It's Me or the Dog Tuesday (on Wednesday)

I don't have much of a post for this week. I've been working with the dogs more using the "Leave it" command and they seem to understand. We also are working on impulse control by making them "wait" when we're letting them in from their room/outside. Gracie's great at this while Budaj is a bit jumpy and will try to barge through. Gracie also has taken to step 1 of the clicker training, associating a click with a treat.

Using positive reinforcement with Gracie, as well as gentle voices with her (since she's such a sensitive soul), and encouraging her to use her noggin to earn treats, seems to be helping her gain some confidence. She's not as skittish. Want proof?

This is probably the only photo we have of her where she's "smiling" for the camera. She's usually terrified and shows it in pictures. We have photos of her at the dog park "smiling," but she had no idea her photo was being taken. She was so sensitive about the camera that she could hear us turning it on and her ears would go back. Now she's getting a lot more relaxed and happy in general. A cute little girl might also be helping. Gracie adores Little.

Budaj's destined for some agility training in the near future and they both are going to get some much-needed leash training since our temperature lows are supposed to be dropping soon and I'd like to start up a fall/winter/spring walking schedule (summertime is just miserable) and ideally, this would include them behaving with Kaelyn in the stroller. Of course, that won't happen until they're perfect angels on the leashes and then trained with walking beside an empty stroller or with the Hubs pushing Kaelyn in the stroller and me handling the dogs, or vice versa.

It's Me or the Dog Tuesday

Well, not much to report on the dog training front. Part of my Amazon order got delayed--the part with the mini dog treats. Oh well. We'll hopefully get some training in this week.

We're working with the dogs, particularly Budaj about staying out of the kitchen and he seems to get it...except if there are distractions. There are frequently distractions. As a result, he'll forget himself entirely and come barreling into the kitchen. (I mentioned previously that our garage door is through the kitchen.)

The Hubs and I are getting better about not repeating commands. You know, if you tell a dog to "sit" and they don't listen so you say "sit" another 57 times until they finally do? Yep, that's a no-no. To the dog, the command is then "Sit" repeated 58 times. Say it once and wait for them to do it, unless of course they wander away or something. Reset the situation and say "sit" once and mean it. It's working. For example, we'll tell Budaj "Bed." Translation: Go to your cushy dog bed we bought you special from Costco and lay down. Now, for the most part, if we say it once and point, he'll go to his bed. Eventually. Sometimes I'll sit there with my arm thrown out to the side with my finger pointed for awhile before he realizes I mean it and I'm not going to do anything else until he goes to his bed.

This week I want to really get going with the "Leave it" command and "Wait." Eventually we'll get to the ones involving them retrieving the remote from the coffee table when I'm pumping and can't get up.

Speaking of teaching dogs tricks...

I'm starting a new segment on here called "It's Me or the Dog Tuesday," featuring progress we make as we put to use things we've learned from watching, you guessed it, Victoria Stilwell's show and from her book (which I'll be ordering shortly.) This will come in the form of photos and videos.

Some tricks and training to look forward to:
-Impulse control: "Wait"/"Go Greet" at the door for guests so it's a calmer greeting for all parties. This also prevents door dashing (which Gracie is famous for).
-"Stay" [out of the kitchen]. Keeping the dogs out of the kitchen area and therefore preventing tripping and dog fur all over the floor. I want to also extend this to the upstairs playroom so we don't have to lock them out in the hall since they love to watch us.
-Impulse control: "Leave it"
-Helping our very anxious, stressed out Gracie, who's timid of people she doesn't know, strangers, men, her shadow...particularly with her nervousness around the Hubs. Using positive reinforcement to change her viewpoint of time with him. Then we'll move onto people she doesn't know all that well. I also want to desensitize her to some of her fears, such as thunderstorms.
-Encouraging Budaj not to lick. The strategy is removing attention when he licks. When he doesn't lick, he gets attention.
-Leash training w/ a stroller to prevent pulling and easing walk anxieties. Clicker training intensive.
-Agility training w/ Budaj, in particular. I might try it with Gracie too, but I think Budaj will be a better fit for it. I'm hoping using the part of his brain that is an adventurer will keep him from digging.
-Search and rescue training w/ both. Get them fixed on a scent and teach them to seek it out. This stimulates their minds and gets them some exercise.
-Recall training. Should either dog get loose (or if we go to a dog park where they're off-leash), fine-tuning their response to us calling them.

If you're not familiar with Victoria--it's all positive reinforcement and reward-based. There aren't any quick fix techniques that don't treat the cause of behavior like other methods, though her results can happen remarkably quickly. In these segments, I'll go over the technique and show you our progress. Hopefully this will help other people learn tips and tricks for their own dogs. I know how helpful watching her show has been for us. It's incredibly simple strategies, but a lot of people overthink training (or are actually causing their dog's behavior), and it's reprogrammed my thinking for sure.

To prepare for training, I've purchased:

















Mini meaty treats are essential because the dogs can eat them quickly, as opposed to big Milkbones that take forever for them to crunch. Plus Budaj will often take his and run.

Yes, I bought a fanny pack. I'd rather not have a handful of treats and it's just easier to do training. Treats are easily accessible, hands are free. Victoria always has her clients wear them and they seem to be really functional.

Clickers are great for positive reinforcement. First you associate the click with a treat. Then you associate their good behavior with the click, which by extension associates good behavior with a treat. I've tried the clickers they have at pet stores, but these are better because #1 the button is easier to access and clicks faster (preventing confusion at a delayed praise/click), #2 can attach to a key ring wristlet.

The training goals list seems a little staggering, but one success makes it easier to complete the rest.

Wish us luck!