Inspiration
Shop Dog Bootcamp
The Trick Ponies of Chincoteague are going to allow a special post about the dogs today – because even though its not “pony” related, it is clicker training related.
What the dogs look like most of the time
Everyday two very special dogs accompany me to work. Ammo (who appears a lot on this blog) is my 1 year old Dachshund and Trooper is my parent’s 2 year old Australian Shepherd/Lab mix. Both dogs have been coming to “work” at my shop since they were about 8 weeks old. Ammo is at the shop 24/7 with me and Trooper gets dropped off and picked up at different times depending on what my parent’s schedules are like. I taught both dogs at a young age what it meant to be a shop dog. This means being quiet, staying out of the way – basically just being a well behaved dog. Most of the day I get dogs that lay around sleeping and when they do play wrestle its very quiet. Being a shop dog also means greeting customers – its pretty much their main job other than to keep me company.
Trooper (being the first and only shop dog for a long time) has always been great with customers – he greeted them with an enthusiastic tail wiggle (minus the tail because he doesn’t have one) and he would NEVER bark at customers, not to mention he had free reign of the shop and wouldn’t ever dare leave even if I had to prop the front door wide open. Enter Ammo. I love him dearly – but he is a dachshund afterall – and if you know nothing about Dachshunds…all you really need to know is that they are STUBBORN. They are hard to house train, they bark a lot, and they love to hunt. I think that if you can train a Dachshund…you can train any animal.
Front door to the shop
So with the arrival of Ammo came the puppy gate. Ammo didn’t care to listen to the boundaries of the front door and being a pipsqueak at 3 lbs. he easily snuck out with customers. With the gate came some new issues. Trooper (being used to greeting people at the front door) started standing up on the gate to greet people – and it didn’t help any that my customers loved this and would pet and reward him. And as Ammo got older he started to realize what Trooper’s excitement was all about – and he developed a barking habit. As soon as someone entered the door he’d let out a few quick barks (mostly over his frustration about not being able to see over the gate as to who/what was there). But after 3-5 barks he’d settle right down.
So now I have a dog on the gate wiggling like crazy and a dog that barks (not to mention customers who are so excited to see dogs that they don’t realize they are rewarding what I deem to be bad habits…whats even worse is some of them bring the dogs cookies). Its not the greeting I want people to get when they walk in the front door – despite the fact that most of them love the dogs. I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve sort of let this issue slide for a long time. In an effort to help the customers and not look like the crazy dog trainer I sort of cover up the situation. I usually pick Ammo up so he can see who is there and will stop barking and Trooper I push off the gate after my customer’s give him a pat.
My "ammo"
This has gone on too long now and I decided that on Wednesday it was time for Shop Dog Bootcamp. My plan was to get the dogs to sit (quietly) when customers entered. To do this I decided to use clicker training to reward them when they sat as someone entered and slowly increase the duration of time I asked them to do this. My hope was that by the end they would associate someone entering the door with sitting (and then being rewarded).
So I placed a jar of dog treats by the front counter and waited for my first customer. I decided that even if my customers thought I was crazy I’d simply explain to them what I was doing. The first few times I showed the dogs the cookie first so they knew that complying to my request would be totally worth it. I tried to be aware of when I thought someone was coming in the front door so that I could have them sitting and waiting before they even entered. This started to work, but occasionally I would be in the back and someone would come in before I noticed. But I was successful in getting them under control much quicker than I ever was before.
By Thursday I was noticing some improvement. I successfully had “no issues” for maybe 2-3 customers and even when my husband came to pick me up (people they KNOW always get a really enthusiastic hello) they both sat quietly and never made a peep. My husband was quite impressed because he knows how they can get.
Below is a short video of the boys in training.
We had some small setbacks throughout the day – afterall my main goal is to help my customers and sometimes if I get too many people in the store at once its hard to then also try to train the dogs at the same time, but I’m trying my best.
So hopefully soon I will be able to report that the boys are well-behaved shop greeters. But if anyone has suggestions on how to help the boys learn their new task at the shop let me know!
Down for the Count
Sharing some photos today of Boomerang’s latest trick…well sort of. You may think by the photos that I taught him to lay down (which I do fully intend to to). But in actuality this little photo op happened by accident.
I was working with Boomer in the ring on his leading (while not trying to bite off my arm) when I walked away from him for a few minutes to get something. When I got back I saw that he was about to lay down and roll. Probably not the best idea when he has a saddle on. But rather than freak him out and run at him with flailing arms – yelling get up – I decided to use this opportunity. Instead I approached him slowly (before he rolled onto my saddle is the key here) and offered him a treat. Intrigued Boomer layed there trying to figure out what he was doing to warrant the treat. I gave him a few more rewards then proceeded around to his backside so I could sit on his back. (at which point I yelled to my little sister to get the camera – I never pass up the chance for a good photo). After several minutes (and photos) later I asked him to get up with me on him. I then made a big fuss and gave him another treat.
The goal here was not to teach him that laying down with a saddle on would get him food because I’m sure you can imagine how that will end. The goal was to get him used to having me around while he was in his most vulnerable position and make it a positive experience for him. So that when I do go to officially teach him the cues for laying down he will see it as a positive thing. I also decided to give him a big reward for getting up because I wanted him to know when I ask him get back up there is a reward for that as well. That way just incase our little session prompted him to lay down right again I would have asked him to get up quicker and then rewarded – I really didn’t want him confusing being saddled with laying down.
But – as I suspected – after Boomer got back up he tried a few things to get more treats (offered a few behaviors like giving me a kiss and saying no) but he didn’t think to try laying down again. Which is fine, because I’m not to the point with him where I want him to learn to lay down yet.
Laying down is in Blitz’s and Boomer’s future for sure, Minnow…I’m not so sure. Minnow has a lot more trust issues…and I’m worried laying down will undue a lot of training I have done with him. But perhaps one day we will be able to master this feat. Maybe little brother Boomer can show him that its ok.
The Greening of Whitney Brown
One of my childhood friends (who I learned to ride with!) now works at a Gypsy Vanner Farm, El Brio Vanner, across the street from my farm. Her favorite horse, Odd Job Bob, is the star in a movie that is currently filming, “The Greening of Whitney Brown”. Bob spent most of this summer with famous trick trainer, Tommie Turvey, where he learned to lay down among many other tricks. I’ve been watching Tommie’s Youtube channel all summer as I’ve seen videos of Bob learning liberty signals and tricks specific to the movie. I feel like I know a movie star…even though I still haven’t met Bob!
In the spring I brought two of the Trick Ponies over to El Brio Vanner to give my friend a preview of what I had taught them and how I had taught them – unfortunately Bob had already left to get training for his big movie debut. I’m hoping when he finally returns home in a few weeks I will get a chance to meet this special horse. Maybe I can get his autograph. 🙂
Here’s a little info on the movie:
THE GREENING OF WHITNEY BROWN follows the misadventures of ‘Whitney Brown’ (SAMMI HANRATTY), a privileged and popular Philadelphia teenager whose world is upended when her parents, ‘Henry’ (AIDAN QUINN) and ‘Joan’ (BROOKE SHIELDS), experience sudden economic problems that necessitate a family move to Whitney’s grandparents’ old farm in the country. There, far from her dizzying world of shallow girlfriends, endless parties and school pressures, she finds a new best pal: ‘Odd Job Bob’, a beautiful and spirited Gypsy Vanner horse owned by her new neighbor ‘Dusty’ (KRIS KRISTOFFERSON) — a crusty rancher who turns out to be her estranged grandfather. Through her new relationships with Odd Job Bob, Dusty and her parents, Whitney rediscovers what it means to respect not only nature and her family, but also someone very special she had almost lost touch with: herself.
And here are a few behind the scenes clips:
Super exciting! I hope someday one of the Trick Ponies will make it into a movie – wouldn’t that be cool. For now I’m living vicariously through my friend! 🙂
Getting past the Scary
Boomer's finished haircut
After Boomer received his haircut (which by the way I love now) my mom and I decided it would be a good idea to work with Blitz and the clippers. Our clippers are really loud – and I’d be scared if they came at me! And while Boomer took to the clippers with hardly any problems at all, he’s not the average horse. I’ve always said I’ve never seen/had a horse quite like him that is pretty much unfazed and curious about everything. Blitz on the other hand is naturally more cautious. It takes him a few days to get the courage to touch scary things while it will take Boomer mere minutes. But the fact is Blitz will get over it, he just needs a little more time.
So anyway, onto the clippers. With the help of the clicker we attempted to get Blitz used to the scary clippers. He was actually pretty good. We didn’t snip any hair (other than my mom’s little mishap and a few whiskers) but we made good progress with him. You can watch the video below.
Blitz was untied throughout the session – although I did hold the end of the rope just as a precaution – so if he decided to move away he was able to. Surprisingly he stayed very still and other than a turning of his head occasionally he wasn’t too horrified – mostly because we made it enjoyable for him. I think with a few more session we’ll be clipping his hair in no time!
Blitz also had a breakthrough the other day with my mom. She took him on his very first trailride alone! Like I mentioned Blitz really isn’t brave at all and going anywhere alone is a huge step for him. My mom felt comfortable enough that she thought it would be good experience for him. She said he was a bit nervous but behaved himself quite nicely. This is a great step because trail riding alone gives horses great confidence – if done properly. Horses are herd animals, so asking them to leave their comfort zone of the group is very stressful for them. But to have a horse that can go anywhere and do anything alone is wonderful. I’ve been fortunate to be able to train most of my horses to be this way – and both of our young guys are well on their way to being able to do this too.
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Boomerang’s First Haircut
Boomer has a lot of hair. And when I say a lot…I mean a lot! If Mane n’ Tail got a hold of him – he’d be their new spokes-pony for sure. Because not only is it thick, but its got gorgeous natural highlights that shimmer in the sunlight. I’ve always loved horses with a full head of hair. Manes that flow in the wind – reminiscent of their wild ancestor’s locks (without the mats and burrs of course). So you may be wondering why I CHOPPED IT ALL OFF yesterday!!?? I’m sort of wondering the same thing myself.
I’ve always wanted to roach a horse’s mane. Because lets face it, in my equine sport of choice, mounted games, long hair just doesn’t cut it. Sure its pretty and stylish, but it gets tangled in your hands and your reins and it just basically makes multitasking near impossible. So I secretly always wanted to roach one of my ponies mane’s to see if it would make things easier for me while competing. So after my competition with Boomer on Sunday (which I really should of posted about first….but I just couldn’t wait to post about Boomer’s first haircut) and one jammed finger later, I decided what the heck if it looks stupid it will grow back!
So onto the haircut. The idea was simple. Roach Boomer’s mane so that I had about 2 inches left with the hopes that it would stand straight up – I opted to leave a little because #1 I was chicken and #2 I still need a little something to grab when I vault on or when Boomer decides to act like the baby he is and throw some bronco bucks. Then I realized…as far as I know Boomer’s never seen clippers before. Humm. Out comes the treat bag and my clicker.
Within a few minutes Boomer the wonder pony was letting me clip off his gorgeous locks with the heavy duty (super loud) clippers without so much as a flinch. All thanks to the clicker. I think if he had known I was stealing his hair he might not have been so tolerant.
I told him to keep his eyes closed until I was finished. 🙂
I was a bit scared after the first pass. Thank god we don’t have mirrors in the barn – Boomer would have never let me live this down.
But after some more touch ups and a shampoo and wash – I think it turned out ok. The real test will be next weekend when we head to the Prince George Equestrian Center for 2 days of competition. Hopefully I don’t dread Boomer’s first haircut.
So what do you think? Was this a horrible mistake on my part? Should I have cut it even shorter? Tell me what you think!
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
