Well, today was the big day - the CGC Test. Shippo PASSED! He's now a Canine Good Citizen! I'm so proud of him. Next will be a therapy dog test. But for now, we're both pooped, so I think we'll go take a nap!
Sunday, August 19, 2007
He Passed!
Well, today was the big day - the CGC Test. Shippo PASSED! He's now a Canine Good Citizen! I'm so proud of him. Next will be a therapy dog test. But for now, we're both pooped, so I think we'll go take a nap!
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Nice Experience at the Park
Tonight, I decided to take Shippo to the park before it got dark... I had already taken Eevee earlier today, and it was his turn now. When we got there, it was PACKED, so we weren't able to play fetch, because both baseball fields were occupied. So instead, I got him out of the car and prepared for a little training around the park. I didn't get 20 feet before a girl ran up and asked to pet him. But this time, I decided to try out a new tactic (people ALWAYS interrupt when we're in the middle of training). I simply said "No, sorry, but we're training right now." She was disappointed, but accepted that and went away.
We walked around the park and did random training. There were food wrappers etc. lying on the ground, and he ignored them on command like a good boy. There were crowds gawking and pointing at him, and he ignored them. He even ignored the guy on the skateboard who came right by us a couple times, which was great! We found a secluded part of the park and I did some trick training (currently, we're working on "sit pretty" although I'm not going to call it that), and I had people walking by watching him sit up and talking amongst themselves.
When I got back to the beginning of the park, the girl returned and asked again to pet Shippo. This time, I gave in, but had to be strict with her, as she nearly approached him the wrong way - by running up to him. I told her, "No, no, don't approach him like that, it scares him." She was slightly confused, but listened to me when I told her to squat down a short distance away and let him approach her (he automatically waddles over for petting if you squat down). I told her about the traumatic experience he had with a little kid as a puppy, and she understood why I am so strict about the way people approach my dogs.
After that, we ran into a couple who had seen me training him, and he got lots of attention from them as well, and I got complimented on how well behaved he is (Yay!). They let their two kids approach and pet him as well, and these kids also listened to me when I told them how (three in one day is an amazing record for me, they usually don't listen)! After that, I was being eaten alive by bugs, so we came home. Shippo is now passed out next to me. He must have had fun too!
I think he is ready for the big test...
We walked around the park and did random training. There were food wrappers etc. lying on the ground, and he ignored them on command like a good boy. There were crowds gawking and pointing at him, and he ignored them. He even ignored the guy on the skateboard who came right by us a couple times, which was great! We found a secluded part of the park and I did some trick training (currently, we're working on "sit pretty" although I'm not going to call it that), and I had people walking by watching him sit up and talking amongst themselves.
When I got back to the beginning of the park, the girl returned and asked again to pet Shippo. This time, I gave in, but had to be strict with her, as she nearly approached him the wrong way - by running up to him. I told her, "No, no, don't approach him like that, it scares him." She was slightly confused, but listened to me when I told her to squat down a short distance away and let him approach her (he automatically waddles over for petting if you squat down). I told her about the traumatic experience he had with a little kid as a puppy, and she understood why I am so strict about the way people approach my dogs.
After that, we ran into a couple who had seen me training him, and he got lots of attention from them as well, and I got complimented on how well behaved he is (Yay!). They let their two kids approach and pet him as well, and these kids also listened to me when I told them how (three in one day is an amazing record for me, they usually don't listen)! After that, I was being eaten alive by bugs, so we came home. Shippo is now passed out next to me. He must have had fun too!
I think he is ready for the big test...
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Teaching Calm Attention
Before you teach your dog any basic commands, such as "sit," it's very useful to teach your dog how to calmly focus on you. Some dogs are unable to learn anything before this step, because they are too busy jumping all over the place to focus on what you're saying. Luckily, calm attention is very easy to teach!
Begin by grabbing a pocketful of treats and calling your dog over. Without saying a word, show your dog a treat. If the dog becomes excited, simply ignore and wait until he calms down. Eventually, the dog will stop acting so excited, and just look up at you. This is what you are waiting for. Once the dog is calmly standing there, looking up at you, praise and treat. The first few tries may take a while, but it should only take a few times before your dog catches on and starts breezing through the exercise!
If you want to go a bit further, you can also teach the dog to associate a word with focusing on you. Just say something like "Watch me," right as your dog begins focusing on you, and then praise and treat. After many repetitions, start hiding the treat while you give the command. If your dog focuses after you've given the "watch me" command, praise and treat. If not, he doesn't yet know what the command means, so simply go back one step to giving the command while he is focusing on you.
The calm attention exercise will open up many training doors for you and your dog. Once your dog has consistently learned to focus on you, you're ready to start teaching commands, and training will be much easier!
All articles on this blog are written by Victoria Steen unless otherwise stated. They are NOT to be redistributed.
Begin by grabbing a pocketful of treats and calling your dog over. Without saying a word, show your dog a treat. If the dog becomes excited, simply ignore and wait until he calms down. Eventually, the dog will stop acting so excited, and just look up at you. This is what you are waiting for. Once the dog is calmly standing there, looking up at you, praise and treat. The first few tries may take a while, but it should only take a few times before your dog catches on and starts breezing through the exercise!
If you want to go a bit further, you can also teach the dog to associate a word with focusing on you. Just say something like "Watch me," right as your dog begins focusing on you, and then praise and treat. After many repetitions, start hiding the treat while you give the command. If your dog focuses after you've given the "watch me" command, praise and treat. If not, he doesn't yet know what the command means, so simply go back one step to giving the command while he is focusing on you.
The calm attention exercise will open up many training doors for you and your dog. Once your dog has consistently learned to focus on you, you're ready to start teaching commands, and training will be much easier!
All articles on this blog are written by Victoria Steen unless otherwise stated. They are NOT to be redistributed.
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