Canine Good Citizen

I recieved my approval from the AKC this morning to be a Canine Good Citizen Evaluator!

There was a 30 question test - I answered all 30 questions correctly! Of course, there was no time limit, so it was pretty easy.

Robbie's Private Lesson

Robbie and I had a private lesson yesterday with Sumac Grant-Johnson. Her training facility, Wag-It in Lincolnville, is awesome! Sumac is a clicker and positive reinforcement trainer, like I am. That means that she does not train using collar pops (jerk on the leash) or other types of positive punishment. It has been difficult to find a trainer that will work with my dogs the same way that I do. Physical punishment like collar pops may work in the short term and they can seem to work faster. But that might not be the case – the dog might just be repressing the problem behavior. My preferred methods actually change the fundamental way a dog feels (in a good way) and that works better in the long term. It also works better for my peace of mind, since I am not adding to my dog's stress.

Robbie is reactive to things around him. He is also hyper-vigilant (constantly scanning his environment).

I had to choose what 3 things I wanted to work on. This was difficult, since Robbie’s 3 things tie together. I chose his barking, his running towards and barking at strangers and his issues with children. All three of these things relate to Robbie’s confidence. All three are also triggered by movement, which is a part of his breed heritage. Herding breeds work with movement and are attuned to it.

So, we played a few games with Robbie.

The first one was targeting my finger. He will target my finger as long as I stand still. We have to work on him targeting while I am moving. To do this, I am going to teach him to target a target stick instead, since he is so little and I can’t move and bend over at the same time! Targeting is a good way to get your dog’s attention.

The second game was Sumac’s version of the “Look at That” game, developed by Leslie McDevitt in her book Control Unleashed. Sumac calls her version “Catch a Glance” (CAG) and does not introduce a verbal cue like Leslie does. This game helps me to help Robbie acknowledge something in his environment and then refocus on me. We played this game for quite a while – when the heater came on, when it went off, when the trainer moved suddenly, etc.

Robbie and I also played frisbee for awhile. He loves to play fetch almost as much as he loves food, so this was a great way to get him to stop focusing on his fears and to get used to the building. While throwing the frisbee, I accidentally threw it too close to the agility tunnel. Robbie ran to the frisbee and then ran away, without the frisbee. Sumac spent some time showing me how to get Robbie used to being near the tunnel using food. After that, when the frisbee would land close to the tunnel, he would run to the frisbee, pause and then sniff the tunnel. Then he would pick up the frisbee and bring it back.

My job now is to take Robbie places and play the CAG game with him at a distance from the things that bother him. As he gets better at it, we will move closer. While we are training, I can not allow him to engage in his fearful behavior towards what he is afraid of. In order to do that without confrontation, I have to limit Robbie’s exposure to children (his biggest fear) while we work on this. And, I have to set up times when we specifically train.

This is going to take work, patience and commitment. But, if you could have seen the improvement that I saw in him when we left the building! Not only that, but I felt much more confident that I could help him with these issues. More motivated, too.

As we were driving away, we had to stop on the road to allow a truck to pull another truck out of the snow bank. The people around the truck had on firemen uniforms and hats. Robbie and I played CAG for a minute or two and then he just quietly watched their unsuccessful (and then successful) attempts to get that truck out. No hard eyes or stiff whiskers. His posture was soft and relaxed.

He was the same way when we went through the McDonald’s drive through so I could get a cocoa. There were even 2 dogs barking at each other from different cars. He would normally have chimed right in, but we played CAG and he just watched. He just watched as I handed the money over and just watched as I got my cocoa. He also just watched as we passed a crew of electric line workers.

Then he napped the rest of the way home. In his own seat. He was really pooped.

While I saw improvement yesterday, we still have a lot of work to do. My next goal for him is for him to be ready for a class in March.

I think that he and I will take a ride to Walmart Friday night (if the weather isn't bad) and sit in the parking lot, people watch and play CAG. That way, we can see all kinds of people, but do not have to interact with them just yet (i.e., they won't want to pet him if he is in my car).

Pawprint

From Robbie's good back leg.

Confidence

This is what happens when you help your sheltie become more confident and daring.












She actually pushed the drawer to make room for her back feet.

And, her front feet are balanced on those bowls.

Rally Videos & Books

When I first started Rally with Ella, I found some awesome videos by Ruthann McCaulley. Ms. McCaulley is a rally instructor and judge and has also written an excellent e-book called Doodle by Design. This book is over 400 pages and is packed with pictures and instructions. She goes over each sign and also writes about fundamental cues that the dog must learn. She has innovative ways to teach a straight front and how to help small dogs with heeling. I really believe that this book made our performance better.

Another useful book is called Click Your Way to Rally Obedience by Pam Dennison. This book explains each sign for AKC and ADPT rally and how to encorporate the clicker into your rally training routine.

Of course, if you are going to compete in Rally, then you need to know the rules. For AKC rally, you have to register your dog and you need to read the Obedience Rules and the Rally Rules, since the Rally rules refer back to the Obedience rules. Thankfully, these are both in the same book! You can also find AKC rally events in your area by visiting the AKC website and clicking on events.

APDT rally is very similar to AKC rally except that both pure bred dogs and mixed breed dogs can compete. You are allowed to use food at certain times and in certain places, which you can not do in AKC rally. You have to register your dog to compete in these events, too, and you can find everything you need, including the APDT rules and events, on the APDT website.

Lastly, there is a great Yahoo Group that has free downloads, lots of helpful advice and a great group of people who also compete and judge Rally! You can find the group here.

Nail Trimming Video

This is one of the best videos I have found that shows how to train your dog to allow you to clip his nails. If you do not want to use a clicker, you can use a verbal marker like the word "yes" instead.

2009 Goals: Ella

I have signed Ella up for a beginner agility class. It starts on February 4 and runs for 4 weeks. We are going to take the class from an instructor near us in Skowhegan.

In the meantime, I have been working on getting Ella hyped up about toys. She is usually a food fixated sheltie and I have only trained with food in the past. But, it seems to be important to have your dog be able to play with toys when you do agility. It increases the drive of the dog.

I found a tug toy that we use just for agility. It is a polar fleece braided tug, but the maker also braided in rabbit fur. Ella loves it and will tug quite well. It has seemed to get her a little excited. Honestly, though, I can get her more excited by running around waving my arms and laughing. She gets really nippy when I do that!

The plan is to still use food to get her used to the equipment. She loves the jumps and jumping on the table (I use "Get on that couch" as a cue, since we use that term at Nana's house). She learned to run through the tunnel quickly, too. I think the dog walk will be pretty easy. The A Frame and the teeter will be the hardest, but we can just compete in the Jumpers class (jumps and tunnels) until she is ready for the other equipment.

My goal with Ella is accuracy first and then speed, since I know that she can put on the speed once she is confident with the equipment. And, my biggest goal is for her to have fun.

Nail Trimming - Part 1

For the past two weeks, I have been concentrating on getting all of the dogs to accept having their nails trimmed. This is going to take awhile, since I was relying on groomers to do this and I think that the clippers are now a very aversive signal for the dogs. This is my own fault, but I am absolutely positive that I can fix this.

I will admit that it is a pain in the butt to get the grooming table out and train on this every night or so! But, it will be worth it in the long run.

Since nails that are too long can change the way a dog walks, I want to make sure that my dogs have very short nails. A good rule of thumb is that the nail should be short enough so that you do not hear the dog click on a hard floor when it walks.

The equipment that I gather before each training session:

1. Grooming table with arm and leash.
2. Treats - I like to use 1x1 squares of freeze dried chicken liver treats that I purchased at Green Acres Kennel in Bangor. They are a lot bigger than the "pea sized" treats that clicker training suggests, but I can not do this training with a clicker, since I am not coordinated enough. And, the treats are large enough that the dog takes a few seconds to chew it (or, for it to melt in their mouth, since it is mostly air and disintegrates when wet). I'll explain more below on why I like this.
3. Nail trimmers. I bought a new set, since my old ones were looking pretty dull. I do not use the guillotine type clippers, since those can actually crush hard nails like Maggie's and she doesn't cry out when I use the scissor type ones.
4. Styptic pads, just in case.

What I do:

1. Place dog on grooming table and give treat.
2. While dog is eating the treat, slip the leash over their head. Then give another treat.
3. Show dog the clippers and give a treat. After this, I give the treat first and work very fast.
4. Hold paw, give treat and manipulate the hair on the feet. Do not squeeze the paw. And, be ready to give another treat when they relax the paw a little. This will help them to realize that they need to hold the paw still and relaxed, not pull it back from you.
5. Hold paw, give treat and clip a nail. Since I am doing nails every three nights or so, I am only taking off a very tiny bit - like, a couple of millimeters. Tiny tiny! This is so I can clip a little each night and not hit the dog's quick.
6. Repeat step 5 until all the nails on one paw are clipped. Then, give a jackpot of a couple of treats.
7. Repeat steps 5-6 on the next paw.
8. Do no more than 2 paws a session.

Other notes:

• I repeated step 4 above for a week of sessions before I clipped any nails.
• I do not push the dog. Some nights, I can only clip one or two nails. Other nights, I can clip a few paws. Just like any training session.
• Keep the paws in line with their bodies in their natural range of motion. In other words, don't yank the dogs leg out sideways and expect them to like it. They have to adjust their balance when you pick up a paw, so they are getting used to that, too, while you are doing this.
• Sometimes, I just put them on the table, give them a treat and them put them down.
• Sometimes, they are on the table for a brushing, too, so I do not do nails when I am brushing, since I want the nail sessions to be short. Later, when nail trimming is easy, I will combine it with a grooming session.

Report on the dog's progress:

• Each dog has been having his/her nails clipped every 3-4 days. But, I am only taking the tiniest sliver off!
• I mark on the calendar when I have trimmed someone's nails. This helps me keep track of who is next for a session and to measure my progress.
• Ella is getting much better. I can hold her paw and either trim the hair or the nail for a few seconds before she starts to pull. That means that she lets me take her foot, comb the hair and trim a few cuts before she starts pulling. Her nails are getting shorter each day and she no longer makes click noises when she walks. While her nails were never really long, I am sure that her feet feel better! I also continue to give Ella one treat for each nail to reinforce the training. It is still aversive for her to have her nails done, so she will get lots of treats until this becomes so routine that I do not see any calming signals while I cut.
• Robbie has never liked his nails done. He will actually cry and get really scared. In just doing this for the past 2 weeks, he will now allow me to cut one nail for one treat. We have not tried trimming his hair with scissors yet (he is terrified of those).
• Maggie's nails are very difficult to cut, because they are hard and black, and she used to grab my arm (gently) when I tried to trim her nails. It was a mojor to-do when I got her on the table. Now, she will let me do one nail for one treat and I can do two paws in one session. This alone is an awesome, since her nails are like swords when they get too long.
• I use peanut butter with Bear. I attach a spoon to the grooming arm with tape and spread peanut butter on it. He licks it while I clip his nails and feet. This works better because he usually tried to turn around on the table looking for treats and this keeps him distracted and in one place.
• Possum uses the peanut butter spoon, too.
• The peanut butter spoon does not work for Ella, Robbie and Maggie because their nails are harder and not clear. They also need a lot more incentive to allow the nail trimming to happen. In fact, they will ignore the peanut butter in favor of not letting me trim! So, I have to use the barter method with them.
• Grace sits on the couch while I trim her nails and she lets me do all of them at once. Hers are soft and clear like Possum's and Bear's. Trimming the hair is a one-paw per session affair.
• Chummy also sits on the couch while I trim his nails. He doesn't really like it, but will allow me to do it and not move. He will also offer his left paw the entire time I am clipping his nails - it is a submissive gesture for him - he wants me to shake his paw.

I'll do an update in a week or two to see how things are going.

2009 Goals - Discussion

In my previous post, I listed my yearly goals for my pack of dogs. I did leave one of the dogs out, though. Maggie is a great little dog, but will be very hard to train for her CGC, since she does not like to come when called. This might be due to her past, since I adopted her at age 5. Or, it just might be that she would rather visit everyone in the room before coming back to me. She is a people gregarious dog and is very good with Possum, my blind and deaf sheltie. I would like to get her her CGC title next year, since it will take me a long time to get her to come reliably.

Nail trimming:
Possum is really the only one that doesn't mind having her nails trimmed. Mostly because she is more interested in eating the peanut butter and can not see the nail clippers coming. She is also the easiest to trim because her nails are clear. Bear is the same way. But, for everyone else, they see the clippers and pull and pull, so I am going to work with them on accepting the clipping. Then we will work on other grooming stuff.

Housetraining & Possum:
Possum came to me last July. Now, she is about a year old and completely deaf and 99% blind. When she is crated, for even a very short amount of time, she completely flips out and would do herself harm if left in a crate for any amount of time. The same goes for when she is left in a room by herself. So, housetraining is going to be a very long process with her. When placed outside, she will now go to the bathroom automatically, but doesn't hold it while inside. And, she does not indicate that she needs to go out. But, we have had some breakthroughs this past weekend: she will now go out the door - on her own - and go to the bathroom when I hold the door open for the others to go outside. And, she rarely has an accident when I am at home. Getting her housetrained and to go up and down the 4 deck stairs that I have will be an amazing accomplishment. I might have to cheat a little on the stairs and make her a ramp, but either way, I want her to be able to leave the deck area herself so she can sniff around and play with the other dogs (in the fenced in area).

Ella:
Ella and I took a one hour introduction to agility class last year and joined a few of our friends at a trial. It seems like a lot of fun and just practicing the jumping has made her much more confident. She will now even jump from the couch arm to one of the stairs when really excited! So, for her, I would like to have her take a few classes, get used to the equipment and go to a trial in the fall.

Ella has also earned her CGC title, but the tester never sent the paperwork to the AKC, so I have to have her retested. She did really well at the outdoors test, so I have no doubt that she will pass elsewhere. Woofstock, which happens in August each year, has a TDI tester come and I want to have her ready for that test.

And, since she also earned her Rally Novice title last year, I want to train her so that we can get her Rally Advanced title. We will have to work hard on her heeling off leash and my ring nerves, but I have no doubt that she can easily pass.

Robbie:
Robbie has some issues that we need to work on before I can comfortably take him to class. First, he barks, which doesn't bother me. Second, he is hyper-vigilant and that needs to stop. In other words, he spends all his time constantly scanning his environment for things that might frighten him, so he can not focus on me very well. I am going to take him to a private trainer who can work with us and get him ready for a class.

Once he is able to take a class, then he is going to be a spitfire in agility. He is tiny and runs very fast and I have no doubt that he would do well. We might not be able to compete, since he is missing that hip joint (struck by a car before I adopted him) but we are going to try, since his vet said that he should be OK.

Bear:
Bear is completely deaf and so cross-eyed that I really don't know how much he sees. He always tries to take a treat out of my hand about 5 inches to the side of my hand, so we are going to have to work on treat delivery before he can learn down. Why? Because he spends all his time worrying about where the treat is rather than focusing on me to learn the cue. Once I get him to be more confident with that, then I might switch to using toys and play fetch to teach him. That is a much better reward for him and he prefers it.

2009 Goals

Some of these goals are pretty easy. Others, due to issues that each dog might have, will be a lot harder.

All dogs learn to accept having their nails trimmed.

Possum becomes housetrained.

Ella takes an agility class.

Robbie takes an agility class.

Ella competes in an agility trial.

Robbie competes in an agility trial.

Ella earns her Canine Good Citizen title (again).

Robbie earns his CGC.

Bear learns "down."

Ella earns her TDI.

Ella earns her Rally Advanced title.

Robbie and Ella go on 5 hikes.

Possum learns to do the deck stairs.