First exercise:
Sit on the dog or informal long down, not actual long down:
1) You need to have the leash tight under your bum, so that only enough is out for her to lie right next to you, comfortably. There may even be slight tension on her neck if she puts her head down to sleep (fat chance LOL).
****This is not a formal long down, as the actual command "down" is never given, but totally expected. Move that chair very close to the street. By the time she is completely relaxed (ie not shaking or trying to lunge) a lot has been accomplished believe it or not.
2) The above is ever more important if you take it out of the yard (ie to the prom).
3) The under the foot, sit on the dog is okay, but the you seated sit on the dog is the best, especially if she relaxes under her own power when dogs are around. The secret is that there is no "pass " given as far as tightness on the leash and not accepting her chin on you or her trying to get up on the bench.
New Exercise Attention:
1) One exercise that actually works the best with treats at first. So be sure to use those. I have found that by far the cheapest are hot dogs cut up. The only time I suggest no hot dogs if there are any health issues (ie heart disease or the likely hood of a genetic disease that may pose a health risk later on).
2) In the beginning, (and I will give you more directions later on once you have mastered this), you want Gigi to look at you with the command "look". If she does this for five seconds without breaking and you can reward great. Be very picky about this.
3) If she breaks in those five seconds break it into smaller parts. You want her to be doing this four out of five times easily before you start making it harder.
4) Keep this in non-distracting environments now (in your house, in the front yard, and in the park but far removed from other dogs).
****Remember as the length of time gets longer, don't be so quick to repeat the "look" command. I wouldn't use Gigi as that name is used so much that it can't consistently be used as a command except by "Gigi Look". So be sure that the word "look" is in the command. Wean off the luring when you can. If she gets distracted, you can always go back to single command look (ie not much time until, good girl, treat).
***Once we start getting to 15 to 30 seconds, she can break but must look back at you immediately to get the treat.
Heeling Notes:
1) I want Gigi's nose not to turn into your thigh when heeling every time she starts to get anxious. Use your knee to bump her nose away.
2) Get her heeling and auto sitting correctly in your yard first and consistently before going out there.
3) If a particular heel does not go well (and it's not due to pushing her too fast, it's just kind of sucky) repeat that heel the way you want it a few times.
Down Notes:
1) As you go towards a situation that is going to make Gigi nervous, give her the command down. If she doesn't, use the foot under the leash correction, where you take up the slack as she gives it to you.
2) Use this alternately with sits when in situations uncomfortable for Gigi. Like how we were walking past the barking dogs.
Notes on Walking Near Strange Dogs (and people she may react to whether friendly or not):
1) Don't allow yourself to get so flustered that you forget where your hands are when walking past strange dogs (if it's a volatile situation, remember to be sure the street is somewhat devoid of people close by) or people. In fact, start really trying to think about that, if you have to, grab your pants leg.
2) If you are coming up to a child or skateboarder, give her a correction and command before you come up on them. Do this until she stops locking on when going towards or turning and trying to jump or lunge on them. I would want a good month of this reliably happening before I stopped.
3) Remember in tricky situations where people and dogs may be passing to your right, you can hold the leash with your left hand there.
4) If there is enough room, you can turn a safe distance away from dogs and distractions, and let the leash loose. At that point, if she doesn't come, you can either allow your body movement forward to give her the metal collar correction, or you can even give an e-collar correction before she hits the end. If she comes right with you, be sure to tell her she is a good girl.
5) Which reminds me, on about turns walk away from Gigi briskly once you turn around. This will start her off briskly in your direction if she is paying attention.
Auto sits:
1) Give her a second to reach position herself.
2) Remember the timing of the correction if she stops doing it or doing it in the wrong position again. Now you want to do it each time right as you come to a stop (right foot closes into left foot). Also remember you should come into a smooth stop, you don't need to stop short abruptly, and that will help Gigi more.
3) Start relying less on the leash, and more on the e-collar if she does not do it correctly. This is so we start getting as hands off as possible, and let her make the decision.
General Observations:
1) Be sure you are as vigilant with the praise that you give Gigi when she does something right, as you are with a correction when you are correcting her behavior. She needs an indicator that she has acted right or done the right thing in order to repeat that.
2) Still keep her muzzled. I want her to stop trying to put her mouth near your thigh in distracting situations. Probably a week more will do it, if you are sure her head meets your knee when she tries that.
3) Strategize your leash position when training. (ie when is it good to have it in right with left hand loose, when is it good to have it just in left hand, when is it good to have it in right but still holding with left hand). Training is not just this, but the leash is the major control point, so the leash handling and position is very important due to that.
4) If Gigi becomes overloaded, don't abandon the situation, just back it up a bit and move it forward as much as possible. Like when we did about turns before walking past the fences, or used the vehicles as a buffer right now while dogs are walking the other way. The more you are able to be successful with Gigi, the more she learns, and the more you are able to move it forward. She just isn't ready to follow you right next to the fence right now:) But if you repeat these successful moves with her, and bring her in at a comfortable but not excruciatingly slow pace, she will get it.
5) Look out for any possible aggressive behaviors that she might show at home, and be ready to work on them immediately with her. Like if she gets aggressive over the furniture or
Did anyone see the last episode? And if so, can someone explain to me how leaning forward at your dog is more threatening and dangerous than placing them in the path of an elephant?
