River’s Board & Train Day 7
Going to be HOT 🥵 today so we used our cool morning to work on adding finesse to her loose leash walking skills at SRR.
Working on auto sits when stopping, eye contact on the go & “Here” to set up in a sit at my side before we start walking.
River’s First Field Trip to practice Loose Leash Walking 🐶
River Board & Train Day 3
River’s 3rd Day of Board & Training Today ☺️
🌟 Working on Puppy push ups (sit, down, stand)
🌟 Targeting elevated bed for “Place” command
🌟 Name recognition & recall
Now introducing our training apprentices! 💙🐶
Now introducing our new training apprentices! 💗🐶
Have to love a good slow mo of ear flops!
Star working on a combination of automated sits for greetings & “settle” So impressed with her!
Seriously though, you don’t want to be this guy or gal!
It may be winter but I see spring is already on everyone’s mind! We are already booking up for Spring Break 2024, less than 1/3 of our spots left.
You may think with our formal building opening soon that availability may get better, but truth be told, we are strict about putting quality care & safety over volume. So get your reservations in now for any important dates in 2024!
Luna practicing loose leash walking downtown. #positivebaseddogtraining #goodgirl #boardandtrain
Yesterday with Luna, we worked a lot on “running recall game”, “the stay near me exercise” as well as her “down-stays”. We really want to keep things as interesting as possible and not focus on just one single command.
Down-Stays
We start with duration, then begin to add distance and distractions.
At 1:05, we are practicing a down-stay. I attempt to toss a stick as a distraction. She breaks the down-stay.
I correct verbally with an “ah,ah” and she does a wonderful demonstration of stopping herself. (Would’ve been worse if she reached the stick and realized ignoring my command to get a stick is more rewarding)
I ask for her to return to a down-stay.
When a dog breaks from a down stay, you must ask, “which caused them to break? Duration, distance or distractions?”
This time it was distractions aka the stick.
I knew she could ignore the stick but may need more rewards/reassurance to be successful.
So at 1:30, I pick up another stick. THIS time, I walk with it in my hand and approach and reward. Then I toss and immediately reward again.
So what’s the difference?
The first time, I picked up the stick: she already had eyes locked and ready to chase & received no reward for proper behavior as soon as I picked up the stick. I should’ve noticed, stopped and chosen a different distraction or rewarded more frequently the first time.
The second time, I picked up the stick and rewarded her down stay, reassuring and rewarding the proper behavior.
By 2:05, I did not need to offer a reward prior to tossing a stick. But I will often refer back as needed or adding significant duration, distance or distractions, as we are laying a foundation, we need to give her as much reassurance as possible!
We must always ask ourselves what can WE do to help our dog be set up for success. Rarely, if ever, is it the dogs fault. I am the first to acknowledge my short comings & try to improve. Yes, even the trainer is always learning and evolving. 🐕 Ha
Dog to dog play aka Maxi & Penny play.
They’ve become quite the pair, two puppies under 1 years old with no adult dog supervising/policing; it’s left to the handler to help teach pups to self regulate and recall DURING play, not just when it is over.
Both girls like to engage in mouthy play, common at this age and give each other a lot of proper cues & are building so much confidence with one another.
Both girls completed board & trains when they were younger & laid a good foundation in recall, with low to moderate distractions. Recall with other puppies or during play is often considered high distractions.
During play, I need to be more exciting & rewarding than the other dogs. I first start at a short distance and call excitedly, once in a sit or down, they are rewarded immediately. I may have them rest for 30 seconds to 2 mins and then calmly release back to play.
This helps them with first obvious one: recall but also learn how to self regulate and not be at a level 10 constantly around other dogs, showing they can come to a level 3 and be content also.
If left to their own devices during play, you’d likely see rowdy and rough play and a dog ignoring you when you are ready for the play date to be done.
Pop Quiz: Describe what body language you see between Axle & GSD in the comments.
Memory from 4 years ago with Axle 💜
Penny’s field trip to Cabela's was a success!
How Chase feels about having to work on the weekends 🤣🐶
Something about leaving a successful & constructive lesson just makes my day, especially when our dogs get to work with us 💚
