The number one thing you can do everyday is engage with them in a purposeful way.
What that means is its time for you and the #dog. I don't mean cuddling on the couch. What we should be looking for is some sort of activity that your dog finds valuable. #Fetch, tug, jogging, training, etc.
Use this opportunity to add a little structure and a few boundaries. "Want to go for a run? Go get on your bed first and wait for me to open the door." "Want to play fetch? Cool, come heel first then I'll throw the ball."
Incorporate these small things into a daily routine and I bet you see happier, more fulfilled, and better behaved dog. Bonus points for adding static behaviors and extending your duration.
We've been training these animals for thousands of years. You will make progress with your dog on your own with enough patience and establishing some fun games that have boundaries.
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Liberty Canine
Columbus, GA
#dogtraining #happydog #dogtrainingadvice
This to consider for the hot training season
1. Get core Temps on you dogs often. I check their temperature at home before training, when we show up to the field, try to during the field work, and definitely after. No what a normal working temp is for your dog and how quickly they get back to a normal rest temp.
2. Carry plenty of water and float food this time of year. I would also look at your nutrients requirements for this time of year versus the winter.
3. Park in the shade.
4. Shorten your sessions. You can go from 3 problems to 1 or just put your birds closer together. Say 30 yards apart. That high rate of reinforcement is actually a good thing most of the time.
5. Know the signs of on coming heat injury like shade seeking, paddle tongue, uncontrollable panting, appearing to disobey commands or perform unusually below their skill level, excessive water consumption, quitting work, abnormal temperature.
6. Know where your closest emergency veterinarian is located and their phone number.
7. If your going to get the dog wet you need to soak them thoroughly and get them in a windy environment to pass air over them.
8. Be smart, it's not worth hurting your dog over.
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Clyde is progressing well and I'm excited for his owner to see how far he's come.
Check out our website or shoot us a DM if you're interested in versatile dog training!
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Liberty Canine
Columbus, GA
#gsp #germanshorthairedpointer #uplandhunting #gspofinstagram
This dog has been a learning experience.
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Red has a ton of energy, decent drive, and a cloudy mind. I didn't see him lay down for days when he first arrived. He would max out bark collars, mark everything he could inside and out, bite leashes and me, and was reactive to every little sound. Unable to disengage from any outside stimulus until a higher stimulus came.
We've been working to show Red one simple word that's hard for other to understand sometimes. LEADERSHIP.
Boundaries, consistency, calm, predictability, guidance in duress, an example, sustainability, affection, a job, direction, purpose. All things that we as dog owners should be giving to our dogs. Some will say it's not that deep or complicated. Well, they're wrong sorry not sorry.
Being a leader can be hard but these dogs need it or they will fall in to a rogue collection of compulsive creatures.
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Liberty Canine LLC
Columbus, GA
#germanshorthairedpointer #behavior #leader #leadership #dogtraining
Building drive starts early.
As my friends at @losthighwaygundogs and @gundogityourself say build a monster first and add control later.
I value the retrieve and loads of prey drive pretty highly. We start building that monster as a little puppy. These games are fun, no rules, zero expectations, and very exciting. We keep these games short and make them overly fun!
Right now I'm not super concerned about the return and definitely not the delivery. All I'm really concerned with is that the puppy charges out to the bird and engages. I'm 100% ok with possession at this point. If he wants to grab it and run off or play keep away fine! That possessiveness is only building value for him to maintain a grip on his bird. I will use that behavior in the future to build the return and delivery. And then comes the dreaded word, TUG.
You can bet I'm playing a little light tug with him and letting him win nearly every single time. When he wins he will run off and parade around with the bird. Perfect.
Again, at this early stage all I really care about is that he engages the bird, the possessiveness is even better.
All building blocks for the future.
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Columbus, GA
#puppy #puppytraining #retriever #shaping #norules #Pudelpointer #pudelpointer
Start small.
Colt is working on maintaining duration in behaviors like "place" and "down". He understands the cue and understands how to turn pressure off by completing the behavior. Now we add a little more time, a little more distance, and a little more distraction over time before we deliver our marker and pay Colt for his hard work.
This is what I call our "living space" we are no longer using -R to drive to behaviors. Now we are showing the dog that he can avoid pressure all together by completing the behavior on his own. We are also showing him that he can earn a correction if he chooses to leave the behavior before the marker.
Remember markers MARK and TERMINATE a behavior. All ways we can help Colt find his advantage.
I like to start with "place" for this as it's clearly black and white for the dog so it helps them understand what's going, building off our foundation.
If your dog needs to learn how to stay put send us DM and ask about our upcoming training opportunities!
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#GSD #germanshepherd #dogtraining #shepherd #dogobedience
We're teaching June to down in motion and down at distance.
Just because your dog knows to down doesn't mean they understand to stop forward progress. You're dog has probably learned to down in a certain position relative to where you are as the handler. That's common as we shape and train different tasks and need to be in certain positions to do so. Then we need to teach that no matter where the dog is the cue is still the expectation of the behavior.
Perquisites to this are that your dog clearly understands the down, has a charged marker, understands pressure thru ecollar conditioning, and has duration to the behavior of down.
Start heeling and at some point turn on low level stimulation in a -R fashion and cue down. Pressure is released upon completion. In the beginning mark and pay this before moving on to down at distance. Next move away and recall your dog. In the same fashion use -R to acheive the down. As always mark and pay!
Lots of talk lately about forcing the dog to do things with the ecollar. E collars, without conditioning and training, are not going to force a dog to do anything but shutdown, become anxious, and fight or flight. We are using very very low levels of stimulation in order to speak to our dogs. Remember verbal communication is their least used communication technique, instead body language and tactile pressure are the preferred ways to speak. Seek education on proper collar conditioning and the difference between conditioning level, correction levels, and aversive levels.
Downing in motion and at distance is a safety tool for us. Preventing the dog from getting closer to a potential hazard such as a busy road.
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#blacklab #Labrador #labradorretriever
Clyde has been doing field work for his current ability level while we continue to shape things for more steadiness in the training yard. Soon we will make the switch to work solely on steadiness. Don't rush this process and maintain their drive to work! Sure we could just start forcing steadiness and lose something else where. Instead, focus on shaping your behaviors elsewhere and get to a reinforceable position before coming to the bird field.
You can also see in the video a formal retrieve program of some sort is going to be needed. Clyde does a good job but I'd like to see him do a little better. No worries there, easy fix.
Just happy to have another day spent running bird dogs!
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#gsp #germanshorthairedpointer #birddog #pointingdog #uplandhunting #huntingdog
When and how to start collar conditioning.
You'll know it's time when the target behaviors are reliable, named, and reinforcable with leash pressure and reward. You will also want to have a charged marker.
I start with the black and white behavior of "place". I like this one because its obvious to the dog, you're either on place or your not. This contextual clarity provides the dog a clear picture of how to turn low level stimulation off and earn their mark. I will also begin collar conditioning recall immediately after "place". Push then pull.
Conditioning levels on the collar should be low. There are ways to find your working/conditioning level and we can save that for a later day. These levels for me are generally between 2 and 6 (dog dependent) on an E collar Tech collar. Remember this is meant to be used as tactile communication not punishment so keep it low.
As always terminally mark once the behavior is accomplished and use a food toss to keep their feet moving and a fun mindset.
Take your time!
🐾 If your dog needs training and you're interested in a board and train program contact us soon about our June and July classes! 🐾
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Libertycaninellc.com
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#ecollar #puppy #puppytraining #germanwirehairedpointer
Don't move on until the basics are correct.
Clyde, aka Clyde frog, is here to do some more steadiness work. But I always verify where the dog is at first before proceeding. Clyde needed a little tune up then we'll get on to training.
If you want to check in on Clyde's progress follow @liberty_canine_llc
If you have a bird dog in need of some training contact us soon about the epic deal we have in September and October! You won't want your dog to miss that!
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Libertycaninellc.com
Columbus, GA
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#germanshorthairedpointer #huntingdog #georgia #dogtraining #gsp
Colt is TOO big 😆.
Seriously, he huge. But he's a good boy. Colt is progressing well and will soon be moving on to a verbal marker and naming all of his behaviors.
I like a clicker to start with. The clicker is loud, consistent, and exciting. It's easy for the dogs to pair the click with reward. But who wants to always carry a clicker around? I switch the dogs to a verbal marker "YES" to eliminate the need for carrying a clicker. I simply place the new before the known in my sequence. Meaning, after the dog completes the behavior I say "YES" (New) 1 second before the "CLICK" (known). The dogs will pair the new marker as a precursor to the old and then I can switch completely over.
If your dog needs obedience training contact us soon about our upcoming classes in May, June, and July.
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Libertycaninellc.com
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#obedience #dogtraining #germanshepherd
Poor Clyde, I didn't mean for that last bird to go right over his head. For his 2nd time ever doing this drill he did great!
Clyde is learning some advanced steadiness and should be a quick learner on the steadiness side of things. His crux is running with a brace mate and odor threshold to tell him to stop and point. No issues. We'll work on all of that too.
We will soon transfer all e collar pressure to the neck since that is how he will actually hunt.
If you want your dog to be a great field companion contact us about our September and October class. You're not going to find a better deal on all the opportunities offered in that class!
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Libertycaninellc.com
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#huntingdog #pointingdog #gsp #germanshorthairedpointer
Training a Puppy?
Puppies are fun because they're super food motivated, want to play, and want to interact with us. I use that to my advantage to shape a bunch of behaviors.
The trick is to have dedicated training sessions, dedicated crate times throughout the day, and mix in some "on the spot" training.
On the spot training is simply luring, guiding, asking for a behavior you've been working on but strategically throughout the day at places like door thresholds. I only ask for one at a time and the rewards are a little different. I usually train with kibble so I might use a nice treat instead. This only happens 4 or 5 times a day so there shouldn't be a whole bunch of crazy treats being tossed around. Also lots of praise and play after.
By doing so we're building a lot more context and value to environments and behaviors. As always use your leashes, markers, etc to set your puppy up for success.
If your puppy needs training contact us soon about our upcoming classes in May, June, July.
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Libertycaninellc.com
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#gwp #germanwirehairedpointer #puppy #puppytraining #puppyobedience
Progression by seizing small wins.
Don't try to train the whole behavior at once. Take "place" for example. First ask 1 paw on the board, 2 paws, 3, finally 4. Always forward never back.
If your dog needs obedience training contact us quickly about our upcoming classes!
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Libertycaninellc.com
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#labradorretriever #lab #dogtraining #obedience #dog
Been taking calls on tug lately from bird dog owners. The response has been fantastic!
So I'm going to do a few short clips demonstrating some of the process and techniques since they are so commonly requested.
In this video you can see the tease up. I start nearly all my sessions like this. It's a classically conditioned cue that let's the dog know we're about to work for a high value reward, it's get them in the correct state of mind.
You can see his "Out" is nice and clean. When first starting this process I take the dog off the tug myself, I never let them give it up. We're building some possessiveness. Teaching the out is easy and we can do it later. There's absolutely zero reasons to rush.
You see I let him WIN. I can not over state how important this is. They NEED to win more than they get removed from the tug. You see he punches forward and I let go. We'll break down pressures and turning them off in another post.
Lastly you'll notice I'm using a marker. If you're not using a marker you're really doing yourself and your dog a disservice. In my opinion the marker is the most valuable "tool" in dog training aside from maybe the e collar.
Remember keep this FUN it's supposed to be!
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Libertycaninellc.com
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#tug #markertraining #pointingdog #pudelpointer
Have thought and purpose behind every session. You should be working towards a small goal, it's always about the small achievements. This was Bowes first session with out me holding the leash and I'd say he crushed it. Well done Bowe.
If your dog needs training contact us quickly about our June class.
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Libertycaninellc.com
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#aggressivedog #bitedog #behaviormodifcation #obediencetraining #success
Lily is super fun to work with. Smart, active, engaging. All the things we want in a board and train. We're on 2 a days, transitioning to a verbal marker, and should start e collar conditioning very soon.
If your dog needs training contact quickly about our June class as it's filling up fast.
Follow 👉 @liberty_canine_llc
Libertycaninellc.com
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#bordercollie #obediencetraining #dogtrainer
Totally different dog!
Piper has made leaps and bounds in her training and confidence. We're now moving on to what I call our "living space" which includes mostly positive punishment and variable rewards. She's collar conditioned to all behaviors and now we'll give her the choice to make mistakes and build even more drive for behaviors thru the variable reward. I really enjoy working with her!
If your dog needs training contact us soon about our June class!
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#germanwirehairedpointer #operantconditioning #outsidethebox #dogtraining
Murphy was very happy to accompany me to lowes. He performed the way a well trained should.
If you're dog needs training contact us soon about June Class.
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Libertycaninellc.com
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#dogtraining #dogtrainer
Jack aced his final exam! Extremely impressive for a puppy that's still losing his puppy teeth.
This program doesn't focus on down in motion or off leash heeling, but if the dog is ready I don't stop moving forward. Jack was ready and as you can see he understands the assignment.
Jack has been a ton of fun. He's challenged me, taught me some things, made me think about things a little differently. I've never seen a dog with so much opposition reflex.
Excited for his go home lesson today and sad to see him go but I know he'll do great for his family.
If your dog needs to work on their behavior contact us quickly about reserving your place for our June Class.
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#poodle #poodlesofinstagram #puppy #boardandtrain #dogtrainer
What a transformation.
You've got to give your dogs a job folks. They need fulfillment, they need a purpose, they need an outlet, they need to be challenged.
Piper showed up very nervous and was a pretty big flight risk honestly. We had to get some obedience knocked out just to start bird work in the field but I knew once that happened it would all click. So I worked quickly to get an offleash recall as fast as I could and we hit the field.
Since starting field work Piper has turned in to a completely different dog. Happy, outgoing, engaging. She can be startled still but wow what a difference it makes when we build drive and give a dog a purpose and meaning.
This elevation in self confidence for her has shown in the rest of her training as well. I really enjoy her.
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Libertycaninellc.com
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#buildconfidence #gwp #germanwirehairedpointer #dogtraining
