Working with Distractions
We have been working on loose leash walking here in my neighborhood and Loker has been doing great, so I thought we needed to increase distractions. He has been doing almost perfect on the side-walk so I drove to a local park to practice walking on a new sidewalk, around some children at the play…
Never Stop Learning
This weekend I am attending a two day seminar on dog behavior and training. Day one of the seminar they addressed A LOT! Nature vs Nurture, lots of body language, human body language, myths, dog-dog intros, and play styles. Of course, there is a lot to talk about (more than all day’s worth) all this so…
Loved Now and Forever
I know this isn’t the best quality picture, but I just had to share it. This picture shows just how at peace Loker looks right now. This is a face of pure serenity and happiness. It has been a joy having this dog as my teacher, for without him, change would not have happened.
We had a major break through yesterday on our bike ride. Loker used to get all “puffed up” whenever we approached other people. (Puffed up as in hackles up, ears forward, tail super-straight up.) Before I would correct this behavior, which would always make him escalate even more to barking and growling. The new method I am using is clicking and treating every time we see something that is scary or unusual. This way he has developed a positive association with things that were previously scary. On the bike ride yesterday, we rode by several different types of people. Instead of puffing up, he looked at them and his ears went up, but there were no hackles, growling, or barking! I calmly and happily encouraged him to move forward and continue with focusing on the ride with words like “let’s go” and “good boy” to keep his mind focused on coming with me and not focusing other people too intensely. He did so well! I can feel a change in him and he is not as intimidated by strange people anymore with my encouragement.
Good News For Pets
Good News For Pets | Vets on Behavior Proclaim, Never Use Shock Collar. I recently came across this article through a friend that shared it on Facebook. I never used a shock collar and have always been opposed to it. However, I did use correction type training which is also mentioned in this article. I…
Loose Leash Walking
Here are some videos of my walk this morning with Loker. He never had a loose leash like this with any kind of correction collar and it is a joy to see him do something because he actually WANTS to! I am so happy for this challenge in my life – for my sake and…
Puppy Training Techniques
I hear of dog trainers using correction collars or e-collars on puppies all the time. To me there is something completely disturbing about that and that is one thing I never did as a correction based trainer. Collars like this are often used to teach obedience, to teach leash manners, among other things. Puppies learn best when…
My Dog, My Story
This is the dog who changed my life and my perception of dog training and dog behavior. I was a big Cesar Millan fan before I adopted this boy. I trained over a hundred dogs using the “Dog Whisperer” methods without any issues. However, once I adopted this dog, everything changed. This guy was the…
Growing Up
I grew up in a home where my parents had always seen dogs as outdoor only farm dogs. It was not within their understanding to think that dogs should be inside, with humans, on laps or as companions. Despite this, I always had an unusual connection with them. I had the kindest neighbors, they were…