Working on “tell me” with Rooster.. this had a hilarious backfire during a lesson. I was working with another client, on reactivity, and this dude starts barking at me during the lesson 😂😂😂 I didn’t want to discourage it, so I just let it happened, and had a good ole chuckle.
Marty, a.k.a Mcfly, working on “place”
Why teaching learning theory can be helpful for your clients:
Johnny: I know you have plans to do these things but could we work on these areas?
Me: yep!
Also me: here’s the plan… we will shape it
Johnny: what do you think about this way (see video for his recommendations)
Me: let’s give a go… if doesn’t work after a couple of session; then we will switch up.
First session:
The greatest change I’ve made to the board and train program was adding private lessons. I don’t care if you come 6 days a week to work with your dog because it only makes us better.
These two are such a fantastic team
Expectations without expectations: expect to create without the pressures of perfection. This, to me, is the freedom to fail and succeed, so I can grow with my dog.
An example: a goal for most people is to teach puppy to come, sit, and shake. You get one peace of this complete, the puppy comes to you, and immediately move on to sit and stay. For me, I teach the dogs to engage and then I move on. My aim is to create more understanding and clarity with each event before I progress.
I dont think this one will make the edit 😂😂😂
Things worked on:
Mom is behind the fence to protect her from all of the jumping because he has some separation anxiety. That anxiety creates a lot of energy for mom to use in her heeling. I don’t care if he barks here because he is paying attention: He can leak here, he jump here (he cant touch us. hence the fence to help with timing, relaxing, etc), but we’re going to cap/direct all of this energy into our work.
We worked on his heeling, reactivity, being touched, out of sights and he drives into her or me when she leaves. He does get distracted a bit but that’s why we train.
In the beginning, we do have a lot of fun, but I make sure we understand that we are headed into battle. I try to place an emphasis on recognizing bids/repairs dogs offer, because once we leave comfort town and check into “oh sh*t” hotel. Things go to sh*t.
We attempt to offer the exercise a purpose and an escape, so we can pressure and release the emotional responses we experience while staying at the hotel. Long story short: these brothers fight, so we build the ability to engage when things are right, and how to handle them when they go wrong
We worked around Tonto, the gentleman pressure washing the house, and her giving me the paw. In a perfect world, it’s going smoothly. Now to push it until I can do it with stickers in her paws
I could force him, which I am here, I guess I should offer context to the word force: I am not allowing him to choose the kennel. This is the real trouble when it comes to my beloved way of shaping. if the environment is not setup for the them to choose the right thing; it kinda goes to sh*t, at first.
Dog training is a game of repetition, so I must pay attention to outcomes. If I don’t like it, I can change it. If I love it, I still pay attention to it, because I must be willing to abandon it/start over if necessary. This continually gives us the opportunity to grow together.
This is why I don’t stress perfection; it allows me to explore unbothered by the mistakes made by myself and the dog. If I am I not stuck in one way of thinking, I can adjust if needed. If I have to many options to choose from, then I choose. I see how that road pans out.
Daisy is the first dog, I’ve come across, to ever be bothered by the stickers in the yard, and she will not allow me to just grab her paws, yet!
My next protection dog 😂😂😂
Say you do establish your “why” but you’re still unable to give that thing up. This thing, that I’m referring to, makes you feel good but you know it’s not good. You keep running back to it, so I would like to create some understanding; it is not a testament of the value of your “why”, the why is meaningful, but the other is too.
The other seems like an escape, we often crave/choose that escape, so battling needs to become a normality within ourselves for us to change. If things are this difficult for us, and we can actually articulate those things, imagine how difficult it is for dogs.
I encourage you to be willing to go the extra mile, be willing to listen to understand, be willing to fail, and be willing to try it again, because Behavior is no easy road to trek. The lessons you learn along the way are often difficult ones to learn.
