Griffin’s favorite thing in 2019 was going to a Senior Dog Class at OSU. One of the behavior department veterinarians is doing a project involving senior dogs. Part of it was hosting a class specifically for senior dogs and their owners. Some of our time was getting information about the Read more…
Recently I’ve seen a few videos that trainers are using to demonstrate their training results/possibilities. I’ve been both impressed – and not – by some of these videos. It’s a great way to see some possibilities and on the other hand, video just captures a few moments of the training Read more…
In the past I rarely used a dog to help with demonstrations. Concerns: Part of it was that my dogs weren’t really appropriate (Blaze – unpredictable/impulsive, Luna – nervous, Griffin – not trained in manners), part of it is that my dogs weren’t trained to be calm and present until their Read more…
Friday was “Take Your Dog to Work Day.” There’s a nice picture of Blaze and Griffin at work with their friend Marsh. My dogs think that’s great. They get to go to work with me most of the time. When we go teach lessons they sometimes go with our car Read more…
We’re almost done with our second go-around of this class and it’s one of my new favorites! I pulled self control related activities from basic class, agility class, and a few other activities. Most of the dogs taking the class have already had some (or a lot) of training, making Read more…
Recently I read through a list of games where many trainers had contributed ideas. I read through and I was amazed at what was listed. Some had more rules than game and some had elaborate set ups. Others seemed like something students would love but I couldn’t understand what they Read more…
Take a look at yesterday’s post about the training steps I use for teaching this exercise. When working on a lesson plan/training plan, my goal was to have it be as much positive reinforcement as possible and minimize the use of negative punishment. The natural tendency for most people is Read more…
We’ve been teaching 8 week classes based off of the “Canine Life and Social Skills” (CLASS) program. One of the exercises is “Wait for the food bowl.” Training Plan: Stage 1: Holding Still: Dog is able to sit or lie down and hold the position for a few seconds. Stage Read more…
It can be hard to set goals unless you can see the small pieces and the big picture of what you are working on. Sometimes I am working with people who do not realize their goals are not realistic. Sometimes this is due to handler skill, sometimes it’s about dog’s Read more…
Photo by Megan! Unfortunately we’re halfway through the online class we signed up for a few months ago. The sections we’ve done so far are Play, Impulse Control, Shaping, and half of Heeling. Play: I always know I need to play more with my dogs, especially during training. The class Read more…