Dog-li-ness: Happy "Gotcha Day" Pinky!, 2008-Oct-8, by Lisa B: One year ago today a little Puppy McNugget showed up at my house. ... I'm not sure exactly when she was born (around the end of August as near as I can figure), so ..., I celebrate Pinky's "Gotcha Day." ... I'm still not sure how she's going to shape up, but I can report that we're making great progress ... but slowly. ... Right now I have her in a class we're just calling "Agility Training Group." It's designed for young dogs with handlers who have already trained an agility dog and don't feel like spending time learning the difference between a front cross and a rear cross with the newbies. ... When I decided to keep her, I really had no idea whether she'd become a good agility dog or not. Really, aside from a health care plan, the main reason I maintain a steady job is to be able to consistently afford dog agility (I try to have a little something left over for housing, transportation and food, of course).
Training Tips
Whichever Way Your Dog Turns
dog-li-ness: Flyball "pawness", 2008-Sep-17, by Lisa B.: The concept of "pawness" is familiar to people who train flyball dogs: it's the tendency of dogs to seem to prefer turning one way over the other. Many people (myself included) think it's a good idea to determine if a dog is "left-pawed" or "right-pawed" and then teach them to turn on the box in the appropriate direction to get a nice, fast turn.
Learn to Train your Dog by Audio CD
As a busy physician, Dr. Alfonso was always struggling with the bad habits her dogs would pick up. Now that she's figured out the secrets to raising and living with a well-behaved dog, she's anxious to share them in a rare instructional format--audio CD.
Dog Training Audio CD by Dr. Mayra Alfonso: I know how difficult it is to try to read tons of information about dog training or to make the time to watch a dog training DVD, that is why I have put this information on audio CD, so you can comfortably listen to it at any time. You can play the audio CD in your car, listen to it while doing house shores, yardwork or even while you are training your dog. This powerful CD was created with the busy dog owner in mind.
Video from Famed Animal Behaviorist
TED.com: Ian Dunbar on dog-friendly dog training, 2007-Dec: View this 15-minute video from the 2007 EG (Entertainment Gathering) conference to see an impassioned plea by Ian Dunbar to first see the world through the eyes of our dogs before we try to communicate with them. Having degrees in both veterinary medicine and animal behavior, Dunbar has developed revolutionary training methods based on modifying natural animal behavoirs. He works to help people and animals to live together in harmony.
Helping Dogs Break Bad Habits
Training a dog can be a big time commitment, but if you have a generally agreeable dog with a couple of bad habits, NoCanDo4Dogs may give you some immediate relief. For about $40, you can get a kit that includes both a training booklet and a DVD for you, and three cannisters of marbles to park around the house where you can catch the dog acting badly. If you can be observant and consistent, then your dog will learn to associate his bad behavior with a very unpleasant sound.
What Moves Your Dog?
Ever try to train a dog who's indifferent to treats and toys? Krista Mifflin has a wonderful article about locating a dog's motivation, this time in the dance.
Dogs at About.com: Positive Reinforcement Dog Training - Motivation, by Krista Mifflin: What does Kari like? Kari likes to dance. And jump, more specifically, jump with his human, or on his human if I don't move out of the way fast enough. Kari will do anything as long as it is presented in a bouncing, energetic, fun way.
To motivate Kari takes a lot of energy on my part, but it is fun and enjoyable. I start with my hands in the air, much like an orchestra conductor, and "direct" him where I want him to go, "direct" his movements to have him do what I want to do. It's a dance. It's also one of the most comical things to see: me waving my arms around like a madman, and a hundred and fifteen pound dog moving like a puppet on a string.
Now Kari is a very visually-trained dog. Finger-flicks, and hand twists will have him sitting, down, up, into, or over in a matter of seconds. By pairing the verbal command with the movement, I now have a dog who responds to both after much, and I mean much, repetition and arm flailing.
Jumping for Noses
Our eager-to-please mutt developed the habit very early of executing a small jump into the air whenever we came back into the house. I never realized it was a modification of the "greeting instinct." I usually pat her on the head, but now I reach down and touch my nose to hers if I have time. I appreciate that she trained herself not to jump on us because it made us unhappy.
K9joy Education: The solution to the problem behind problem behavior by Mogens Eliasen: Now, understanding that the dog jumps at you because it has a strong need to greet you and wants to be polite and do a courteous greeting by making nose-nose contact with you, responding with something like pushing a knee in its chest is outright cruel! If you instead would simply squat down so your nose came within reach, then you would take away the main reason for the jumping. The dog will then quickly learn to greet you without jumping - without your having to "throw a wrench" into the fine machinery that makes your dog happy.
Doggy Pride
Okay, I admit it sounds odd to pay a trainer to improve your dog's self esteem, but maybe you need a little help in learning how to make her feel secure and competent. When was the last time you said Good dog? In your defense, high-strung dogs like Dobermans and border collies evidently require a lot of reassurance. Looking for a dog with good esteem breeding? They recommend Irish Wolfhounds. Well, what does an Irish Wolfhound have to be afraid of??
The photo above is from PartnerHund, a German site run by a couple of students of dog behavior. They have lots of good images of working and sporting dogs, and the Google translation tool will get many of the words into English. [I know of no affiliation between dog-esteem trainer Marianne Prutsch and PartnerHund, but that wolfhound is relaxed and confident, isn't it?]
Ananova: Course for cowardly canines
The course which has been a sell out success in Austria was organised by animal behaviour expert Marianne Prutsch. She said: More and more dogs are scared of their own shadows and the course is designed to make them more self confident and secure.... Nervous dogs who are afraid of everything are even more likely to bite their owners and too often are aggressive.
Barking Praise
Most of us unconsciously reward our dogs for barking with attention. Dr. Fetko can help us and our dogs break the habit.
PetnBlog: Stop Dog Barking. 2007-Apr-2, by Dennis Fetko, PhD
He has to be quiet because you’re holding his mouth shut, and you then praise him lavishly for being quiet with something like “Good quiet, that’s it, good quiet!!” Repeat that a few times and soon the word “quiet” will be learned. This may also be the first time the dog was praised a lot for shutting up. Once the dog knows what “quiet” means and that it’s lavishly rewarded, you begin to communicate effectively in an actual situation. When the dog begins to bark at something, the first thing you say is, “Good dog, that’s it!” “Good speak!” That ought to confuse the little whipper!. It may be the first time you praised him for barking.
Meeting Giants
Are you considering a dog from a "giant" breed...St. Bernard, Newfoundland, Great Dane? Do you have a giant dog and just want to hear how someone else is handling it? At Vetcentric, Tracy Vogel has just posted a great interview with Brenda Rushman, who owns St. Bernards and trains dogs. Rushman shares her joys and woes and explains typical problems and solutions. For instance, when introducing her St. Bernards to other dogs, she trained them to get on their belly and crawl toward the other dog.
VetCentric: Big Dog. 2007-Mar-18, by Tracy Vogel
"Train them to greet appropriately -- the second they see a stranger, the butt should hit the ground," she said A well-behaved dog that sits to greet engenders much less terror than one that leaps around in excitement. Giant breed rescue organizations say lack of training is likely the real reason behind the most-often stated cause for giving up a big dog, which is ... The dog got too big.
