Look at me, already cramming two days into one entry. Some nights there just isn’t enough time to sit and reflect. So I’m going to try to piece yesterday together the best I can, and then talk about today.
Yesterday we learned a “place” command, which we were told is one of the easiest and most valuable things to teach a dog owner. Valuable? Yes. Easy? …ish. You basically tell the dog “place” and then guide it onto a raised platform bed. If it comes of, you put it back and re-say the command. Easy enough. You gradually increase the distance between yourself and the dog as it is more willing to stay put. This is where it gets tricky. I brought Sugar out for our time with the instructor, because I was afraid she would be afraid of the bed, and yes, she was. At least my instincts were good! Anyway, we worked through that and I got her to stay on as I moved around the bed about 3 millimeters away from her, but anytime I tried to extend the distance, she came off the bed. She doesn’t like to lie down and get comfortable, so she’s very precariously perched on this thing.
Joker took to the place bed right away. He bounds onto the bed when I give the command, and sometimes when I don’t. His big problem is that he likes to get as close to the edge of the bed as possible, but the sides are this slick white plastic PVC-like material, so sometimes he falls off. And I laugh at him. Hard. They say you’re supposed to smile while giving a correction, so I tell myself that’s what I’m doing.
Today we got a ton of stuff thrown at us, and I admit I got really overwhelmed. We started working on heeling in a way that I believe is going to be very effective, but at the moment it’s awkward and difficult, and the rule is we’re basically ALWAYS to be doing it when we have our dogs on leash. This means that I pretty much can’t take my poor dogs for a normal walk. They can go out for pottying, but after that it’s all business all the time. I have to remember that, at the rate we’re going, this will only be awkward for a few days, and then this behavior will be on command so we’ll be able to release from it and go about our normal business…more or less. But it’s so hard to feel like everywhere I go there will be a leash wrapped behind my legs, a treat in my left hand, and every time the dog forges ahead I’ll have to convince it to walk backwards. Yes, BACKWARDS.
We also started working on “sit” in a way that is new to me, and we got a new set of clicker behaviors to work on. Joker, who is usually my stand-out clicker dog, was totally oblivious to the intended object of his attention, since we were doing this in our backyard, a place he has never been. He was content to sniff the porch, sniff the stairs, sniff the grass, pee in some places, etc. I didn’t even try the clicker work with Sugar today. I didn’t have it in me. She turns out to be my special needs student as far as heeling is concerned. It seems to really stress her out to be doing what we’re doing, and she shuts down a bit when she’s stressed. Joker, on the other hand, is an absolute champ. I never thought I’d say this, but I am way more looking forward to tomorrow’s training session with him than with her. He is one effing smart dog.
Instead of clicker time, I took Sugar to the beach club again, and this time she fell in the pool! She did fine, but clearly wanted out fast. I was prepared to go in after her (learning from my roommate V’s mistake, I had removed my cell phone from my pocket). Just as I decided she needed to be rescued, she hopped out. So I was in water up to my waist for no reason. She ran around like a loon after she got out of the pool, frolicked with a dog in the next yard over, and had a grand old time. It was the perfect end to what has definitely been my most difficult day here.
Oh, and there’s some nasty dog bug going around so a bunch of dogs had to be quarantined. Major annoyance, made worse by the fact that there was a lot of unauthorized socializing between dogs going on, so when one dog came up sick, multiple dogs from multiple houses ended up being involved. Ugh. Anyway, it doesn’t sound like anything dire, just a nuisance for all involved.
And oh again! I aced my first test! It was a super-easy multiple choice exam, but still I’m very pleased! I started out thinking “who on earth cares what grades I get in this?” and quickly realized that 1) I am incapable of shutting of the part of my personality that wants to be good at things and 2) my instructors will care, and the training that I receive can only benefit from their perception that I am a hard-working and dedicated student. Actually, to be fair, my roommate A was the one who was smart enough to point that out. So, there you have it, I’m geekin’ it up old school here in Hutto.
Yesterday we learned a “place” command, which we were told is one of the easiest and most valuable things to teach a dog owner. Valuable? Yes. Easy? …ish. You basically tell the dog “place” and then guide it onto a raised platform bed. If it comes of, you put it back and re-say the command. Easy enough. You gradually increase the distance between yourself and the dog as it is more willing to stay put. This is where it gets tricky. I brought Sugar out for our time with the instructor, because I was afraid she would be afraid of the bed, and yes, she was. At least my instincts were good! Anyway, we worked through that and I got her to stay on as I moved around the bed about 3 millimeters away from her, but anytime I tried to extend the distance, she came off the bed. She doesn’t like to lie down and get comfortable, so she’s very precariously perched on this thing.
Joker took to the place bed right away. He bounds onto the bed when I give the command, and sometimes when I don’t. His big problem is that he likes to get as close to the edge of the bed as possible, but the sides are this slick white plastic PVC-like material, so sometimes he falls off. And I laugh at him. Hard. They say you’re supposed to smile while giving a correction, so I tell myself that’s what I’m doing.
Today we got a ton of stuff thrown at us, and I admit I got really overwhelmed. We started working on heeling in a way that I believe is going to be very effective, but at the moment it’s awkward and difficult, and the rule is we’re basically ALWAYS to be doing it when we have our dogs on leash. This means that I pretty much can’t take my poor dogs for a normal walk. They can go out for pottying, but after that it’s all business all the time. I have to remember that, at the rate we’re going, this will only be awkward for a few days, and then this behavior will be on command so we’ll be able to release from it and go about our normal business…more or less. But it’s so hard to feel like everywhere I go there will be a leash wrapped behind my legs, a treat in my left hand, and every time the dog forges ahead I’ll have to convince it to walk backwards. Yes, BACKWARDS.
We also started working on “sit” in a way that is new to me, and we got a new set of clicker behaviors to work on. Joker, who is usually my stand-out clicker dog, was totally oblivious to the intended object of his attention, since we were doing this in our backyard, a place he has never been. He was content to sniff the porch, sniff the stairs, sniff the grass, pee in some places, etc. I didn’t even try the clicker work with Sugar today. I didn’t have it in me. She turns out to be my special needs student as far as heeling is concerned. It seems to really stress her out to be doing what we’re doing, and she shuts down a bit when she’s stressed. Joker, on the other hand, is an absolute champ. I never thought I’d say this, but I am way more looking forward to tomorrow’s training session with him than with her. He is one effing smart dog.
Instead of clicker time, I took Sugar to the beach club again, and this time she fell in the pool! She did fine, but clearly wanted out fast. I was prepared to go in after her (learning from my roommate V’s mistake, I had removed my cell phone from my pocket). Just as I decided she needed to be rescued, she hopped out. So I was in water up to my waist for no reason. She ran around like a loon after she got out of the pool, frolicked with a dog in the next yard over, and had a grand old time. It was the perfect end to what has definitely been my most difficult day here.
Oh, and there’s some nasty dog bug going around so a bunch of dogs had to be quarantined. Major annoyance, made worse by the fact that there was a lot of unauthorized socializing between dogs going on, so when one dog came up sick, multiple dogs from multiple houses ended up being involved. Ugh. Anyway, it doesn’t sound like anything dire, just a nuisance for all involved.
And oh again! I aced my first test! It was a super-easy multiple choice exam, but still I’m very pleased! I started out thinking “who on earth cares what grades I get in this?” and quickly realized that 1) I am incapable of shutting of the part of my personality that wants to be good at things and 2) my instructors will care, and the training that I receive can only benefit from their perception that I am a hard-working and dedicated student. Actually, to be fair, my roommate A was the one who was smart enough to point that out. So, there you have it, I’m geekin’ it up old school here in Hutto.
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