Mountain House DogSports

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Placerville, CA
Mountain House DogSports

Drop in to attend a group session. The fee is $15.00 per session. Please contact me for private training.
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Mountain House Dogsports is a small training group located in the Placerville area(currently) with a commitment to stretching our skills as owner/handlers and helping our dogs reach their own unique potential.

07/11/2024

I'm going to try to keep myself accountable for my training goals by posting video here. Once upon a time, I was very disciplined about training, but I've gotten lazy without people to train with.
Prior to working this exercise, Baby Fred had to learn to go out and around a cone, which isn't a game he loves, but he will do it pretty reliably up to 8' or so. Then I throw in a return to heel, sometimes like this or sometimes luring around the back in a right finish. And them, for funsies, a return to front.
We did some pivots around the pot, and I'm happy with how glued his is to my leg!!

PS- happy to have training buddies, even if just virtual! Feel free to contact me!!😊

06/21/2024

Let's talk about a dog's ability of generalize a concept.
When you introduce a new behavior to a dog, the dog learns a cue "constellation" of sorts. You may think your verbal or physical cue is the relevant point to your dog, but dogs are more specific than that. They will wrap up the whole environment into their early understanding of the new behavior.
This is why, when you teach your dog to sit, say at home, in the kitchen, and then you go outside with the dog and it seems slower to respond or simply doesn't. Part of the cue is missing, ie the location in the kitchen. So, you get the dog sitting outside. Now take your dog to a park, with children playing nearby. Do you have to lower criteria again? Most probably. The new location and the presence of children aren't part of the original cue constellation. The dog can add them, but unless you train that sit cue extensively, in many different contexts, you can still expect to get failure to respond in new situations.
The dog is not being stubborn. He really doesn't know for sure. In dog training, we call this proofing. It means to help the dog generalize the concept of a cue.
"Oh," thinks our dog, after 1000 repetitions of sit in different contexts, "sit always means butt on the ground, anywhere, and even if mom's back is turned, or she is wearing a sombrero or there is a rabbit running between us."
And sit is a simple behavior! In obedience, you are taking complex behavior chains on the road. There's a lot of room for "known" behavior to break down.
So proof and proof creatively! Train for worst case scenarios! Ask your dog to prove she knows! Train everywhere. And don't hurry to trial. Set yourself up for success by building your dog's confidence in the task at hand.

I can easily think of a couple examples. Once, at a crowded indoor trial, the go-out went to a blank concrete wall. No ring gate. The failure rate was very high. Most dogs were thrown by the unfamiliar picture of the wall; they were used to seeing ring gates or stanchions or fencing. These dogs were well trained and "knew" the go-out behavior. The dogs adequately prepared to go out despite an unusual backdrop, had generalized the concept. The others needed more proofing.
Another: once at a trial, a dog was rushed and circled by a dog just after he was left on a down-stay for the group stays in Open(yes, a looong time ago 😅) That good boy stayed put and did not break! I'm quite sure the other dog had been taught to "stay", too. The difference? PROOFING. When that dog showed up in his face, the proofed dog thought "This is another one of Mom's tricks!! I know what to do. I wasn't born yesterday."
The other dog thought that "stay" meant stay at the training yard, or the club, or the backyard, or something. It did not mean stay when there were fascinating strange dogs around, at a strange place and Mom not around.
We will work on this in class as we progress, but you will always need to seek out training opportunities in a variety of places.

06/17/2024

As a dog trainer, I see how often the dog-human relationship is rife with misunderstanding. On a practical note, this has serious welfare implications for both, but esp for the dog. From a competitive standpoint, this means lackluster, imprecise, inconsistent performance.
You owe your dog clarity and motivation! You owe it to yourself, as well!
Obedience is basically a complex dance between dog and handler, a blend of precision and technique, energy and engagement. It's challenging and fun. In my perhaps biased opinion, it is one of the hardest disciplines in training to do well.
Which brings me to foundation work, which we are working on in class. This foundation is the basic grammar of your communication with your dog. Over time, these component pie es become a more complex whole, but if you ask for the whole before showing your dog the parts, you will have misunderstanding. For example, your dog cannot heel beautifully without a precise understanding of where to be, when to be, how to manipulate her body to achieve this position and the want, no, the demand to be in that preferred position.
So, foundation.
Can't wait to see our teams in class!

Video is of a client puppy playing with flirtpole for the first time. Isn't he awesome?! And yes, this too, is foundation.

06/13/2024

Good morning!
I thought I would post a short vid of me and Baby Fred doing some perch work. This is the progression once you have got good hind foot movement. Your dog should be able to turn all the way around the pot, both ways, facing your front. Next, you step back with one foot and lure the dog to twirl himself around the pot, and over your foot, with you staying in place.
Food placement is key!!!
You can see me bungle it (😆) and I tend to be a little high in placement, but in my defense I am used to taller dogs! Anyhoo, feel free to play around with this ahead of class if you like!
Remember to keep your sessions short and sweet! The dog should be still wanting to continue! Have fun! Post video!

This is my disclaimer: yes, I always look this....ahem...."disheveled" in videos 😅 I apologize, but will continue to look exactly this not-put-together, I'm afraid 😅🤣🤣

Address

Placerville, CA

Opening Hours

10am - 11am

Website

http://mountainhousedogsports.blogspot.com/

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Videos

I'm going to try to keep myself accountable for my training goals by posting video here. Once upon a time, I was very disciplined about training, but I've gotten lazy without people to train with. Prior to working this exercise, Baby Fred had to learn to go out and around a cone, which isn't a game he loves, but he will do it pretty reliably up to 8' or so. Then I throw in a return to heel, sometimes like this or sometimes luring around the back in a right finish. And them, for funsies, a return to front. We did some pivots around the pot, and I'm happy with how glued his is to my leg!! PS- happy to have training buddies, even if just virtual! Feel free to contact me!!😊

As a dog trainer, I see how often the dog-human relationship is rife with misunderstanding. On a practical note, this has serious welfare implications for both, but esp for the dog. From a competitive standpoint, this means lackluster, imprecise, inconsistent performance. You owe your dog clarity and motivation! You owe it to yourself, as well! Obedience is basically a complex dance between dog and handler, a blend of precision and technique, energy and engagement. It's challenging and fun. In my perhaps biased opinion, it is one of the hardest disciplines in training to do well. Which brings me to foundation work, which we are working on in class. This foundation is the basic grammar of your communication with your dog. Over time, these component pie es become a more complex whole, but if you ask for the whole before showing your dog the parts, you will have misunderstanding. For example, your dog cannot heel beautifully without a precise understanding of where to be, when to be, how to manipulate her body to achieve this position and the want, no, the demand to be in that preferred position. So, foundation. Can't wait to see our teams in class! Video is of a client puppy playing with flirtpole for the first time. Isn't he awesome?! And yes, this too, is foundation.

perch work

Good morning! I thought I would post a short vid of me and Baby Fred doing some perch work. This is the progression once you have got good hind foot movement. Your dog should be able to turn all the way around the pot, both ways, facing your front. Next, you step back with one foot and lure the dog to twirl himself around the pot, and over your foot, with you staying in place. Food placement is key!!! You can see me bungle it (😆) and I tend to be a little high in placement, but in my defense I am used to taller dogs! Anyhoo, feel free to play around with this ahead of class if you like! Remember to keep your sessions short and sweet! The dog should be still wanting to continue! Have fun! Post video! This is my disclaimer: yes, I always look this....ahem...."disheveled" in videos 😅 I apologize, but will continue to look exactly this not-put-together, I'm afraid 😅🤣🤣