Art and Science of Dog Training

06/25/2022

Feeling smug. I’ve “trained” the starlings to vacate the feeder when I say “no starlings”—-true, this is a lesson that has to be re-learned (actually, I”m pretty sure they’re just programmed to test me) every couple of days or so. I have to be present and willing to follow through with a flick from the 8’ fly rod. BUT the really cool thing is that Rex the Red-belly is trusting me enough to wait until the starlings zip off. Like Pavlov: bell, dinner, drool. Eventually, you don’t need the dinner to get the drool. So: “no starlings”, fly rod flick, starlings leave. Eventually, the fly rod is not necessary (but always to hand). The cool thing, the really cool thing, is the trust of the other birds (bluebirds, finches, and now Rex!)

05/01/2020

I know some people are uncomfortable with the fact that dogs need to sniff each other’s butts to get the skinny on what’s happening. But butt sniffing is an important social ritual among polite dog society. It’s a behavior that has a huge learned component to it. Because so many dogs are removed from their litters and parents before 12 weeks....a lot of dogs don’t know how to butt-sniff right. And honestly, since we now have generations upon generations of dogs who have been removed way too early from their litters/parents—today’s puppy who’s lucky enough to stay with it’s birth family for 3 months, may still not have learned the right way to butt-sniff. First, a dog can’t be too intrusive/eager. Second, reciprocity. I sniff yours, you sniff mine. The dogs that tend to be super-amped up at the dog park? Watch them, chances are a lot of energy is going into non-reciprocal butt-sniffing.

Reciprocity and a certain delicacy are hallmarks of a socially adept canine.

04/30/2020

Day 1: Session 2

It takes me 3x longer to explain the equipment than to explain the beginnings of Loose Leash Walking. Seriously, equipment is everything. Well, almost. With ...

04/29/2020

Back in the Board&Train business. Quarantine has left me with the time and energy to start back up again. Message me if you have any questions. I’m in the Nashville, TN area.

Brody a 3m.o. Lab/Shepherd mix. Comes to my house to learn about Loose Leash Walking, house training, and how to cope with frustration (i.e., doggie narcissi...

02/14/2020

Sevvy continues to move around after the food bowl (and me) with her harness on. She’s no longer fussy about me putting the harness on and she can jump and move without doing kitty-paralysis drama!

02/13/2020

Update!!!! Sevvy is getting really good with her harness. We put the spoon aside for awhile because it requires more coordination than you’d think. But stay tuned!

02/02/2020

Definitely making progress here! I may start with the spoon and treats really soon!

02/01/2020

Okay!!! Feeling better today about jumping the gun a bit yesterday!!!

01/31/2020

I may have jumped the gun and pushed this a little too hard. (A frequent failing of mine.) But I feel like Sevvy’s resilient enough that if we have to back up, she’ll bounce back. There was a lot going on at dinner last night. All the dogs were extra-fussy, sometimes Sevvy decides to skip a meal....I dunno. The vibe wasn’t great at dinner last night. BUT everyone ate and NO ONE starved to death (there was that rumor going around). I’ll toddle off to get more of her favorite regular food today...it could be that my emergency go-to of canned salmon was too much for two days in a row. Or Sevvy was thinking about coughing up a hairball. Stay tuned.

01/30/2020

Sevvy & I have come to the conclusion that more space is needed to maneuver the harness, the food, the clicker, and everything! So, after making sure all the siblings & friends are on lock-down—we proceeded!

01/29/2020

Clicker training IS totally worth the effort. However, I’m never going to be blithe and breezy and tell you “clicker training is easy.” It’s not. It takes planning and coordination. BUT....if you do it wrong, no one is going to be permanently damaged for life. Which, honestly, is a lot more than you can say for any training that involves force/fear &/or pain (which, BTW, includes any sort of electric shock). On a good day, downhill with a tail-wind, I’m a mediocre clicker trainer at best. BUT...since I’ve added the clicker to our sessions, Sevvy’s attitude towards me has become more affectionate and she appears to even know her name! Two days before I started with the clicker, that was highly doubtful. In addition to this whole harness thing, I’ve been using the clicker to get her to default to running into her condo when I move to let the dogs out the front door. I don’t have outside cats. There’s a HUGE population of wild birds in my yard that need my support and care as much or more than my dogs or cats. Clicking and treating Sevvy running to her condo as soon as I move towards the front door (with or without dogs) is working really well. The harness/leash walking thing is probably going to take more time/effort...but clicking and treating my cat for defaulting to a safe place, totally rocks!

01/28/2020

The setup is everything. Also, I need one more hand! Tomorrow, I will have the harness set up around the bowl and somehow manage to click the clicker as I slide the harness over her head. We’ve doing clicker stuff today, rewarding Sevvy for going to the top shelf of her condo when I’m on the way to let the dogs in/out. So she’s gaining positive associations with the clicker.