A puppy not afraid of the Camera!

Grumpy Growly Dog

So you have experienced it, the moment your dog growls. You will know when your dog is serious and when it is play. When a dog is serious and growling everything will be very still. Your dog will typically freeze, be very stiff and could even be looking at you out of the corner of their eye. There are different reasons a dog may growl as well. Sometimes they growl because they are guarding a toy, food, or they are uncomfortable in a situation. The biggest and most important things about growling is NEVER punish it. What is a growl? A warning. What usually follows a growl if not listened to? A bite. So if we punish the warning then we skip the chance to fix whatever it is that is making our dog uncomfortable and we may end up just getting the bite. We've all heard it, "There was no warning" although there were plenty of subtle warnings the one that gets most peoples attention is growling and without it, most people don't notice the subtleties. When the day comes that your dog growls I want you to ask yourself, "What has changed or is going on that is causing my dog to growl?" and then change it and work on conditioning your dog in the scenario by talking to a professional positive dog trainer.


Courtesy of Green Acres Kennel Shop
In this image the Ember is resource guarding. She has a very bad resource guarding problem especially from other dogs and from people depending on the item. Notice the stiffness in her body, looking at the camera out of the corner of her eye, also called half moon eyes, the snarl on her lip, ears are forward and alert  and I'm sure she is emanating a growl.



Photo Friday and a tip!

Tip of the day: I know I rant about toe nail trims often but I really can't stress how important it is as a part of your dogs routine maintenance. Well clipped toe nails allow your dogs foot to have proper placement. Long toe nails can result in twisting the toes which can cause your dog pain! I really like the orange handled scissor like clippers, they cut through the nail instead of squishing it down. Some people prefer the guillotine style but that only cuts from one side and flattens the nail some while trying to cut it. Whichever your preference I'm just happy you have it done. Routine handling of your dogs feet and lots of yummy treats will help ensure your dog never grows tired of seeing those orange handled clippers!

Cut those Toe Nails!

Tip of the Day: Whether you have a young puppy or an older dog it is never to late to begin getting them accustomed to have their toe nails clipped. I can't stress enough how important it is from day one with a puppy to handle their feet. In our puppy class we talk a lot about handling a dog to get them used to grooming and vet visits and often I think people sigh with relief if they have a dog with short hair that won't require grooming visits. Truth be told though, all dogs have toe nails and that is part of grooming maintenance for your pet. Don't expect to do all four feet, start with just one toe. Clip the nail, give your dog a treat and put the clippers away. Do this every day, maybe aim for two toes or a foot but always treat after each clip or have someone feed your puppy while you trim the nails and your dog will offer you his foot for a pedicure! My lab is very patience when I clip his nails because I did this method with him from day 1. I have clipped too close to the quik before where it made him bleed a little bit but he was just as eager to give his foot back because 9 times out of 10 its a good experience. It makes your life a bit less stressful and you don't have to pay someone else to trim the nails. If you just don't like doing the nails yourself and do pay someone, it is still a good habit to reward with treats while the other person does it or work on conditioning at home to get your dog to accept it.

A Hurricane's A Coming

If you are on the east coast I hope you are all safe and not getting dumped on too bad by the hurricane! The rain has started today but it isn't supposed to get really windy and torrential rain until tonight! We spent yesterday getting the lawn mowed, shingling the house, picking up the yard etc. This a.m. doing everything we need to before the power goes out....I'd be shocked if it doesn't.
Do you have a dog that won't go outside when it is raining? Sometimes the easiest thing to do is go out with your dog too! Put on your rain coat, take out an umbrella and sometimes that is all it takes. Scout will occasionally step to the door, look up at me as if to say "you gotta be kidding me" and backups up into the house. However, if I put on my boots and coat and go out he has the best time AND uses the bathroom. Think of the little dogs walking through the grass. Not only do their feet get wet but usually their belly's are getting wet in the grass too. No wonder they are hesitant! Be patient and bear the bad weather with them, use an umbrella and play in the rain!

Training Tip

Tip of the Day:  When choosing a pet food look primarily at the first 5 ingredients. A food company has to list their ingredients in descending weight so the first 5 are the bulk of your pets food. In those first five ingredients look for two protein sources, usually a whole protein source like chicken, lamb, herring etc. and then a protein meal, any of the whole protein sources with meal after it. Avoid foods with by-products and ones with food color additives and ones that are vague and list items such as poultry meal, meat by product, animal fat. It leaves the company with a lot of wiggle room.

Body Handling

Training Tip of the Day: Help your dog become more comfortable with being handled. To do this use classical conditioning. We are going to pair our hand on our dogs body with food. This helps create a more stable dog and helps make Vet visits a bit less stressful.
For example I'll briefly explain how to get your dog to accept having his toe nails trimmed. Start out touching the foot and feed your dog treats, you stop touching the dog - the treat goes away. We are changing our dogs emotion so that he wants us to touch his feet because it equals something really positive and tasty! Pick up your dogs foot, treat, clip a toe nail, treat or have someone feeding your dog while you trim the nails. I have done this with my dog since he was a puppy and I have quicked him once (cut his nail too short so it bled). He was hardly phased by it and was willing to give his foot right back to me so we could continue with the other toes and feet! Viola!! The power of food!

This method of training applies to everything on your dog, look in his mouth - treat, look in his ear - treats, pull on his tail - treats, tug on his fur - treats, the last couple are great ways to prepare your dog for children but you get the picture!

Red Light, Green Light

A new technique I've started implementing with Scout and his desire to run down the driveway to greet the car pulling in is to play red light green light. I am really the one that plays the game with him, I did get my father to participate one evening when he was going to be stopping in but it is based off of the simple learning theory of dogs. Scout has had a lot of practice with the behaviors we like we will reward and the ones we don't like cause what he wants to stop or ignore him.
So in terms of our red light green light game. Scout wants that car to come into the driveway all the way to the house because it is exciting, it means someone is home. With this new game I have started in order for him to get that car into the driveway he has to remain in a sit and the car will come forward, if he breaks his sit and moves towards the car, the car stops where it is. The idea came to me when I stopped at the mailbox to get the mail one day and he started to run down the driveway but when he became aware it was me he stopped and waited. When I started down the driveway he got up and started to move forward so I over exaggerated and got into the breaks so it was very noticeable the car stopped. Scout stopped. I started forward about 5 feet and Scout broke his sit and so again I got into the breaks. Scout stopped and sat. We did this dance about 3 times total. By this time Scout is beyond the excitement that someone is here and you are able to call him back to the house where he can remain in a sit stay until the visitor gets to the end of the driveway. It has actually worked quite well. Again I am really the major player of the game but when my father visited it worked really well. He pulled in and Scout charged down the driveway as usual and my dad stopped the truck and low and behold Scout stopped almost puzzled like "Oh crap you know the game too!" I was able to call Scout back to me immediately and put him into a down stay. With hand signals behind Scout so he couldn't see, I would wave my dad forward as long as Scout was how I wanted him and would use the universal sign for STOP if he broke the position. Not only did this limit the chasing but it helped Scout learn some self control and allows him to make the decision to sit or down and stop moving forward. He has the power to make that vehicle move forward!

Photo Friday!

I just have to say I had such a great night of training with Scout last night. We were up at Green Acres and participating in the Canine Good Citizen Class and we were on! I teach a puppy class before the CGC one and we have 5 puppies and one exuberant outcast who is very friendly but the other dogs find him a bit much. So I pulled Scout into class during the puppy play time and separated him and the happy puppy from the rest. He played so nicely with the puppy, Stan, and Stan was doing so good with his calming signals to Scout. A lot of groveling, play bows, tongue flicks, it was adorable. Scout also did a lot of self handicapping. This is when a dog that has an advantage, in this case size, doesn't use his full strength or ability. So when Scout was playing tug with the puppy he really only held the rope and didn't whip him around like he could have and a couple times he laid right down and rolled on his back and let the puppy climb over him. Puppy class I think set us up for a good training class that followed.

In the CGC we do a lot of walking politely! Everything stems around it really. We do dog/handler greetings where we approach, ask our dogs to sit and then shake the other persons hand. This is the area that Scout needs the most work in but he still does quite well. We did two rounds of recalls. The first was Scout recalling past the other dogs on leash. He was like a bullet, straight to me and fast!! The second we did two dogs to a time and in the class is Scout's best friend Romie and we were paired together. So when cued to call our dogs Tracy got the jump on me on calling so Scout was about half way to me and drifted to Romie and Tracy. I kept it positive and exciting and continued to call Scout and he came! I apparently go blind in these moments because I was just trying to figure out something exciting to get Scout to come but I was told after he did a great recall away from Romie because everyone said they were around to start playing. My positive reinforcement for the night was my instructor telling me it was actually probably better practice to call him off of Romie than it would have been if he came straight to me!

Each week Scout also seems more relaxed at class. The first class he wouldn't lay down on his own during "down" time. Last night if we weren't moving but listening or having a discussion he chose to lay down in a relaxed down and observe! He makes his Momma proud!

It's Training Tip Thursday

Tip of the Day: Dogs have the easiest way of learning: Behaviors that are rewarded will be strengthened and repeated but behaviors that are ignored (if not life threatening) will often extinguish themselves.
So if you have a dog that squirms while you hold it, don't put it down at that point because you have taught your puppy or dog that wiggling and putting up a stink gets it what it wants...to be on the floor. Instead wait for a moment of calm behavior and then reward the dog by placing him on the floor. Keeping this little thought in mind will help with so many behaviors. It applies to crate training, only let your dog out if he is quiet, not when he is screaming/barking/whining, unless you know for certain if it's a puppy it needs to go to the bathroom, it applies to jumping, demand barking, begging etc.

Happy 4th of July

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! Mine was another busy weekend with lots of time spent in the car. We attended a wedding in Downeast Maine but only stayed for the wedding. My husband's hometown has a big to-do called Ashland Days, which involves a parade, street dance, fireworks, crafts and food on main st. It was a great time to catch up with his old childhood friends.
To swing this around to dog related topic, we attended the street dance from 8-12p where there were hundreds of people and a live band. There was one dog in particular that looked like he must have been around people all day and dragged every which way. Well at 9 o'clock when I start being aware of this little dog I start to get annoyed. For starters the adult was no where in site and the Jack Russell was being dragged around by an 8 y/o. God love them but they aren't very aware of surroundings and especially how a dog must be feeling overwhelmed. They just have a good time running around with the dog. My other big issue with the scene is that the dog has on a choke collar. So not only does the poor dog want to really be following the girl, he's being strangled in the process because she isn't aware that she is dragging him around. At a moments pause the dog locks on the breaks and lays down when the girl had stopped and wouldn't budge. I didn't see how that resolved but I think the girl approached the dog again and he got up.
Later I see the owner with the dog and he's holding him, aware that maybe it is too much for the dog to be around all these people, the random fireworks, and the loud music. He comes up and talks to my husband and I hear him tell Brock that his dog is tired. However, people continue to get up in the dogs face, pet him, rough up his neck all the while the dog looks miserable! His mouth is tight, his ears are so far back, he kept yawning when people reached for him, flicking his tongue, adverting his eyes, turning his head. He was giving it his all to communicate with the public but the common public isn't aware of the signs and call the dog tired because he's yawning.



Sophie exhibiting a head turn, because I had my big ol' camera in her face

  It is frustrating to see this, and I need to learn how to speak up and educate someone about the situation without stepping on anyone's toes. Anybody else have an encounter where you advocated for a dog in distress or even witnessed something?

Training Tip

Tip of the Day: When teaching your dog a new or old behavior one of the biggest things is to only say your verbal cue once! So when you ask your dog for a "Sit", say it once and then if your dog was taught with a hand signal, follow through with that instead of repeating yourself. You don't want a dog that learns to sit only after you've said "Sit" 6 different times.

I'm the student!

I have started teaching again on Thursday nights a puppy class. What a roudy bunch of pups! I haven't had to play referree that much during play time in a long time. The bonus to driving 1 1/2 hours is I get to work Scout in the 7pm class, the Canine Good Citizen class. We haven't gone through a class yet together, did I mention he's almost 4? He did so much better than I anticipated. I expected him to be stressed out and far more focused on the dogs and he did wonderfully. We practiced a lot of walking politely on a leash and recalls. It is nice to have the perspective of a student because I think sometimes as a teacher we lose sight of what that is like.

I had a very busy week and so training our "Car" game didn't happen often plus it was pouring all week. But I managed to sneak in a game of it yesterday. I think Scout is really starting to get it down. He waits for my cue and then goes to his target, he doesn't go any other time which is actually okay with me. I am hoping to avoid him going to it seeking out treats. Kind of like when a puppy knows he gets a treat for sitting and just comes up and sits in front of you all the time. So anyway we managed to be successful as far at 15+ feet away from the target. I would give him the verbal cue and he would run to his target and down!! Yay! I think we now need to really strengthen it. I am going to up my value on my treats and then start the distractions maybe....I think we need to practice probably playing first and then having us interupt play to run to his target. We'll see. I am kind of playing it by ear and I want to set him up for success so it will be a little trial and error the next few sessions!

Meanwhile, not dog related so much, I did a semi Trash the Dress session with my sister and myself. It was quite fun but I think photoshopping the pictures will be more fun! Here one of me that she took of me:

And here is one of my sister I took:

A fun Training Day

It is always a good sign when you start a training session off by laughing and end with laughter. After a nine and half hour day at work, which means Scout was hanging out at home, the last thing he probably wanted to do was focus and train. Although we hope training is fun for our dogs they also like the basic dog tasks like fetch or a good jaunt through the field. I did keep our training session brief but more so because Scout told me it was time to put the clicker up and really play!

We jumped right in to today's session with no nonsense. I tossed down his blanket/target, moved about 5-6 feet away and said "Car" and much to my surprise Scout runs to the target and throws himself down on it and looks at me. I laugh, click and treat! He had such enthusiasm and the demeanor of "Hey I know this game!" I tossed him his treat and released him at which time he came back up to me. I decided this training session we were really going to focus more on the word "Car" instead of any distance. So once Scout was back at my side I gave the cue, "Car" and again he runs to the target and flings himself down. Again click and treat! His tail wags and he holds his position waiting eagerly for his release. "Free Dog" and with that Scout leaps up and comes running back to me. We practice a few more repetitions from about 5-6 feet away from the target but in different spots around it. Scout continues to be successful. I decide to incorporate a hand signal at this point since dogs are much more visual than they are auditory as back up for when distractions begin to be added. It would go something like "Car" and then after I've said the word I then pointed to his blanket. Bingo! He runs to the blanket, downs and waits eagerly for his treat.

At this point we have been doing our training for about 5 minutes. I decide to see if I can push the 10 foot mark from the target and have him still respond. There is a bit more confusion but there is success. I was starting to wonder if when I increased my distance if Scout thought that "Car" meant lay down in front of me, not necessarily always on the blanket. And as I suspected he laid down about 3 feet from me when I gave the cue "Car". But because he is quite good with the generic point I was able to point to the blanket, he looked at it, then back at me, stood up, and while still facing me backed up until he was on the target and laid down. Knowing my dog, I had a feeling he was feeling goofy and sure enough the antics began. I had decreased my distance again but Scout was getting bored with our task at hand. When I asked for "Car" he moved back 2 feet, threw himself into a down and proceeded to fling himself on to his back and wiggle. This is his default behavior when he doesn't want to do what you are asking of him, probably because it makes most anyone laugh that sees it. I did my best to contain my laughter and gave a No reward marker, of Oops and turned my back. Lets try again! Oops, he drops onto his back again. This time I say nothing but point to the blanket and wait, I have already said "Car" once so I don't want to repeat myself and wait. Realizing it isn't going to work he gets up, runs to his target, and flings himself into a down partially onto his side. I click and treat and end the session on that note, laughing.

As I finish up typing this he is doing his darnedest to get a reaction out of me by rolling around on his back  just behind me, breathing heavy and freezing to look at me to see if is working. Well I guess it is. Time to go play!!

Training Day 3

Just completed a quick session with Scout. My husband, Brock, and I just got home from a wedding weekend where Brock was a groomsman. So today's training was more or less a review for Scout since we lapsed a couple days without any training and the fact that is was a bit of an exhausting 2 days.

So I put out Scout's target and he immediately ran to it and laid down. A good sign that he has the concept of downing in close proximity to the target. We did about 5 repetitions of walking about 15 feet away from the target and approaching. I would stop at initially at 3 feet from the target and Scout would trot to the blanket and down. Then I increased my distance away from the target to 5 feet and Scout still trotted to the target and downed. Where he was being reliable about his approach to the target I shortened my distance again to about 3-4 feet and as he was moving forward to the target after I had stopped, I said "Car".  My goal eventually will be for us to be about 5 feet away from the target and stationary and on the cue "Car" Scout will trot over and lay down on the target. But short and sweet was our session today, ended on a good note of approaching, giving cue "Car" and clicking and treating.

Training, Day 2

I just finished my second training event with Scout. Like any new behavior I tend to teach my dog I do a quick review session where I don't ask anything we haven't already practiced. So tonight with Scout I started him on leash right next to his target and didn't use any cues but click and treated him for laying down on target. Now you'll remember from Training Day 1 I finished on a positive note and happened to throw the word "Car" out there and have Scout lay down on target with it. This was moving too fast and purely coincidental that he actual downed.
I ideally should have a more specific plan written out, but I don't and I probably won't. However, I am recording every session so I can review and make alterations where needed. Tonights session being a perfect example of having to do that.
So back to the session. I primed Scout with some close proximity targeting of the blanket. He quickly remembered the game we were playing and we were able to move through review with ease. Then I decided I would walk him away from the target to get him standing again. Starting with just a few steps away and moving more to 10-15 feet. As we started approaching again I tried using the verbal "Car" and found, no pun intended, that it back fired. The thing with training is you can't change too many things at once. I hadn't really done enough practice on the approach and target the blanket to also be adding the verbal. I don't believe it was the walking distance but the distance of which I stopped myself from the target that was too much for Scout to process. He hadn't entirely associated the target as his mark as it was to lay down right in front of me. When I positioned myself 3 feet away he was missing his target by about a foot and downing right in front of me. This was an indicator to me that I was moving, what do you know, too fast. So when Scout missed his target I turned and walked a few steps away and he followed. I then stopped at ~ 2 feet from the target (I was about 1 foot away when we started yesterday). Scout would look over his shoulder for the blanket, back up and down. Jackpot! Several treats one right after another! Then I went back to being right on top of the target again. He was dead on and after the jackpot a bit quicker about downing on the blanket. After 3-4 repetitions at about 1 foot distance, I moved back to about 2 feet again from the target. Scout had caught on! He was approaching the target (blanket) and dropping into a down no sooner than his feet touching it. Perfect! This is what I was hoping for. I did about 3-4 more repetitions of us walking out about 10-15 feet and on the approach back I would stop anywhere from 2-3 feet away from the target and wait for him to down. He continued to be quick and we once again quit while we were ahead. I just want to remind you I tried the verbal at the very beginning of the session today and quickly dropped it as it was too early. So at this point Scout is choosing to go to the target with out any cue such as pointing or telling him to down. Baby steps folks but we'll get there!

Training, Day 1

What has prompted my return to the blogger world is the training I'm going to be doing on my dog Scout. He learned the behavior from another dog of chasing down the driveway to greet a car pulling in and then chase it back up the driveway all the while barking. Although I would like the barking to also stop, safety first!

Scout is a 4 (in Nov) year old yellow lab. We have lived in most places where this behavior wasn't really all that much of an issue because we rarely had visitors and the road wasn't visible from our home. Since we have moved to our new house the road is more exposed and my fear is that Scout will chase down the driveway to a car that has pulled over or is driving slowly by and find himself in the road and in danger.

Here is the very general overview!  I am going to train Scout, that when he hears the word "Car" he will run to a designated spot on our lawn and lay down and wait for the car to come to a stop in front of our house at which time on the cue "free dog" may he leave the designated area. This is going to be a slow process and I am probably going to take it slower than is necessary but this is a behavior I want to be solid.

So yesterday was actually my first training day with him. We spent only about 10 minutes working on it. I used a blanket as Scout's target so he has something specific to work towards as opposed to a vast green lawn. I put the blanket down at the corner of our "parking lot" at the end of the driveway where Scout can be safely out of the way. I didn't say a word or point or give any kind of gesture to Scout to indicate I wanted him on the blanket. I shaped the behavior. Shaping is a training technique where you let the dog figure out what it is that is going to get him the reward. We have played the game before so this part did move along quickly. But to break it down, I'm a clicker trainer. I use a clicker to mark the behavior that Scout has done right. So in shaping, I would click him for just turning his head towards the blanket. Once he was reliably looking at the blanket, I upped the expectation and waited for movement towards the blanket and then would click. Once Scout targeted the blanket he quickly caught on that he should lay down on it. Jackpot! Then I started taking 2 steps back so he would have to get up and then I'd wait for him to lay down on the blanket again! Click! He gets his treat. We walked 5 feet away and repeated. Each time I would not point or speak but let him figure out he needs to lay down. We did many repetitions in interval distances of one foot to 10 feet away. We walked about a ten foot loop away from the blanket and as we approached I said "Car"  and Scout downed on the blanket. Now at this point he has no idea that "Car" meant to lay down but with slow steps and repetition he will start to link "Car" with laying on that blanket. We quit while we were ahead and called it a day on the training.