Week 3 Maintenance Homework and Notes

  NOTE 1:  ALL TRAINING SHOULD BE DONE WITH SLIP LEASH ON.  

NOTE 2: (IMPORTANT)  DO NOT LEAVE SLIP LEASH ON WHEN YOU ARE NOT ACTIVELY TRAINING YOUR DOG.  UNSUPERVISED, THE SLIP LEASH COULD GET CAUGHT ON SOMETHING AND CHOKE YOUR DOG.

NOTE 3:  BE SURE TO PUT YOUR SLIP LEASH ON CORRECTLY.




NOTE 4:  ALSO ALWAYS BE SURE YOU ARE HOLDING THE LEASH PROPERLY.  REMEMBER, THIS IS A LIFELINE FOR YOUR DOG.  BELOW IS A LINK TO ARTICLES ON THIS ON MY BUSINESS BLOG.

https://www.mainedogtrainer.com/blog/leashes-how-to-hold-them-and-how-to-fold-them

NOTE 5:  IF YOU DON'T GET THROUGH ALL THE EXERCISES IN ONE DAY, YOU CAN JUST BE SURE THAT THE EXERCISES YOU DID NOT GET TO ARE DONE THE NEXT DAY.   THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE, I THINK, IS THE MOLDED SITS.   HOWEVER, THEY ALL WORK TOGETHER TO START TO CHANGE BEHAVIOR.  THE TARGET IS TO DO ONE HOUR EVERY DAY.

NOTE 6:  THE GOALS ARE PLACES TO WORK TOWARDS IN THE FUTURE.  IF YOU DON'T MAKE THE GOAL, DON'T WORRY AS LONG AS YOU PUT IN THE WORK TOWARDS THE GOAL.  PLEASE REMEMBER THAT YOU CAN CALL OR EMAIL ME WITH ANY TRAINING PROBLEMS THAT COME UP BETWEEN LESSONS.

NOTE 7:  DON'T FORGET THAT BEING ABLE TO PERFORM 4 IN A ROW FOR MOST OF THESE COMMANDS IS WAY MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE TIME YOUR DOG CAN HOLD THE COMMAND.  YOU CAN ALWAYS BUILD UP IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS AND SETTINGS.  IT IS IMPORTANT NOT TO LEAVE ANY HOLES BEHIND.

NOTE 8:  AS OR IF DISTRACTIONS GET HARDER, DO NOT FORGET YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME TO REDUCE TIME AND/OR DISTANCE.  YOU CAN ALWAYS BUILD IT BACK UP IN DISTRACTIONS, AND IT WILL BE EASIER IF YOU DO IT THIS WAY FOR BOTH YOU AND THE DOG.

NOTE 9:  ALSO, AS DISTRACTIONS GET HARDER, YOU CAN HELP YOUR DOG WITH FOOD REWARDS AS WELL.  BE SURE YOUR DOG IS NOT TOO EXCITED TO EVEN FOCUS ON THOSE THOUGH, IF YOU DO THIS.  YOU WANT TO SEE HE CALMS DOWN AND IS FOCUSING ON YOU.

NOTE 10:  DON'T FORGET TO USE YOUR MARKER WORDS AS APPROPRIATE.  GOOD = GOOD JOB AND KEEP GOING (IF YOU SAY THIS IN THE MIDDLE OF A STAY COMMAND, THE DOG IS NOT EXPECTED TO RELEASE)  NO = THAT IS NOT WHAT I WANTED TRY AGAIN (COLLAR CORRECTION USUALLY FOLLOWS IF THEY DON'T TRY TO DO THE COMMAND AFTER THE VERBAL CORRECTION) YES=GOOD JOB AND NOW YOU ARE ALL DONE (YES IS A RELEASE COMMAND AND SOMETIMES AN INDICATOR THAT A FOOD REWARD IS COMING.

NOTE 11: I USE THIS ATTACHED SHEET TO TRACK WHAT I WORK ON.   IDEALLY YOU WILL BE DOING AN HOUR A DAY, WHILE REMEMBERING THAT OBEDIENCE EXERCISES ARE USUALLY KEPT UNDER 15 MINUTES.  ON WALKS YOU CAN USUALLY GET AWAY WITH MORE, BECAUSE THEY ARE HAPPY TO BE OUT AND ENGAGED.

JUST COPY IT TO YOUR COMPUTER OR YOU COULD EVEN USE IT WHERE IT IS.  ADDITIONALLY, IF YOU WANT TO PRINT IT OUT WITH THE GRID THEN YOU COULD UPDATE IT MANUALLY.

TRAINING WORKSHEET

NOTE 12:  TEXT IN BLUE GOES TO DIRECTIONS AND VIDEOS.


Behavioral Calming Exercises:

NOTE:  ROTATE THESE EXERCISES EVERY OTHER DAY (ALTHOUGH IF YOU WANT TO DO MORE THAN ONE, YOU WOULDN'T BREAK ANYTHING. (SO FOR INSTANCE MONDAY SIT ON THE DOG, TUESDAY LONG PLACE (OPTIONAL WE DID NOT PRACTICE)  RELAX FOR EXAM.

  1. Sit on the Dog 30 + minutes  Goal:  To have your dog able to settle into a down (not the down command, your dog's chosen position) in less than five minutes inside AND (weather permitting) outside. This exercise can be done at parks with benches.  You would want to set up a little out of the way from people, and it takes longer.   Done in distractions like a new outdoor place, busy with people, and other dogs.  NOTE:  IN PUBLIC HE IS STILL TAKING 45 MINUTES TO AN HOUR (AND SOMETIMES NOT GOING DOWN).  SO START IN YOUR YARD OR A PARK FAR AWAY FROM THE ACTION ON A BENCH.  ALTERNATIVE # 1, YOU COULD JUST DO THIS AS A STAND ALONE EXERCISE FOR THE DAY.   ALTERNATIVE #2, YOU COULD ALSO GET HIM USED TO DOING IT INSIDE FIRST IN SEPARATE ROOMS.  NOTE THE VIDEO BELOW WHERE IT TAKES NIXON SOMETIME WITH JUST A NEW CHAIR BEING USED.



  2. Long Place 30 minutes  Goal:  To have your dog able to stay on their place for a half hour while you sit (you can occasionally get up and do things too at this point), and other things may be going on around the house.   Eventually, you want to build this to include more distractions.  That is for later, though.    NOTE:  THIS IS BOTH A COMMAND AND A BEHAVIORAL EXERCISE.  PRACTICE WITH HIM INSIDE FIRST AND THEN MOVE TO THE YARD.  POSSIBLY LATER, PRACTICE THIS WHEN AT A PARK EITHER BRINGING SOMETHING FOR THE PLACE OR TEACHING HIM ON A PARK BENCH.





  3. Relax for Exam 15 minutes Goal:  To get your dog very used to being touched by their family all over.   This is not the same as being at a groomer or a veterinarian, but it will prepare them for handling from other people later.  If you do this really well, he will probably go to sleep while you are doing it.   NOTE:  WE DID NOT PRACTICE THIS IN THE GO HOME.  IT MAY SEEM EASY TO DO WITH NIXON, BUT HAVING HIM HANDLED GETS HIM USED TO CLOSE HUMAN CONTACT LATER.   

Basic Obedience Exercises:

  1. Sit with Correction (COLLAR CORRECTION ONLY IF NEEDED)   7-10 min Goal:  To be able to do three sets of four in a row (without correction) in common environments in less than five minutes.   If he can't do something in five minutes, don't get frustrated; it just means he needs more practice in that environment going forward.  NOTE:  CORRECTION ON SLIP LEASH IS JUST A LIGHT TUG.  WE DID NOT GO OVER THE SIT INTERIM CORRECTION THAT I PRACTICED BEFORE, BUT THE DIRECTIONS ARE HERE IF YOU NEED THEM.  INTERIM SIT CORRECTION LINK




  2. Circle Sit Stay (or if going to a new environment, Still Sit Stay)   7-10 + minutes  Goal:  Is to build this from any amount of seconds you need to start to one-minute stays four times in a row (without needing a correction).  Additionally, you want to build this goal up to where he can easily do it inside with the leash on the floor and outside with you at the end of the long line.





  3. Send to Place 7-10 minutes  Goal:  For send to place for three sets of four in a row (without needing to correct or hold tension on the leash once on, so try and block any attempts off with a leash correction or body bump.  NOTE:  I RECOMMEND PRACTICING THIS WITH LET'S GO REPETITIONS.





  4. Circle Place  5-7 minutes Goal:  To be able to get four well-done 1-minute circles in a row.  If you have more time or want more difficulty, you can build these into 5-minute circles. Also, get to where you can do this in a room with his leash dragging inside and distractions, while outside, able to do it on a long line with distractions.

  5. Let's Go 5-7 minutes Goal:  To be able to get 3 sets of four in a row of the let's go command inside and eventually outside on the long line.  NOTE:  I RECOMMEND PRACTICING THESE WITH THE SEND TO PLACE AS WELL.




Leash Training for Walks and Additional Exercises on Walks:

NOTE:  WE DID NOT PRACTICE THIS IN THE LESSON.

I forgot to video us on the walk, so I am going to use another dog's video here to demonstrate.  Also, we did not practice some of these strategies in the exit lesson.

Walks Outside (or inside) 15 + minutes (remember you can work on stay, let's go, and lured heel on these walks.  You do not need to do exercises twice.)  Goal:  To get your dog used to walking on a loose leash.  Also, to get the dog and owner working like a team. The methods on here are (1) Slack Leash Moving and Tight Leash Stand Still, (2) Lured Heeling and Sits (3) Leash Behind Leg NOT FOR SHAWN, and (4) Sit Stays.  The videos below are the strategies I use (None of the walking videos came out on my phone, so I am going to use Maggie for this.

  1. Keeping the leash slack when the dog puts no pressure on it, but stopping if the dog goes to the end of the leash.    You can take little sniffing breaks if you want to in between (although that usually makes it harder).  If I can do that, then I might do 20 steps.  I eventually want to easily be able to do 40 steps or more.

  2. Sit and Sit Stay Practice while on a walk.   Remember your goals are to be able to do 3 sets of 4 in sits in a row, eventually in 5 minutes or less, and 4 in a row sit stays (circle or still) in less than 6 minutes, eventually.

  3. If in a very distracting environment (which will be up to your dog by the way they are acting or not focusing), the behind-the-leg leashed heel  to build to loose leash is a good cheat and short cut.  NOTE:  THIS SHOULD ONLY BE DONE ON FLAT SURFACES NEVER DOWN STAIRS OR EVEN A SHARP HILL.   NOBODY WITH BALANCE PROBLEMS SHOULD ATTEMPT THIS.

  4.  I usually do the loose leash walk, then some sit practice, and then either the stays or a short heel session.   So at first, I want maybe three loose leash steps until I stop for a sit.     NOTE:  THE WAY I WOULD BUILD UP TO ON THE ROAD HEEL IS MAKE SURE I CAN DO THIS INSIDE, THEN MAKE SURE I CAN DO THIS IN THE YARD, AND FINALLY ON THE WALK.  EVERY TIME YOU GO IN EVEN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT BUT NEW AREA, IT IS GOING TO BE HARD FOR HIM TO FOCUS AT FIRST.  





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 1 Notes and Videos

Image
NOTES: Housebreaking:    Nixon has had 6 accidents in 13 days.   4 of these have been between the hours of 11:30 pm and 6:00 am, and have been poop and pee.  Recently, we had not had an accident since July 22nd, and then the evening time or early morning accidents started occurring.  I have some thoughts on how to move the poops through him by walking him at about 7 pm or so (but he does usually poop then).  We may need to try a later walk. This does not explain the recent peeing between 11:30 pm and 6:00 am, but I suspect impacted anal glands based on how he sniffs and goes after his bum sometimes.  I am going to ask you via email whether he ever had a problem with that.   I don't know how to check, unfortunately (or how to express them). I think when he wakes up, desperate to poop, he might just pee just because he is up.  He has not had an accident during the times I am with him and he is loose (since July 22nd and only one time)...
Read more

Week 1 Sit with Correction if Needed

  Equipment Needed:   6’ Leash, Training Collar (or a slip lead could replace the two).   NOTE 1 :  IF YOU USE THE SLIP LEAD, THE COLLAR CORRECTION IS NOT AS CLEAN OR PRECISE.  IF YOU HAVE AN AMENABLE DOG, THIS PROBABLY WON’T BE A PROBLEM.   NOTE 2:  YOU DON’T NEED TO PRACTICE EVERY TIME WHILE HEELING.  YOU CAN DO THESE WHILE JUST WALKING WITH YOUR DOG AS WELL.   Explanation and Goal of Exercise:  This exercise is the end goal for the molding and interim sit exercises you have been doing.  You w ant to be able to stand up straight now for both the command and the correction (the correction is loose, tight, loose but quickly with the chain training collar, and just a tug with the slip leash) The goal for this week will be to do three sets of four in a row without needing the correction (which means it is very important to use the well-timed correction when it is needed).   You will want to do this (with the heeling) for...
Read more

Week 1 Sit On The Dog

 Exercise: Sit on The Dog (do not confuse with the down exercise later on)  Equipment needed: Metal Training Collar, 6' leather lead, chair for handler to sit on that they aren't too worried about (IE an antique chair would not be a good idea, especially for a dog that might try to chew something other than their toy while you aren't watching), silence from the handler which means no verbal commands, praise, or corrections. Also, no conversations of any sort with your dog. NOTE:  THIS CAN ALSO BE DONE WITH A SLIP LEAD, TRANSITIONAL LEAD (NO NOSE LOOP), OR NYLON SLIP COLLAR INSTEAD OF THE METAL CHAIN TRAINING COLLAR AND 6’ LEATHER LEASH.   A FLAT COLLAR CAN BE USED IF IT IS SNUGGED UP SO IT CAN NOT GET OVER THE DOG’S HEAD. Objective and Goals: This exercise starts the leadership portion of dog training in a very non-confrontational way. You are defining the space and activity that the dog will inhabit while you are engaged in other activities. It starts the proce...
Read more