eye on these two. If Hudson begins to do more fast running or chasing, for example, I will probably separate them.
For now though, it’s a pleasure to see two strangers enjoying each other’s company so much😌
I had been working with these three little monkeys all week long but was still surprised and delighted when they were able to do place together in such an organized way!
