BatesnPenny2020

27/05/2024

For balance, I don’t always torture my dog, usually she tortures me 😂

26/05/2024

Time to get Penny properly used to wearing these.
She will wear them up until she has to move and then she says they have to come off.
That’s what I’m working on fixing.

19/05/2024

It's always hard to tell what is just good genetics and what is innate fear and how to address it all. I tend to err on the side that fear can be overcome and Penny sure has proven this to be true!
If you watch to the end, you can see that one of her first forays into the carwash, all she could do was hide and tremble in fear. She still doesn't like the carwash, but she's able to be alert and look around.
So how did we get here?
Fearful dogs need support. Whatever she needs to help her feel safe, I do that - she's in the front, in my lap, pressed into me as needed. I can't make the scary thing go away, but I offer her my calm presence and support in the way of touch and contact.
Why the car wash? Why not? Any fear she overcomes increases her confidence in every area.

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04/05/2024

5 check in in 30 seconds
If your dog doesn’t do this frequently, without prompting, they’re probably not ready to be off leash

27/04/2024

Is it just me, or has there been an uptick in "be your dog's pack leader" type training lately? You know, the kind that focuses on who eats first, making the dog walk behind you for long, boring walks with no sniffing? Like misunderstood NILIF taken to the extreme?
Here's my take. You should absolutely strive to be a leader to your dog. But leadership is so grossly misunderstood. It's not about who eats first or who goes out the door first. It's about communication and trust.
1) Learn to communicate with your dog in a clear and consistent way. Where they understand you, are motivated to comply, and understand that listening to you makes all sorts of good things happen.
2) Learn to listen to your dog. This is arguably the most important part of communication - listening. Those videos of babies hugging dogs and you can see the dog look to the handler signaling their distress with their eyes and brows and lip licks and all of that? And the handler totally ignores the dog's pleas for help? Yeah, don't do that. Listen to your dog.
3) Which brings us to trust. Be that person your dog can trust. That when they look at you asking for help, they know you will intervene and take care of the situation so they don't have to.
A leader doesn't overface their dog and then punish the dog for not being able to cope with the situation. A leader prepares the dog for the situation so that they don't fail.

14/04/2024

Following my post about taking pet dog training more seriously, how’s this for a realistic and useful trick? 😉

11/04/2024

When people say treats can’t compete with the thrill of the chase, they’re not wrong 😉
But a conditioned reinforcer, which in this case happens to be food, definitely can.
Notice she’s not just taking food, she’s pushing into my hand to get it. This isn’t just about the food. This is training, conditioning, transferring value from smells and chases into rooting into my hand for a treat, it’s relationship building, and also genetics and opportunity to practice it all.
So yes, you can use a treat to call off a chase, if you do the foundation work too.
BTW this is the same process when using an ecollar, you still have to condition the collar, train the response, build the relationship, accommodate for genetics, and take the time to practice it all.
I’ve seen plenty of dogs on ecollars ignore the stim, and I’ve seen well trained dogs need a reminder with the stim just like Penny did in this example.

02/04/2024

Dear dog training community, can we please start taking pet dog skills more seriously? No, I don't mean take those ring skills and apply them to "real life." I mean valuing actual pet dog skills, both trained and genetic.
Today I took my pet dog for a hike. I got to the trail head and had to p*e so I took my very excited dog into the public restroom. It was early in the morning at a state park, no one about so as I was adjusting my waist pack, I had dropped her leash and let her be loose while she stood at the door judging me for being an incompetent human who takes too long to do everything. As she is in her excited, ready to go state, the door opens and a very young girl walks in, squeals pupp*ee and squats down with open arms right in my dog's face.
My dog a) did not make a break for it out the door, and b) did not even blink at a squealing kid. Yes, yes, I know kids should not be unattended and should not feed their faces to strange dogs, but if you've spent any time in the world, this sort of thing happens. A lot.
A dog should be able to handle a few seconds of this sort of behavior especially from a child. Which my dog did with a quick check-in with me, I assured her it was fine, my dog shrugged it off with zero stress. This is both training (check in with me whenever you're not sure and let me handle things) and temperament (hint: if you think 'bite first ask questions later' is appropriate temperament in ANY dog, think again).
I've trained dogs for competition, I know what it entails, and let me tell you, very little of ring skills apply to being a go-anywhere, do-anything pet dog. I've had this current dog 4 years. She goes to schools, she goes to sporting events, she goes hiking, kayaking, beach walking, biking, outdoor restaurants, home improvement stores... I've never needed a competition heel, I've never needed a sit-stay or down-stay. I need her to stay in the car when I have the trunk open and am loading or unloading stuff, and she does. I don't care if she's sitting or downing or standing on her head. I just need her to not jump out. Yeah, yeah, I could put her in her crate but I don't want to. And guess what? Most pet-dog owners don't want to have to constantly manage things either.
Teaching a dog to be a pet in a way that average dog owners with zero dog training skills and even less motivation to train can accomplish is HARD.
Stop showcasing your bitesport dog or agility champion and show off your dog's pet skills. Can your dog live in the house and not destroy it? Can your dog handle having visitors come over? Can your dog sit in the car while you run into the pharmacy without having a meltdown? Can your dog be handled by anyone other than you?
Your dog has awesome recall? Cool story, do you have to recall him every second or have him on a heel because he can't handle being loose otherwise? Not so cool.
Is your dog potentially dangerous if you don't manage him within an inch of his life? Again, not cool.
And breeders, you're not off the hook either! If you're not breeding for stupid colors, you're breeding "working" dogs with insane temperaments for what? For a trophy in the ring? 99.9% of dogs need to be able to hack it as pets. They don't need to have 14 titles after their name, and even if they do, after they're done running the fastest agility course or the most perfect CDX, they're still going to have to live in someone's house - as a pet.
Let's put some value on the skills and temperament needed to be a great pet!

22/02/2024

20/02/2024

09/02/2024

Myth busting today
Yes, you can teach a dog not to pull in a harness.
Yes, if you let your dog out in front pulling you can still teach her when not to pull

29/01/2024

Random thought for the day. Windy day. Windy enough that I noticed Penny getting a little worried about the wind whipping through the trees. Not overly so, but she was definitely concerned. Which resulted in her paying much more attention to me. She's already pretty attuned to me, but in familiar territory just out wandering, she doesn't need to be super engaged nor do I ask her to be. But that wind had her checking in with me a lot more.

You often hear people saying they noticed their dog started engaging with them better when they got firmer with them. I would argue that's not really engagement. That's a worried dog. Worried and engagement can look a lot alike. Sure, an overly worried dog is going to look more shut-down than engaged, but a slightly worried dog can look a lot like an engaged dog.
So the question is, why is the dog paying such close attention to the handler? Obviously we can't know what dogs are thinking but we can make some decent educated guesses. Penny was paying attention to me because I represent safety to her, and she didn't feel fully safe. When she's truly engaged, I hope it's because there is a strong enough history of reinforcement that she enjoys the interaction itself.

Some dogs are easier to "worry" than motivate, some handlers struggle to motivate their dog.

I love the process of figuring out how to motivate a dog. I love the challenge of taking a dog who won't take food into a dog who digs into your hand for a piece of kibble. I find it fun and interesting. I also know how to correct a dog effectively and fairly, I just don't find it nearly as rewarding.

See, cause when Penny was constantly checking in with me in that wind today, looking all like a collie waiting to be told where to run to next, I didn't like it. Normally I love it when she's working with me and we have that connection going, but not like this. And handler motivation and enjoyment matters too!

Photo compilation of eating a tree that might have had a rodent nest in it for payment if you read this far! :D

28/01/2024

One of the most useful cues!

24/01/2024

Terrier terriering
Pretty sure there’s some sort of rodent living in the tree

15/01/2024

Small dog, big personality 🥰

15/01/2024

Enjoy Penny making a cold miscalculation 😂