In this video, taken at a local home improvement center, Paula is doing leash walking skills with Aly that have luring drills layered into the training. This is a great way to take what a dog has learned and generalize it to new locations.
Six weeks ago we adopted Aly, an 11-month-old Belgian Malinois. She was picked up as a stray and placed at a shelter in Los Angeles. Ultimately Blue Man Dog Rescue (a wonderful rescue organization) took her in, and that is where we got her. She is extremely high in drive and was very outwardly focused. This video was made after we had her for four weeks. Proper use of energy and strong engagement are the first things that we train. Here, Aly is doing luring drills with Paula at a local home improvement store. When we first adopted her, there was no way that she would work in an engaged way outside of our backyard. Everything "out there" dominated her attention. These two videos show the importance of engagement that is generalized to many different locations.
Christine and Indy at Home Depot. Indy has come a very long way. At one time Indy would have been unable to even go into the store without completely stressing out. Christine has done a wonderful job with this great dog. Way to go!!
Play is an important activity for a dog with lots of energy. For an older dog still wanting to play, warming him up will reduce the chance of injury. When he plays tug, it is like us doing a weight workout. When he chases the toy, it is like us running. Add any level of skill work into the session and you are working out every part of the dog, physically and mentally. This makes warming him up very necessary. You will notice that I have Dikran do controlled movement in all directions before getting to the more active part of the play. This gets his body warmed up before he does any hard running. Care must be taken to not overwork an older dog, keeping the session appropriate to the dog's age, level of fitness, and skill level. In this video, Dikran is just shy of his twelfth birthday and in excellent physical and mental shape. His drive to play is as high as it was when he was younger, so I need to be the one to determine how much to have him do. This is true for anyone playing with an older dog. We want to keep our older dogs fit, active, and alert without causing any unnessesary injury.
Brushing the teeth.
The best way to brush the dog's teeth is to teach the handling of the mouth and the positioning on the back separately. Then, when both can easily be done, we put them together. When the dog is on his back you have an easy view into the mouth and can reach all of the teeth with the toothbrush. This will save you a lot of money down the road as well as saving the dog the ordeal of dealing with bad teeth and gums.
It's always a good practice to challenge your dog with harder versions of skills that they already know.
Training with Bruce and Maverick at the Rose Bowl with some very cool distractions.
Dikran's nap routine. It is important to be comfortable. After all, being a dog is hard work that requires proper rest and relaxation.