These days we are using all the commands in mock "routines" for "real life" situations. Additionally, I am getting Alyssa used to being handled by strangers now when she needs to with the goal of having a stress free veterinarian appointment:)
So this is all old work that will show somewhat of how we got to where we are presently:) For instance all that molding work we did, and continue to do, will now start to pay off for stranger examination.
This is Boy's first week of work here. We also do sit on the dog in week one, and if you click on Boy, you will find a training blog that links up to each of the exercises (longe line and sit on the dog).
Then on day 8, we move onto week two work of heel and auto sit.
As a trainer, the one training request I receive most frequently is "I just want my dog to walk nicely on leash"!!! It's also the easiest thing to teach your dog to do well. A command or instruction is not taught well unless it is finished to the point where your dog can deal with the distracting situations of everyday life. This includes:
Cars passing by
Neighborhood cars
Small children screaming in the neighborhood
Dogs being walked by
Off leash dogs perhaps rushing at you and your dog in play or with other intentions. (you would rather not be worrying about what your dog is doing in these situations. It's better to have your dog trust your judgement and caregiving).
Squirell running up a tree in front of you
Bikers, Skateboarders, Joggers,
There are two directions that I give my dog for walking nicely on (and off) leash. There is "let's go" which means do not pull on the lead (or it means comes towards me if they are off lead). Then there is the command that most owners think is "too fancy" or an impossibility, which is the heel.
The heel is no harder to teach than walking nicely (ie not pulling) on a "let's go" command. The "let's go" command is used for informal walks where you don't mind that your dog sniffs the dandelions or marks the tree. You only mind that the dog does not put pressure on the leash. The heel is a position that the dog must take. This command is great for getting a dog to focus on what they are doing (as opposed to the dog walking directly towards you for instance) or for when you are holding or handling something else, and really don't want to trip over your dog. Heel is also great for city type situations so they don't wrap their leash around everything and everybody.
Below is a video of me and dog/human reactive American Pit Bull Terrier, Gigi, taking our first city walk in the town of Portsmouth NH. She walked by two dogs and did amazingly well
Not the best heel I have ever seen, but Gigi was just beginning to learn about distractions (especially ones that she wanted to attack) vs walking well on leash and trusting me to keep us safe.
This video of Jackie and I doing a run thru, is a better example of what a more fully trained heel (complete with auto sit) should look like.
Jackie was a dog that I despaired of ever being in public off leash, never mind competing off leash! He earned his Companion Dog last 5/2008 (which means he had to have an acceptable heel, among other things, both on and off lead), and is now being readied for open competition. Whether this is in a ring or on the street, a well trained heel should look essentially the same. You may need to make allowances for an unexpected elephant in the middle of the road LOL, but the dog should be prepared and trained for any expected distractions.
The first week of training should be all about space and staying in the owners space. This is done with posted on this blog called "sit on the dog".
The second week begins with a dog walking with the owner between two points on longe line from days 1-3. I go into this in more detail in my training manual, but simply all the owner needs to worry about is walking between the two points without speaking to or paying much attention to the dog. I change this up a bit for puppies and some other individual needs. Until I mention it, this is all in very mildly distracting venues.
The second week days 4-6, you have notated some things that distracted your dog in your immediate area. You probably know of some without even observing your dog during this process (open doors, open gate, end of driveway, cat, kids, neighbors, food). Now it's time to set your dog up with these distractions, but the owner moves in the opposite direction every time the dog is not paying attention. This sets the dog up for the need to learn to pay attention to you, because "Dog Knows" where you might go next. Your dog needs to keep an eye on you now, so he doesn't loose you .
The whole point of this is you are getting your dog to think this is THEIR great idea. Staying near you is the only way to keep tabs on you.
The second week on day 7, you begin preparing for heel work but still on the longe line (15-20 feet of line that you have kept completely slack this whole time). This means that you move in the opposite direction as soon as the dog starts to get anywhere near five feet away from you. At this point, and for most dogs, when they see you move they will go towards you immediately. Most dogs do not get to the end of the line at this point.
Exercises like this can be modified in a bunch of different ways to the needs of your client. My mastiff client, Baby Bella, has a spidery toy that is dangled to have her dash up. Treats work as well. For the right temperament of dogs, a knowledgeable and well trained correction helps them right along. For corrections, the point is that it needs to be done well, it's not appropriate to nag or choke on the dogs neck.
The next week, you are working on the heel. If you are going to be sloppy on easy things like position and leash handling, then this will be a waste of time for you. You also want a trainer that knows the importance of these things. It is not hard at all to do this correctly, and it confuses me every time why someone would not train a heel in the correct manner, whether for competition or a walk down the street. It's just not that difficult, especially if you are a knowledgeable trainer.
These directions take up pages and pages with good information, so I won't print them here. Plus, if you don't know what you are doing, it's best to have a knowledgeable trainer guide you through the process. At some point, you are rotating locations that you are practicing your exercises which have built a language one word at a time for your dog. I pick four different outdoor areas and two different indoor areas that I do my training. You are working your dog about an hour a day 6-7 days a week while you are doing this. Someone who will be successful will do this cheerfully, patiently, consistently, and enjoy the process.
In the end, the most awesome gift and reward that you will give your dog is increased time with you and increased freedom. No treat or toy in the world trumps that:)
You will notice in my pictures AND video that the leash is completely loose. This is how it should looke with a dog in the midst of training or a trained dog. Any tightness of the leash is manipulating an untrained dog.
Regarding equipment, I personally do not like head halties or harnesses that cinch under the arm pits, as the correction never stops even if the dog is walking correctly. These tend to rub sensitive dog's skin raw and make it uncomfortable to walk!! Not my personal goal for my or my client's dogs.
Regarding classes, I prefer to offer private classes first, and only group classes to my students who have done the work. The reason? Well an instructor is not going to know all dogs in their class really well when they meet them for the first time, which could lead to some unexpected and not safe situations. Beyond that though, the human and canine do not get the one on one attention that they deserve to work with this issue. You are starting with maximum distraction which makes it hard for everyone to learn.
Early Morning: 1. Lesson length 20 minutes. 2. Objective of lesson is to get Gigi familiar with sinking into a down on her own. 3. Method or technique used is influenced by Koehler method of down (not down stay or sit on the dog and not training program due to condensed time). 4. Tools used are 6' leather lead and metal training collar. 5. No homework for owner as yet. 6. Gigi is still figuring out her options. She stiffened right leg today to make it more difficult. We have started on the correction phase of the training, however.
Afternoon: 1. Lesson length 1 and a half hours. 2. Objective of the lesson is to get Gigi both heeling and lying quietly while quite close to dogs walking towards her. Or closer than we have been, and without the muzzle. 3. Method or techniques used are both Bedrock's sit on the dog (about 37 minutes, seven of those being before Gigi went into position of down) and Koehler influenced heeling (but not training program due to condensed time). 4. Tools are 6' leather lead, metal training collar, and electronic collar. 5. No homework for client's as yet, as they are not involved. 6. Gigi became very excited over one Corgi coming towards us, and bit her leash hard when corrected with the e-collar (normally working level, was a protest bite). Did passes of about 10 feet away from a terrier and the owner who cooperated. Saw a pretty reactionary Newfoundland and was interested but didn't get too worried. She is still shaking in the sit on the dog, but it gets less and less each time, as the time for her to go down gets less and less. She has the most problem on Short Sands than Long Sands or Portsmouth, so I am going to spend the rest of her training time here working that.
Late Evening (7PM): 1. Training time one hour. 2. Objective of training, see how Gigi does in comparison with Short Sands on Long Sands beach with many on leash dogs (actually ended up being many off leash dogs). 3. Techniques used were Koehler influenced heeling and sit stay became very important (but not training program due to condensed time). 4. Tools used 6' leather leash, metal training collar, and electronic collar. 5. No homework for client as yet. 6. Big red Golden Retriever rushed us (from behind) right as we went into Long Sands. Gigi did not do a straight sit, but she sat and waited for me to run the dog off and glare menacingly at his owner. Nice dog, but it's my job to make Gigi feel safe with me. That is our deal. We also had a friendly pug run up. I put Gigi in the command sit right away. There was one other "bully breed" making eye contact at Gigi, so I practiced my about turns with him and the owner's permission. She did try to overshoot on the first one, but then was doing it consistently thereafter.
Thundering all day today, so activities were indoors.
Early Morning: 1. Lesson length 40 minutes. 2. Objective, to have Gigi learn down first command, and how to sink or drop into it. 3. Methods used are Koehler influenced steps for down (but not training program, due to condensed time), we are still at the shaping or molding stage. 4. Tools used 6' leather lead and metal training collar. 5. No homework for client as yet. 6. Gigi tried out moving her right paw up to evade my sweep under (you are holding the left paw as you do this). Once I started moving her into position quicker, she stop attempting this, and started doing 3/4ths of the sinking down on her own.
Afternoon: 1. Length of lesson 1 hour (two segments of two half hours). 2. Objective, Gigi on collar but off leash heeling through house. The point is to have her ignoring her friends, the thunder, and other things she wants to do and follow me in a heel (doing all of her auto sits) thru the house. 3. Methods used Koehler influenced method of heeling (but not training program due to condensed time). 4. Tools used electronic collar and metal training collar (if positioning was needed). 5. No homework for client as yet. 6. A couple of tries were made to get out of the heel command. Auto sits were consistently performed, some were crooked as she was interested in other stuff. When Gigi started doing that, I used the metal training collar to put her back into position, or guide her into position that was straight, so she would know that was what I am looking for.
Evening: 1. Length of lesson 31 minutes (1 minute until she acheived a down). 2. Objective, to have Gigi relax next to her handler while eating dinner and other dogs are around. 3. Method used was Bedrock's sit on the dog (but not training program due to condensed time). 4. Tools used 6' leather lead and metal collar. 5. No homework yet. 6. No problem. Took her less than a minute (maybe thirty seconds) to go into her down and stay there the entire time. Course this is around dogs and people that she knows.
Early Morning: 1. Lesson was for one half hour. 2. Objective, get Gigi walking up close to dogs AND with them walking towards us close up. Also, using the people I know who will sit their dog help me train Gigi to be close up to another dog without reacting. 3. Techniques used are Koehler influenced heeling and auto sit (but not training program). 4. Equipment used muzzle, leather 6' leash, and electronic collar. 5. Owners not involved yet, so no homework given. 6. Gigi was watchful, but following the commands well. A couple of times she tried to turn her head to watch behind her so much that she almost went out of a heel, but was quickly corrected back. After that, she walked forward without wanting to look back more comfortably. A friend of mine knew I wanted to work with her and her dog Daisy, and when she called her dog to her.... Her dog went to HER, but every other dog on the beach came running full tilt to me and Gigi LOL. So I did a quick about turn, and got Gigi into a sit. The huge German Shepherd puppy put his nose right against her nose, and Gigi seemed relaxed enough about it. The lab went to the back, which she didn't mind and then came hesitantly to the front. After a couple of those, Gigi did try to lunge once, and gave herself a pretty good collar correction. Then my friend and I did our conversation with our dogs across from each other. I thought this interaction went extremely well for Gigi 1) it was only one attempt and not a tantrum and 2) Gigi's attitude really seemed to change once she realized these dogs were not going to hurt her.
***Will be doing a lot more of this tomorrow.
Mid afternoon around 2 pm in Porsmouth: 1. Length of lesson 1 and a half hours. 2. Objective, to start passing close by dogs who are on the street, and also barking dogs on flexis, so that Gigi becomes more familiar with being in control in these situations. 3. Techniques used Bedrock's sit on the dog (but not training program) and Koehler influenced heeling (but not training program). 4. Tools used metal chairs or benches, muzzle, 6' leather lead, metal training collar, electronic collar, one trained dog (Leon) and husband with camera. 5. Owners not involved yet, no homework given. 6. Walked past a Springer on the street. I did not hold the leash entirely loose, but there was slack. Gigi was interested, but didn't try anything. We did sit on the dog where there were four other dogs around with Leon at a place where everyone was sitting and drinking coffee. She stayed down most of the time, and was much much calmer than she had been before. Made some passes by a Bernese Mountain dog that was left outside the coffee shop tethered to a tree on his flexi (wicked nice dog and obviously well trained to stay off the street). Gigi tried to go for him once, got a good correction and then we made several more passes by him. Walked past a couple with two big hound type dogs on flexis, one was very reactive and pulling her toward Gigi. I have to watch the tape, I think Gigi may have tried to reacte once, and then we walked by a few times with out incident (on Gigi's part anyway).
Looonnnng Portsmouth day: 1. Lesson two hours. 2. Objective, to have Gigi walking very closely with city dogs from behind (dog's behind to Gigi) and be able to pass without incident with a lane in between when dog coming from front. Also to have Gigi be still and realize no dog is out to harm her, in fact they are all pretty much ignoring her. 3. Techniques used sit on the dog and Koehler influenced heeling exercise (not training program due to condensed time). 4. Equipment is muzzle, metal training collar, e-collar and bench (for sit on the dog). 5. Owner not involved so no homework given as yet. 6. It was a grueling day for Gigi. I did get us water through out the day. We spent a good hour heeling around the square and backroads of Portsmouth. Many many dogs out on Saturday. Many very untrained ones, with owners who want to walk up to every other dog. Gigi only lunged once at an Irish Setter while we were doing sit on the dog. This makes her correct herself by the collar pressure when she leaps, and all was calm after. This was the first dog that tried to approach her during the day. I also had several up close conversations with other owners and dogs, who allowed me to just have Gigi sit there as we conversed about dog training. It took her three minutes to go into a down on sit on the dog today. One owner helped me do reps of about turns toward her dog and away with Gigi. Gigi was interested in the dog, and probably would have tried something if I had the owner come closer, but instead did quite a few about turns without looking back.
Morning: 1. Length of lesson was one hour plus. 2. Objective, to get Gigi used to working in crowded city like areas, where it's very possible that a dog could travel closely by and be well socialized but not trained. 3. Techniques used were heeling with auto sit and sit on the dog. 4. Tools used were leather 6' lead, muzzle, e-collar, metal training collar, and bench (for sit on the dog). 5. Owner not involved yet, so no homework given. 6. Gigi was less inclined to look around corners or behind her, and followed me nicely. There were some dogs around, but all owners clearly had destinations that they were going to, so no one was just letting their dog walk aimlessly, which helped Gigi feel more at ease. No attempts to bite or balk at the commands given. When doing sit on the dog, it took seven minutes for Gigi to down, and then she downed in the open pretty comfortably (as opposed to before when she tried hiding under the bench).
Evening (Owner Visit) 1. Length of the lesson was one hour plus. 2. Objective, to get owner more comfortable and ready to work with Gigi, and other dogs. 3. Techniques used were socialization protocol that I use with dogs like this (crate to sit on the dog to working around, but usually not done in a few hours and normally done in days). Heeling with auto sit around dog and owner's friend by owner. 4. Equipment used was 6' leather lead, muzzle at end, chain collar, and electronic collar. 5. No homework for owner as Gigi is continuing on with us here. 6. Few things didn't go so well. Collar started to loose power at the end. I must have forgotten to charge it. In general though, owner didn't seem very excited to work with Gigi. Took many repeats to get the owner to let go of the leash with his left hand and keep fully in the right. Not sure that I am getting across the need for Gigi to follow him, and that he will need to be the leader. Or whether this just hasn't been heard at this point. Did not bring home the point was the lesson should not have been about ordering Gigi to be Baxter's friend on demand, but that instead the owner should be able to read and control Gigi. The two lunges forward on Gigi's part were excellent lessons for her, that she is to remain in control and not go after an object. She is given the freedom (well sort of she is on equipment) to do so, but she is learning that there are consequences for these actions. She is also learning that there is no reason to do these actions in the first place.
Early and unbelievably hot morning: 1. Lesson an hour. 2. Objective is to get Gigi used to walking down a busy and crowded street. 3. Techniques used are heeling and auto sit ala Koehler influenced (but not training plan, due to condensed training time). 4. Tools used were muzzle, metal training collar, and 6' leather lead. 5. Owners not involved yet, so no homework given. 6. Today almost perfect heeling through most of the walk. Did have to correct some times for the auto sit. In town she was less worried than yesterday. Thru the whole hour long walk we saw not one dog. None were out today anywhere. Not in their yards, not in the park, and not on the street. She did seem more comfortable with the people, and we were not on the sidewalk but off to the side yesterday. Today since she had the muzzle on, I did bring her right into the thick of it. A very sweet boy petted Gigi, and said everyone should let dogs with muzzles on know that they are liked by petting them . I did make sure he knew to ask first, but what a sweety. Gigi did enjoy that. A grown man admired Gigi and wanted to see if she would accept a pat. She looked okay at first, but ended up barking at the man thru the muzzle. All in all, pretty happy with the walk. I am going to have to go to Portsmouth tomorrow though so I can guarantee dogs while we are walking!!
Evening Beach Walk: 1. Lesson an hour. 2. Objective, to get Gigi used to walking on crowded beach around dogs. 3. Techniques, heeling ala Koehler influenced with auto sit, AND down reps on the beach (not Koehler training plan, due to condensed training time). 4. Tools used were metal training collar and 6' leather lead. No muzzle as Gigi is better in the beach situation, and is becoming better used to that than crowded city streets. Course, I still think a barking eye contact dog may cause her to redirect, so jeans worn:) 5. Owners not involved yet,s o no homework given. 6. Gigi is still watchful, but seems far more accepting that there are strangers around. To this point and probably not for awhile, I won't let strangers approach other than to walk past or talk to me. That kind of approaching I allow with Gigi, but no attempts to pet unless muzzle is on OR she is much calmer than she is. However, she is getting better with this.
Early morning (very foggy): 1. Length of lesson 45 minutes. 2. Objective of lesson is to get Gigi more confident working closer and closer to dogs. 3. Techniques used were the start of the down shaping ala Koehler influenced with heeling and many turns. Also auto sits used. 4. Equipment used was metal training collar (electronic collar has rubbed at some of Gigi's fine skin) and leather 6' leash. 5. Owners not involved yet, though coming to do a bit of training tonight. No homework yet. 6. The fog seemed to actually work in our favor. She did see my other client Cynthia and her two Great Danes (Roxie and Harley) on the beach. She seemed a little nervous, but more interested. This did distract her quite a bit, though she did sit as me and Cynthia talked. Gigi was accomodating during the shaping of the downs. She didn't try to fight back, but she was a bit stiff.
Mid Afternoon (unbearably hot): 1. Lesson length started with 1 hour. 2. Objective is to get Gigi to self relax while in very crowded and busy places. 3. Technique used was to sit back under a shelter about three benches back. This was so as not to alarm the passbyers, especially ones with dogs. Gigi is not quite ready for really close encounters, especially where eye contact with dogs will be involved. Used Bedrock's sit on the dog. 4. Equipment used metal bench, 6' leather lead, and metal chain collar. 5. Owners not involved yet so no homework as yet. 6. Couple of small dogs came by, and Gigi actually jumped up on the bench trying to get to them. This is an instance where I do knock her back down, before continuing to ignore her. It took her 1/2 to go down, and I broke the rules this one time (as I had dogs to let out later at home) and finally put her in a down. She stayed down for periods of time but got up when people or children moved through. Clearly still gets very amped up being in a public place.
Right after sit on the dog: 1. Lesson time was 1 and a half hours. 2. Objective of lesson to have Gigi walking through crowds et without reacting negatively. 3. Technique used is Koehler heel and auto sit. 4. Equipment used is 6' leather lead and metal training collar. 5. Owners not involved yet, so no homework yet. 6. So we walked back and forth. Realitively uneventful walk on the way to sit on the dog. One dog did dart out at us from store, but it was behind us and Gigi did not see it. Way back, Gigi was amped up from seeing the dogs during sit on the dog to begin with. I stupidly did not have my jeans on. I was not requiring Gigi to wear an e-collar because the metal was making her neck break into a rash. (switching to Dogtra immediately) Golden Retriever was hanging out in store door with owner. I had known this was too soon for Gigi, but wanted to have an opinion why when owners came to meet. Golden locked eyes with Gigi and started barking. Gigi went to try to pass in front of me to get the dog, and I gave a correction, as did Gigi. She deflected right on the top of my thigh, and broke skin in two places. So that question was answered, and we will bring Gigi through next time with a muzzle on:)
Late Evening: 1. Lesson length approximately an hour. 2. Objective of lesson is to have owners start to become familiar with ways in which they will need to handle Miss Gigi. 3. Techniques used were heeling and auto sit in the less distracting areas for the owners to become familiar with what she will do. 4. Equipment used was 6' leather lead and metal training collar. 5. Owners not taking Gigi home today, so no homework given per say. 6. Gigi forged ahead a lot with her owners and me. She was very excited they were there, and clearly testing her limits. The beach was extra packed with dogs and kids running all over the place. The dogs were leashed. Gigi did jump up as if to hump at one point when a boy with his dog and bike made a beeline right for me. Otherwise, she didn't try anything except the pulling. Owners starting to use the leash corrections to solve it, and the about turns when Gigi really forges.
Early Morning: 1. Lesson length is 1/2 hour. 2. Goal and objective of lesson is to give Gigi more experience, confidence, and a feeling of safety when in public. Also to teach her how to calm herself down and relax. 3. Method used is Bedrock's sit on the dog in a public setting (not Bedrock training plan, where this would be the only exercise done on week one). 4. Equipment used 6' leash, metal training collar, and park bench. 5. Client not involved yet, no homework given. 6. Got up several times in worry, and a few low growls. Gigi needs more exposure to this. By the time we got up she was a bit more relaxed and focused.
Right after: 1. Lesson length is 1/2 hour. 2. Goal and objective of lesson is to give Gigi more experience, confidence and a feeling of safety when heeling with her owner/handler/trainer. 3. Method used is Koehler influenced and Bedrock influenced method of teaching heel and auto sit (but not training plan as mentioned previously). 4. Equipment used 6' leather leash, metal training collar, and electronic collar. 5. Client not involved yet, no homework given. 6. Did better than first time in Ellis Park. Only using park part to do this right now, and not right in the middle of the board walk part.
6PM evening when dogs are allowed on the beach, leashed: 1. Lesson length is 1 hour. 2. Goal and objective of lesson is to give Gigi more experience, confidence and a feeling of safety when heeling with her owner/handler/trainer. 3. Method used is Koehler influenced and Bedrock' influenced method of teaching heel and auto sit. 4. Equipment used 6' leather leash, metal training collar and electronic collar. 5. Client not involved yet, no homework given. 6. Though the flexi people make me more tense, which I pretend not to be for Gigi, Gigi seems more comfortable with the on leash in public dogs than the off leash, even though the flexi dogs seem to come closer and are in less control.
Early Morning: 1. Lesson time 1 hour. 2. Goal and objective of the lesson is to one teach Gigi the meaning of heel and sit. Also to have her feel comfortable on a walk with her owner/handler/trainer. 3. Teaching heel with auto sit is used. Method Koehler influenced and Bedrock influenced training methods (but not training plan, as this would be far later, but due to condenced period of time.....). 4. Equipment used 6' leather leash, metal training collar, electronic collar, and one trained dog, Leon. This is also to get her used to a dog being close and playing even as she needs to stay focused. Leon will also help Gigi feel safe, as they have developed a relationship and Gigi is picking up the mannerisms of my dogs as we do different things. 5. Client not involved yet, so no homework given. 6. Gigi is getting quite used to the dirt backroad walks. Autosits could be better, she still gets a bit distracted. Heeling becomes forging when Leon is running ahead or with a stick, as she wants to be with him. However, it's necessary for her to pay as much attention to me as possible, and as little to distractions.
6PM Afternoon when public is allowed on the beach: 1. Lesson is one hour. 2. Goal of the lesson is to get Gigi less worried about working/walking in public settings. 3. Method used is heel with autosit, Bedrock and Koehler method of training is used. 4. Equipment is 6' leather leash, metal training collar, and electronic collar. 5. Client not involved yet, so no homework given. 6. Gigi was a bit anxious closer up to dogs, and especially when dogs were far away and then coming closer to us. I kept us fairly far away from the dogs so she could get used to seeing them all over the place. Plus the people with the flexi leashed dogs make me more nervous than the unleashed dogs in the morning, as owners seem to have more control.
Notes: I have noticed that dogs seem to reacte to Gigi's nervous energy, and that's just another good reason to get her comfortable with this. She tends to get a bit picked on, and that causes her to get defensive, but it's a communication thing on her part. It's not her fault, but she gives out both a nervous and defensive vibe due to her experiences, where as far as I can tell when she knows a dog, she wants to play. AT first she can be very forward and poinking them in their neck, which is a threat or promise to fight with some dogs. This causes the dogs that she may want to meet to get defensive in return. So the point is, we want her energy more calm and confident when out on close, crowded walking conditions.
Early Morning: 1. Lesson time 1 hour. 2. Goal and objective of the lesson is to one teach Gigi the meaning of heel and sit. Also to have her feel comfortable on a walk with her owner/handler/trainer thru dogs not so familiar with (daycare group of Pluto, Logan, and Gunner---but not Preston puppy). 3. Teaching heel with auto sit is used. Method Koehler and Bedrock training methods. 4. Equipment used 6' leather leash, metal training collar, electronic collar, and daycare group of three dogs plus my two trained dogs. 5. Client not involved yet, so no homework given. 6. Gigi was very calm. She did look back every now and again if she heard Gunner (old dog with not as much training as Gunner, Pluto and my dogs) prancing up behind her, as he likes the girls. No growling, just looked a bit worried now and again. No shivering at all, or tense excitedness.
Mid Afternoon: 1. Lesson 2 one hour. 2. Objective and goal is to get Gigi used to heeling and attention on owner in distracting (but not too distracting) settings. 3. Methods used are Bedrock and Koehler "influenced" for heeling. Also in park setting, away from crowd but where there are running and yelling kids all around, and dogs being walked quietly and on leash. 4. Equipment used 6' leather leash, metal training collar, and electronic collar. 5. Client not involved yet, so no homework given. 6. Gigi was very distracted. She went through the motions of heeling, but her real attention was almost always elsewhere. Frequently needed to be shaped into an auto sit. There was a bit of shaking, shivering and tense excitedness. I really want her to feel more comfortable than that before attempting a "city like" walk.
****This is the day that video three happened, however. Gigi decided to break out into play with one of our guest dogs, Brujo. Good sign, although the goal of the training is to simply get Gigi to walk in a city type setting with her owners past strange dogs:) That is going to require more trust and training for Gigi.
1. Lesson was 1/2 hour. 2. Goals and objectives were to teach Gigi how to calm herself around other dogs and distractions AND that dogs are not out to get her. 3. Technique used was Bedrock Method of sit on the dog (not Bedrock training plan as this is a condenced period of time to work on this dog). 4. Equipment used 6' leather lead, metal training collar, chair, and three trained dogs. 5. Client not involved as yet, so no homework given. 6. Gigi not lied down, but allowed the dogs to lie close all around her. My Dobermans alerted to some wild life, and this did not seem to overly upset Gigi as they raced around barking. She stayed in that position for 30 minutes and was pretty relaxed when we got up. It was a beautiful morning and the humming birds were out.
Right after early morning lesson and some breakfast:
1. Lesson was an hour and a half. 2. Goal and objective lesson was to introduce Gigi to her first walk around the neighborhood, and heeling amongst the distractions that we encountered. These are all dirt roads so this is generally very low key distractions to get a reactive dog used to them. 3. Heeling and a lot of auto sit practice as well as turns were used to get Gigi used to keeping position, and her interest and attention on me. 4. Equipment used was 6' leather lead, metal training collar, and electronic collar. 5. Client is not involved yet, so no homework was assigned. 6. Gigi needed to be shaped into the sit a few times. When we passed one dog, you could tell she wanted to rush out of the heel, but she did hold herself back into it. I had a bad moment where I thought the dog was actually off leash, and I would need to block from Gigi and save the pug. Luckily he was on a tie out in the yard. Gigi isn't quite ready to have a dog run up to her yet. She just got used to walking past dogs that won't approach her, and lying near dogs. Not quite ready for that kind of jump yet, but Gigi again did very well. This is the kind of progress that I am looking for in her. She barely and maybe not at all grabbed the leash or made any kind of air snapping movements.
Later on Afternoon-Evening:
Very informal, I had Gigi out with us as much as possible the rest of the afternoon and evening. She was sometimes not in a command at all, and she would choose to lie by me (the leash and collars were on). She allowed Jackie to lie toe to toe with her during the thunderstorm. They did both want to sniff each other, but I didn't allow it yet. I think that's when Gigi feels cornered and I didn't want her to snap when she was doing so well, and just getting used to this.
Probably about a good three hours of this on and off during the day. Allowed Gigi to feel what it was like to not be in a command but be able to control herself. The dogs all seem to want to invite Gigi to their group with their looks and presence. That is a good sign, because if a dog is sending off the wrong vibes, generally my dogs will not want to go near them.
Guest dogs have no idea that a dog on property might not be friendly, so I usually need to put them in a command or they would just walk right up to her. My dogs are, thankfully, used to working with situations like this. I sometimes need to tell them to back off, but more importantly I can tell from them when it's time to move forward a bit.
First thing in the morning, right after Gigi was dropped off and allowed a bathroom break:
1. Lesson length was about 15 minutes or so.
2. The goal and objective of this lesson was to learn to calm down as dogs approach her crate and are around her. Also to introduce her to the concept of the "rules" in our household.
3. Technique that were used were the introduction of the quiet command to decrease the aggressive behavior inside the crate. Also, made sure the crate was wide open on two sides, to allow for "safe space" but also make avoidance almost impossible.
4. Equipment used for this was the e-collar and the crate. The e-collar was used at the very lowest level as a distraction from the aggressive behavior, and to correct if after "quiet" or "easy" was given any aggressive response. Three trained dogs and additional daycare boarders who listen were used as well.
5. As the client's aren't involved yet, there is no homework for them as yet.
6. Gigi did very well after initially trying to make her presence known. She figured out how to calm herself down, and listen to the directives. She also learned that the dogs were not free to poke their noses into the crate, and were under my direction and so she was safe. We have video of the first greeting which wasn't pretty, but she got the message and point very quickly after that.
Later on in the morning:
1. Lesson length was 1/2 hour.
2. Goal and objective of the lesson was to have Gigi understand that she was to follow ME and pay attention to where I was going.
3. Method is "Koehler Influenced" longe line work and the last 15 minutes used heeling as the techniques to do this, (not Koehler or Bedrock training plan, as we have condenced period of time to work on these) quicker than one would in obedience training due to the time constraints on this case.
4. Equipment used was metal training collar, electronic collar, leather leash 6', and long line of 20 feet.
5. Client's aren't involved yet, so no homework was assigned.
6. Gigi has a not bad non distraction heel. For the "let's go" or loose leash portion, she would try to not follow. She grabs the leash when she does not want to do this. Sometimes she lies down. She does want to fight the correction, but as long as you are firm and consistent with her, and remain unimpressed with her "biting and snapping" show, she learns and comes right along with you. When we got to the heel portion, she was able to sit in the proper position with command, and follow you with her shoulder to your thigh and turn when you told her to heel so she knew it was coming. The loose leash (longe line) work was probably the most difficult with her in the beginning, but at the end she caught on very quickly.
Early in the afternoon:
1. Lesson length was 1/2 hour.
2. Goal and objective was to have Gigi in an open space with other dogs and not aggressive.
3. Bedrock Method training technique of "sit on the dog" was used (not Bedrock training plan, as this is all happening in a three week condensed period of time).
4. Equipment used was metal training collar, leather leash 6', chair, and three trained dogs.
5. As the client's aren't involved yet, there is no homework for them as yet.
6. Gigi within minutes went into her down, where she remained for 28 minutes. She got up once when Leon got up, but then settled down once I told Leon to go back into a down. She did try to face with her back towards the dogs and avoid looking at them at all costs. However, no aggressive behavior other than the fact that she was clearly uncomfortable being in a room with so many dogs around her.
Late in the afternoon:
1. Lesson length was 1/2 hour.
2. Goal and objective was to start Gigi heeling around her biggest distraction "other dogs", but these dogs would be stationary while she was in the room heeling.
3. Method used were the corrections on either the e-collar or metal training collar when failing to heel, and reward and praise when in position and not trying to avoid heeling around stationary dogs.
4. Equipment used was leather leash 6', metal training collar, electronic collar, and three trained dogs.
5. As clients are not involved in training sessions yet, there is no homework for them.
6. Gigi tried to either 1) fall into a down rather than heel past dogs or 2) forge ahead or 3) pull the other way on the leash. All of this is avoidance and fearful behavior. We were in very close proximity and she did not try to attack or aggress at the dogs. She was just pretty sure something would happen to her if we walked through them. After about more than six tries where she tried to refuse, and I kept walking her through it, Gigi became more comfortable heeling past the dogs.
Early evening:
1. Lesson length 1/2 hour.
2. Goal and objective of lesson is to have a nice crisp heel, and more of an understanding of the auto sit and attention from Gigi. To have her focus on me for preparation into very low key public walking past dogs tomorrow.
3. Technique and method used were Koehler influenced long line (or longe line---Koehler Training Plan would only be doing this at this point, but the condenced period of time makes other exercises mandatory) for loose leash walking and the heel command introduced this soon due to time constraints in the training plan.
4. Equipment used was long line of 20 feet, leather leash of 6', metal training collar, and electronic collar.
5. As client's aren't involved yet, there is no homework assigned.
6. Almost no resistance from Gigi, just mainly attention and focus. She eats up the "good girls" and so the auto sit is starting to form as a result. Better positioning in the heel both from the side and front, but slight forging. No attempting to down or sit and pull. She is becoming more comfortable with the e-collar now that she is beginning to see that she controls it, and what the rules are for walking.
***Note, Gigi has heeling already. We are doing longe line after sit on the dog. In the meantime, we need to move Gigi from one place to another, so heeling is used although this would not normally be the lesson plan for "Koehler" or "Bedrock" training program. That is why the exercises are called "Koehler" or "Bedrock" influenced.
Jack, Brie, and I are getting ready for a match tomorrow. This whole week has been basically firming up these basic skill sets. Devon is on vaca until we go to Trial basically (Feb 29th).
****Note to self, do a lot of food training (that is to refuse food, not to treat) with Jack tonight. Treating at these things is obnoxious, even though you can't bring them into the ring, and it will take an unprepared dog and make them a total spaz.
****Should also remember to see if husband can fix portable crate for Jack somehow.
Jack first half (a bit tired so I am going to do some more later on tonight or early am tomorrow):
Finish, did about 50 reps with e-collar instead of treats or chain collar. Didn't do bad, was sometimes crooked because he was staring at Brie and wanting to go play.
Worked a lot on myself walking with Jack and not walking into him when stopping for an autosit. Jack did pretty good sits at the end, now that he is beginning to believe that he doesn't have to worry about me flying into him. Also practiced off leash with hand on belly (left) and right hand swinging by my sid. He did really excellent as I practiced my T step for about turns. Left, he sometimes still crowds me a bit.
Brie's Schedule:
Still teaching finish, hopes she starts doing it today right from heel, so I don't need to make any movements (that would NQ me in the Trial).
Practice sit and down stay.
Practice heel on and off leash. See if it can feasible be done without any corrections or much coercion. No treats for practice today.
