Garmin has to have surgery in a couple weeks and it will result in him having to wear a cone for a few days, and he’s notorious about not liking new things, so we have been working slowly on making him comfortable with this inflatable donut. This is our third session. First session was with it not at all inflated, second session was with it halfway inflated, and this is almost all the way inflated. He’s being reinforced for being okay with it around his neck, being fastened and unfastened. In later lessons, I tossed treats for him to run and get to get used to moving with it on. When your dog needs to wear something (a cone, panties for dogs in heat, booties, etc), it’s always a good idea to practice BEFORE you need it. Be proactive in your planning and don’t rush the process. And training in your pajamas is always encouraged. Happy Training and Hapoy Dogs. #LLRcanine
I know it’s been quiet here. I’ve been focused on spending a lot of time with Gracie (who is now 13.5) and Garmin (who is nearly 11). As they get older, focusing on quality time with them feels increasingly important, as I am sure you guys know and understand. Gracie is a little too old now for long walks (though she loves her daily short jaunts with me), so we focus on other ways to stimulate her brain. She and I took scent work classes a couple of years ago, and though we never competed, she always excelled at it and enjoyed it. We haven’t practiced in a while, but last night I hid a few treats in my kitchen and she went right to work. Working your dog doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive., but it should be something your dog enjoys (even if their silly brother crashes the party). Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
Trapper and River are nearing the end of their Basic Skills journey. Tonight I decided to try to increase the difficulty of some leash walking games. Here we are using a version of Leslie McDevitt’s Chair Game from her Control Unleashed program. These games rely on patterns. In this game, the treat is placed on the chair, and when the dog looks at the handler, they move to the next chair. what made this challenging tonight is that I actually had the teams crossing paths and not working parallel. Both of these dogs are under 7 months old and they LOVE to play together, but they conquered this lime it was nothing. you may also notice that both dogs are on harness (and Trapper is nearly hands free) and we are getting LOVELY leash walking. When you trust your training and stop relying on the tools to do all the work, you get brilliant results. And very happy dogs. I’m so proud of these two teams and how far they have come in such a short time.
Happy Training. Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
Check out River showing off his leash walking skills! For a young, exuberant puppy, this is outstanding. Notice, too, that Allie is getting this behavior on a back clip harness—it’s a myth that a harness will cause a dog to pull. Dogs pull because that’s what has always been reinforcing to them, so in class we teach them not pulling pays off more. As a fun added bonus: anyone know what kind of dog this handsome boy is? Post your guesses below. Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
Check out River (and Allie) and Trapper (and Allison) working on the “one for you, one for me” game. This is a version of teaching an error free leave it. The dog learns there is no need to go for the pile of food because if he is patient, he will get reinforced for that good choice. We gradually make this harder as we progress through the steps. I’d like to point out three things: first thing is that these dogs had just started working on this maybe 2-3 minutes before I started filming. The second thing is that I want you to notice how quiet and calm this exercise is. The dogs are chilled out, there’s no cue or correction. Just reinforcing very good choices. Third thing? Look at those tails go. These boys are having a blast.
For those interested in Basic Skills, it looks like a new one will start on March 27. And those looking for Intermediate, we are looking at an April start date. I tentatively have only one spot in that Intermediate as I have three people who have already expressed interest.
Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
Tonight we started on mat work. We did this primarily through shaping. When we started, Trapoer would sit on the mat, but he would not lay down. After a little work and a lot of patience, it suddenly clicked and he was offering the finished behavior like a pro. When he is offering it consistently, we will add a verbal cue, but for now, look at this good, happy boy! Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
Please keep your dogs warm and safe in this brutal cold. Gracie and Garmin LOVE snow and cold, but they can only last about two minutes outside today. If you rely on walks for potty breaks, consider booties for the future. They will need to be conditioned to them, but it will protect feet of you have to be put for longer stretches. Hope you all are warm and safe! Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
Check out Stella (on the left) and Sam (on the right) playing The Chair Game from Leslie McDevit’s Control Unleashed program. This pattern game is great to help work on moving smoothly between two visible objects. The guidelines are simple: you don’t move to the next chair until your dog indicates they are ready by looking at you. When we started this game today, Sam was jumping and was a bit unfocused, but after less than a minute, we were getting this beautiful focus. You can even see at one point he looks at Stella and then looks at his dad to continue the pattern. It was perfect!! Both teams were very excited about how quickly their dogs caught on and we talked about how they can apply this in their day to day walks. As Leslie always says, patterns are powerful! Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
Nothing overly interesting about this video. Just two amazing senior dogs doing their thing. As dogs age, little moments like this are so good to see. And both of mine (Gracie 12.5 and Garmin nearly 10) are still active, happy, and playful. They still love their daily walks, their romps in the yard, barking at birds, and playing like loons. Hope you and your dogs enjoy today! Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
Gracie and I took a little stroll to enjoy the weather today. Notice she’s out in front but not pulling. I’m okay with this. You have to decide what you are okay with when it comes to your dog and your walks. Hope you enjoyed the weather today. Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
A little video of Basic Skills students playing The Chair game from Leslie McDevitt’s Control Unleashed program. These three dogs just learned the game a few minutes prior and they did so well practicing solo that I decided to go ahead and try some parallel work. And they all did fantastic! Koga and Jango have some history of barking and lunging at one another, but look at those two good boys walking side by side! And Oliver is learning how to stay with his mom and not pull or jump around. All in all, it was a very successful addition to class tonight. Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
As promised, another video of the handsome Jango. This time he shows off his mat skills. This had been a struggle for him as well and Sara said it suddenly just clicked for him and now he’s doing it from a distance. I love watching teams learn, grow, and connect together. Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
Meet Jango. Jango is a high energy boy who was added to his family during the pandemic, so he didn't get a lot of exposure to things outside the house. His person has had struggles in the past, especially with walking. He gets overly excited and pulls a lot when he sees things (and people and dogs). So last night I tried the clicker with him and the change we saw in him in a few short minutes was remarkable. Yesterday she emailed me mentioning that the clicker had to have some magic in it because she can't believe this is the same dog because he has made such strides in a short amount of time.
This is a prime example of adapting to meet your dog's needs. Jango needed a bridge between the behavior and the reinforcement to help him understand what Sara wanted--and the clicker was just the thing we needed.
I am so proud of them for working hard to find something that works for him and for them as a team. Stay tuned for another video of this cute boy tomorrow! Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
If you guys remember my journey with Garmin in the car, here’s what happens when we don’t practice for a while: a relapse. And that’s okay. We will work through it and he will bounce back, but you can tell here how stressed he is. He’s throwing all kinds of good stress signals for you to see(my boy has always been easy to read that way). The reason I’m sharing this is because this is what happens when we don’t practice behaviors. Dogs can relapse, forget, or go back to practicing the not so great. Good news is that since he has a foundation, he will be able to make strides quickly. But, if you fall off the training routine and your dog starts to relapse, remember that dogs need routine and practice, so just get yourself back on a schedule and start again. All will be okay! Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
Last week Intermediate Skills worked on leaving food on a table alone. We have built to this slowly and gradually, but it is an effective way to help your dogs learn that food on a table isn’t theirs. Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
Quick video of Intermediate Skills last week working on going around objects. This skill is good brain work and a great body awareness exercise. Eventually we will fade out the food lure. Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
No real training video tonight: just an example of healthy play between my dogs. You should notice the back and forth, the play bows and the loose bodies. I love sharing videos like this so you guys can learn more about how dogs interact with each other when they are just being dogs. Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
I have roofers at my house today and it is loud. My dogs are alert barkers by nature, so I knew today would be a day where we would have to actively work on some positive associations. So before the roofers got started today, I grabbed a container of dog food and have been intermittently reinforcing them as the work is being done. They don't have to be quiet--I just give reinforcement when it gets very loud. As a result, the dogs starts to associate the loud noise with food and they start to calm a little. Neither of them are super relaxed yet, but they are laying here and paying a little more attention to me than to the loud noises and the things being thrown off my roof.
Being prepared for things like this that can potentially stress out your dogs is very important. They don't have to love it, but they do need to learn that you will keep them safe.
Watch the comment thread below for picture updates throughout the day.
Oh, and Intermediate Skills: remember we don't have class tonight. I will see you all next week. Basic Skills people: I will see you tomorrow! Remember it is a dog free night!
Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
Just sharing with you guys my work with Gracie and her scent work training. In her first class she was being taught to hunt and follow scent in the form of food. This second class starts to move away from finding food and finding odor. In this case birch. Her job is to let me know when she is in odor or finds the odor. I’m really impressed with what she showed me here today.
If you watch her body language, she’s starting to give some clear signs that she has found what she is looking for.
Also it’s interesting to see how she works on leash as opposed to off. I worked her off leash earlier and she was less methodical and more frantic. This search was much cleaner and she moved through the boxes quickly without looking to me for guidance.
Not bad for an old girl. Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
In Basic Skills tonight we worked on recall, which allows a dog to chase a treat and then run back to their handler to be rewarded. This method locks into a dog’s desire to chase and return to the point of origin. This led to a discussion in my later class about fetch and getting a dog to actually bring a toy back. I suggested the behavior be backchained. So, essentially start with the dog dropping the toy in the hand and then add distance slowly. This way the end behavior (toy to hand) is the strongest in the chain and the one the dog may do more reliably.
When I came home I decided to try to video a demo with Gracie. It’s not the most polished, but Gracie was so eager to work I couldn’t help but share it with you.
Gracie already has a solid retrieve and a solid return to hand, so she knows what I am looking for. Her cue is “get it” and she knows she is supposed to get this thing and bring it back to me.
But, this is how I would build it for a dog that may not always bring a toy back or hand it to you. First you may reward and interaction with the toy. Then putting it in their mouth. Then dropping it in your hand. Then going a few steps away and bringing it to you. And so on. A clicker works really well here, too, to mark the pieces of the behavior. I just didn’t have mine handy.
Eventually you will fade out the food rewards as the ability to chase the toy will be the reinforcement.
If you have questions about how to teach this or any other more complex behavior, please let me know. If nothing else, enjoy Gracie having a great time.
Happy Training and Happy Dogs. #LLRcanine
