My dog was awesome! I was awesome! WE WERE AWESOME!
Dasher and I are finally getting the hang of this training stuff...well I guess it was just me holding us back but now that I'm applying things I have learnt, we are progressing so fast!
In case I've never mentioned it (as I'm too lazy to search my old blog posts) I am using only positive based methods to train Dash. No physical correction or verbal corrections. We ignore the bad and reward the good...which is a lot harder than it sounds. But Dash learns SO fast with this method that it's amazing.
But back to my CGC update: He stayed in place when a person approached me and pet him, he did down on command without having to do 'sit' first, he is able to do a stand/stay (so cool!!!), and he can also do a down from a few feet away.
Homework for this week:
Stand/Stay, then 'Down' from a few feet out: Dash has this in the bag, no problemo.
Sit/Stay while stranger approaches and pet him: He stays 3/4 out of 5 times.
Heel work: It's decent but we have a lot of room for improvement, especially around distractions :/
-B
Monday, May 9, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
CGC Class #2.
This last week we worked the same things as the first class, except this time we paid great attention to details.
When I first looked over the CGC text material (before signing up for this class) I thought we had it in the bag. Ha! Distractions are Dash's weakness and boy are there a lot of them at class.
New people = distraction
New dogs = distraction
Dog whining = distraction
Agility equipment = distraction
All of these things hold more value than I do...which is sad, but it's my own fault. I take the blame entirely but I hope I can become his 'cookie' in the near future.
Working on:
Heel- Dog at your side and keeps pace with you. Turn in left/right circles and praise him for keeping up with you. I would give Dash a B.
Sit/Stay-Dog sit/stays beside you while stranger approaches. Dash does it 2 out of 5 times.
Down on Command only- 4 out of 5 times.
-B
When I first looked over the CGC text material (before signing up for this class) I thought we had it in the bag. Ha! Distractions are Dash's weakness and boy are there a lot of them at class.
New people = distraction
New dogs = distraction
Dog whining = distraction
Agility equipment = distraction
All of these things hold more value than I do...which is sad, but it's my own fault. I take the blame entirely but I hope I can become his 'cookie' in the near future.
Working on:
Heel- Dog at your side and keeps pace with you. Turn in left/right circles and praise him for keeping up with you. I would give Dash a B.
Sit/Stay-Dog sit/stays beside you while stranger approaches. Dash does it 2 out of 5 times.
Down on Command only- 4 out of 5 times.
-B
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Ruff Love & Rough Love.
Dash visited Dr. Whackemoff this past Tuesday, and boy was he mad at me!
When I picked him up from the vet's office he was still immensely drugged and to be quite honest, I was thinking "Well, this is quite nice!"
He slept the entire afternoon and when he wasn't sleeping, he was glaring at me.
Thankfully he has since forgiven me and while I was horribly worried that he wouldn't be his same neurotic self after his neuter, he is still my insane-bouncing-off-the-walls boy.
But his neuter wasn't the point of this point (although that was rough love!), this book by Susan Garrett is:
I've had this book since Dasher was a puppy and while I have skimmed it, I have never sat down and read it. In a nutshell: It's a relationship building program that will intensify your dogs drive to work with you.
I think it's a fantastic read and there are many DUH! moments where you simply can't figure out 'Why didn't I think of this before?!' Dash and I will be beginning the program next Tuesday or Wednesday...Why, you may ask, not today?
Because my wonderful, crazy, beast of a dog is muddy. <3
-B
When I picked him up from the vet's office he was still immensely drugged and to be quite honest, I was thinking "Well, this is quite nice!"
He slept the entire afternoon and when he wasn't sleeping, he was glaring at me.
Thankfully he has since forgiven me and while I was horribly worried that he wouldn't be his same neurotic self after his neuter, he is still my insane-bouncing-off-the-walls boy.
But his neuter wasn't the point of this point (although that was rough love!), this book by Susan Garrett is:
I've had this book since Dasher was a puppy and while I have skimmed it, I have never sat down and read it. In a nutshell: It's a relationship building program that will intensify your dogs drive to work with you.
I think it's a fantastic read and there are many DUH! moments where you simply can't figure out 'Why didn't I think of this before?!' Dash and I will be beginning the program next Tuesday or Wednesday...Why, you may ask, not today?
Because my wonderful, crazy, beast of a dog is muddy. <3
-B
CGC Class #1.
When I was heading to our first obedience class, I really thought that we had it in the bag. Dash knew sit,down,stay,come,wait,get it, touch, etc. at that point and I had simply signed up for the class to get some guaranteed training time while around other dogs.
As you all know Dash didn't impress anyone that first class and by the time we had graduated he still had 'movement issues' (as I call 'em) but was getting better. So when we were driving to our first CGC class (4/25) I knew better than to expect him to be a superstar.
But he was!
He behaved wonderfully and listened to all of my commands...I was in shock! Usually he cannot handle himself when other dogs get excited but even when others were barking/whining, he stayed nice and calm! Well, I cheated. Kinda. I used the Halti...Dash knows he must behave on a Halti but when we switch to his collar is when we have issues.
Part of this is my fault as I only used it when we were training and that's it. He quickly learned that on=training/time to behave and off=free time/don't listen to mom!
____________________________________________________________________________
In class #1, our homework was to teach the 'Stand', teach a 'Down' on command only (no hand gestures) and to work with the dogs in a sit/stay while people approach.
Down with voice only- Dash can do this since I luckily trained him from the start using only my voice as I hated that my other dogs rely on hand signals. But we do have one issue: he needs to sit before going to a down.
Stand-Since Dash knows hand touches, all I have to do is present my palm while he is sitting when he stands to bop it. I am currently combining this with the 'stand' command.
Sit/Stay while people approach- He is decent at this and I have no doubts that he will get the hang of it quickly. He has a pretty solid stay and can do this 2/3 out of 5 times.
-B
As you all know Dash didn't impress anyone that first class and by the time we had graduated he still had 'movement issues' (as I call 'em) but was getting better. So when we were driving to our first CGC class (4/25) I knew better than to expect him to be a superstar.
But he was!
He behaved wonderfully and listened to all of my commands...I was in shock! Usually he cannot handle himself when other dogs get excited but even when others were barking/whining, he stayed nice and calm! Well, I cheated. Kinda. I used the Halti...Dash knows he must behave on a Halti but when we switch to his collar is when we have issues.
Part of this is my fault as I only used it when we were training and that's it. He quickly learned that on=training/time to behave and off=free time/don't listen to mom!
____________________________________________________________________________
In class #1, our homework was to teach the 'Stand', teach a 'Down' on command only (no hand gestures) and to work with the dogs in a sit/stay while people approach.
Down with voice only- Dash can do this since I luckily trained him from the start using only my voice as I hated that my other dogs rely on hand signals. But we do have one issue: he needs to sit before going to a down.
Stand-Since Dash knows hand touches, all I have to do is present my palm while he is sitting when he stands to bop it. I am currently combining this with the 'stand' command.
Sit/Stay while people approach- He is decent at this and I have no doubts that he will get the hang of it quickly. He has a pretty solid stay and can do this 2/3 out of 5 times.
-B
Friday, April 22, 2011
Moe Strenfel? Yes please!
I just got wind that Moe Strenfel (Momentum Dog Sports) is holding a course on foundation training nearby...my first reaction was "Can we handle this?" but the more I thought about it, the more I got excited. This would be SO fun for Dash and I, I mean this woman trained with the Bailey's! (Click here for more info on them)
Operant Sonditioning is so much fun but is much harder than using traditional methods. Well, at least for a newbie like me it is. But luckily I was introduced to OC when Dash was still a baby so it's the only method he knows...it's incredible at how much faster he learns than our other traditionally-taught dogs.
Whatever object you put in front of Dash, he knows that if he starts pawing it/nosing it/mouthing it, then one of those behaviors is going to get him a treat. Whereas if I put an object in front of my traditionally trained dog, she just looks at me and waits for ME to do something.
But back on topic, Moe. Oh geez speaking of, I just checked my email and had an email from her...just emailing her makes me nervous. If I do end up taking this course the one thing I am SO nervous about it Dash's screaming issue. The only way I can quiet him is if I tug. It's a good thing and a bad thing...good because he is quiet and transferring his energy to the tug. Bad because he is learning that if he screams he gets a tug. His tug is the most valuable thing to him so me just giving it up whenever he wants it, is not a good thing.
-B
Operant Sonditioning is so much fun but is much harder than using traditional methods. Well, at least for a newbie like me it is. But luckily I was introduced to OC when Dash was still a baby so it's the only method he knows...it's incredible at how much faster he learns than our other traditionally-taught dogs.
Whatever object you put in front of Dash, he knows that if he starts pawing it/nosing it/mouthing it, then one of those behaviors is going to get him a treat. Whereas if I put an object in front of my traditionally trained dog, she just looks at me and waits for ME to do something.
But back on topic, Moe. Oh geez speaking of, I just checked my email and had an email from her...just emailing her makes me nervous. If I do end up taking this course the one thing I am SO nervous about it Dash's screaming issue. The only way I can quiet him is if I tug. It's a good thing and a bad thing...good because he is quiet and transferring his energy to the tug. Bad because he is learning that if he screams he gets a tug. His tug is the most valuable thing to him so me just giving it up whenever he wants it, is not a good thing.
-B
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Stumped.
I have no idea why I have such a hard time keeping up with this blog...I mean, everytime I do a training session with Dash I always record our results, so why can't I do the same here?
Anyway, since my last update Dash has completed beginner's obedience. Woohoo! Except for the mnior detail that he is still a pain in the rear. And only listens when he wants. But for now we all blame it on his boy hormones as he is nearing his first birthday and is still intact. But no worries, he already has an appointment with Dr. Whackemoff.
Our next step will be CGC...as much I dislike the AKC and what it promotes, I just want to prove to myself that I can get that certificate. For me it always seemed like such a faraway thing, something that only 'cool' dogs could achieve. But we're cool dammit, and we're going to get one!
We are still training for flyball and agility, and before I forget here is a link to a recent flyball tourney I attended:
Click here!
This is (hopefully!) the team Dash and I will be competing with. They are a bunch of wonderful people who make everything fun...you never feel pressured if you're dog doesn't learn something right away. It's part of the reason I love training with this group!
-B
Anyway, since my last update Dash has completed beginner's obedience. Woohoo! Except for the mnior detail that he is still a pain in the rear. And only listens when he wants. But for now we all blame it on his boy hormones as he is nearing his first birthday and is still intact. But no worries, he already has an appointment with Dr. Whackemoff.
Our next step will be CGC...as much I dislike the AKC and what it promotes, I just want to prove to myself that I can get that certificate. For me it always seemed like such a faraway thing, something that only 'cool' dogs could achieve. But we're cool dammit, and we're going to get one!
We are still training for flyball and agility, and before I forget here is a link to a recent flyball tourney I attended:
Click here!
This is (hopefully!) the team Dash and I will be competing with. They are a bunch of wonderful people who make everything fun...you never feel pressured if you're dog doesn't learn something right away. It's part of the reason I love training with this group!
-B
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