Car Patterns!
Meet Mira! This little cutie is a recent addition to her family, and is working her way through a series of private sessions to help her adjust to her new life. Mira was originally a "southern rescue" pup who made her way up to Maine, into a local rescue group and eventually landed in her amazing home with her incredible mom who is dedicated to helping her live her best life.
Like many dogs who undergo such a BIG life change, Mira struggled initially. She was VERY fearful in the house, around people, and showed signs of not having lived in a home before. She also struggles with reactions to other dogs and people when taking a leash walk - the great big world is a little overwhelming for Mira. But maybe most challenging of all for her is her fear of the CAR.
This car fear is something we see often from dogs who have had long transport drives up into the state, or who used to be stray or "outdoor" dogs who have never ridden in a car, and it can be quite a shock for them the first time they get into a vehicle. Having a dog who can't ride in the car is a big challenge that MANY owners of these new pups struggle with.
So - here is a little clip of Mira working on her new car patterns to overcome her fear, so you can see the process!
1. At our first session, we worked with Mira on playing the "find it" game (treat tossing) NEAR the car, without any pressure on Mira to get IN the vehicle. For every treat we tossed TOWARDS the car, the next treat got tossed AWAY from the car - no pressure here girlie. Once Mira was comfortable bouncing around and playing near the car we worked on opening the car door, still without any pressure to jump in.
2. Mom found a great little "step stool" for Mira that works great to help her hop into the car more securely. She worked with Mira inside on learning how to jump on and off the stool, using it to get off and on the couch etc. before introducing it to the car.
3. We combined the two games, playing "find it" with the step stool
Meet Copper!
I posted this earlier and somehow it ended up deleted, so lets try again?
Everyone - meet Copper! A recent graduate of my Puppy 3 class a class designed specifically for teenage dogs and all the fun challenges that come with it.
Copper is currently up for adoption at Midcoast Humane! Whenever there is extra space in a class we try to get a shelter dog in for a little practice and to start learning some basic skills that can make them more adoptable!
Copper totally ROCKED in his class - at first being in a classroom with other dogs and people was VERY exciting for Copper - a typical bouncy, distractable teenager it was a struggle to get him to focus, he needed LOTS of food to distract him and some barriers to help him think.
He didn’t know anything other than “sit” when he started the class and NOW look at him! Cooper MASTERED “down”, learned how to settle so well shelter staff observances even calmer in his kennel than he used to be, loves doing hand targets, playing games to help him learn how to not jump, learned how to “stay” and “place” with a variety of distractions (as seen in this video) and worked on some loose leash waking skills.
ALL new dogs require time, consistency and training to get their behaviors “up to snuff” but whoever adopts this loveable boy will have a bit of a head start!
Copper would be a GREAT dog for a single owner, or couple or family without young children (too much energy for a household with young kids) he is smart, active and highly trainable and would love an owner who wants to continue teaching him new skills, taking classes and nice long romps in the woods. He is funny, bouncy and VERY bright.
If Copper sounds like a good buddy for you reach out to the folks at Midcoast Humane to schedule a time to meet him!
Meet Copper!
Everyone - meet Copper! A recent graduate of my Puppy 3 class a class designed specifically for teenage dogs and all the fun challenges that come with it.
Copper is currently up for adoption at Midcoast Humane! Whenever there is extra space in a class we try to get a shelter dog in for a little practice and to start learning some basic skills that can make them more adoptable!
Copper totally ROCKED in his class - at first being in a classroom with other dogs and people was VERY exciting for Copper - a typical bouncy, distractable teenager it was a struggle to get him to focus, he needed LOTS of food to distract him and some barriers to help him think.
He didn’t know anything other than “sit” when he started the class and NOW look at him! Cooper MASTERED “down”, learned how to settle so well shelter staff observances even calmer in his kennel than he used to be, loves doing hand targets, playing games to help him learn how to not jump, learned how to “stay” and “place” with a variety of distractions (as seen in this video) and worked on some loose leash waking skills.
ALL new dogs require time, consistency and training to get their behaviors “up to snuff” but whoever adopts this loveable boy will have a bit of a head start!
Copper would be a GREAT dog for a single owner, or couple or family without young children (too much energy for a household with young kids) he is smart, active and highly trainable and would love an owner who wants to continue teaching him new skills, taking classes and nice long romps in the woods. He is funny, bouncy and VERY bright.
If Copper sounds like a good buddy for you reach out to the folks at Midcoast Humane to schedule a time to meet him!
Family Dog Advanced!
The dogs in Family Dog Advanced have blown my mind and surpassed my expectations.
This hard working group is in one of my most advanced classes - all dogs have taken previous classes and have a good handle on “the basics” allowing us to really take things to the next level and challenge our learners.
Last night we worked on advanced Leave It games, heeling games, and finally a game I like to call “chatting with neighbors” where we ask our dogs to lie quietly, very close together while their humans have a conversation.
So many skills being learned here - owners are learning to split their attention between their dog and another person, how to use the appropriate rate of reinforcement to get the behavior they want and our dogs are learning they don’t get to greet a dog just because they’re in their space, and how to be calm and patient. Family Dog Advanced students Boone and Goose ROCKED this exercise!
Good job teams. We only have ONE week left in this great class - I will miss this group!
More noseworks magic!
Just another video demonstrating the power of noseworks. Here’s Rosie again, the same dog who was working with her muzzle in the last video, working on noseworks with ANOTHER DOG PRESENT.
For a highly reactive girl this is a HUGE WIN. She gets distracted a few times by the dog, but we seemlessly worked the dog distraction into our training (rewarding for seeing the dog) and directed Rosie back to her task (which she was able to do easily).
Without noseworks, Rosie would not have been able to be this close to another dog without having a massive emotional reaction. But by focusing on a task she enjoys that also creates calmness and helps her override her fear, she can start to learn it’s SAFE to be around other dogs.
Rosie will be enrolling in an upcoming Noseworks class i will be offering, to continue improving her ability to work and focus and feel safe around other dogs.
Also - SPOILER - nosework classes coming soon!!
Muzzle training and noseworks!
Miss Rosie has been working on muzzle training. She loves putting on her muzzle and eating treats, and now we are working on conditioning her to wear it for longer periods of time and while moving around. Rosie is reactive around other dogs and her owner would like her to be able to wear a comfortable muzzle on trails in case of dog encounters. Her owner said she was comfortable wearing the muzzle but would paw at it a little if the duration was too long. In our session this past week we worked on combining muzzle training with one of Rosie’s FAVORITE things…NOSEWORKS. At first Rosie was a little confused, she’s never done noseworks in a muzzle before, she shook her head a few times, pawed once and then quickly remembered her favorite game and got down to work! She did a few searches wearing the muzzle without any problem. Rosie’s mom is going to continue to use the muzzle when playing noseworks as well as starting to use the muzzle for a few minutes on walks to help her get used to it. Pretty soon Rosie will be confidently rocking her muzzle down the trail! Noseworks is so powerful ❤️
Goose On a Bucket
Family dog Advanced students are learning how to work on pivot bowls for hind end awareness. Step one is building LOVE for being up on the bucket. The bucket is a GOOD place to be where you get LOTS of treats and good things. You can tell Goose has been practicing his homework - he’s been getting lots of treats for putting his paws up on the bucket and staying there. In this class we were practicing tossing a treat away to see if our dogs would RUSH back to the bucket to put his paws back up. Goose sure understood the assignment! We also started to work on pivoting and moving our dogs around on the buckets - stay tuned for more videos, this group is crushing it!
Family Dog Advanced students worked on “paws up” in class last night. We will be introducing the dogs to pivot bowl and hind end awareness exercises in our next class and between now and then the dogs are supposed to get LOTS of practice doing paws up of different objects out in the world as well as getting plenty of practice at home stepping onto a book or a pivot bowl. The goal is to have dogs who LOVE paws up before we move onto the next step. Here is Guiness hard at work practicing paws up on his morning walk! Such a good student.
Maddie the SUPER dog
Sharing this from my personal page because I think you will all enjoy it!
Two nights ago was sitting chatting in the kitchen with my parents when Maddie starts to alert HARD on this hole in a brick wall.
I say to my parents “Maddie says there’s a critter in that wall” my parents are like “no there’s definitely nothing we have poison traps set up and haven’t seen any evidence of rats or mice in ages”
Maddie alerts over and over and over again so I went over to check and shine my light in the hole - BIG FAT RAT staring back at me.
Good dog Maddie. All the praises for the girl.
We blocked up the hole as good as we could and dad planned to call the exterminator Monday. Was very proud of Maddie who has only had one formal barn hunt session (which she of course took to very naturally)
Rest of the weekend Maddie keeps returning to the hole and alerting, following the rats scent around to another small hole and alerting there. Each time earning heaps of praise for her alert and rattie motivation.
This morning I come down to the kitchen and Maddie IMMEDIATELY starts tracking - the rat had pushed the stuff out of the hole, I watched her intently track his trail around the kitchen, till she ended at the pantry where she game a strong alert “RAT IN HERE MAMA!!” I checked to confirm and yes indeed Mr. Rat was sitting in the pantry, closed up the door and blocked it shut and left Maddie to keep an eye on him while I went to get my dad.
We formed a dream team of rat catchers extraordinaire- caught our rattie friend in a trash can and drove him off and released him away from the house. Maddie is SO proud of herself. And I am so proud of her too she was so persistent in telling us there was a rat even when we didn’t believe her initially, returned repeatedly to alert fiercely even without reinforcement, and waited politely in the background while we caught the rat, rather than giving chase and getting in the way.
I let her have a good long sniff
Drop The Leash - Parallel Training
Check out these rockstars in drop the leash class last night. We are almost to graduation and have been working hard the last five weeks on skills of engagement, impulse control/focus, proofing against distractions and more - and now we get to have fun putting all the pieces together! Here you see the dogs training side by side, moving around off and on their mats, training with their owners and ignoring the distractions around them including the other dogs and owners AND me walking all around them, talking to them and complimenting them. When you and your dog have a beautiful training relationship based on engagement and fun - it doesn’t matter what’s around them, they are happy to work! Are you looking to improve your dogs focus and control, their ability to work around distractions, stay connected with you etc.? Then you want Drop The Leash! New session - LAST session of 2024 - starts November 7th! Head over to www.problemsolvedtrainingmaine.com/classes to sign up! #positivedogtraining #positivedogtrainer
Puppy 3 students practicing stays!
Check out these AMAZING teenagers in puppy 3 class last night practicing approaching another dog and human and settling into a nice stay rather than rushing to greet the other dog or the person.
These types of skills can be a challenge, especially for a bouncy teenager, but practice makes perfect and these guys are crushing it!
The FINAL session of classes for 2024 starts in just a couple of weeks. Have YOU signed up for some classes with your pup?
Check out class offerings at www.problemsolvedtrainingmaine.com/classes and stay tuned as January classes will be released soon!
Shocking news report
THIS JUST IN! Sumi did not feel she was being adequately paid for her hard work in rally class. Despite numerous attempts to communicate her point of near starvation she was ignored by her owner and did the only rational thing a dog could do and collapsed and died mid-course.A formal report against the owner has been filled, we are waiting on the verdict and punishment to be handed out and will keep you updated on this shocking news.
