“Impulse control” is a bit of a buzz phrase in dog training - the idea that your dog should have ‘self control’ and know not to interact with certain things in their environment.
This sounds a bit vague to me. After all, dogs have no concept of right or wrong… they only know what actions produce consequences - ie: pulling towards the nuggets box sometimes gets them discarded leftovers!
Instead of putting the responsibility on my dog to know what I DON’T want, I’m going to spend the time showing her what to do instead: “That box is just a distraction - I want you to walk with me!”
And the results speak for themselves - long & loopy lead, matching my walking speed, and only looks over at the box before coming along when cued. Proud of my girl ☺️
(Eagle eyes will catch @jinks_bordercollie doing some lovely heel work past it as well!)
“Hold an object” is not something Kira naturally does - in fact, her genetic make-up tells her that she should shred and kill said item instead (we have lost one of these Kong Stix before to those teeth!). So this is tricky for her! She had to:
1️⃣ Gently take an offered object
2️⃣ Keep hold of said object without biting it in half
3️⃣ Maintain that soft hold until cued to release
You can tell I was pretty happy 😅 I forgot to take it out of her mouth before partying 🎉
#dmwyd #hold #unicorntrick #bullterrier #bullterrierlove #trickdog #forcefreetraining #positivereinforcement
Kira had to be fasted for a routine dental yesterday…. That means no snacks on our walk.
😱 THE HORROR! 😱
However, our skills are practiced often & consistently, so we now have a strong reinforcement history for walking politely next to the human. Loose lead walking is a difficult skill for both ends of the lead…. But every second of practice is worth it when we can go for a walk without my arm being dislocated (even if snacks aren’t allowed!).
Handsome Iroh learned that walking with mum can be fun! Our dogs often learn to pull on lead as a way of accessing things they want (smells, dogs or people!), so we took it right back to basics to help him build some strong foundations before adding distractions. Awesome work Team Iroh!
One of the more common issues I hear about from clients is vacuum chasing dogs! Luckily, with some solid foundation skills, this is an easy enough problem to work through. Kira has greeted our new Roomba very appropriately and is now completely uninterested…. Plus my floors are clean 🙌🏻
I love setting things up that don’t *look* like a training exercise. I pre-loaded these rocks with small treats before directing Kira to investigate. She just thinks this is a fun game, but during this exercise, she is:
🐾 Using her nose to locate the hidden treatos.
🐾 Engaging her muscles to navigate uneven surfaces.
🐾 Using her body awareness to stay balanced & stable as she moves around.
What games have you played with your dog today?
