TRAINING A DOG

Ahhh, a quiet New Year's Eve. Just my style. I like this break between mid-December and the first of the year. It allows me to reflect on last year, check my goals and see what we can do in 2012.

Let's start with 2011 goals. For Devon, 2011 was about finishing her Champion Tracker and figuring out if she really was going to be an agility dog. I knew she could accomplish the VST/CT; she proved that in 2010 with her two near passes. I was excited for the spring tracking season, but when Devon only made it into one test out of the six we entered, I was discouraged. And to add to my frustration, that one test was the last test of the spring season in late May, and it was our first 85 degree day with not a cloud in the sky. Bless Devon's heart she tried, but she just couldn't find the track out onto the roof of a parking garage.

I think it was on the drive home, that I really was ready for the VST/CT journey to be done. I knew my dog could do it, but it was HARD!! And now, we had to wait all summer -- and another very hot summer -- and try again in October. I was not looking forward to getting up at 3:30 a.m. to put in tracks all summer. I'll leave Devon's CT post for another time, because it's overdue, but my superstar passed her first test of the fall season in fine style, earning her VST and Champion Tracker on Oct. 2, 2011. She is quite the girl!

Now to agility. Devon's agility career has never been consistent, always stopping in the spring through the early fall for tracking and field work. And I struggled putting foundation on her, causing training issues. This year, I decided no field and we were going to stay with at least two trials a month all year and see if this girl could get past her weave and teeter issues and have an agility career.

As far as titles, I wanted her AX and legs on her MX and MXJ. Frankly, I knew that was a tall order. She had been 2 years without a Standard leg and more than a year without a JWW leg. I'm thrilled to say that Devon proved she had the heart and love of the game I thought she did. Devon earned her AX in mid-November, and the following weekend earned her first MX leg away from home! She also has 4 MXJ legs and 38 MACH points. It's a start, and I'm thrilled for her.

In our last trial of the year, tough breaks cost us Qs all weekend, but I must have had a dozen people come up to me and tell me that Devon had never looked better. Many folks didn't even realize Devon wasn't Qing! She was confident and happy -- and really that's all I could ask for!

Page and I had a growing/training year. I had no title goals for her, but she did finish her OA, earn her OAJ and got her first AX leg this year. Our startline issues continued to plague us this year. She's a smart, pushy, driven girl who cuts me no slack. She's going to make me a much better dog trainer!

Finally, 2011 was a great learning year for me personally. I completed my first full year working as a consultant for an agency, my first time in the private sector after 11 years of working for two state governments. In my previous life I was able to compartmentalize work and doglife. I had time for one and then time for the other. However, in the last 15 months I've had to learn to blend the two, and in doing so work took priority and dog training suffered.

So that has lead to my thinking in the last 2-3 weeks about our 2012 goals. My thoughts have lead me to explore not only my dog goals, but also how they intertwine with my personal schedule. I arrived at two quotes that are my launching pad for my 2012 goals:

1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (New Living Translation) ²⁴ Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! ²⁵ All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.

“The main reason for people’s lack of success in life is their willingness to give up what they want most of all, for what they want right now.” Zig Zigler

The last two years I've also thought about the My One Word project. I've tried to select one word to keep me on task and focused each year. I have to admit, 2011 was so hectic and chaotic, I can't even remember my one word!

So in searching for the passage in 1 Corinthians 9, I saw the subhead "The Need for Self-discipline" in the New International Version. That's when I knew I'd found my One Word (or two words hyphenated) for the year: Self-discipline.

So, working forward to our 2012 goals, I'll start with me. It's time for a true confession: I struggle to get out of bed in the morning. I have all these good intentions when I set the alarm (isn't here some saying about good intentions?), and then I hit the snooze for 45 minutes to an hour! Really! Every 7 minutes, I walk across the bedroom into my bathroom and hit the snooze and go back to bed. My poor dogs are so used to this, they don't even move!

So then my chaotic day is off to an even worse start, because I'm already mad at myself for missing my morning workout and my morning training session with the girls. Then of course someone at work needs me to do a rush project for them and I'm off and running on that before I even leave the house. That guilt from the morning carries through the day and I'm exhausted when I get home and I just give up and go to bed and start things over again -- no work out down and no dogs trained.

So, self-discipline begins with getting up when the alarm goes off. I've already started this during my holidays and this week back to work and I'm happy to report I'm getting better! Now I'm only hitting the snooze for 15 minutes! And I'm working out in the mornings again!

So, there's a sneak peak at my 2012 goals: getting up on time, maintaining my fitness program, eating more fruits and veggies (yes those nasty green things) and building in time to train the girls regularly. All those goals build on each other, and they all take self-discipline!

Next, we'll move to Page. Many of her problems are due to deficient training time. For the first 20 months of her life, she had it great. I worked from home part time. She got trained once or twice a day. Her mind was always engaged as was her body, with very little crate time. Now she's lucky if she gets two training sessions in a week, and she spends most of her day in a crate with occasional breaks and play time with my parents (my dad is now an expert toy thrower for Page!).

For Page, 2012 will continue to be a year of training, with few title goals. We need to get our training and teamwork back and better than ever! I need to be more focused and directed in my training sessions, with not only agility, but also field and obedience. I'm leaning toward taking a couple of months off from agility competition with Page to work on some specific training goals. I'll finalize this plan in the next few days. I also want to progress in her obedience training that has been spotty in the last two years. Once the weather breaks, I want to finish her transition training. I don't think we'll test this fall. I think maturity and time will be beneficial for Page's field career.

For Devon, 2012 will continue to be about agility. I want to see if we can knock off her MX and MXJ titles this year. I also want to see where she is this time next year in double Qs and MACH points. I would love to get her MACH, but I want to see what she wants to do. Is she consistent enough to MACH? I suspect she is, but I'm not convinced yet. I prefer to take this goal one step at a time, and I'd like to know that she's still running as strong and confident in December 2012 as she looked in December 2011. The MX and MXJ are for me; the game is for her.

I also want to solidify all of Devon's obedience training in 2012 with the thought of trialing in 2013. I have absolutely loved the two lessons I've done this fall with Bridget Carlsen! I see amazing progress in Devon, and I'm going to continue those and a seminar with her in 2012.

As far as field, I think we're going to play with no pressure this year. When Page trains, Devon will train. I'm anxious to try some set ups and see what Devon has this year after taking some time off. In 2011 our only field work was a WCX in July at Hambden, and Devon was amazing. She was the only dog of 14 that passed the test. She was strong and steady, and I absolutely love walking to the line with this dog.

Finally, I think I have one more goal for myself, and that's a goal for competition with Devon. When my head's in the right place, Devon runs like a dream. When I'm anxious for a Q, Devon doesn't run as well. I need to get my mental game in place so that I remember each time I walk to the line that it's a privilege to step into the ring with my amazing dogs. My girls want to play these games with me -- how lucky am I? When my attitude isn't right, they tell me.

So that's it for my 2012 goals. Self-discipline for me to help me get my goals and the girls' goals on track. See, it's as easy as one word (or two hyphenated)!

The time a puppy spends with the breeder is the most critical time in his development into a healthy adult dog. During this time, the puppy learns critical life skills from his mother and littermates as well as his environment and human caretakers. The lessons learned during this time are invaluable in creating a developmentally sound dog. Early separation from the litter can have devastating effects on a puppy’s normal development. A puppy’s littermates are notably the best teachers of appropriate play, including bite inhibition. The feedback a puppy receives from his littermates helps him develop an understanding of how he can, and cannot, use his mouth and he will also develop an understanding for the rules of healthy play. Play in itself is a multifunctional teaching tool, teaching not only a set of “rules” to abide by for polite play but also helping to develop behaviors necessary for survival as an adult. Through play and interactions with the mother and litter mates, the puppy is also able to learn to read and display “dog language.” This knowledge is essential in communicating with other dogs (and people!) as an adult. When taken away from the litter too soon, many dogs never develop good communication skills or learn how to engage in appropriate play. Tolerance is also learned among littermates through play and other interactions. More specifically, frustration tolerance is learned as resources are sought between littermates. The social skills learned through interaction with the puppy’s littermates are a very valuable benefit, and are hard for human caretakers to recreate.


It should also be noted that a puppy experiences most of his socialization period while with the breeder, so it is essential that special procedures are in place to ensure the puppy begins the process of socialization to novel people, events, environments, sounds, substrates, dogs and other animals. Critical socialization begins in the first few days of life, even before a puppy’s senses are fully functioning, and ends, debatably, somewhere between 12 and 16 weeks. Shortly after birth, the breeder should begin to handle the puppies daily. Hands should be thoroughly washed, and each puppy should then be gently handled for just a few minutes, and then returned to the mother.

This is will help the puppies become used to human touch and also further promote frustration tolerance as a mild stress is placed upon each puppy in the absence of their mother and littermates. At 3 to 4 weeks of age, the puppies’ senses are more developed, and they can begin to be handled more vigorously. All parts of their body, including gums, tail and feet should be touched, to habituate them to examination and extensive human handling. At this time, puppies should also experience short periods of separation to further promote healthy frustration tolerance and habituate them to periods of isolation. Although it has not yet been proven, it is believed that these periods of isolation at a young age can prevent separation anxiety from presenting at a later time in the puppy’s life. When the puppy is transitioning from mother’s milk to solid food and thereafter, it is imperative that caretakers are present at feeding time. Caretakers should make a habit of stroking the puppies during meal time as well as touching their food, removing their bowl and allowing other puppies near the food. When the caretaker approaches, strokes the puppy, takes the food away or another animal approaches, the puppy should be given a piece of extrascrumptious food reward to promote a positive association with the presence of humans and other animals around the puppy’s food. This will teach the young puppies to accept others during mealtime and alleviate much of the threat that food aggression will present at a later time.

At this same time, further exposure to novel stimuli should begin. The puppies should be exposed to a number of different people during the socialization period. This includes many different types of people, including children, large men, etc. However, the people chosen to socialize the puppies with should have a clear understanding of what you are trying to accomplish. Simple exposure does not ensure proper socialization. The experience must be positive, thus friendly, non-abrupt or non-abrasive people should be asked to participate in the puppies’ socialization. They should handle the puppies as instructed above. The same goes for socialization with dogs and other animals. The other animals should be chosen based upon their personality as a play session with an unfamiliar dog that is too rough, possibly aggressive, or socially inappropriate will only hinder socialization and possibly promote a generalized fear of dogs to present later in a puppy’s life. Although the exact timing is widely debated, young puppies go through several “fear periods” in which fears are rapidly imprinted and can surface at any time in the puppy’s adult life. Extra precaution must be taken to ensure positive experiences occur during this time.

The same positive experiences should be extended to include a number of different environments, substrates, sounds and other novel events. Both the breeder and a puppy’s new owner should continue to promote socialization through positive experiences with a countless number of novel stimuli. By meeting many people and animals, visiting a number of novel places (including veterinarians, groomers and boarders), being exposed to many different sounds and other novel situations, proper socialization begins and the potential for later problems of fear and aggression can be minimized.

Finally, during this time, puppies learn faster than at any other time in their life, so obedience training should begin. Along with basic obedience, “manners” are easily acquired at a young age as well. Starting out teaching the right behaviors can save you from a lot of grief later on when going back to “fix” undesirable behaviors. Do not stop teaching them at 16 weeks. A healthy dog is continually socialized and trained throughout its life!

Common Mistakes People Make When Training Their Dog

Many people opt to train their dog themselves, pretty much the majority of people I meet. About 99% of them unfortunately run into problems and make training mistakes that can affect training dramatically. Those are:

• Freedom - People give their new dog WAY too much freedom too soon. When you give your dog all this off leash freedom outside without knowing a solid 100% recall, you are setting yourself and your dog up to FAIL. Your dog will learn that running around like a crazed maniac not listening to you is a great thing and will consistently do this. This makes off leash training incredibly harder then starting off on the right paw.
• Expectations - Many people expect their new pup or rescue to know not to go to the bathroom in the house, they should just know. Dogs have absolutely no idea where to go, it doesn't come pre-programmed in their brain, we must show them much like a child when they're potty training you have to highly reinforce and manage them by taking them to the potty every X amount of time.
• Stress - This is probably much too common. People keep putting their dog in stressful situations which in turn puts stress on a dog, what does stress do to a dog? Turns into aggressive behaviour. When your dog is failing in situations with other dogs (getting into little fights, growling, snarling) at anytime, even if it's a little growl, your dog is stressed out and you need to take the dog away from the situation and evaluate WHY he or she is stressed.
• Corrections - I've said this before and will continue to say it. Corrections do not work, we lack the precision and appropriate pressure to apply to make a correction effective. Many people correct to subtle (where the dog felt it, stopped for a moment and went back) this way you're desensitizing your dog to whatever correction and abusing your dog cause you will have to hit, pop, poke, jab your dog more often. Others correct too hard and the dog becomes terrified of you and the surroundings it was corrected in, if this happens you usually get an aggressive dog. It is very hard to implement the proper correction to the proper dog, some dogs cannot take corrections and will physically and mentally shut down from stress.
• Repeating- People repeat a command over and over "sit, sit,sit,sit,sit." If you start on this repetitive path, you are going to be stuck stay "sit" five times before your dog sits. The rule is: when learning a new behaviour such as sit, ask the dog ONCE, if the dog does not comply WAIT 3-5 seconds and ask again.
• Asking too much too soon - Don't expect your dog to be well behaved in a situation where he or she has never encountered before. Example: Bringing your dog to a 1.5 hour walk with friends when your dog can only walk 15 minutes on a loose leash before he starts pulling. What is going to happen here? The dog will end up pulling on the leash after 15 mins and you end up getting frustrated because you're too busy chatting and don't want to train the dog in this new environment. End result = FAILURE and steps back in loose leash walking.
• Follow through - When you ask your dog for a sit and they decide to go down, don't just go "whatever, good enough" make sure you go, "hey, hey, sit" and coax them up into a sit. Always make sure to follow through with the command given because if you allow the dog to decide sit means down, every time you need a sit the dog will down.This applies to all training commands and real life commands.
• Lost opportunities - Don't always make training sessions to show your dog what you like. If you're out on a walk and your dog meets a young child and doesn't jump up, highly reward! This is why I always like to carry some treats on walks and outings -you never know when a GREAT opportunity will strike! If you don't have treats, praise and get excited, maybe play a chase game.

This Christmas we have the good fortune to be returning "home" to Maine.  We will have a chance to visit my sister and her husband, my parents and, especially exciting, my 92-year-old grandmother.  This leaves the dogs to fend for themselves.  I'm working on teaching Pistol to scoop the right amount of dog food for meals each night, but he is having trouble reaching the tap on the kitchen sink to fill up the water bowl.

Okay, we won't really leave the dogs to fend for themselves.  But it does bring up a great doggy-dilemma.  How do you travel when you have pets?  Previously I've always had so many wonderful connections "in the business" that I've been able to have someone look after the dogs without too much trouble.  But we're new to Oregon, so that puts us in the same boat as many people: what do we do with the dogs?

There are limited options, and the right solution is different for each family.  Boarding is one possibility, but that takes our dogs out of their comfortable, familiar environment, and honestly, with three dogs it costs a fortune.  Of course if one were looking to get the great benefit of training while boarding, a board & train program can be a great option (okay, shameless plug admitted and done with).  For us the best option is a pet sitter, a professional who stays at our house and takes care of the dogs (not to mention the fish, the house plants, the mail, etc.).

But the question I always get is "How do you find a pet sitter??!!"  Referrals are a great way to find any service provider - ask your veterinarian, the groomer, or, yeah, the dog trainer.  But there is another way.  Pet Sitters International certifies pet sitters across the country who commit to education, bonding and insuring and more.  It's nice to have a resource, a searchable site, where you can find pet sitters committed to their profession.  Of course, like anything, do your due diligence.  Like dog trainers, certified doesn't mean a professional is good.  But it's a nice place to start.