We completed Bam Bam's initial training by doing more practice with greetings and departures. A higher rate of reinforcement when he went to his place helped particularly well. We also taught him to "say hi" (hand touch) so he will be more comfortable with people reaching down to pet him. Tilly's training continued with Loose Leash Walking today. From the moment we walked out the door Tilly was busy scanning the environment for the things that excite her - dogs and people. For her to be successful we must teach her to pay attention to us when we need it. TRAINING TIP #1: HOLIDAY VISITORS PT. 2 If your dog is having trouble with your visitor routine, be ready to reward more frequently and ask for something easier. For example, if you were asking for a sit-stay when the doorbell goes off, instead ask for a quick sit, then release your dog to say hello. TRAINING TIP #2: TRAINING AN OLDER DOG You’ve no doubt heard the adage, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” If you have an older dog, you’ll be relieved to know that for the most part it’s false. Older dogs are perfectly capable of learning, though there are a number of factors that influence how much and what your mature canine pal can learn, including:
Positive trainers like to say “it’s all tricks.” Any new behaviors your senior dog can learn count as new tricks, even if he’s no longer jumping through hoops. - excerpted from The Whole Dog Journal As part of her basic manners training and to help with her reactivity we taught River how to Leave It. She is a fast learner and tonight was no exception. We made a break through of sorts with Marigold today. She is hyper vigilant when outside, scanning the environment for people, dogs, squirrels, whatever is moving (except cars, thank goodness). So today we tried a Thundercap on her, and it worked wonders by reducing the amount of stimuli that Mari could see, thereby allowing Marigold and her owner to enjoy a walk without pulling and whining.
We are not proponents of underground fences, so we are training Maxum, a 5.5 month old Standard Poodle, how to learn his boundaries the positive way! After using the 15 food lead we switched to a 50 footer and he ran back to us every time!
We did more work with Bam Bam greeting visitors, using a gate to prevent him from getting too close to the door, then used a high rate of reinforcement when he went to and stayed on his "place". |
AuthorJeff Dentler, CPDT-KA, IAABC-ADT, FFCP, CTDI Archives
April 2024
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