At the Fair Part I: The Obedience Demonstration (or lack thereof)

By Maya on October 18, 2011

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Recently, our dog club was invited to do a dog obedience and agility demonstration at the East Texas State Fair! I was very excited to take my two dogs to their first PUBLIC showing! I was excited despite the realization that something would go wrong. Fortunately, I have developed a very high tolerance for embarrassment, so the high probability of looking like a dope in front of an audience wasn’t dampening my enthusiasm.

I arrived a little later than I had hoped, just on time to hear the “plan.” The plan was three rounds of the “show” over three hours. About eight of us would go one after another running the agility course, then a large group of us would do a group obedience demonstration. Horror of horrors! I didn’t know the GROUP demo part. The chances of getting Lizzie to look at me in the face while heeling are slim to none when there are a group of doggie butts in close proximity to sniff. PLUS we were in the livestock arena next to two Brahman cows! Task number one: make Lizzie understand that barking ferociously at cows is not permissible. Fortunately, I was able to communicate this rule to her relatively quickly, though I did have to remind her a couple more times during the course of the evening.

I got there too late, so Riyo missed the first agility run, and I went straight into the group obedience demo. It did not go quite so well. Lizzie, as I suspected, was far too engrossed in other dogs, cows, the smells of fried everything, and just generally not interested in me. If I had just gotten there early and let her sniff everything in sight BEFORE the first demo, I’m sure things would have gone better. So ended the first demo.

Second obedience demo. Now Lizzie has had time to settle down. The heeling exercise

German Shepherd Lizzie breaking a down-stay!

Lizzie, caught in the act of breaking her down-stay

does improve and we go into the down-stay demonstration. I dropped her leash and walked across the arena with many of the other handlers. All was going well, yes, my dog is doing great!!……Then, in the blink of an eye, all was lost! My dog went from politely laying in a line of other good dogs, to charging the arena fence in full, ferocious German Shepherd fashion. And as I am chasing after her, I catch a glimpse of our nemasis….a passing BIKE! If Lizzie could speak, you would be hearing “MOOOM!!! A BIKE A BIKE A BIKE! WATCH OUT! I’LL SCARE IT AWAY! IT’S A BIKE! DON’T YOU SEE IT! LOOK I SCARED IT AWAY! YEAH! STAY OUT YOU BIG NASTY BIKE THING!”  — (see the black blur in the picture? That’s Lizzie. A club member snapped that picture just on time to catch her taking off)

 

I finally catch her. She didn’t go far, and fortunately she didn’t go through the fence. I put her in a sit to snap her out of it and take her back into line as the our Club director calmly explains to the audience about these “issues.” Yes, this is embarrassing. More so because I can hear in my head all the people wondering what I am doing with such an obviously vicious and dangerous dog at a fair. Fortunately, the club teachers are the greatest and really understand dog. Even German Shepherds. They understand she is not a vicious dog. She just has a weak spot for barking at bikes and motorcycles!

The third demo, Lizzie did great. She heeled well, she did her stays (though this

German Shepherd Lizzie in line doing down-stay

A line of good dogs!

time I stayed close with her leash laid out where I could catch it should another two-wheeled contraption appear as you can see in the picture).

Despite the loud, dramatic snaffoo of the evening, it was a great experience for both Lizzie and me. We both really enjoyed it, though we do have training planned to stop her habit of chasing bikes and motorcycles. Next step is also to train an instant “PLATZ!” This will take some work, but I MUST be able to stop her in mid-charge, for her safety and to make sure she is never labeled a dangerous dog. (which she is not!)

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A fun training game to play with multiple dogs! “The Name Game”

By Maya on July 31, 2011

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I found this little game to play with my dogs when I was trying to give them treats without mass chaos.  What was happening is none of them wanted to wait their turn to get a treat.  If I leaned down to give one dog a treat, the other three would rush in and try to grab it.  No, that just wasn’t going to work!  So came “the name game.”

Playing the name game is very simple.  I had all dogs “sit” the I started calling their name before giving a treat.  If another dog tried to rush in, they got a quick “no” for breaking their sit.  So in their mind, they are understanding that they are to “sit” until THEIR name is called.  So there I have four dogs, sitting, looking up very excitedly to get their treats!  Then I start making the rounds.  “Riyo!” he gets a little treat, “Darcy,” “Lizzie,”  “Carmina,” “Darcy,” “Riyo,” “Lizzie,” “Carmina,” “Lizzie,” “Darcy,” “Riyo” and so on and so on!  Mixing it up to keep them guessing!  You have to keep it fair though because they will notice if they get skipped an unfair number of times!

It is fun to do if you have multiple dogs and it helps them learn their individual names.  Sometimes when you have many dogs, their names start to blend together and they each think they have four names.  This little game really enforces which name is referring to them, and they love it!  It’s also really cute to see their excited little faces when they hear THEIR name called!  “OH! You’re talking to ME!”  :-)

ENJOY!

 

 

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Training your dog to FOCUS!

By Maya on July 3, 2011

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I learned this little trick from a dog-training pro a few months ago and it absolutely works.  He also taught me one very basic rule in dog training:  ” Do not give your dog a command until he is paying attention to you!”  A simple concept I had not grasped till then.  How many of us keep saying “sit, sit, sit, sit, SIT!” as our dogs merrily look around at the flowers, butterflies, birds, and anything else they find more interesting than us.  Then, we are shocked when the dog doesn’t do what we are asking.  I changed that one habit and my training effectiveness made a drastic improvement!  Don’t tell the dog to do something until he is looking you in the face!

Now, how to get your dog to look you in the face.  Here’s a very simple yet highly effective exercise that I was taught.  Make a

German Shepherd Lizzie giving good eye contact

Get that eye contact!

gasping sound, like drawing in breath as if you are surprised by something.  The dog will most likely look right up at you too see why you are making that odd noise.  As soon as that happens, either make a clicking sound with your mouth or a clicker, bring a treat up in front of your mouth, and then give it to the dog.  Do that at random times through the day.  If the dog looks at you without the gasp, click and treat.  After probably a day or two, you will have a dog starting you in the face all the time.

The reason you bring the treat to your face is to stop the easily formed habit of the dog looking at your hands instead of your face.  If the treat goes to your face first, that is where they will focus.  It is the easiest way I have seen done!  Other people try to break the habit by hold their arms out and randomly giving the dog a treat, but doing it this way is way easier and in my experience really effective!

After a few days of that, try to work in the word “watch” or “look” to eventually take the place of the goofy sounds.  Then do this exercise in more challenging places with more distractions!

Happy training!

 

 

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The Doggie Dinnertime Ritual

By Maya on April 18, 2011

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In my experience, the dinner time ritual that I started with my oldest dog is the most effective behavioral tool in so many ways.  It reinforces so many important dog behavior rules and training all in an exercise and it takes less than a minute a day.  Your dog learns respect for you, it reinforces your place as pack leader, prevents food aggression, promotes harmony between dogs in multiple dog households, teaches restraint, good manners, sit, look, ok release, and stay.  This is real doggie training bang for your buck.

Four dog dinner time ritual

Four dogs politely waiting to eat

I don’t remember why or when I started doing this with my first dog, Carmina, or even where I learned it.  I learned it from somewhere, but it has been so long I don’t know where.  Carmina, the mixed breed rescue dog who is now 12 years old was once what Cesar Milan famously terms a “red zone dog.”  She is the reason I started learning about dogs, simply to learn how to prevent her from knocking me off my feet while attempting to attack any dog in sight.  She was my only dog for 8 years, until I got Riyo four years ago.  Obviously, by the time I got 4.5lb  Riyo, I was comfortable knowing that I could trust Carmina.

Each dog since has been indoctrinated into the dinner time ritual.  It is much easier training one dog at a time, as you can imagine.  If you already have 4 dogs, it will be much harder to get this started.

Here’s what you do.  You have their food prepared, and your dog is all excited to start chowing down.  Usually, you put the bowl down and the dog’s head is in it before the bowl hits the floor.  Many dogs immediately become possessive of it at that point.  Instead, make the dog sit, then start to put down the bowl.  As soon as the dog starts to move in, stand up again and put the dog back into a sit.  If you have to put the dog into a sit, do it.  Don’t let that bowl hit the floor until your dog understands it is not allowed to move forward.  After the bowl is down, your dog will undoubtedly move toward it again.  Stay over the bowl like you own it and put the dog back into a sit.  You will be surprised how fast they figure this out.  Do NOT let the dog move toward the bowl until you release it with “OK!”  Most likely after a few days, they will get this ritual perfectly.

I taught each dog the same ritual as soon as they came into the house.  Since Carmina already knew the drill, I could easily focus on training Riyo because she knew the rules already.  Riyo learned within a couple of days.  The Darcy came and the same drill.  Carmina and Riyo would sit politely and wait until I explained the rule to Darcy.  He got it within a few days as well.  I also fostered a Doberman for a week that also learned the same drill within a couple of days.

Then, I added Lizzie who exhibited signs of food aggression, growling over the bowl, right off the bat.  That stopped within the first week I had her and never returned.  It was the same drill, the other three dogs waiting patiently and politely as Lizzie got schooled in dinnertime manners.

I also added the word “look” to the ritual.  Carmina I did not bother with “look” as she is old enough that seeing at all is an accomplishment.  The other three, as you can see in the picture, actually have to look me in the eye.  They also learn the release word “ok” extremely well.  You can talk, countdown, whatever, but until you say “OK!” the dogs wait.  Start with 10 seconds, but work up to where you can do at least 30 seconds to a minute with no problem.

my four dogs eating together

My four dogs eating together

As you can see, the result is four very different dogs eating right next to each other with no problems.  Considering Carmina (lower left) came to me with the caveat “she needs to be separated from other dogs,” this is a great thing.  Lizzie also could easily be an aggressive beast if left to her own decisions.

In conclusion, in less than a minute a day, this exercise helps with numerous behavior issues as well as teaches and reinforces obedience commands:  “sit,” “stay,” “look,” and “ok.”  It doesn’t get much easier and less time-consuming than that!

 

P.S.  If you noticed Lizzie has very little food in her bowl, it’s because she already ate half a bag of chicken and a raw drumstick during her tracking run.

 

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Catch-me-if-you-can! The runaway min-pin.

By Maya on March 5, 2011

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Yesterday I was taking my dogs for a walk, usually I take the Papillons together, then the old lady Carmina, and then Lizzie. Not necessarily in that order. I could walk them all together, and I have before, but they all have different athletic abilities so it’s easier to take them separately, and I get extra exercise. But I digress. On my second loop yesterday with Carmina, a little Miniature Pincher came tearing across the street from seemingly nowhere. Fortunately the min-pin is a small dog, so although Carmina was far from happy and would have preferred just throwing the offending creature out of her way, we managed to get him out from underfoot and continue on our way. Half a block later, here he comes again, tearing down the road after us. He’s not aggressive, just a little unwise to rush up and try to sniff the butt of a much larger and entirely unamused dog.

As I start looking around trying to figure out who this dog belongs to before he follows us another block attached to my growling dog’s butt, a girl pull up in a little pick up truck. “Is my dawg followin’ yew?” … Um, yes. That would appear to be the case. She gets out of her truck, leaving it running and doesn’t take half a step toward the min-pin before that little package of canine lightening takes off in the opposite direction. So what does she do? Gets back in the truck and let’s the dog chase the truck all the way back down the street –as apparently the “dawg” will chase cars, but going to her was out of the question.

Thinking that that was the last I would see of the elusive min-pin, I finished the old lady’s walk and got Lizzie. 10-15 minutes later Lizzie and I make it back around to that street and as if on cue, here comes the little streak of black lightening heading directly for us. Are you kidding me?!! Here’s that same dog, in the same place, doing the same thing and no twangy girl in pajama pants anywhere in sight. Unlike Carmina, Lizzie is more interested in landing a big paw flat on the min-pin’s head, ducking and weaving thus frustrating the little dog’s attempts to sniff butt. I decide to just try to move on and jog off with Lizzie.

About a block down just when I think my plan has worked. Yes, you guessed it, again. Black lightning does strike twice. This time, he nearly goes under the tires of another passing truck before bee-lining for another shot at Lizzie butt. Now, I am truly aggravated and not just a little angry at little Miss Pajama Pants. So, I wheel around and start jogging back to what I think is the house the dog came from. As I get closer, I see the pajama pants hanging out, occupied with things other than looking for or securing her dog. This really ticks me off, so I yell in a not-so-congenial manner “HEY, COME GET YOUR DOG!” She looks over and slowly starts walking in my direction and as soon as she gets in non-yelling earshot the excuses start. He won’t come, they let him out, blah blah blah blah. I compose myself and tell her that her dog is going to get run over or something else unpleasant if she keeps letting him run loose like that. And then more excuses and, well, he has always come back and had only stayed gone a really long time a couple times.

I am fully aware that I completely wasted my time and breath, but I told her, listen, go walk him down if it takes you all afternoon. He’s got to stop sometime. So I start walking after the dog, basically in attempts to put her in the awkward position of forcing her to deal with the issue all the while trying to explain to her that she needs to try to train her dog to come. I could be wrong, but it seemed like a classic case of the dog that doesn’t come, then when he maybe did come in the past he got in trouble. Doggie translation “I go to person when called and bad things happen.” As I tried to give her some pointers it was pretty clear she wasn’t going to do anything about it, but I guess I felt I was at least trying to help the little guy. She also admitted to playing a game in the back yard where they would lunge at the dog so it would run and they’d play chase. Hmmmm….and you expect different outside the back yard?

I assume they eventually caught the dog. I went on my way after walking it down for about 15 minutes, but at least herded it back to the cul-de-sac where he came from. I suspect that nothing will change and the sad truth is that the energetic little black-lightening butt-sniffer will keep getting out and running off until one day his luck runs out. Sigh…….

Major rules I was taught for teaching come, just so your dog doesn’t do this nonsense:
1. When you say come, no matter what the dog is chewing, destroying or peeing on, if your dog COMES to you, YAY!!!! GOOD DOG!!!! Dog must understand that COME = YAY good things!!! NEVER call a dog to you to discipline it. If your dog is digging up your flowers, GO TO IT to discipline.
2. Keep treats around the house and practice saying “COME!” Every single time that dog comes to you, it gets a treat. (reinforcing COME= YAY!!!)
3. If your dog plays “catch-me-if-you-can” in your backyard (I went through this with Lizzie). DO NOT try to chase and catch her. You will lose and the dog will find it to be a fantastically fun game. Whoo hooo! In the back yard, just walk your dog down, calmly, slowly, and determined. If it takes you half and hour, do not run, do not try to catch, just systematically walk the dog down. I found that it kind of freaks them out and they give up pretty quickly. After about a month of doing this with Lizzie, she has now stopped that behavior.

It can work….Lizzie was definitely heading down the catch-me-if-you can road, so I asked for help, advice, and read books to find techniques to stop it. These major pieces of advice have done well.

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An idiots guide to dog ownership: a more accurate title

By Maya on February 28, 2011

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Yesterday, I was so excited and optimistically confident in my abilities because I had gotten this wonderful training mentor and all these great tips.  I am still excited and grateful of course, but at the same time I woke up today thinking, OMG I have to DO this stuff?!  It all seemed so easy yesterday watching Mr. Ledda, this veteran expert run his dogs through all the routines and showing me all these techniques.  Today, it’s all a big jumble in my head.  That always happens.  The experts make it look so easy, then when it’s just me by myself, chaos.  For that reason, I have renamed my blog.  I decided this is truly an idiots guide and I’m the idiot.

Now I really feel the pressure.  I can’t go back to these people without showing some kind of general progress, right?  When Mr. Ledda worked with Lizzie, she looked wonderful.  She was actually in a perfect heel or “foos” without even knowing it.  Lining up just right.  I was thinking, “is that my dog?”  Today, I started trying it by myself and yeah, not the same.  Goes to show it’s not the dog that can’t figure anything out, that would be ME.  Me, I say “foos” and two steps later Lizzie’s butt is out 45 degrees and she’s practically walking sideways.  ARG!  What am I doing wrong?  I just kept straightening her out and trying again, but I’m telling you, she would be perfect in a week with Mr. Ledda.  With me, (groan) we look like a sloppy drunk Mo and Curly trying to walk in a straight line.

I have yet managed to figure out how to get any of my dogs to heel.  I will keep trying with Lizzie and Riyo.  With Riyo, I still have not figured out how to get around the fact that I’d have to be 2 ft tall to walk and hold a treat in front of his nose.  All these techniques I’ve seen at AKC and obviously with Schutzhund uses the “hold-a-treat-in-front-of-the-dog’s-nose-and-walk” method.  Have you tried doing that with a 10″ tall dog?  Try it for 5 minutes and you’ll turn into Quasimoto.

I’m going to keep trying.  I am hoping that maybe I can eventually accomplish something just out of sheer persistence and tirelessly bugging all the experts for tips.

FINAL NOTE:  Looking sloppy saying “heel” and “down” is one thing. Training in German saying “foos” and “platz,” well, you REALLY look like an idiot.  Suffice it to say, if you are going to yell “Platz” at your dog in public, be prepared to get snickered at if your dog gives you the finger.

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Obedience training tips: focus and heeling

By Maya on February 27, 2011

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Sometimes, you just get lucky. I happened to stumble upon the nicest couple in the world that happens to also be amazing dog trainers in both Schutzhund and AKC. They have competed internationally with their dogs since around 1975! They specialize in German Shepherds and just bred what may be their last litter. If I could only have five dogs! No, even I have limits.

AKC obedience is easy to get into. There are many clubs with that tend to have a congenial, friendly atmosphere. It’s easier to get help and instruction at these clubs. Schutzhund, on the other hand, is much harder. There is a lot to learn and if you are a newcomer it’s hard to find someone to take you aside and really teach you. Most have to just try to learn by watching. I am so lucky to have found these people who are willing to take their time to show me the ropes. I’ll share as much as I can here.

Here is the list of main items to master with Lizzie in obedience over the next few weeks. (I’ll work on focus with Riyo as well).
1. Work on focus: get dogs attention by making a quick little gasp noise to get them to look, the make a “click” sound, and treat. Keep treats all over the house and do this randomly all day long as well as in training sessions.
2. Heeling. Treat in left hand, up over dog’s head to keep dog looking up. Start one step at a time. Heel a step, sit, heel, sit while keeping the dog’s attention.
3. “Here” or “Front”. Get the dog right up to your belly and sitting straight. Hold your hand right on your stomach, palm up, so the dog gets right up on you on the here. If dog is not close enough, step back and pull it closer.
4. All this is done with motivation (food). No force.
5. Keep lengthening sit stays and down stays. Down stay needs to get at least 10 minutes.

Some additional focus tips:
Get a handlers jacket with high chest pockets. Pull the treats from there and hold in your mouth. If you always have your treats in your pockets, the dogs are always looking at your pockets and not up and your face.  Added bonus is you don’t get all your shirts and jackets dirty with dog treat crumbs.
Handler’s jacket that I just ordered from http://leerburg.com/trainersvests.htm:

Dog Training Handler's Vest

Teach the dog to catch and improve focus:

1.  first lob the treat underhanded to the dog so it sees it coming clearly

2. once they are good at that, hold the treat in your lips and get the dogs attention.  When the dog looks, make a click sound with your moth to mark the behavior and then launch that treat toward the dog like you would a spit ball.  Click must come within 1 to 1.5 seconds after the correct behavior.

3.  The purpose is to get a dog that intently looks as your face. You don’t always have to launch from your mouth. The purpose is to get good eye contact and have the dog focusing on your face and not what hand the treat is in!

Hide treat all around you house:  Put treat in place where you can reach them but your dog cannot.  This way at random times all day you can work on this focus game.

Suggested treats:  Pupperoni.  They are dry, not gross, and easy to carry around and store.

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Dogs may also have nine lives…Riyo now has 8.

By Maya on February 14, 2011

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Here is a lesson to all…THE IMPORTANCE OF AN EMERGENCY RECALL. I still don’t have it yet, and I am trying to learn. Here is why it is important. Our first night at my new 3rd story apartment, I opened the door to carry in a suitcase and when I did, Riyo shot out the door and down the hall. It was unusual for him to run off like that, but I guess in a new place he was just excited. This all took place in a matter of seconds, but it seems like it was all in slow motion. I watched helplessly as he ran to the end of the hall, reached the railing, and as I was desperately screaming for him to stop….he jumped through the railing and disappeared. I have never been so hysterical in my entire life. It was dark and late, no one was around, but I was screaming so loud, there were people around in no time. I found Riyo, motionless, laying on the sidewalk three stories down. I’ll skip the details, but he and I were extremely lucky. The little guy was so light, that while he was knocked senseless from the fall, the vet at the emergency clinic soon informed me that he miraculously suffered no broken bones or internal injuries. I later learned, a larger dog the day before was not so lucky and was killed. SO. If you are as attached to your dogs as I am to mine, try to teach an emergency recall! I am still working on it. Meanwhile, I just make extra sure he stays away from dangers like long falls, cars, and unleashed larger dogs. It only takes a second.

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