Meet my new puppy!

[MegF.]

Great work Janine! I walk the four of my dogs the same way. Two on each side unless I have a rehab case that is fearful. Then it gets sandwhiched between my ridgebacks so that it can't react to things that it doesn't like. They don't care about much of anything so they are perfect to fix the insecure dogs I work with. It's always fun to walk a pack of dogs when they get "in the groove"

 

[diamondlil]

I wish it wasn't raining today and I'd taken my camera out, because then I could show you the beautiful sight of running dogs in action. We met up with one of our whippet friends, Ellis, then were joined by a new friend, another 7 month old whippet. So I could safely let Bertie off-lead, as there was no way he was going anywhere but racing around at top speed with the boys! I took turns letting Rosie then Bertie off-lead, so their rivalry wouldn't affect the games and their recall. We are booked for a lesson with the trainer later today, right now I've got two happy and exhausted dogs snuggled up for a sleep.

 

[diamondlil]

:dancer::dancer::dancer: Great session with the trainer! Both dogs have definately improved in their behaviour, their lead walking and their respectfulness. After some lead walking, recall practise, with tiny cubes of stinky cheese as rewards. Bertie soon cottoned on to the wonders I had in my pocket and gave perfect recalls!
So my homework before our next session is to carry on the basic training and to work on short recall sessions.........

 

[MegF.]

Sounds great! I generally don't train recall with treats too often. I may start out with them but quickly make them go away. A dog needs to always recall, every time. NO EXCEPTIONS! It's not "I'll come because I think they might have a treat, or when I feel like it." Come means come or you get a correction. This is a no exception rule along with stay. Those two commands can literally mean life or death to a dog so they need to be rock solid. This is even when there's something that is so appealing they can barely stand it (like the white tail deer I ran into in the mountains this weekend). Ona and Tavis both wanted it, but Ona stopped the minute I told her to. Tavis fortunately was on leash as he is not reliable on the stay. He would have been off down the mountain after the bugger and I would have spent my four day vacation searching for him! Ona and surprisingly George, my foster are my two best to recall instantly. Akilah will stop but being my alpha dog, she tends to slllloooowly stop. She won't continue pursuit, but she's not in any hurry to instantly stop. This is why when it comes to taking a dog to search for another, go work with an unstable dog or just need a 100% reliable dog, I use my girl Ona.

 

[diamondlil]

I haven't got too many options of safe areas to let Bertie offlead where he won't be distracted. On-lead, both are really responding well, which definately makes our long walks a lot more fun for me. The cue to stop at the kerb is getting less and less, because they are paying attention to my actions and intentions much more.
One thing, I've never really used treats much with them, so they are both wildly excited over the cheese cubes. Great for getting their attention, not so great that they want to jump up for the treats!

 

[MegF.]

Usually that's what happens. The dog gets so excited that instead of focus it creates excitement. When George is at the adoptions at Petsmart on Saturdays, the trainers there usually stop by the pen to say hi to him. They make him sit and give him a treat. The thing is, he now shows higher level of excitement every time they walk by. I work on a calm, quiet dog at the adoptions and the minute he sees them, he leaps up and runs over to the pen side, usually pushing the pen out of shape to try to get over to them. Not the behavior I want!

 

[Nanci]

(Can I ask a general dog training question, for Meg and Janine's opinion??) What do you think about dogs that need to, or like to, be entertained in their crates with stuffed Kongs, or about feeding an entire meal out of a treat-dispensing ball, for mental stimulation? It's a semi-new concept for me, in terms of keeping the dog mentally healthy- but I am seeing it all over the place. Maybe I'm spoiled, but all dogs I have ever had have just gone to sleep. Not saying they don't get toys in their crates, but so much food??

 

[MegF.]

As long as you don't feed more than the meal you normally would feed I don't see a real problem except in this: One, when dogs eat over period of time, it's difficult to regulate their potty breaks. For dogs that are being housebroken or dogs that are problems with house soiling a strict regimen for food is a must. Feed twice a day, they eat it right then and then you take them for potty breaks. 15-30 minutes is generally true for a puppy. If you have a dog though that you're crating for the day, you can use a toy or something like that to keep them busy for a short while in the crate. The biggest problem I see is a lack of exercise before crating so the dog is rarin' to go and then has to be locked up. Many times dogs are kept in crates for upwards of 9 hours while the owners are at work. To me, this is abusive. Crates should be used for no more than a few hours during the day at a time so that the dog can take regular potty breaks-or at night to sleep in. If you don't go all day without going to the bathroom at work, why would you expect your dog to have to hold it? There is also lack of stimulation (and this is true of leaving dogs in the house all day as well-just a bigger box for all they care). Some dogs are naturally low energy and do fine hanging out in the house sleeping all day. Others, like my Ona or George my foster would go literally crazy if left inside all day. They would rearange the whole house including the walls if left like that. They get outside 12 hours out of the day on my farm. The four dogs play together or alone (George is quite good at entertaining himself) and they also receive regular exercise. If your dog goes in the crate and just relaxes and sleeps, then don't change a thing! Food doesn't have to be in there. Kongs usually rely on frozen peanut butter to keep the dog busy without a huge amount of calories involved. Treat dispensing balls can use a portion or all of a dog's meal. I don't particularly like using food for anything other than feeding, although I've redirected or rewarded with a dog kibble (one kibble) for behavior I want. If the dog NEEDS to have something to stay calm in the crate, then the dog is not tired enough, either mentally or physically...and frankly, mentally is better. You can physically tire a dog but leave him mentally excited. These are the dogs that are tearing up a house after you leave.

 

[diamondlil]

As I feed raw, it's not really an option for me, Nanci, and to be honest as Rosie tends to beat Bertie up if he tries to get a toy from her I would expect them to fight if there was a treat-filled toy around.
Because of my shifts and the boys living close and being so helpful, Rosie and Bertie don't actually get left alone a whole day, ever. I only actually work 3 nights in a row, so they are left on those 3 nights, which means they are literally crossing their legs by the time I get home. They get out for toilet, then I get changed to take them on their long walk. If it's a day when I'm sleeping, my eldest boy takes them for another long walk at lunchtime. (He also covers if I'm off fishing or riding) If I'm home I take them out. Then they get another shorter walk before being fed at teatime. If I'm working, that's all they get, if I'm home we often do another evening walk.
Instead of using crates, Bertie and Rosie are confined to the kitchen unless I'm in the front room and want them in there with me. Both will bounce all over the furniture unless I'm there to stop them!

 

[diamondlil]

Today we explored a little pocket of woodland, scrub and open areas, just off the 'squirrel challenge' route. It's land that used to belong to the Army, where there were horses stabled, paddocks and a small cross-country jumping course, when there was no public access. That's gone years ago, so now it's a little gem of managed woodland walks and playing areas and I hadn't realised how extensive it was. Unfortunatey it wasn't enclosed enough to let the dogs off-lead, too many escape routes!
So instead I got to explore with the dogs walking very nicely at my side, then I got a bit puffed out with all the rough terrain and taught them a new game.....when I told them 'PULL, PULL' they helped haul me up the hills, with 'steady now' to make them drop back into position or behind me for going downhill safely. Luckily there wasn't anyone else around, because I was helpless with laughter once they'd mastered the new game and I was getting pulled uphill on command!

 

[MegF.]

I used George to pull me up the hills too. Makes it a lot easier that's for certain!

 

[Holly12]

Aww they are so cute! I love dogs even when you are having a bad day they seem to cheer you up.

 

[diamondlil]

A real challenge today. Off we went, had a great time with the dogs both walking nicely with just a few reminders, went into our new fun woods via a different route, did the 'pull, pull' up the hills. Then as we were on the final leg home there were about 30 soldiers doing exercises, running around the field with their packs on. Bertie went crazy. Instead of ignoring them as he does most people whatever they are up to, he was totally focussed on them and pulling away from me with his hackles raised.
I'd forgot about the incident earlier this year with the soldier who was aggressive with Bertie. We see men in full kit around here all the time, as there's a garrison, and neither dogs reacts to them. This is the first time though they have been running around the fields as a group since. So instead of ending the walk as I was planning, I did close heel work exercises for 1/2 an hour, alongside where the soldiers were running, with them going away from and towards us, not letting Bertie work himself up. Keeping him focussed on me was hard work, he needed quite strong corrections for the first 10 minutes, which seemed like a lifetime with a distressed, fired up dog to control.

 

[MegF.]

Good job Janine. At least you stuck with it to help him learn calmness around them so he will stop doing the behavior. The more exposure he gets, with return to balance around them, the better. It does take a bit of time, but if you were able to get him in a calm, submissive state before moving on, you've solved most of the problem!

 

[diamondlil]

OMG OMG OMG! I'm not normally one to even use that phrase once, let alone 3 times, but Bertie just recalled in an open field, with distractions, and I'd forgotten to take out any cheese with me!
I'm feeling a bit under the weather, with a rotten cough and runny nose and only slept 3 hours this morning. So off we went and both dogs walking nicely on-lead, got to the field and I just felt it was a good time to try to see if Bertie would be good, because I was under no time pressure if it took a while to get him back. It's a really blustery day, with gusting winds blowing leaves all over and making me feel better for wrapping up warm and getting out into the fresh air.
Off ran both dogs, chasing leaves and racing at top speed. Then Bertie was going to harrass some teens playing football, so I called him..........and he raced right back! I was so pleased with him that he got praised to the heavens and was very excited to be back. On went the leads and we carried on our walk, with me being one very happy owner!

 

[MegF.]

Awesome Janine! Recall and stay are two commands that are a no deal type command . I don't generally train those with treats because the dog needs to know that those are followed EVERY time all the time no exceptions! They can be the difference between life and death......

 

[diamondlil]

Awesome Janine! Recall and stay are two commands that are a no deal type command . I don't generally train those with treats because the dog needs to know that those are followed EVERY time all the time no exceptions! They can be the difference between life and death......

Bertie's chasing after a fox and getting hit by a car is exactly why I had the wake up call and am hiring the trainer, Meg. Not only could he have been killed, the car driver could have been injured or swerved and hit a pedestrian. At the moment he wants the recall to be baby steps, just like starting a puppy, in secure areas with treats and praise. As he broke my friends (previously totally uncontrollable) red setters of pelting off into the distance, I'm prepared to give his methods a good run. He does have pulse collars and says they may be a good tool to use if Bertie's hunting instincts continue to be a problem.

 

[MegF.]

Your trainer sounds very good and works much like I do. With the recall though I normally do not use treats at all. The dog is worked on a short leash with praise and petting for coming when called. Then the dog goes to a long line, and then a drag line all within confined boundaries. Then the dog is worked with distractions and then the drag line is shortened little by little until the dog comes 100% of the time without anything, with distractions. Then the long line is put back on and the dog is taken out of the confined area and begins the work in an open space with and without distractions, gradually working on the drag line and then shortening that until it's gone. If the dog fails to come immediately at any point during the training, it receives a correction and we start again at the level below where we were. Stay is the same way. I've worked with far too many dogs that won't come unless they feel like it or if they think you have a treat. Makes for a highly unreliable recall. I don't particularly mind the use for a short time as puppies to encourage young dogs to come to you though.

 

[diamondlil]

One of my main problems with recall practice is a lack of secure areas to try it in! I do have the 30 foot tracker lead for the next stage out of secure areas.
Today this awful cough/cold has really got hold of me, so we stuck to lead walks. The fresh air seems to have done me some good, both dogs behaved beautifully and we got some intense squirrel-ignoring training with one jumping through the branches overhead for a good 15 minutes. Even though both dogs were whining with excitement they heeled beautifully with minor corrections. When the squirrel scaled down a trunk and ran across in front of us I made them sit and pay attention.

 

[MegF.]

Take your zinc!!! And echinacea and C...here's a link to the zinc I take each day and I'm rarely ever sick. One lozenge after eating once a day will do it. If you feel a cold coming on, use one every 2 hours until symptoms abate or for no more than 2 days. Zinc in high dosage depletes potassium so you don't want to use high doses for too long. However, it has been shown to clinically reduce duration of colds and I've found I can knock them down completely if I start right when the symptoms hit.
Looks like they only have zinc with C but that works too:
http://www.sundownnaturals.com/PRODUCT/044633