I am so very proud of this little guy! Coming from being terrified of the dremel, to now relaxing for a nail trim! To me, it makes no difference if the dog is sitting, standing, or laying down, as long as they are being good for the nail trim and aren’t scared, I will make it work! Great job bud!!
When Pluto arrived he was deathly afraid of the dremel and the high velocity dryer. Nail maintenance is such an important part of care! Dremeling can be a much more comfortable way to keep up on nails while also allowing for smoother shorter nails! The biggest reason we are working through the fear of the dremel, though is to build confidence in yet another area!! It is so important to find areas where dogs lack confidence and work through them instead of avoiding, to create a more resilient and well adjusted dog!
Dinner prep while this little cutie practices his duration on place! Duration is such an important part of training and this little guy is doing awesome!
Now that we have taken a few days to find out where this young pup is at in his understanding of commands it is time to start progressing forward! While he did have an understanding of the recall command he did not have a strong understanding of the “break” command (allowing him to leave command). This session we are working on both recall and break. Today was his first day starting on the ecollar. This means there was very low ecollar stimulation added when the command was given and as soon as he committed to the recall the stimulation was shut off. He was then rewarded with food once the command was completed. The food will be phased out later in training. At completion of the command he was told “break” and allowed to go do as he pleased. Once he was distracted he was called again!
We are so excited to introduce Pluto to our board and train program! This young boy is an absolute delight to work with, however he has come to us needing some help with his reactivity and prey drive towards cars and moving objects! We will also be working on his confidence with new people and dogs! While he is highly intelligent and loves to learn he is quickly distracted and needs help learning to slow down and utilize impulse control! He has been introduced to his basic obedience commands, but during this first week he will be learning to work for each of his meals while we determine exactly where is he with each command. During this session we are working on getting him to slow down and pause before place each time. Since he is such an eager, intelligent dog he tends to try to anticipate and jump to whatever he thinks you are going to ask of him. This is a great skill for shaping commands, but while working through reactivity and building confidence we would like him to calmly wait and look to his handler for direction in the future! For these pups fast is easy and does not take much thought, while slowing down and thinking through each step can be very difficult! I cannot wait to see this young dog progress!
This floppy dude is heading home this weekend!! As we prepare for him going back to his owners the last week is spent proofing in many different places with drills such as these. While it does not look very difficult or exciting this allows us to work through any stubbornness or bad attitudes!
One of the questions I seem to get asked more often than not is “will training change my dogs personality?” The short answer is absolutely not. Applying fair consequences for non compliance and bad behavior will never change your dogs personality. All of the commands are taught very clearly and hundreds of repetitions are done before ever applying a consequence for non compliance. Destructive and negative habits are quickly and unemotionally dealt with while building a relationship with the dog. If the dog does not understand what is asked of them, you cannot punish them for breaking command. Now if you mistakenly believe that negative behaviors like jumping on people, rushing through doors, never being able to settle down, and stealing items around the house are part of your dogs “personality” then yes, you will feel as if your dogs personality is being changed. Here during training the dogs are taught that inside is a place to be calm and well behaved and outside is a place to be wild, run around, and expel energy (within reason, of course). Teaching calm on command and holding a dog accountable is not “removing” your dogs personality.
Moose came in a little scared of the dremel, during his stay we have been working on reconditioning him so that this is no longer scary! This may never be dogs favorite activity - but that’s not the point. Our goal is to make activities like nail trims and baths non stressful experiences!
Even if the dogs who are in for training do not currently live with other dogs, I feel it is incredibly important to teach how to calmly coexist with other dogs. A structured walk is one of the many ways I teach this skill. Since the structured walk is a concept he has already been introduced to it was not difficult to add in a calm dog to walk with!
Once a dog has a firm understanding of the place command it is time for massive amounts of duration to proof the command. This is about a two and a half hour session and he absolutely rocked it! Yes there were a few times he broke command but that is perfectly normal at this stage. He was simply told “no” and guided back to the place cot!!
Now that all commands have been introduced with food and less pressure, we will begin fading the food out of training and start introducing the ecollar! This session was very difficult for moose as he is extremely easily distracted when outside! We are not expecting perfection as we begin adding more distraction, duration, and distance, we are only expecting progress as we move forward. Each time he breaks command before asked, or refuses to follow through, he is told “No” and helped with food and leash pressure!
Moose had previously been started on a number of commands including place, but since we are using a different vocabulary and need to make sure he has a solid base to build on; we are starting each of the commands from scratch. At this stage we are only asking for four paws on the cot, and for him to wait to be released to leave the cot. Anything over that including sit and down (without being asked) is rewarded.
