Graduates of Family Manners 1

Graduates of Family Manners I



Last night, we had a successful graduation of Family Manners I. Rosie, Maizee, and Tedi were able to successfully complete the required exercises, proving that they are on their way to becoming canine good citizens.

Door Manners

Does your dog run out the front dog as you open it and then play "can you catch me"? It is one of the most dangerous things that your dog can do and can be fixed if you are clear and consistent in your training of good door manners. This is one of those "Say Please" behaviors. Your dogs should not assume that an open door means pass through and explore the outdoors. To train good door manners, you can use your crate door or your back door and wait for your dog to offer a  sit or make eye contact. The door does not open until Rover offers the correct behavior that you have picked. Training a  release word of OK, FREE, or BREAK, lets them know that they can now move their feet and go outside. Once you have established good door manners at your crate door and back door, it is time to set up some training sessions at the front door with a long line attached to your collar. Rover only makes it out the door if he offers a sit and then gets released out the door with your magic release word.

Door manners is one of the activities that we work on in our Family Manners Class. I feel that it is one of the most important things that can be trained and might be the one thing that could save your dog's life. Setting up rules at the door will also help you in training a good STAY.

Puppy Skills

We had a fun class last night with puppies learning to interact with new things such as a wobble board and an agility tunnel. Puppies were cautious around the new equipment for a few minutes but quickly began running through the tunnel and offering sits on the wobbling board. This kind of positive interaction with new things is very important in a puppy's life. We rewarded the puppies with food and praise for offering to put their feet on new things instead of forcing them onto the equipment. The latest research shows that puppies should have many positive interactions during the first twelve weeks. To find out more, check out the link  www.uvhs.org/behavioral_docs/the_puppys_rules_of_twelve.pdf

Practice Makes Perfect

I frequently get the question from clients asking when their dog will be completely trained. I like to look at training as a life-long process. Our dogs are learning something each time we take them out for a walk. We, as owners, are reinforcing good things or unknowingly reinforcing bad things. We need to be aware that if your dog pulls you over to see their favorite neighborhood friend, your dog has learned to pull you where he wants to go. What if instead you have him wait to be released to go to his friend? The consistant use of a simple "Say PLEASE" philosophy will create a well behaved canine citizen.

Most of us fail to realize that pretty much every day, every interaction with our dog (especially in the first 2 years) is a TRAINING scenario, practicing for the big event when we desperately NEED a recall, for an emergency, to impress someone, or for competition. This means two things: 

 A. We end up testing our dogs on a regular basis rather than setting up a training scenario when we're just hanging out with our dog.

B. We don't reinforce the good behavior frequently enough in everyday real-life situations (where we haven't set up a formal training exercise) to maintain the strength of the dog’s response.  

The following is a list from Ian Dunbar's training blog and I think it does a great job summing up a dog owner's job regarding training responsibilities.

1. If you find yourself in a situation where you’re not sure that your dog will respond to your requests appropriately and right away, manage for safety and success. (And then go back and train until s/he does respond enthusiastically and promptly!)

2. Strengthen your reinforcement value via games, high value rewards, and high reinforcement history. (HIGHER!!) 

3. Practice and heavily reinforce the basics such as sit, down and stay. Don’t take them for granted.

4. Gradually add and increase distractions occasionally in mini, real-life training set ups.

5. Do the above throughout your dog’s life regardless of how well-trained your dog gets.

Remember a having a trained dog is not an end goal but rather a dynamic, ever-changing lifelong process. Practice makes perfect.

Holiday Stress????

Are you feeling a little holiday stress? Dogs also feel stress and can exhibit a multitude of signs. Do you know that dogs can have sweaty paws? Some other signs of stress are the following:

• yawning
• teeth chattering
• lip licking
• will not play with toys or eat
• excessive drooling
• stretching
• excessive shedding
• whining
• cheek puffing
• shallow or fast breathing
• dog freezes, closes the mouth, stillness
• tucked or low tail

Watch your dog's behavior and see how many of the items above you can see as they are exposed to things in their environment. Dogs tell us a great deal and it is up to us to watch and understand their unique language. I think that in many cases, they have learned to read our behavior much better than we read theirs.  

Tracking Class

It was a beautiful Sunday morning as we held our first tracking class at Bayside. Our teams, Pam and Tally and Darcy and Hooper, took to this exciting canine sport like fish to water. Noses were to the ground as they followed a trail of scent through the field behind Bayside. We all loved watching the dogs at work using their innate scenting skills. We will be having more training sessions in the weeks to come. If you and your dog like the outdoors, try tracking!