Just a little video of Elsie and I having some fun.
Does your dog enjoy training/working? Will your dog do behaviours while holding their reward?
Why not give it a go
🔴 Indirect Rewards & Focus 🔴
A short video but with a fair bit going on. What's a distraction? It's somthing your dog wants, simple right? What is a reward? Its somthing your dog wants. Its what motivates your dog to work. With this theory, a distraction is nothing more than a competing motivator. Its a reward that your dog wants more than the reward your offering. Why is this important? Well if your having trouble with your dog not focusing on you and they are focused on other dogs, birds or people. Understanding that all those things are competing motivators to your dog make it easier to work on.
In this exercise im working with indirect rewards and Elsies focus. I have taught her to focus on me while her reward is on the ground. I have also taught her that she can focus on her reward and also listen to me. This can be such a handy tool if she sees somthing she really wants while out and about. If there is a competing motivator that far exceeds anything I can offer her, she will still listen to me for the chance that she may be rewarded with it. Which of course can't always be the case but this excise helps with that.
~ Lilly
💢 Luring 💢
Teaching your dog how to follow a lure may sound easy and is sometimes a step people oftern dont practice. If your dog doesnt follow a lure it can be hard to manipulate their body into positions you want (down, sit & stand) or onto an object you want like a bed. I like my dogs constantly pushing into my hand even if my hand is still. I want them to stick to my hand like glue.
Starting them young makes it easier and you can work on making it a bit of a game by after you give your Marker (with this puppy I'm using the word YES) you pull your hand away and they have to Catch the reward. This makes it more Motivating.
You will also see I'm starting to add some Downs as well. When you start working on positions try not to forget to still reward occasionally for pushing into your hand.
Skip is 10 weeks old in this video.
💢 Leash Manners & Making good choices 💢
Flexi leads can be such a great training tool. With this dog in particular it allows him to feel like he has freedom and let's us see if he will make good choices on his own. It then also give us the security to block him if we need to. We then condition the block with positive reinforcement so when he feels tension on the lead he will come back to get a reward. This means the block becomes an activation tool to get him back to where we want him.
What a standard training session looks like for Elsie and I, preparing for our trial for the dog sport IGP.
Some training session are focused and one thing but this one was just an over all obedience session minus dumbells and jumps.
There is a fair bit going on here so I will just cover the basics.
First is the obvious one, HEELING. So during a trial Elsie will have to be in a focused heel for majority of the trial and it will be constantly getting judged. Its judged on speed, accuracy and how much the dog looks like they are enjoying it.
Then theres the VISUALS. In a heel Elsie must be looking at my face, then sometimes I tell her to look at the toy. This behaviour is used for when we are in the Protection phase of the trial. This will transition to me telling her to look at the helper/decoy.
CHANGE OF POSITIONS. While I'm walking I get Elsie to sit, down and stand (stand in the second video) without me stopping. Again this is judged by speed and accuracy.
The training session had to go on hold due to another off leash dog running up to us. That's no worries, once they left we started back up again. The second video is in the comments.
We finished the session with a SEND AWAY. Which is when I point Elsie in a direction and she has to run away from me. Again judged on accuracy and speed. This time the toy was waiting for her at the end of the oval but during a trial Elsie will have to down when I tell her.
Ralph working on some recalls while Elsie is just doing her thing.
When I was first asked to help do some training with Ralph he was a nuisance barker and was easily distracted by other dogs.
I'm looking forward to see how he goes at this weekends group class.
Does your dog walk like this??? We Can Help!
This lovely girl is hanging out with me for the day doing a Drop and Train. I picked her up at 9am and will drop her off at 4pm. That's 7 hours of one on one to work out the best methods to help her learn some basic manners.
I offer a full day drop and train for $100. I try to make this affordable and I will spend the time to explain how to implement the techniques.
If you have a dog that's getting too hard to manage, contact me via messenger to organize a session.
💢 Crate Training 💢
It's more beneficial than you make think
📍 calming state of mind - Teaches them to have an "off switch" when they are in there its chill out time.
📍 Gives the dog a safe space where they can have alone time (especially in multi dog house)
📍 Limits access to create bad habits (like chewing stuff up in the house)
📍 Used to establish a bedding down routine.
📍 Can be used as a tool to work on seperation anxiety
📍 Prepares them for if they need to be crated at the vet or for recovery
📍 Used as a training tool for building new behaviours - I transition the crate to a place bed.
When intruduced correctly they are a comfortable place for the dog to be. Dogs will go in there voluntarily and be happy to be there. We can use this calm state of mind to environmentally condition them to new environments or simply teach them to be calm inside.
🐾 Recent Drop & Train 🐾
This little guy gets pretty overexcited around other dogs and made walks difficult.
So during his Drop & Train we focused on just that.
This is him working on some leash manners around my two dogs. Once he could do that, we went down the foreshore. He did so well I decided to take him into Pet City to buy some treats.
Drop & Trains are an excellent option if you want a headstart into your training process. We then do a free follow up sesson to go through all the techniques to continue the training.
💥 Leash Manners with Distractions 💥
🐾 Still needs work but this boy has come a long way!
Is your dog distracted by
- Other Dogs
- People
- Birds
- Cars
Get your dog listening to YOU while out and about.
💢 Multiple Markers 💢 Switching Drives 💢 Flexi Leads 💢
Flexi leads can be a great training tool, in this excersise it gives me the ability to be able to block Elsie if she misinterprets or chooses to go to the wrong reward. While also giving her freedom to act as though she is off lead.
This excersise is teaching/testing how well she understands the two different markers I use.
♦️ Yes! - She has dont the right thing and she can get her reward FROM ME
♦️ Get it! - She has done the right thing and she can get her reward AWAY FROM ME
Having two markers is a handy skill to have because it gives us the freedom to pick and choose where our dog will get rewarded.
🍗 In this excersise im Marking Elsie to ether get rewarded from me with Food or get rewarded away from me with her Toy. She has high toy drive and would naturally choose to take the toy over food but because I have worked on conditioning her markers she can switch drives. ⚽️
- This can also be used to teach the dog if there is somthing valuable away from me (completing motivator such as other dogs, birds, new people) they can still see value from me. Therefore be less likely to be distracted. 🐈
I dont want her to reward herself by just running to the toy instead of coming to me when I Mark Yes, so the flexi lead is the perfect tool to use in this scenario.
If you want to learn more about multiple markers or the correct use of flexi leads, Send us a message.
💥 PUPPY CLASSES COMING SOON! 💥
🐶 Do you have a Puppy under the age of 6 months & fully vaccinated?
🐾 This is the Perfect Opportunity for your puppy to get Exposure in a safe environment & Socialize with other puppies. This will kick start your puppys Confidence & Social Skills.
💢 These Puppy Classes will include
● 1 hour sessions, once a week for 4 weeks.
● Exposure to multiple textures.
● Exposure to other puppies at similar ages.
● A safe environment for them to explore and play.
● Coaching for when to step in if they start playing too rough.
● A puppy development plan to kick start your training.
💢 the only thing you will need to bring is your puppys collar and lead. We will provide all the treats and toys. 🐕
💥 Secure your spot by sending us a Message or Email [email protected]
😈 Elsies brakes ✔
💥Fetch with this speed demon after some training 🐕💨
💢 Always finish training on a good note.
💥 Heel, watch it, get it! 💥
💥 I love spending some quality time with my dogs outdoors, even if its Camping or just going for a walk down the beach.
💢 How do you spend time with your dogs?
🐾 post a photo below ⤵️
