Puppy sitting tonight and we’re working on some basic things to help out his owners (my parents 😁) like patience coming out of the crate or when someone approaches the play pen/gate to the kitchen, touch conditioning to make nails, grooming, and vet visits much easier, and the “it’s your choice!” game for impulse control around food/to focus on me.
What’s your stance on retractable leashes?
I used to be 100% against them, no way, not in a million years should anyone use them. Now that I’ve changed my views on training in general, and trying one out, I’m in love! Now I still would never advise someone to use one with a highly reactive dog or untrained dog (I have witnessed dangerous behavior with dogs on these) but for hikes where you can’t be off leash, and don’t want to deal with the typical long line, these are fantastic tools to use. 🤩
Do you teach your dog to not run through open doors ESPECIALLY doors to the outside? Running through the front door is one of the biggest issues with dogs running away or getting hit by cars. Practicing every scenario in where the doors might be left open is critical even if you look silly doing it! 😆 #DogTrainingTips #PuppyTrainingTips #MichiganDogTrainer
One of Saylor’s problems at home is trying to mooch food off the grandkids in the house or off the counter, so we’re working on the very beginning of that skill, leaving food alone! This is his second round of working on this, I started first holding the bowl in my hand, slowly lowering to the floor. This is a more “errorless” way of teaching a leave it cue, as some dogs can get extremely frustrated and have food rewards poisoned if constantly taking food away from them.
Saylor is back for his second day of doggy school and you can already see so much of a difference! He’s comfortable, confident, and happy to work so we’re starting to utilize his love of a tennis ball in his training. Place on a new object and working on staying there until released. Good boy!!
Day Train client Saylor is here to learn some house manners after being raised at a hunting dog kennel for over 4 years and recently joining his new family! (Some may say I’m already smitten from wanting a working cocker spaniel myself one day 😉) We started out with some simple engagement games to get him more comfortable with me, the new house, and even Kitty who always has to make an appearance 🤣🤦🏻♀️ he was unsure of Kitty so moved her away to advocate for him, did a treat scatter and he was back to engagement!
When you’re sitting on the toilet and your young dog decides to bury his head in the laundry basket to find the dryer sheet 🤣 Moments like these I’m so thankful for having a trained bring and out (drop) cue 😅 And yes, I let him grab it again when I asked for the object as a reward! Sometimes allowing then the thing back after taking it (as long as it’s safe) can be a fantastic reinforcer and helps to avoid failure in the cue because they think they’ll never get anything back that you take.
When we tell you to work on distractions with your dog’s cues (Wrecker working on holding a down here) THIS is what we mean! 😂 If you’re not feeling embarrassed, you’re not being distracting enough. All of this was built with reward based training and light verbal correction if he broke his down earlier on in training, he currently wears an e-collar to get used to it being on (he is gear shy with many things even his harness at first) so we can eventually condition it to be a recall cue for lots of good high value treats!
If you want to have confidence your dog will hold a command when you ask, and come reliably when called (with or without tools) please seek professional guidance 🙂
Focused Heel Practice In Public!
Working with 9 month old Wrecker on his focused heel and down stays with distractions at the pet store! Our main reason for a focused heel is to eventually compete in obedience and rally, which is required. It also is a great tool for dog/handler engagement and relationship building. Is it necessary for every dog and owner? Definitely not!
If a focused heel is what you’d like in your dog, we will dive head first into it, if all you want is your dog to stop dragging you down the street on walks, we have other tools and foundation training to put that in place 🙂
