Merry Christmas
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 🐾🎄❤️🥳
Let’s talk dog introductions.
I want you to think about what you see in this short clip of Ranger (GSD) and Cash (Aussie/Border Collie mix) meeting each other for the first time.
Notice how much the dogs are actually moving round each other. They are sniffing the other dog’s whole body, NOT just their face. This is very important when dogs meet one another on or off leash.
Also notice how much they each tip away with their heads. Smelling the other dog and then tipping their head away, then returning to smell (gathering more info about the other dog). This is to defuse any tension during the introduction and getting to know the other dog.
Ranger is more confident in this introduction as he is in a familiar environment and I use him for dog introductions all the time. Notice both his tail (slight loose wag) and head are held high, but not stiff (or frozen).
Cash on the other hand is slightly nervous during this initial introduction. You can see how his tail is down and slightly tucked at first (up by his butt area) and his ears are back. However, as you watch Cash gets more comfortable and his tail and ears start to move into a more relaxed “neutral” position.
Also note that both dogs have fairly loose bodies, meaning neither of them are super stiff or immobile. And neither dog is giving the other strong direct eye contact. Which can definitely lead to an issue and result in a fight.
#thebalanceddogmi #rescuedog #dogbodylanguage
My dog barks at EVERYTHING!!!
Sound familiar?
Well my Chihuahua, Wigeon barked literally at anything and anyone she saw while riding in the car.
She thought it was necessary for her to bark and look “scary” (if an eight pound chihuahua can look scary)😜.
So we started working on changing her conditioned emotional response (reactivity due to fear) to her trigger, which was people and dogs.
I started by driving to a large parking lot or park and parking my car far away from all the action, but close enough we could still see a few people or dogs milling around at a distance.
I would bring several of her favorite high valued treats (as she is a foodie, through and through)
Then when we saw a person, I would verbally label it “person”. If it was a dog, I labeled it “dog”. Then while she was barking her head off, I would swipe the treat in front of her nose and call her name. She would follow the treat and look in my direction (away from the person or dog) that’s when I would mark the behavior of turning away with a “Yes! Good Girl!”.
I would then allow her to look back at the person or dog at which she would bark again because changing an emotional response takes time, consistency and repetition.
I would verbally label again (person or dog) and repeat the process.
👉🏼 Often people that don’t understand how dog’s learn or mammals for that manner, think well by doing this you are rewarding the dog for barking. When in reality I am changing my dog’s emotional response from fearful reactive to calm and observant. I don’t want the sight of people or dogs to stress her out, plus constant barking is annoying.
So by labeling the trigger “person” or “dog” and following that with rewarding for turning away. Helps the dog learn that:
1) seeing a dog or person produces treats, build positive association.
2) the dog is able to turn away to alleviate some of the stress that starts to build just by the sight of the trigger.
A Great Mental Game for dogs that like to chase.
⭐️ In & Out ⭐️
You can also think of it as Come & Away.
The point of this game is to cue your dog away from you (or Out) and to also cue your dog to come to you (or in).
You can play this game inside or outside, just make sure you have enough space for your dog to chase after the tossed treat. I often put the dog on a long line, if I am outside and not in a fenced in area. (In the video Buck and I are working inside the dog yard)
1) Start with some high value treats that are big enough for your dog to see you toss them. I am using cut up Hot Dogs.
2) Show your dog the treat or pass it in front of their nose. Cue “out” and toss the treat away from you.
3)Once your dog reaches the tossed treat, mark with a “good dog” or “yes”.
4) Once your dog eats the treat and looks up at you, Immediately Cue “out” again and toss another treat in the opposite direction away from you.
I cue the out a few times or so to get the dog engaged and “on the chase” for the treat. After that I will randomly add and “in” cue (or your “come” cue) Rewarding the dog on coming all the way back to you.
This game allows your dog to engage in their chase behavior and also works a little bit on their impulse control, as you’re putting in some come when called in the middle of your Chase game.
Also dogs love this! It’s a game to them and they don’t even feel like they are “working” even though you are teaching them two different commands (or cues) at the same time.
Give it a try and see what your dog has to say about it. 🐾
🐕Don’t Rush The Process🐕
This is what your heel on leash should look like before you start working off leash outside of a closed environment. Some dogs may require more “check ins” or eye contact with their handler during the heel to help them stay focused on what is being ask of them. This will depend greatly on the dog. So if your dog is highly environmentally motivated or young and easily distracted, asking for more handler focus during heel training or practice is greatly beneficial.
In this short video you will see Alice who was with us for a few weeks this past summer. She had fairly nice leash manners to start with so I spend a good amount of time working on teaching an automatic heel as soon as we started walking.
Alice required minimal check ins and I worked on having her keep pace with me in the heel position, this makes for a pleasant walking experience, especially on hikes.
*Tip*
Even when I am focusing on the Heel exercise, I make should to give the dog intervals of loose leash walking and sniffing breaks. Sniffing breaks can be great rewards for a job well done.
#thebalanceddogmi #positivereinforcementtraining #rescuedogs #fosterdogs
🐾 Back to the walk! 🐾
So, we have discussed loose leash walking, eye contact and how to start working on teaching heel.
In this video I am working with Blueberry on these very things.
What you will see:
- I stop moving forward when she pulls.
- I loop back around to get her back into heel position. (This gives the walk a natural flow without allowing the dog to pull)
-I verbally mark the heel “spot” and then reward with a treat.
-the whole time we are moving forward unless she pulls.
This exercise also helps teach the dog to stay interested in you and continuing to engage with you.
*TIP* reward as close to your dog’s face level as you can to avoid jumping for the treat.
This is much harder to do with smaller dogs.
If your dog starts to jump up towards your hand for the treat, tuck your hand back into your chest momentarily, then reward once your dog’s feet return to the ground. You will see me do this a few times with Blueberry when she gets excited and tries to grab for the treat instead or wait for it to come all the way to her.
🐕🚶🏽♂️
So how is your recall coming along?? 🗣🐕
In this clip I’m working on recall with Buck in a brand new environment. We did a nice 20 minute sniffing walk (also working on loose leash) before we started to implement the Recall cue. I like to do this to give the dog, especially a puppy time to investigate their new surroundings. This allows the dog to take in many of the smells, sights and sounds they they may be unfamiliar with. Which will help build your dog’s confidence over time and relieve any anxiety caused by the new environment.
After we had time to investigate, I started working on recall. Here you will see me cue (we are using “IN” as our cue for him) verbally, as well as, using a dog whistle. I choose to use both for better auditory range in the field, since I am training him for hunting. We are also working on Sit and Eye contact in this short clip. Remember in these beginning stages of learning, I am rewarding 100% of the time, so for every correct follow through.
I was very please with this session, especially because we were some place he has never been before. 😁🐾
If you compare this video to the clip of us in my Teaching Recall Video you will see his noticeable progress. 🙌🏻
#positivereinforcement #positivereinforcementdogtraining #thebalanceddogmi #rescuedog #mamaboy
⭐️ Pack Recall Practice ⭐️
Just a short clip of myself randomly calling the dogs and reinforcing their follow through.
#thebalanceddogmi #positivereinforcement #rescuedog #fosterdogs
Cooper and Heel
So, here I am working with Cooper (former rehab dog) and marking the heel postion when he comes into it. We are moving around a couple of cones. I am also throwing a couple of Place commands in there as well. He is off leash, because at this point of his leash work we had just started working some off leash things. Plus there is no leash tension for Cooper in this exersice because he is not on a leash.
Remember if you want follow through from your dog in off leash situations, you have to train for those situations. This is a great exercise to do in the house or in a fenced in yard. Often times I will start with the dog on leash and just drop the leash as we move along.
This is an exercise you do after your dog starts to understand the concept of heel. This is NOT a starting point exercise.
🐾This video is an example of me working on Heel with real world distractions.
This is Blueberry, who stayed with me for a couple of weeks last spring. She is an on the go girl and gets overstimulated by EVERY little thing in her environment. So, this exercise at the park was a huge step for her. You will see I am making a zigzag pattern as we slowly move closer to the kids playing on the playground equipment. She gets a verbal mark when she is in “heel” position followed by a high value treat. I think I’m using cooked chicken for this one specifically. You can also see how distract Blueberry gets, but also how she will check back in with me. Also notice that I’m not yanking or pulling on the leash, I’m just changing direction and waiting her out when she pulls. We only worked on this for about 5 mins and then moved away to a less active spot to give her a break and some sniffing time (Facebook will only let me post 1 minute videos 🤷🏻♀️).
🤔 So, remember to take your environment and its distractions into consideration when working on things with your dog. Plus Don’t forget to match your reward value to your stimulus value.
Leash Work: Harold and Zeus
So one of the reasons I work heavily in positive reinforcement when training dogs, besides the fact that it facilitaes learning, is it also gives the handler wiggle room for timing mistakes. Because trust me you are going to make mistakes when working with your dog.
In this video Harold is working on leash walking with Zeus. You will see Harold not reward Zeus for checking in with him a couple of times as well as Harold gives Zeus a treat even though he does not sit. And guess what that's OKAY. Mistakes happen!
It takes LOTS of practice to get really good on marking behaviors, whether good or bad. I see far too often people over correcting their dogs for other behaviors, then what THEY THINK they are telling their dog not to do. This can lead to major behaioral issues down the road. However, when using positive reinforment the impact is far less severe. Yes, you are going to accidentily reward the wrong behavior, Yes, you are going to be too slow on marking a behavior you want, these are all NORMAL as you learn to work with your dog. The point is that you can make these mistakes and keep improving without causing greater issues with your dog and their learning process. Is Zeus still walking with Harold and paying attention to him even though his timing is far from perfect, absolutley!
So let's keep at it and remember if you mess up that is okay and to just move on or reset depending on what you are working on. 🐾😁
#thebalanceddogmi #positivereinforcement #rescuedog #positivereinforcementdogtraining
