Dachshund Training Class #3
I’m a little behind on my training class updates, but better late than never! Last Thursday was a pretty good session for the Dachshund. He’s really starting to association the DTCCC with something positive and he knows exactly what happens when we go there….he gets lots of treats!
(** Enjoy the photos of Ammo’s Easter Celebration scattered throughout this post)
We started off class with a recap of previously learned skills so that our classmates and instructor could see our progress. Ammo was pretty in tune, although as he’s getting more comfortable in this new place he has a renewed interest in the other dogs and people. Mainly he thinks everyone should be paying attention to him and gets a little jealous when the other dogs get treats and he doesn’t, his discontent is displayed by short playful barks/moans. That’s a Dachshund for you!
Ammo has mastered the sit and down with flying colors, and for those skills he’s at the top of his class (I have to say I’m a little bit surprised). His come has improved greatly as I’ve been recalling him randomly at the farm and am overjoyed when he now comes bounding to me every time. Carrying treats with me 24/7 has a lot to do with that, he knows his effort will be rewarded. I’ve also been rewarding him for just checking in with me. So if he opts to run up to me at the farm and make eye contact I reward him. I also try not to ever call him to do something. For example I never call him and pick him up and put him in the car, because I realized early on he would come when I called but immediately backed away after getting his treat – for fear of being snatched up. After 3 weeks of only calling an rewarding him (and just going to get him if I need him for something) he is now no longer backing away after I reward him.
His focus has improved, although he does still get distracted and his concentration breaks. During class we worked on a wait command – which required us to walk our dogs up to a gait opening ask our dogs to wait by placing a “stop” hand in front of them, then allowing ourselves to step through the opening. If the dog moves to follow we make a move towards them to get them to back up and ask them to wait again. Ammo picked this drill up pretty quickly as we have worked on stay (which is similar) before. Although with wait the difference is it doesn’t matter if your dog moves a little or gets out of place, you just want them to stay in the general area that they are. For example crossing a street, you might pause at the curb and ask them to wait until you say its ok to proceed.
We’ve been working on wait since last week and Ammo is doing pretty well with this one too. We also practiced more loose leash walking (or heeling) in class. Ammo had been doing exceptionally well with this at home and work, but when he was asked to do so solo in front of the class he had a little trouble. Walking to the front of the class meant new smells and he had a little distraction problem, and although he did walk pretty well next to me his nose was to the ground most of the time. I had a hard time getting him to check in with me. But that’s ok, the rest of the class had distraction problems too, and that’s why we are going to these classes – so Ammo can learn to focus in any situation. We’re getting there but he still has a long way to go.
I’m thrilled with his improvements, but I also know I have to keep it up. Training him isn’t just going to class once a week, its the constant work I do with him every time we interact. I admit its hard to think about training ALL the time, the classes are really about training me – and making me think about every interaction I have with Ammo as a learning experience for him.
All that we have learned can definitely be applied to the horse training too. Every interaction I have with the ponies is a learning experience for them as well. And reinforcing the behaviors I want them to learn ALL the time – not just when I feel like it – will solidify the them. And if that means I have to carry treats around with me everywhere, than that’s what it means. I’ve actually taken to wearing two treat belts while at the farm, one for the ponies and one for the dog. They’re weighing me down!
Hopefully I’ll be back later this week with a Training Class #4 update. We’re in the home stretch now!
Spring Haircut
Its Spring. That means its raining, a lot, but it also means the flowers and grass is sprouting, the warm weather is creeping in, and the ponies are shedding their winter coats. It also meant that it was time for Boomerang’s Spring haircut.
Boomer is a very funny pony. I’m always completely amazed at how unflappable he is. Having only ever had one introduction with the clippers from me, I whipped out the heavy duty ones – put it on full power, and went clipping away. The rest of the horses in the barn were snorting and alert as the sound echoed through the barn, but not Boomer. He was looking around for his treat for being a good boy and standing.
Kisses for my boy – who I forgot to mention turned 7 years old on March 21st! Happy Belated Birthday Chesapeake Boomerang!
Dachshund Training class #2
After our first adventure at training class I spent the next week working on of the necessary assignments with the little Dachshund. We worked on sit with hand signals and then a verbal cue, and the same with down. I also practiced teaching him not to pull on the leash and to follow when I walked. And most importantly I worked on getting him to look at me when I called his name and keeping his attention. And yes, proudly I worked with him EVERY single day. We practiced at the shop in between customers, we practiced at the farm when he was distracted by ponies and farm smells, we practiced at my parent’s house, we even had a session at Petsmart and we practiced at home.
I think my insistence on practicing ALL day long really paid off, because at last night’s class he was an angel! I was completely amazed when I was able to keep his attention throughout most of the class. Yes, he did get distracted a little and focus on some smells, but the difference this time was that I was able to snap him out of it and bring his attention back to me.
We started off class by working on a watch or look command. This command can be used when you want your dog to look at you (in your eyes) but not necessarily come. Our instructor gave an example of doing agility with her dog. She wants her dog to wait on the start box and look at her but not move off the box. We practiced this command by holding a treat at our dog’s nose and then moving it up to our noses asking the dogs to keep focused on the treat. When their eyes met ours they were clicked and rewarded. Eventually we moved onto moving the treat to the side of our face and when the dog’s eyes landed back on ours instead of the treat they were rewarded. Eventually the treat will be faded out all together and we will add a “look” cue to get our dogs to look into our eyes.
Then we worked on resetting our dog when we are loose leash walking them. If they start to get out of position we can use this technique to reset them into position. Here are two videos of Ammo working on his reset.
Next up we worked on the come or recall. First we lured our dogs away from us by dropping a treat behind them. As they were finishing up the treat we called their name and backed away from them, when they turned and followed we clicked and treated. Eventually we will add a verbal cue to this such as Come or Here. The important thing about this recall is that you have to be prepared to reward your dog EVERYTIME they come to you, otherwise they will decide its not worth listening. I like to think of it as an emergency call. Like if your dog was going to run into traffic you need a verbal to yell that brings them running EVERYTIME. So for example I might use come to call my dog in from the yard because I’m not going to reward him everytime he does this. But if I yell HERE my dog should drop everything all the time and come sprinting and I need to be prepared to reward this – EVERYTIME.
Overall I was very pleased with the Dachshund’s progress. Its been hard carrying around treats with me EVERYWHERE and remembering to practice practice practice with him. But I think in the end it will give us a much better partnership, and the more I do it with him the more it will become second nature. Anyone that has or has had a Dachshund knows how stubborn they can be, I’m determined to break this stigma with Ammo and have a dog that listens more like a Labrador would. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
Dachshund Training class #1
Last Thursday I started taking the Dachshund to his very first training class at the Dog Training Club of Chester County. Since Ammo will be attending these classes for the next 6 weeks I thought it would be neat for me to post about what he learns each week. Even though this training is for a dog, a lot of the same principles can be applied to the horses or any other animal.
The last time I had been to dog training classes was when I was about 12 years old and a member of the Heel n’ Sit Dog 4-H club. I did monthly classes with my large black lab, Jack, and my brother worked with his golden mix, Sneakers. Sneakers even went on to get her canine good citizen certification. Back then it was about choke chains and tugging on your dog, that’s just how it was taught. I know now this wasn’t the best way to train a dog, but I was a kid….and this is how we were taught to do it.
Having never been to the Dog Training Club of Chester County, I was pleasantly surprised when my welcome e-mail said NO CHOKE CHAINS, bring a a quality dog lift harness. I was half expecting to have to defend myself for wanting to use a harness on my dog. I was even more surprised when we showed up at the first class and the instructor handed out clickers to everyone. She explained that DTCC was a positive reinforcement training club and the classes were more about training us than they were about training our dogs. Score!
Our classmates were a hyperactive rescue dog, a puppy mill pitbull rescue, and a 4 month old Irish Wolfhound – that looked more like a lion to me at 10x’s the Dachshund’s size.
We started the class by introducing our dogs to the clicker and teaching them that click meant food. We then worked on gaining our dog’s attention, something thats very hard for the little doxie. He was much more interested in the new smells and the new dogs. So we worked on clicking our dogs each time they looked at us or responded to their name being called.
Then we worked on helping our dogs to learn the sit and down by luring them into position with food. Finally we worked on pulling on the leash. We learned that if our dog starts to pull us we should stop and anchor ourselves, waiting for the dog to release the tension of the leash themselves. Then rewarding them.
I realized after our first session that the dachshund’s biggest problem is keeping focus. He has a very hard time paying attention to me, even when I have food. At home even carrots warrant undivided attention, but amongst new smells and new dogs, even cheese couldn’t keep my fella’s attention. Our instructor suggested we search for a treat that made the boy go gaga, so I have since tried hot dogs, which seem to work fairly well – but cooked beef might have to be implemented for our next class.
Over the past few days I have been working with the boy throughout the day. He has the sit and the down mastered with hand and verbal signals – although to be fair he already knew these commands, but now atleast he can perform them with a verbal or hand signal. And he isn’t really pulling on the leash on our walks, although he wasn’t a “big” puller to begin with. I’ve also been working on keeping his attention, I think he still has a long way to go, but I have noticed some improvement. I’m anxious to see if he’s any different by our next class.
The Mounted Rear
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Minnow is one of the smartest ponies I have ever met. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that he’s really cued into my body language – and I’m good at using my body to over-exaggerate what I want.
A few days ago I again was working on Minnow’s rear a little bit and I decided to mount up and see if he might do it for me while I was on his back. I imagined gathering my energy into my lap, I then tapped my toes a few times on his legs and lifted up into the air. After a few initial paws to the ground Minnow hoisted himself up into the air.
**sorry about the cry baby pup in the background – Trooper couldn’t stand to not be involved with this trick, but for safety I made him wait outside the ring.
I captured it with the click and that was that. I now had a pony that will rear from a hand signal on the ground and the verbal cue up and a squeeze and gentle pull motion in the saddle. Pretty cool.
I know a lot of people have negative thoughts about teaching a horse to rear. So I thought I would explain why I decided to teach Minnow to rear. #1 he’s retired, which means no one should ever be riding him again except for the occasional bareback stint I do with him. #2 I’ve been working with him since 20o2 so I know that he knows the difference between trick time and not. #3 I handle him nearly everyday and aside from the small group of people at our farm around him I never let anyone else handle him unless I am there to supervise. #4 He will live with me for the rest of his life, so I know that I have no fear of him going to someone who would find this trick dangerous. So that being said I was confident in teaching Minnow this trick. As you have seen I haven’t at all attempted to teach the younger boys, Boomer and Blitz. Because I know that since they are young they would more likely offer this behavior when I don’t want it, and it could just turn into a dangerous situation. I probably won’t ever teach them to rear unless they are retired like Minnow or I have much more confidence in them, or when I am certain they will be living with me forever.
