Dog Training Journal

[wolf_Q]

Since there's several Pet Talk dogs in classes right now, I thought maybe we could do a "journal" of their progress. I mean like posting details about how your dog did in the class each week. Hey, even if your dog is not in a class...if you are working on some training, go ahead and post your progress also! I'm hoping Nebo's progress will be going up instead of down...

Ok there's Cincy, Oz, Moki, Nebo...who else is in a class? Isn't Chewy doing a search and rescue class?

[wolf_Q]

Nebo's is an 8 week basic obedience class.

Week 1: No dogs allowed the first day of class....just an intro...

Week 2: The other trainer was there instead of our normal one. I don't think she really likes huskies. Of course, Nebo was not helping. He was incredibly hyper and overactive...he wouldn't hold still....very, very, very jumpy and excited! I think he was thinking it was like the puppy class where the dogs were able to play together...because that's ALL he wanted to do! He was used as an example a few times. The trainer was showing how to stop a dog from jumping up...boy did she choose the right dog! He knew she had a treat in her hand and just couldn't figure out what she wanted him to do to get it! No focus on me. I'm just that thing on the end of the leash making noises at him..lol

Week 3: After his hyper problem last time, I decided to wear him out first! When I got home from work we played fetch in the back yard until he was panting and walking with the ball back to me instead of running. This week was loose-leash walking. He really is good at this at home, but not at Petsmart or any place excited. He wasn't too bad though until he saw the trainer and she said "Hi Nebo!" lol....paws scrambling all over the slick floors....I'm supposed to be teaching him some of the advanced stuff, so we worked on "stand" while the others worked on "down." He was actually quite good and was able to focus on me (the clicker helps!) We did loose leash walking and "sit" down the isles, and he is great until he sees another dog. I tried to so a little socialization with another dog at the end, but when he goes up to see a dog, it's like "HI! LET ME JUMP ON YOUR HEAD!!" He wants to play with every dog he sees, and gets waaay to excited about it....going to have to work on that, though I'm not sure how....

[Dixieland Dancer]

I take Dusty to class so he can learn to trot and look pretty running around the ring!! Actually, it is more so I can learn to handle him and stack him in the conformation ring. I do obedience with him but have put competition in that area aside until he gets his Championship.

I discovered it was too conflicting to get him to understand you can't sit in this ring but you have to sit in that ring! He is ready for his novice obedience so we can pick up that title in the spring.

Dixie is learning the next phase of hunting. She got her Junior Hunter title in the fall and will be starting work for her Senior Hunter title in the spring. I don't know if we will ever get to Master Hunter but my husband would love it if we do!

I will need to learn to put video on imagestation so you can all watch her doing what she loves best in the whole world - retrieving ducks!!! Well actually she loves getting her paws rubbed and being with mommy the best but you know what I mean!!

[ParNone]

Oz's First Night of Basic Obedience

We pulled into the training facility parking lot and I hadn't even
gotten the car into park, before Oz started growling at a Cat
wandering the lot. First time he's ever growled at anything. I
think Murph must be instructing him in how to be a good terrier,
when I'm not around.

I had to sign in and write a check for the class and Oz was doing
pretty good just standing there. Then all of a sudden he just
about yanked my arm out of the socket pulling on the leash. I
looked back to see that a man came up behind me and was
letting his dog run right up to Oz enticing him to play. Does the
man do the polite thing and pull his dog back, since he can see
I'm struggling to try and write a check with one hand and control
Oz with the other? Uh no... I even tried putting my body between
Oz and his dog, but that only added to the problem, because
then I had to try and write the check, while trying to keep my
balance with a dog darting between my legs. The first thing
the trainer mentioned when she started class was Not to let
your dog interact with the other dogs. Hope this guy was
listening.

The other dogs in the class are 4 Rotties, Yorkie, Shiba Inu Mix,
Pointer, Lab and Springer Spaniel. The Shiba Inu Mix was the
best one, but I don't think I saw his tail wag once. I think he
was more into pleasing his owner, than really being happy to
be there. I love that Oz's tail wags the whole time we're
training. That's how Murph was in Basic too. He even got voted
Happiest Dog.

First command we did was "Easy", to take the treat nicely from
your hand. With Murph and Maddie around, Oz doesn't do this
so great at home, but guess he knows I won't give any of his
treats away to the other dogs in class, so he did this real good.

We then did "Heel", "Sit" and "Come". He wanted to be a lil'
ahead of me in "Heel", so we'll have to work on that this week,
but overall he did real good on all 3 of those. Actually he did
great throughout the class as long as we were doing something.
It was when we were standing around getting instruction for
the next command that we had problems. Everybody else's
dog was more or less laying down or sitting calmly next to their
owner (well except for the springer spaniel, who was barking).
They didn't seem all that animated to be there. Oz however was
wagging his tail and looking all around him and if we stayed in
one place too long would whine. Not a real loud obnoxious
whine, but just loud enough to get across his point that he was
ready to do something... Anything... Somebody throw a ball for
me to fetch or give me some sheep to herd, but this standing
around doing nothing is for a pekinese, not a Collie.

Next comannd was "Settle" and guess who the trainer asked
to use for her example?. Amazingly he did pretty good. She
said "Settle", put her foot on his leash, then ignored him. He
laid down quietly beside her, within about 30 seconds. So we're
definitely gonna work on that this week. That's gonna be a
good command for him to know.

She also looked at Oz, when she talked about the "Quiet"
command, but used the Springer Spaniel in her example of
what to do. So at least we weren't the most obnoxious dog,
noise wise.

I think things went pretty well for our first night. He's a real
good boy as long as you keep his mind occupied.

Par...

[Aspen and Misty]

Nope Chewy is not doing a search and rescue class. I am training him all by myself Of course with the help of a book called Search and Rescue Dogs Traiing the K-9 Hero Second Edition writen by American Rescue Dog Association. Ist a great book and Chewy LOVES haveing a job to do. We will be taking a class in March, although that is a long time.

Ash

[wolf_Q]

Hey Ash go ahead and post when you train Chewy and how he does, etc.! What steps you take to train him would be very interesting! You don't need to be in a class to post, just be training a dog!

[Aspen and Misty]

Hee hee Ok. Chewy already Knows Sit, Stay, Down, Shake, Take a Bow, Mark (Where he goes to his mark), Give Me kiss and he sorta knows Bang Bang (Where I shoot him (of course no real guns were used in the making of this trick) and he plays dead). He also sort of knows Dancing

Today We worked on Dancing, where he turns in a circle. Its cute, lol

We also worked on Search and Rescue training (S&R).

Ash

[primabella]

mickey isn't in classes but he knows a few tricks. he can sit, stay, give paw, high five, jump up and when i tell him to stay and throw a toy, he knows when to "go". i'm working on him to lie down. i was teaching him "beg" for awhile, but it wasn't sticking, so i decided to switch and maybe go back to it later when he's perfected stay. (he gets distracted easily )

[Cincy'sMom]

Cincy started her Therapy Dog class last Monday. The first week we introduced the dogs to the wheel chair and walker and Cincy did great!!! Put her paws up onthe bar of the walker and gave the woman a sweet little kiss. (Cincy isn't usually much of a kisser). We then worked on walking next to another dog without reacting to it, and again Cincy did great! Finally, we practiced walking the length of the room on a loose leash. No problems there either!

The class is actaully sorta big...about 11 dogs! In addition to Cincy, there was 4 labs (2 are retired Service Dogs, one from Guide Dogs of america and I didn't catch the other one) One Doberman, a boxer, a Keeshond, 2 goldens, and a Brittney. We havebeen in classes before with both the brittney and the boxer, and I wish their owners luck! They are sorta hyper dogs, esp. the brittney!!

Week 4, in addition to class, is a field trip (for owners only) to wtch therapy Dogs in action and get a feelfor what they do. By week 5 we have to have a trick to present to the class and I think Cincy and I are going to do a little freestyle for that. Week 6 is her test, and I think she will do fine. My only concern is the reaction to noise, but we are working on that at home and she is doing beter!

[iceyshiver21]

I just started to recondition Annie, for the up and comming show season.

[Crikit]

ooo Tama is in class so I can do this...actually all three of my dogs are doing training of some sort of other at various points during the week. So let's see.

Tama
Week 1 Agility: We were put in to a puppy class to fill a space or two when a couple of the pups were missing, I didn't mind though because he's still a fairly green dog and the puppy class moves at a nice slow pace. We worked on Jumps and the tunnel and the tire, all of which he was fairly good at.

Week 1 Scent Hurdles: Got to the building and took the little boy in, the first that happened was we recieved our dumb bells from the teacher. After a brief introduction we started with teaching him to bring the dumb bell back...that wasn't going so well he just wanted to explore the building and meet the other dogs. We got fenced in because of that and then started to work on his attention skills and just getting him to pay attention to the dumbell. After the first class he was getting the hang of it and when we came home he even picked the dumbell up a few times.

Week 2 agility: Was in the puppy class again did more work with the jumps and other pieces of equipment and introduced the chute...that was interesting had to pick him up and set him in front of it otherwise he wouldn't go through it...we're gonna work on that. After the puppy class we put him in the BA (Beginer's Agility) class in place of Winter who was to experienced for the class. In BA we started to teach the bridge and how to stop on the contact, which is going to take some work, the little boy seems to like running contacts.

Week 2 scent hurdles: didn't go due to concusion.

Week 3 Agility: didn't go due to concusion.

Winter

Week 1 Agility: Put Winter in BA class to fill a couple of empty spots. First week we worked on following the lead hand and did some work on jumps and contact equipment. Because Winter has done the class before she was also used to demonstrate some of the excercises.

Agility (again): Worked on different pieces of equipment by ourselves in the barn, until she lost her mind at having the other dogs around (silly border collie wanted to herd) then did a snookers course with her. Would have made the course in time if it wasn't for the weave poles. Still I was pleased with how she did.

Agility (once again): Worked on teaching her running contacts on the a-frame. Also did some jumps, tunnels and weave poles and worked on sequencing. Used her in a couple of runs in the advanced class as well and was pleasently surprised as she seems to slowly be coming around as far as working with me.

Week 1 Flyball: had the dogs run to us over a lane of jumps, making sure that they didn't slow down until they caught up to us. Also found out what direction they turn most naturally so they know what side of the box to put the ball on for Winter it's the right. Then did a little directional work with the jumps and showed the dogs were the ball was going to be coming from, but didn't let them activate the box by themselves.

Week 2 agility:Ba class put Tama in instead of Winter...all other classes didn't attend due to concusion.

Week 2 Flyballidn't Attend due to flyball.

Week 3 agility:Went but wasn't allowed to run so I left the dogs at home.

Week 3 Flyball:Couldn't run with dogs, didn't go.

Smudge

Week 1 agility:Worked on equipment at barn then ran snookers course. Didn't make time for snookers course due to his refusel to go over either the jump or tire...can't remember what one right now. Still happy with how he did.

Agility (again): worked on sequence of jumps just making my handling simplier and figuring out the lines from one piece of equipment to the other.

Week 2 and 3 agilityidn't go due to concusion.

[lizbud]

Well folks, Moki learned the sit/down/STAY.

We work off leash in the house & I can now walk away &
he will really STAY till I come back and give him the release
word. Still working on the Stand command & it's going
very slow.He'll stand & stay if I lift his middle into a stand
position, but cannot get him to go from a "sit" to "stand"
with out a little nudge. I know he's a smart little guy, so I
must not be doing something right. I'm struggling
with a bad cold, or sinus infection right now, so it's hard to
get much training in. Ever try to do a lesson, holding a kleenex
up to your nose the whole time? It ain't easy. LOL.

Later, Liz & Moki.

[Cincy'sMom]

Cincy had her second clas tonight and did very well! They worked on stays, which she does very well with. Greeting people and other dogs properly...no issues there. then they had to get up on a chair and sit nxt to a wheelcahir and get petted. Finally they had to sit at the door while someo ne knocked and came in the room. she really does so well!

The Brittany (Charlie) in her class doesn't always do as well. Tonight his owner put him in a stay, started to walk away, and not only did he get up, but he walked over to the wheelchair, and "marked" it! I felt bad for her, but I wanted to laugh, cause that is so Charlie!

[Aspen and Misty]

i taught Chewy that when I sneeze he gets me a Tissue


Ash

ps: We are working on a new trick...can't wait to see if he can do it

[lizbud]

Smokey surprised me in class this afternoon by doing all
the things he would not do correctly at home. He did the
Stand/Stay from a Sit perfectly on the 2nd try & every time
thereafter. He is excellent on Recall. Comes to me every time.
But, in class, he would not do the Down/Stay & at home
he does it very well.I can even go into another room & he will
stay in his down till I come back & release him. All in all he's
doing o.k. I love this little rascal.