There is always something new to learn when you’re working with dogs! When we first started working together, Rye was extremely skittish and timid, yet at the same time, he came here because he had some mischievous puppy rambunctiousness that needed to be dialed back!
I could not fall back on the training methods I’d relied on in the past - he was so afraid of certain features in my yard that no toy or food was enough of a motivator to keep him at heel, or even to coax him to sit. Eventually I realized that what I needed to do was dedicate my efforts purely to gaining his trust. Sure, he was a sweet-tempered dog who readily accepted me snapping on a leash, coming and going from his kennel, etc, but what he needed was to REALLY trust me if we were to get anywhere.
I think it is a pretty common problem we humans have that when we set out to “train the dog”, we have a bit of a pre-conceived timeline in our heads. After over 20 years of training dogs, I had slipped into sloppy, generalized thinking: that two weeks would be fine to establish basic foundations in on-leash obedience. Rye has reminded me to pay attention to the individual at the other end of the leash! Once I slowed down and listened to what he needed, the trust was established, and we are now off and running!
Here’s a short clip from some proofing I did with Manny when he was here. Once your dog consistently sits, heels, etc in the environment where he’s used to working, start adding distractions. A crinkly plastic drop cloth following him was a bit creepy at first, but Manny quickly learned that everything will be okay if he just stays at heel with his human.
Here is more from Manny! This is now his third day here and he’s starting to predict me: At heel, he often sits when I slow down a bit, and is starting to pop to a nice quick “down” ever so often before I have fully given the hand signal/treat lure. He is also much more consistent about staying on my left rather than zigzagging all over under my feet - always a nice plus! As you can see, I am working to extinguish the paw-throwing habit. (You’ll see a repetitive series of “no” at one point when I’m trying to lure/signal a down. I want to help him understand that this paw-throwing thing is not always useful to humans, cute though it may be! He’s just being submissive and playful, but at the moment it’s too much. Paws flying everywhere when I go to put on his collar, etc! We’ll get it under control first and train a paw shake on command later.
Manny just arrived for some basic obedience and manners training. Here is our first session, using food lures to get him in the right place, and then pairing the command with the moment he is moving into the right position.
