Thursday, February 24, 2011

body awareness tricks and fun

Tricks that teach a dog about their body and how to use their rear end are very helpful in teaching not only agility-type skills, but also for obedience: tight turns in heeling, pivots and getting in close; fronts and finishes. 

I have been working a fair bit on body awareness skills lately with my dogs Pinot and Maggio to brush up and get ready for starting weave-pole training with Pinot for agility. Maggio being a big boy needs the rear end awareness mainly for obedience work and keeping his big body close to mine; but he also enjoys this stuff "just for fun".

Some of the things we have worked on are:
  • backing up
  • backing up onto something
  • backing into an overturned cardboard box - lifting rear legs one leg at a time to find the way into the box
  • getting onto a box/ stool with front legs and pivoting around with rear legs
  • walking/ trotting through the rungs of a ladder
  • doing tight turns around pylons
  • tight turns around a jump standard in both directions (the focus being on the tight turn; not the jumping - so keeping jump height low)

Here is a little video showing some of these things in action. The video is a short 2 min. compilation (don;t know what happenend in the upload to youtube that makes it be listed as 5 minutes). Video editing done by my fantastic editor and son Saxby, 12 years old :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4YBZas0w20

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Seeing the animal's point of view

If looking at the technical side of animal (dog) training, the important components can really be boiled down to just a few key concepts (think things like "timing" and "rate of reinforcement" just to name a couple)...there are actually not that many individual concepts that will affect the technicalities of training, however, one of the things that sometimes (or often?) gets forgotten, is the ability to see the situation and circumstance from the animal's point of view. I think we often forget about this part. We get wrapped up in today's "agenda", our plan, our goals and what we want to accomplish or things WE want to do - and sometimes forget that there is another individual and living being at the other end of the leash.

We tend to forget not only that there IS someone at the other end - but sometimes also forget that there is an INDIVIDUAL. I can't tell you how many times I have heard the words "But my last dog used to...(fill in the blank)...why does this dog not?"
or "But I want to...(fill in the blank again)...with this dog. It is part of my lifestyle, so why is the dog being... (choose one: reactive/ aggressive/ fearful/ too shy etc..). It's part of my lifestyle to do "X"."

How did we forget to consider the individual dog in those statements? Why is it that we do recognize individuality when it comes to humans so much faster and more readily, but often fail to recognize that the same individuality holds equally true for our dogs?

To really be truly in touch with your dog and develop a real connection and relationship that goes beyond just being a one-way street, you must embrace the thought of opening your eyes to see the unique individual you have in front of you. Not a "breed" or "generalized traits common for the breed or breed mix" - but the unique traits that make your companion just who he or she is.

Sometimes a "problem" could be solved by a simple shift in OUR way of thinking. Sometimes all it would take, is a change of our goals - or a change in how we do things.
Of course, all the technicalities of training have their time and place - what I am trying to point out is simply - that "training" for the sake of "traininig" should never overshadow the big picture and seeing the individual for who he/she is.

I would like to share a couple of my favorite resources if you'd like to read up/ challenge and expand your thinking on this topic.
One of my absolute personal favourite books (warmly recommended!) is called:
If a Dog's Prayers Were Answered...Bones would Rain from the Sky. Deepening our relationships with dogs. Written by Suzanne Clothier.(2002). You won't find another book quite like it!

If you are a movie-buff... Rent this one: Temple Grandin. (DVD, 2010) Fantastic true story on someone who has been the trigger for much change in how we see and treat animals today. This is really a different perspective on things. Temple Grandin herself is autistic and shares many of her insights through literally seeing things very differently than the neuro-typical human. She has also written several books. Animals in Translation, and Animals make us Human are two I have read and can also warmly recommend.

Finally, for the real keeners, a link to hear Temple Grandin speak about some of the change she has been part of creating in regards to how animals for food-processing are treated. The video is over an hour in length, and is a presentation-style speech. If you are more of a movie-type (rather than "listen-to-a-speech-type") - rent the movie instead.
http://news.duke.edu/2011/02/grandin.html

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Weave pole training

Excitement is building here on the home front...we are preparing to start Pinot's weave pole training for agility! I am picking up our weave poles tomorrow, and will start her on the 2x2 method in the coming month - 2x2 is Susan Garrett's well known method for teaching weaving. See a short video clip here: http://www.clickerdogs.com/2x2_weave_training.php

In preparation for weaving, we have worked a fair amount on body- and rear end awareness, tight turns as well as the oh-so-important ability to focus forward and go out ahead of the handler..."the keep going" thing. She is ready! And so am I. I am hoping to post some video here over the coming months as we get rolling, so you can follow our progress. For now - we are just vibrating of excitement knowing that weaves are coming to our house tomorrow! We'll be READY to start!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Cute puppy antics or the beginnings of problem behaviors?

From time to time, while problem solving with a client about their dogs’ current problem behaviors, the person will clearly remember the first time they saw (and encouraged!) this behavior in their dog. Often, if they’ve had the dog since it was a puppy – the “budding problem” was noted way back when; at 9, 12  weeks of age…except – it was not a “problem” then – it was “something cute, something we laughed about”.

Just to name a few of these “cute behaviors”…have you ever seen a totally stick-obsessed dog? One who will run around when loose looking for sticks at every turn, bringing them back to their owner – insistently pushing the stick into the humans’ hands begging for a throw?  Any accidentally kicked stick (or rock/stone!?)  is received like a written invitation to chase; regardless of  where this takes place. Imagine this behavior in the environment we live and with the number of dog-owning active hikers: want to take this dog on a hike high up on a rocky slope. Cute? (I think: dangerous.)

What about the little puppy who protectively growls over his bones or his sleeping area? He’s just 10 weeks old and it is “sooo cute” – everyone just laughs and thinks puppy is pretty special to be guarding already at this cute and tender age. (It won’t be so cute when he is 100lbs and has learned that this is Really a good behavior that works!).

Or what about the dog whose owner thought it was a great idea to exercise the puppy during the cold winter days with a laser beam light in the living room. The dog happily chased the light around; going up and down over couches and chairs, ripping around the room in a frenzy…only to crash later on and have a loooong nap. Convenient?
Cute? When 6 months later, the same dog now cannot tolerate any kind of reflection without going berserk…the dog does not only go ballistic in the presence of any kind of reflection, the behavior has also generalized to shadows, fast moving shade/contrast, leaves falling from trees, and even butterflies. Cute?

There are tons of examples out there. All of these behaviors are perhaps innocent enough when you first see them – but can become huge problems, very annoying, even dangerous and highly problematic for people if they are encouraged and rewarded. As with all of us: habits can be either good or bad. Before encouraging your puppy’s antics – try to think ahead and see what this behavior can become…is the behavior truly a good habit that you love and want to keep – or is it a budding problem – fairly easy to prevent now, but really time-consuming and difficult to fix after months and months of rehearsal?

Have you seen or do you have a dog with a behavior you wish you would have stopped when you first saw it? What are your real-life experiences with “cute puppy antics” that are no longer so cute? Please share in the comments section below.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Wags class schedule

Here is our current class offerings and schedule. Please get in touch for next available start date!

TUESDAY daytime drop-in training. Do you have an irregular work schedule with (some) Tuesdays off? Talk to Annette about Tuesday noon hour drop-in training! Perfect for people who cannot commit to a six week class.

WEDNESDAY:
6:15-7:00 Puppy Foundations. Open enrollment: join at any time with your less-than 20-week old puppy! First set of puppy shots / clean bill of health required :-)
7:15-8:15 Mutts and Manners for adolescent and adult dogs
8:30-9:30 Ready to Rally.

THURSDAY:
6:15-7:15 Mutts and Manners for adolescent and adult dogs
7:25-8:25 Ready to Rally
8:35-9:20 Come Fido Come! Recall clinic.

SATURDAY:
9:30-10:30 Backyard Games and Tricks
10:45-11:45 Thinking Games
12:00-1:00 Come walk stay!
1:15-2:15 available for private training appointment
2:30-3:30 available for private training appointment

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Recent Wags puppy grads

Here are some photos of some recent puppy grads. What a tremendous bunch! AND...take a look: are they just not tooo cute? There is nothing quite like puppies and Puppy Foundation Skills Class. The pups just "get it" and learn like sponges. Congrats to each and everyone: well done! Hope your bundles will continue to give you much joy and many laughs over many, many years to come!
 



Graduated in January 2011 from Puppy Foundation Skills Class.