Red Daisy Dog Training

It might not look like much, but this video shows nearly two years of work. Nail desensitization can be a process for any dog, but Toby particularly hates having his feet touched. For at least a year, I barely even bothered with trying to clip his nails. I worked on things like touching his feet while playing tug and getting him to allow me to handle his feet in general without doing scary things to them. Then, we worked on him being OK with touching the clippers to his feet and putting the clippers around his nails but not clipping. Once he got better at that, I'd clip one or two nails at a time until he started to actually tolerate it. Throughout the process, I've always allowed him to take breaks when he needs them (which you can see toward the end of the video), and I never try to sneak up on him with the clippers. I make it very clear to him when I do and don't have the clippers and when I'm going to clip. Luckily, Toby also is trained on a scratch board and gets plenty of walks on pavement, so his nails never got *too* long during the process, which allowed me to take it so slowly and actually gain his trust. As you can see, he still doesn't love getting his nails clipped. But he doesn't have to! That's what cooperative care is all about. Dogs need their nails trimmed for their health. They don't have to like it, but it also shouldn't be a traumatic experience every time. I'm fine with him voicing his opinion every once in a while as long as he lets me get it over with with all of my fingers intact. And really, that's all anyone can ask for. 😉

Shortened hikes today! Rufus acting like I brought him to the desert and not a shady cemetery in Brookline five minutes into our hike is a pretty good indication the dogs need it. 😂 (Disclaimer: No dogs were harmed in the making of this video. Rufus has a penchant for drama and zero signs of heatstroke.)

First off, I fully intended on setting this video of Ottie working on "back" to Juvenile's classic, "Back That Azz Up," but it wasn't available on Instagram and I was extremely disappointed. ANYWAY, dogs, and especially puppies, have poor proprioception, so exercises like these are important for teaching them how to physically navigate the world. For those unfamiliar with the term, proprioception essentially is a fancy word for your body's ability to locate itself in time and space without thinking. People with ADHD also have poor proprioception, which is why you can find me constantly bumping into door frames and tripping over myself. 😎 For dogs who really struggle using their back legs first, I typically will use a treat to slowly push them backward in a straight(ish) line before adding an obstacle. Ottie didn't need that, so we went straight to using a place board. If you don't have a place board, you can use really anything that's not *too* high but is a clear step up, like a pillow, a large dog bowl, an inflatable exercise cushion, etc. In the video you can see I use my body to help Ottie figure out how it is I want her to move. When she reaches the board and starts to veer off to the side, I simply block her from going sideways with my legs. Ottie is a quick learner when she has directions (free shaping today made her big mad), so she did a great job!

Play windows make the world go round! I just started them with my buddy Gaston this morning, so this typically is what it looks like when I introduce a dog to them. Gaston loves tug, but this is the first time we played just the two of us, so I made sure not to put too much pressure on him. You can see I started to do some lighter distractions -- tapping his side and butt, covering his eyes a little -- but I didn't want to spook him or do something he really didn't like right off the bat. You have to test the waters! Play windows teach dogs how to turn their drive/excitement on and off. As I work with him more, I'll ramp up to more intense and strategic games, which will make the "all done" cue to close the window more difficult. He did well today, though, and had a lot of fun!

Unstructured rubdown with Sasha

I had a personal training session with the queen herself, Sasha! She's been doing some resource guarding at home and yelling at the neighbors' beagle, so we started establishing play windows, did some desensitization with beagles barking on YouTube, and then she got a rubdown. The rubdown I recorded here is a little less structured than I'd usually do it. Sasha can be a little sassy about handling, and this was our second one, so I didn't want to frustrate her at the end of our session. Consent is important for dogs, too!