Summer is doing so well! In this video, we're working on a few different things. Of course, we're working on her loose leash walking and "sit," but we're also working on desensitization.
A while back, we noticed how skittish Summer got around moving vehicles. This is not an uncommon thing, but it can be dangerous if the dog gets freaked out and runs in the wrong direction. So we've taken a lot of time bringing her around moving cars, and showing her how to properly respond to them (by not responding). This is building her confidence, as well as her trust in me. We're so proud of her! 🐶❤️
Dawson is doing so well with his off-leash work. In this video, we're practicing his "sit," "stay," and "recall."
You'll notice that at the end of the video I didn't call him to me, I just returned to him. This is important because we don't want him to anticipate that I'm going to call him. If that happens, then he'll start to get up before I release him. So, when practicing things like this, we're varying the distance away from him, as well as what exactly we're asking him to do (in this case, "stay" instead of recall). He's doing so well! 🐶❤️
Summer is doing so well with her loose leash walking. One of the most important things to remember about small dogs is that they're still dogs.
Oftentimes, because they're so cute and can't cause as much damage, small dogs are treated as if they were human babies, as opposed to dogs. This can mean the person is carrying the dog all the time, or not letting them face scary or difficult challenges, or simply letting them get away with things because they're not going to cause much damage anyway.
What this creates is a dog that doesn't know how to deal with life, because they're either always rescued if they're afraid, or they're not given the boundaries necessary to know how to coexist or socialize. We've all met those small dogs who can't stop barking at everything, or will hide from everything.
So we want to ensure that we're holding small dogs to the same expectations that we hold big dogs. Just because they're small doesn't mean they're not capable. And Summer is proving that right! She's a rockstar with her loose leash walking, and her automatic "sit" is coming along nicely. We're so proud of this little girl! 🐶❤️
Reactive Dog Update: Dawson and Buddy
Dawson is doing so well that he's helping other dogs.
If you've been following the page for a while, you know Buddy. He's a reactive Australian Shepherd that we've been working with on-and-off for a while. Most of his triggers have gone away, but he still has issues with certain dogs. Dawson is one that he would've had issues with even just a few months ago. He's a little bit bigger than Buddy, and they've never met.
We were extremely pleased by how well he did. Not a single reaction, even when he first came outside and found Dawson on his property.
When it comes to reactivity (or any major behavioral issue), it takes time. There's no way around it. Building trust and habits take time and work. And Buddy's parents have been putting in the work! There's no way to fake this kind of progress, so it's clear that they've been really dedicated to helping Buddy grow.
We're also really proud of how well Dawson did! He kept a nice, loose leash the whole time, and his focus was perfect. He responded extremely well, especially being around a nervous dog that he's never met before. But part of BOTH of their success comes from the fact that they've both learned how to be calm around other dogs. So, even though they've never met each other, they trusted their handlers and maintained that calmness and focus. 🐶❤️
Copper is starting the day off right with a morning training session. Already he is learning the meaning of "place" and "break" and we're excited to see his continued progress.
Other than a little car sickness, Copper is all happy go lucky puppy energy and puppy attention span. "Place" helps us establish the foundation of trust, relationship, engagement and attention span.
Every new dog we get in we have to take the time to build a relationship from scratch, and earn the dogs trust. How? There are a lot of variable factors that we use as well but our go-to is teaching "place". The act of training your dog automatically will build a relationship, regardless of the methods or behaviors taught, our goal is to make sure we are seen as predictable, strict but fair. We are rewarding and encouraging while giving very clear expectations and guidance with very clear "yes" and "no" responses. We bridge the language barrier between us this way, as well a building the dogs trust for us and in themselves.
On a video of Dawson from yesterday (see earlier posts) there is another break down on "place" and it's benefits with confidence boosting at a later stage in training and HOW it works.
For now, Copper is only learning the foundations but it will be no time until he is a pro!
The thing to remember about confidence is that it comes from successfully completing a task. It doesn't matter how big or small the task; as they successfully accomplish it, they will become more confident in that situation. And I always tell people that everything in behavior is connected, so if we help him successfully complete this task, he'll be more confident in the next task, and the next one, and that'll translate to everything in his life.
You'll notice that, at first, because he was cautious about it, all I was asking was for him to put his front paws on it. But then, when I asked him to jump on it, he hesitated. In that situation, my job became to simply stop him from running away. All I did was stand my ground until he calmed down, and then we tried again. It only took one time of successfully jumping on it until he realized that it wasn't scary, and then we see him happily jumping up and down with just me pointing.
When it comes to fear, we want to decide if that thing is actually harmful. If it's not, then we want to help them get through that fear. As you see in the video, my job was to simply stop him from running away, and that put him into a situation where he had to find another way to handle this situation. When he chose to trust my judgement, and just jump on it, I rewarded him. This proves to him that I am trustworthy, and it builds his confidence in himself and in me. So I can continue doing this with a million different objects and he'll trust me more and more with each one, while realizing that he is capable of anything! We're so proud of Dawson! 🐶❤️
Dawson and Uma have been helping each other out recently. They are both energetic puppies who are learning how to control their impulses and be calm.
Dawson is working on his Existence Socialization around other dogs. Uma still has some fear-based issues that we're still working on. Because of Uma's skittishness, she moves around a lot and loses focus. With Dawson just learning his loose leash walking skills, they are great distractions for each other. 🐶❤️
Summer has been hard at work perfecting her threshold manners.
Summer has a bad habit of rushing the door and bolting out of excitement when guests arrive. So we're taking our time to build an "invisible wall" for Summer at the door. This is a technique we use to not only teach polite door manners but prevent running out the door by making it so that the only time she crosses the threshold is on cue, even if we -ourselves- exit the door.
Her only job is to stay behind the threshold unless given a cue word to follow. This is a drill that will be practiced until I can run out the door with her following and her stopping at the threshold anyway, but we always start with just us, the dog and as little distraction as possible.
She's doing such a great job!
This is an informative video that I screwed up with the camera angles. I'll be remaking the video, along with a lot more information, but I wanted to share this anyway.
A common problem that happens with small dogs, when teaching "down," is that, as you pull the treat away, then they want to stand back up. This is because they don't yet know the behavior well enough, so they're simply following the food upward. One way we can combat that is by getting down to their level and pulling the treat outward, towards ourselves, so it remains at eye level. Then, as the dog becomes more reliable, we can start to lift it higher and higher. Summer is doing so well. 🐶❤️
Is this an issue you've dealt with? It's not only something that happens with small dogs; it can also happen with big dogs. Did you find this tip helpful?
Here, Summer is practicing her recall cue with one of our favorite activities: The Name Game! We're calling her over to us, asking her to sit down, and then she gets a reward.
You'll notice, at several points in the video, Shalene ignores her and either looks away or walks away. This is because Summer was figuring out the game and started anticipating the next person calling her without us actually saying anything. Then, once she wandered off distracted, we restarted the exercise. With this game, we're trying to build an automatic response to her name, but just an understanding of the game. .
You'll also notice that there's a moment when Shalene simply waits for Summer to stop jumping up before she gives her the reward. This is important because, if her parents ever need to use this in an emergency (maybe she runs outside unsupervised), we want them to have enough time to put the leash on, or whatever they need to do. That's a lot easier if she's sitting down. So we want to be strict about her sitting when she gets to us.
Summer is doing so well, and we're so proud of her! 🐶❤️
Maxwell's Final Walk
5 years ago, my best friend (Maxwell) passed away from Degenerative Myopathy. The last 6 months of his life were rough as I watched his hind end deteriorating. My wife (we weren't married at the time) went out and made me a makeshift wheelchair out of PVC pipes, wheels, and tape, so I could take him out towards the end. This is the last walk we ever went on together.
There will never be another one like him. I miss him everyday. We've got 6 dogs, and we have board-and-train dogs here constantly, but none of them have ever touched my heart the way he did. 🐶❤️💔
An update on Dawson's Fetch: He's doing great. He's still learning, and still a puppy, so sometimes he wants to play something else, like Chase or Tug haha. But we and his parents feel that, for him and his household, Fetch is a better alternative than Tug (and we don't play Chase at all haha). So we're remaining consistent, and he's definitely getting better everyday! 🐶❤️
Updates for Some Minor Dog Training's Board-and-Train Program
