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!

Good Morning

If you are interested in looking at a collection of my photos without the posts that go along, you can see them under pages and click on Photography on the right hand side of the main page.

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.

Wordless Wednesday!

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?

Photo Friday!

I think I'm going to start implementing Photo Friday! Where I will post a picture, any picture dog, animal, person, you name it. This picture here is one of many of the "Trash the Dress" session with my sister. My dog who loves to be in photos wouldn't leave until he had several taken of him. Comments welcome!