sisalik | Entries tagged with dog training

I got this for Dave. Amazingly, he didn't know it was out on DVD. He thinks it is so awesome that he used four exclamation points to tell me so. I usually have a hard time with presents, so I am excessively pleased about this.

On to more stinky matters. Namely, my dog. I've got the basics of the "wait for the behavior and then reward it" training down, but I don't know how to apply them to the following, and I hope someone out there has ideas.....

1. The Wookiee noise. This cracks me up. She only yodels at me when she thinks I'm ignoring her. If I'm on the phone, that's a prime time for Wookiee howling. The problem is, as soon as I praise her for it (and liberally repeat the cue I want her to associate it with) she STOPS, because now she has my attention. I think the solution there is go back to whatever behavior I did that triggered hers, and wait for her to do it again. The cue, by the way, is "Whatcha thinking?" Because I do really want to turn to my dog, ask her what she thinks about something, and have her perform the Star Wars version of Carmina Burana.

2. The flat-faced door problem. My house was designed by drunken gnomes and as such, the doorways are tight and strangely configured. Usually they're next to a wall. Buster, Piglet, and Sadie never had a problem, because they were normal dogs with pointy faces and they could nose the door open. Riley tries, but she can't get her big manatee head into the space, and usually winds up clicking the door shut entirely. My thought was to tie something to the knob that she could pull to open the door. I have no idea how to get her to do that, though; I don't know if her little jellybean brain can handle something this complex. I'm thinking the procession of behaviors goes, pull on rope/cloth/whatever, then pull while backing up, then pull while backing up and it's attached to the door, then LEAVING IT ALONE once the door is open. That last will be tricky, too; she'll want to play Tug and pull the door (and the house) down.

Thoughts? Ideas? Am I setting myself up for a nonstop Boxer concerto and a demolished house?

A discussion in

breedists_no got me wanting to tell you guys the story, too.

Last night I was at Colby's, and in an effort to keep myself and his Yorkie pup Baxter both entertained and out of the way while Colby loaded boxes, I settled down on the floor with my usual pocket full of kibble and started teaching him things like "down" and "come when I whistle for you." (The second will have to be changed because, as Joey showed me when he got home, he cannot whistle. Poor dear.)

Baxter did NOT get tired of this, which amazed me because, as I'm sure everyone is well aware, Riley has the attention span of a goldfish. Training her basics (sit, stay, down, come, get off the bed, grab it/drop it, please don't try to dislocate my shoulder while you're on a leash) took FOREVER because, after two or three repetitions, she'd get bored and annoyed. Her take was, I KNOW HOW TO DO IT, YOU SAW ME, SO WHY ARE WE STILL DOING THIS? Consistently acquiescing to a request is something Riley thinks should only apply to me, when I am expected to dispense treats or blow bubbles or itch her butt. The dingus still doesn't know how to fetch, and she probably never will, because once she has the toy I'm expected to chase her down and tackle her and get it back.

But anyway. Baxter. Did not get bored, and he's seven months old. As long as I had cookies, he wanted to do stuff. If I got distracted, he'd start cycling through the routine of what he knows (which isn't much, so far; so it was mostly run away, come back, sit, down, squeaky-whine) in the hopes that one of them would trigger a cookie from me. Colby and Joey were both amazed at this. "HE'S SO SMART!" "YOU MAKE THAT LOOK SO EASY!" "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG IT TOOK US TO GET HIM TO SIT?" "SCREW CESAR, WE'VE GOT INDI!" Which, hee, the last I especially liked because I'm not a big swinging dick of a dog-person who's all DOMINANCE DOMINANCE DOMINANCE ZOMG -- my take is, if Dog does what I ask, Dog get delicious snacks and love. They warm up to that pretty fast. I know it's working when I get the display of "hey look, I can sit/down/beg/roll over/what do I have to do to get another cookie out of you?!" You dog people know what happens next. Wean them off the cookies, and eventually (ha, Riley, I tricked you repeatedly with this and you still don't get it) you have a dog doing what you ask them to do without having to offer food.

The thing is, I unintentionally pick big dumb heart-of-gold spaz dogs. Sadie, the 80lb wooly grey behemoth who had to go to puppy class three times? I picked her. Buster, the little genius who will do anything for love (or, did, before he got all concussed and elderly and deaf)? The guy at the shelter steered me away from a boingy Border Collie mix to point him out. Piglet, who wanted nothing more than belly rubs and a quiet spot next to a warm body? My mom. Riley the space cadet for whom physics are an ignorable suggestion? ALL ME, BABY. (Riley passed puppy class first time. I'm still not sure how. Maybe they just didn't want us back.)

I'm used to dogs for whom obedience is a funny thought, dogs who can't focus, dogs who get bored and run away and come back with a toy figuring that if we're going to hang out it should be FUN. Dogs for whom closed doors and toys under the couch are problems that must be solved. It's taught me how to be patient with the training, if nothing else, since you can't very well get annoyed at a Boxer for... being a Boxer.

I wonder what else I can get Baxter to do? In about an hour and a half I had him coming, downing, and not playing Bitey Hands. The only problem here is getting Joey to understand how this works. Once he started to 'help,' Baxter got cookies for looking cute, giving kisses, and whining. But.. if I can train a sheepdog with the mind of a gnat... if I can train Riley... I can train Joe. Probably. I hope.

I don't care how dorky it is that I am excited by this and this -- I AM going. Alone if I must. And probably to the conformation shows, too, because I love Komondors and Pulis and wolfhounds (Russian, Scottish, Irish, it's all good) and the big hairy ones like Pyrenees and Bernese Mountain Dogs and Newfoundlands and anything Molossian from Danes to Pugs and Spitzes and really, all of 'em but the toys.

"The size of dogs should be kept up, you know."

oregoonie: *hugs* Someday I'll get back out to Florida. Then you're in real trouble...
I SHOULD BE SO LUCKY!

For the past two days, Ri and I have been going down to a park to work on our leash behavior. I'm saying 'we' because there is work on both sides: she has to learn to focus only on me, and I have to learn how to expect she will, by keeping her interest and correcting her when she doesn't. I admit, I've been spoiled here: Sadie was leash trained by my mom and by the time I was permitted to walk with her, had a perfect heel/sit/wait/sit-front going. I could walk her alone when I was still young. (Wish we had pictures of that -- little ten-year-old me walking a 80lb sheepdog on a slack leash.) Buster got the hang of it quickly, and as he is so small, never really needed much in the way of correction. Riley, who could pull my car, is entirely different. Don't know what that says more about - the smallness of my car or the amount of muscle on this young moose of a dog.

I break it up with sit-stays and down-stays and up and off, on the picnic tables - she prefers commands that mean she gets to move. She's a born agility dog, just has to learn how to focus on me.. and obedience will help with that. I don't need to tell her twice to get onto or off a picnic table. Her opinion of the training is more like this: YAY I JUMP I GET ON I GET OFF I GO BOING BOUNCE SIT IS BORING HEEL IS BORING I WANT TO JUMP ON THINGS LET'S GO SLIME THOSE KIDS LOOK I CAN RUN AND JUMP JUMP JUMP. She'll stop for a moment, then: "COOKIE? NO? LOOK I CAN JUMP." My dog thinks entirely in capital letters, yes.

In the two days we've been doing this, she's got pretty good at keeping to my side - her shoulder even with my knee - and is starting to get that she sits when we stop. She sits in front of me, facing me, but... it's a start. She'll hold her sit-stay with distractions if they're far enough away: a guy with a stroller didn't break the stay, but two people coming by (one reaching out to her) made her wriggle for attention. When she pulls, she gets a small corrective leash-pop, and if it continues she has to sit until I release her. That idea is for her to think that pulling means we stop altogether, and since Riley is a perpetual motion machine, I expect it'll work.

The two biggest problems here are both easily corrected, I think. She really doesn't grok that she should be watching me for cues and letting me deal with the rest of the world. I've been tugging out some complicated Morse code with tiny corrective pops of the leash, and that seems to help. It's like walking next to someone and repeatedly tapping their shoulder so they keep looking at you. It works like this: wait for her to veer, pop-look-praise, rinse, repeat. The martingale helps with this, too, since she can't pull so freely with the top of her neck. The other issue is her tendency to lead with her nose when we walk - sometimes I wonder if she's not part bloodhound. I read something on boxerworld.com about a dog who does exactly that - her owner's solution was to make 'sniff time' something that happens on command, and the rest of the time she was expected to walk nicely. That's something I think I will try.

While there were parts yesterday when she didn't do any of this stuff, there were also times she did. It's small, but I'll take it. We're getting somewhere.

aekastar and

mesawyou, thanks for the cards! Y'all want I should send you some in return?

(Anyone else who wants mailed holiday tidings from me, please email me and say so.)

I got the martingale! Just tried it on Riley in the back yard, and THE DIFFERENCE IS AMAZING. She didn't pull, didn't fight it, though one of her floppy ears folded over and fit itself in the quick-release loop. I fitted it right at the top of her neck, behind her skull, like I'm supposed to. She held her head high and responded very quickly when I changed direction without warning. If I can get her to watch me while we walk, I expect we'll be able to move on a slack leash. She's a bit uneven at present from the busted-up claw, but still stepped fast and kept up.

It's the same as the Gentle Leader effect, but without the whining and fighting and pawing that happens at first, since it's on the neck, not the head. I tried it on Buster too, and he was a bit baffled but okay. He can walk fine on a flat collar, though we don't use it since his neck is bigger than his head. I think I'll keep him on his GL. If your dog has a long face and isn't prone to bolting (Riley is emphatically neither), a GL might be preferable. I'm not sure. This, however, is just what I needed for Miss Molecule.

It fits tightly enough on her neck that she has to really pull for it to constrict, and then it can't go far enough to cause the Bad Dog wheezing and cacking.

I shall pick up a box of utterly stinky dog treats and then we will go to various places about town and practice our heel. With a sit when I stop! And a cookie for being so well-behaved.

All of you with dogs who wondered how this would work: I highly recommend acquiring your own. Two opposable (and two vestigal!) thumbs up.

Current Mood: HUZZAH!
Current Music: Afro Celt Sound System - Go On Through

Puppy class tonight: we discussed Leave It and Sit-Stay.

Riley was good with the Leave It. I got to show Vic and Becky how well she can Down. They were suitably impressed.

Sit Stay was complicated. We had to walk forward, then haul the pups around to our left side, then ease them into a sitting position without bribes. Riley didn't like it. She doesn't like being manhandled at all, so getting towed around and having her butt pushed on was very Not Fun. It was moving pretty quickly, and with Boo, quick brings out the crazy. She got a little growly, so I gave her some time to cool off, and then she did it right.

I got a little treat-dispenser thingummy that can be attached to a belt loop. I'm a certifiable Crazy Fuckin' Dog Lady. Whee!

Ear, thanks to Advil, is not throbby.

Visited Chino today and there are more things he wants me to do.

Une; make some pretty "Do these in color!" signs for the inside of the store. He had some signs up that were paper and permanent marker; he said "go ahead, take those" so I tore them down and now they're in the car. I promised The Same Font! even. Woo for me.

Deux; he's throwing a third grand opening (Only Chino...) and wants me to pop by with some of my own business cards (shit, I better make some) so I can hopefully be pimped out to various small-business people around. Fine with me. Work is good.

Trois; he INSISTS I come in for some highlighting. "Honey, there is so much we can do." I won't argue.

I also did laundry, indexed a shitload of pictures, and I need more neg sheets. Golden Triangle after class then, for the third time in two weeks. They've got to be sick of my face. Me, I like the dektol smell. Sweetest thing ever.

Tomorrow is code class. Tonight I will sleep well, but only on the right. Ow.

Postscript: Saltwater soaks on new piercings will drive all hints of sleepiness from my brain. Must do this earlier, instead of lumping it in with the before-bedtime ablutions.

Current Mood: Ow Stingy Ow Ow
Current Music: Dream Theater - Home - Orlando HOB