I have big dog plans for the future, including several craigslist leads for dog training buddies, and my first day volunteering for my favorite local training company, Patricia McConnell's company Dog's Best Friend (well, she started it but sold it a few years ago. Same people, though). It's on Monday and I can't wait to see other people and their dogs and the training methods involved. Maybe I can even make some friends who would be willing to be decoys :) My goal for the summer is to do two to three CAT sessions a week and see if we can make some real progress. I'd also like to try a week or so (at least) of five mini-training sessions a day on the door, like Patricia McConnell reported some research on in her blog. Apparently brains learn things pretty well with many short sessions over the course of the day. While I'm on vacation (woohoo!) I can certainly hop up five times a day and run the door routine. My dream of paying for a pizza in peace may come true after all . . . Right now I look out the window and leap up when I see the car and run run run out the front door to meet the guy in the driveway, kind of a stressful pizza experience.
Justin and I would also like to run a practice camping night somewhere to see where we're at for a week-long vacation in June. We discovered that both dogs are afraid of campfires when we had one in the yard last week, not an auspicious beginning for camping season. And having a campsite nearby, with dogs or kids or even just people? In the dark? Forget about it. I have a sweet van that we're planning on bringing, so maybe I can convince the dogs that the van is an awesome place to hang out even if we're not in it and it can save the concept of vacations this summer.
Oh, and it would be nice if Gustav started developing a pretty good recall, so if someday he can be off-leash on hikes and such (i.e. when I'm pretty sure he wouldn't start a fight with any dog he saw or terrorize a stranger), then he'll come back when called. We had him off-leash in a secret hidden place yesterday and his recall was, um, flawed but not a totally lost cause. Dottie's could use a little spiffing up, come to think of it.
In the meantime, I have a giant paper to write and a final exam and project to finish and the dogs are being very patient and wonderful. I am completely done as of Thursday, and mostly done as of tomorrow, so I suppose I should get off this blog and get cracking.
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I think that is such a great idea! I apprenticed at Dogsmart for a long time as well! It was such an invaluable experience. I think especially seeing so many people who love their dogs but just don't know where to start. I had so many times where I could share their pain...and that was in a puppy or beginner class and their dogs were so not anywhere near my reactive guys! But I learned tons, and it felt really good to be able to give people little bits of encouragement, even if they were a few babysteps away from actually completing a behaviour...those little words from you (the volunteer) or teacher can make or break the pressure they feel or frustration level as they learn to adjust their timing and their pup learns how much fun it is to pay attention to their human in such a challenging environment!
ReplyDeleteGustav and Dottie are soooo lucky! I am so happy that you're working on off leash hikes in remote areas! I swear it's one of the best ways to put us humans in the "best human in the UNIVERSE" category for dogs. There's something really calming when people and dogs are enjoying nature that relieve tension. Using the Premack principal is my favourite out in the woods. You gain a ton of brownie points when you release them back to race around, or dig or chase something. I can't wait to hear more!
Does Gustav know the "touch" cue" That is one of my favorite icebreakers with people and or the "sniff" cue. If you ever get caught off guard, I've yelled "touch" or "sniff" and it takes the edge off of ....what do I do with this human or dog.....and you're far away.
I did that with Keegan this past weekend. He's a jumper, and a couple of tourists came onto the path and started waving at us....Keegan was off on his own at a distance so ofcourse he bolted over to them... as I swear he thinks he's a superstar...and I yelled "sniff" because it was too late to call him away, he was already engaged with the girls and he did, sniff and then I called him to me and ran the other way to chase me. PHEWF!
I've worked on the sniff and touch cue a little, but not tons. It's a good idea, though. I should work it in a little more.
ReplyDeleteWalking in the woods is one of my goals for my guys. Dottie can already do it, but Gustav has a ways to go. Luckily he's much more of a couch potato than Dottie ever was (or is), so it's not the end of the world for him to be on leash. Of course, it would be so fun to let him go more often. I love the muzzle for that, even if I'm 90% sure I won't see anyone, it makes me feel safer to know that nothing catastrophic would happen if we got surprised. It would still be unpleasant and embarrassing, but not actually dangerous.
Volunteering has been great so far, it is so fascinating to see other people's dogs.