We've been playing with the tracking for some time - with only me there's just so much I can do when it comes to hsi tracktraining...
But today.. as motherinlaw was out doing stuff outside and he showed will to track her (yes.. he "gossips" with tracking too "she's been here.. and she touched that and she moved this") so I asked if she could hide some food around the yard.
5 different spots marked with food - and he found them all, picked up the track and litterally chuchued away like a little train. Nose on the ground and followed her every step. He did SO good!! Even tho he at times was in a bit of a hurry...
Yesterday he was kinda cheap... being the teenager he is and the collie in heat, but today.. oh today his pricetag is HUGE, plenty and plenty of zeros. His nose impresses me, always have, guess thats why i've been a bit frustrated with the tracking aprt for a while - a person can only do So much on their own.
What we sometimes forget is that aggression can be based on several different things - FEAR being one of them. Most dogs that lunge and barks meeting other dogs do so for several different reasons:
1. some have a need to protect their handler - in those cases the handler haven't putten down the rules well enough and it isn't true aggression. It's a dog wearing too big shoes.
2. Some are insecure and barks/lunges because it's "better to bite first" - there it is a trust issue that the handler needs to work on. Show that "it's allright, focus on me - i'll handle it"
3. True aggression, as far as Im concerned. The true aggression Waits, watches and makes the call. It doesn't Explode the first it does. It start with little signs, head held higher, tail held higher. Here too it's a handlers job to control it.
The DOG shouldn't have to make the call. You as the owner/handler should. You NEED to figure out WHY your dog has the need to lunge and bark, and put rules down. Form the dog, and show it that "That isn't your job - it's MY job to make the call".
People think that a dog barking, lunging and snarling is aggressive. Most times it is not, most times it is "stuck" in the leash, insecure with the situation and since it can not flee it fights - or tries too.
Kaiser has a lovely general Idea about things. He sees it, watches it and after that He acts. He doesn't automaticly respond with barking and snarling, he studies and you can litteraly see the wheels turning in his head. And I LOVE that part of him even more than I love his good morning kisses and happy face. He has 2 strong reactions to "new things" - play or aggression. 99% of the cases it's play and Yiiihoooo this is fuuuun! But when he decides that something is a true threat - he will step up and act on it. Without fear, but an attitude that says: I am KING, and I am ready to prove it!". He is selfconfident. No need to bark, lunge or snarl as first reaction.
He knows that he can handle it, that I can handle it, there for he doesn't have to react with "aggression" for "no reason".
And he knows the rules...
Help your dog by training on taking charge, show your dog it's not it's responsability - it is yours. MAke it fun, make it clear and rebuild your dogs confidence. Prove to it that it Dont have to fight as first reaction. It is not an aggressive dog - it is more than likely an insecure dog.
I have an uncle who trained his horses like they were dogs.
He had some quite amazing studs, the first stud I ever rode was one of his - I was 11 years old and hardly knew up from down on a horse to tell the truth. Still today I remember his horses and his dogs with a smile.
I don't think anyone realized it then - and most don't realize it now - that his horses laid the foundation to my opinions as to How a stallion should be. Nor did anyone realize then the difference it made to me to get to know his dog Malte.
Malte would grab your arm as a way of saying hello. And I mean GRAB. If you pulled away - he'd bite harder and pull back. So the key to not getting bit was to keep your arm still. He was a very nice dog, a lab I think, realy pretty but a little bit fat. And probibly one of few labs you could sick on cattle if needed. Him and Raja. If I ever get a female it will have the housename Raja or Surry... Might even name one Arja after my mothers dog.
Anyway, getting to know my uncles animals have affected me - and the way I view respect that goes both ways. I doubt that my uncle ever beat an animal part from his bulls when he was trying to break up a fight (I saw it.. still laugh at that memory). Horses nor dogs. He'd wave, and snarl and make himself Big. He wasn't a very big man, stought yes, but not big. Short, but veryvery loving. Last time I spoke to him he told me about his new collie, a bc I think it was, that he was wanting to show it. All he needed was the new rulebook. I wish that I one day will be able to say that. "I want to start showing Again, I just need the rulebook".
And my mother, let's get on that topic, My mother. My mother is something special. I have never met a dog that didn't like her. Neighbours dog would lay down and refuse to move if she didn't get to go and say hi to my ma, one time I was dogsitting a friends mothers dog who was quite the little leashpuller - and somewhat dogaggressive too! Ma took the leash for 5 minutes and cured the pulling. After that she's my guru. She has the answers to my questions! The dog went back home after 2 very nice weeks and we didn't have any trouble at all. About a year later I visit the family again and the dog tried to throw himself down from 3d floor when he saw me. He was back to pulling the leash... so we went for a walk - 2 minor corrections and the dog walked calm and very nicley by my side.
What my mother and my uncle has taught me is: Clear communication. And never be afraid of applying preassure - as long as you are in a position where you can read the dog.
Kaiser needs more preassure in the training, so thats where we're going now.
I am ever so gratefull for the people in my life who gives me their thoughts and ideas. Who listen to me when i'm upset or confused.
And as todays finishing words I want to quote my mother, what she told me when I was worried over Baltazar growling at strangers:
Never worry about a behaviour you have under control!
..and I want to add my part to it: All behaviours can be put under control - IF the dog has all it's pieces in the right place.
Some days I hear people talking about how hard it is to have a puppy, how much Work it is. How the puppy are driving them crazy.
I do not understand it. Sorry, but I don't. They are puppies, babies, and do that young critters do - play, eat, poop, pee, learn and Sleep. I think we expect too much of our puppies - or have the wrong attitude towards it. Some people seem to think that dogs are born wellbehaved, and to some people "wellbehaved" means - lacking personality.
A puppy is easy! It gets tired quick, learns fast, is curious and playfull. What you need is patience untill the puppys behaviour are under control. Most puppies can't control their bladder untill they're 6 months old. People either dont know that or forget it.
And then, talking about puppies and bladders - Take away the friggin peepad/newspaper! All you are teaching your dog is to pee inside. Sure, if you have a wee tiny little lapdog I guess it can be very convenient to have a dog that pees in a litterbox... but a lot of dogs are bigger than a cat and pees a lot more! But housebreaking your puppy - don't teach it to pee in certain spots in the house... teach it to go outside. By the time you have it trained to pee on the newspaper.. you could have had it housebroke.
Kaiser is soon turning a year old, and he's full of play, love and opinions. I like my dogs to have opinions. I acctually love them for that, if there's no opinions there's no communication. And communication is what I am all about. He doesn't have to like all the things I do, and he's welcome to let me know that he don't. Now, depending on HOW he does it. He got the "look", a special face he makes to let me know that "Noooo... i dont agreee!", but he will still do it. With a bit of a huff and a puff some days. It's allright, he might not like it - but he does it for me.
I like him to have his personality, to do the things he does. While other people might view him as "illmannered" or "enoying" - I see it for what it is. Play. He is well aware of how to make me laugh, and apparently he likes it. My laugh has become a sort of praise for him, which is alright too! I litteraly can not get angry with him, I rarely got angry with my B either.
Anger has nothing to do with dogtraining - especially not puppies. What you do in anger can easily ruin 2 months of work.
To train in a "break" word - like my hey, is easier than you might think. Pick a word or a sound and use it - when the dog quits its behaviour PRAISE. Soon enough they know that that word means "quit doing what you are doing and come to me". Without rubbing your puppies nose in its pee (which you shouldn't be doing anyway!), waving a rolled up newspaper around (which only teatches your dog that you turn aggressive and noicy and mean all suddenly).
Ah... i'm going to quit my rambling now, my spellingabilities are still asleep so I'm heading towards the coffeepot!
It has been a while since I logged in here.. I've been sidetracked.
Decided to dust this blogg off and bring it back to life as I got asked today to write down my thoughts about dogtraining, I'm going to start here.
First, there's a lot of talk about packleaders, alphadogs and dominance. And on tv you will see people using different methods refering to these 3 words.
I am not impressed. What you learn on tv are ways to handle emergencies - where a behaviour has become so out of control that brute force, be if fysicly or mentally, is the only way out.
Second, people show. And thats GREAT! But what people don't realize is that to have a Good canine citizen in your dog takes time. Out side of the showring or trialfield. To have a nice walk in town, good behaviour in the house and a happy and obedient dog - has nothing to do with training it for show. Nothing at all.
I am not "the packleader". Not in the way you see the word used, I do not "dominate" my dog.
Why?
I dont need to. It's as simple as that. Kaiser and me, like Batzo and me, are a team. Partners. In the relationship I am boss - not because I focus on dominating him, but because I reinforce the behaviours I like, I shape them into being what I want.
A good dog has drives, playdrive, preydrive, fightdrive, fooddrive, toydrive, a will to herd or hunt or.. it is our foundation. It is what we base our training and our relationship on. A dog comes with buildingblocks, they are opportunists. They will do what they gain from doing, if it's food, a pat, a click, a "good boooy!" or a toy - it doesn't matter.
How do you shape a good foundation in your dog?
First, you have to find the buildingblocks that are the most solid. Is it food drive? Does balls mean the world to your dog? The goal is that your interaction with the dog is what it's trying to get.
It starts when the dog is just a pup. Thats where you start identifying the drives, the braveness, the will. Those buildingblocks are our mold to form and create a happy, loving dog that will be a joy to be around.
We have to know What is in our dog - and let it work for us. People say that a high drive dog is "hard". In my way of thinking it is not true, instead of correcting that dog, instead of trying to push it around and instead of ending up in a conflict situation - let the drives work For you. Pick out the drive you feel is best suited for the occation, normally it's food or play drive, and use it.
By making sure that the puppy gains something by coming to you, affection, praise, candies or a toy you are building the foundation for a good recall as it gets older. By teaching the pup to wait for a heartbeat before eating - you are teaching it patience and the Very usefull commando "wait" or "Stay" - which Will come in handly later on in life.
Kaiser and the successfull "gossiptraining". I have taught him to look at me when other dogs bark at him, using a clicker to mark the behaviour I want. You dont Need a clicker, but it might help speed things up a bit.
He is happy, willing - and if you pay attention, he's following handsignals and little looks from me - he knows how to read me. A very attentiative dog that says "Hey look at me! Im good, i know this, did ya see what i did? Look at me, come on, Im GREAT!" That is what I want in my dogs. Joy - and selfasteem.
Before I've had to work one dog at a time - with the other one close around of course.. But today, Kaiser and Abby was able to work at the same time. Nothing fancy, just sit and lay. But still! That they both can handle to separate commandos, when it's for Kaiser, when it's for Abby, and when it's for both..
It's colder than HECK today. And the "kids" got to play for a while, they ran around and had fun. They both make me laugh so hard, and they're realy great together!!
Hmm.. what else... I'm tired, but proud over myself and the dogs. Only bad i've done today was forget the camera inside. I should have had it with me out!
And the dried heart was an Epic win.
...but...
They spit out the storebought candy.
They Spit It Out. With a look like " do you Realy expect me to eat That?!" ..and they Did eat it. And like it. Untill I made the homemade livercandies.
I'll be damned... oh well, atleast its healthy for them!
