Manners Class Week # 3 & 4

[kcsheperd 13]

*Edited to add..this is just what I am doing with ONE trainer, so please don't take it as gospel. Its just what works for me. Its not meant to offend, and by all means, if it doesnt work for you, then thats okay..you have to do what works best for your babes.

Well Pays and I finallyl went to our REGULAR class (Last week we had to go to the Monday night class, and not our class on Tuesday) with our REGULAR instructor, and we had such a great night.

The instructor was impressed with what Payslee already knows and said she is going to make an EXCELLENT therapy dog! Hooray Pays! We have two more classes, and Payslee has already learned all the things that are being taught to the other dogs, but we still have some work to do before she goes into her therapy certification class. Her teacher told her she had such 'expressive' eyes, and that they were pretty and golden..which made me happy because some of my mean friends have called Payslee "Gouch-eyed" and "Weird-eyed".. So now she feels better.. lol..

This week we went over some of the same things, but re-worked the "Leave it".. She suggested for little dogs that its best to take a treat in your hand and say "Leave It"..If they go for it, close your hand.."Leave it".. then wait till they are leaving it, then treat them.

We also worked on a LONG "Sit" meaning they need to sit for at least 1 minute. They also need to learn to stay sitting when you walk away from them. So you put them into a 'sit' and ask them to stay there until you give the release word "Okay".. Then treat. Payslee has a lot of trouble with STAYING Sitting..She's great at the 'sit' but she wants to get up afterward. You also have to make sure they are getting the 'command' and not just wanting the treat. So ask them to "Sit" without them being able to SEE the treat, or else they will just work for the treat, and not actually learn the command. You also have to practice in any obscure places that you can, because the 'picture changes' for dogs.. So while they will Sit EVERYTIME in your living room, they probably won't just in a random place..So Practice when you walk on "Sit" and "Down". That way they learn the command, and not just the treat.

We also worked on "Down".. Down is sometimes harder for them because they have to submit. So to get them to 'down' take your treat and say "Down" and put it in front of their front paws. Just say it one time, and then wait..Eventually they will go down on all fours and you Praise, and treat. Then give them the release word BEFORE they jump back up.. So its "Down".. then "Okay"! Gradually work on how long you can get them to stay down..But remember, its the command ONE time..not repeating it over and over..You just have to be patient and wait, and she did mention that it takes dogs about 5 months to FULLY learn things completely, so it might take awhile.

We also talked about the barking issue. If your dog is barking, the first thing to try is ignoring it. This does NOT work with Payslee..She would just keep at it.. So you must teach them "Look at me" or "Pay attention" and divert them from their barking. Once they stop and look at you (quietly) then you treat and praise. UNTIL they will do that, you can divert them by shaking something to get their attention (not in a scary way)..Like the first week when Pays was barking at the other dogs, the teacher gave me a plastic cup with treats in it, and I would shake it, and it would get her attention and stop her barking. But they said the easiest way is just to get them to focus on YOU. To do that you say thier name and if they look you in the eye or come over, You praise, and treat. If you teach your dog to always pay attention when asked, then you can get out of MANY a troubling situation.

We also went over "Come" again.. which I talked about last week..but she stressed that this is one of the MOST IMPORTANT things to teach your dog. To teach you can use a retractable lead, and say "Come"..if they come over, then treat and praise..If not, then you pull them to you (all while cheering, and acting excited)..Once they come over, treat and praise.

I also asked her about the maturing thing that I was talking about in a previous post with Sawyer, and she said sometimes little dogs only see things from thier eye-level point of view, so when they finally do look up, its a whole new world! Which totally makes sense.. Sawyer saw a cows legs many times, but then when he looked UP he saw the WHOLE Cow! So that was enlightening.. She also said they do go through another 'fear phase' from like 9-18 months, and that they are more likely to challenge authority, and to look to their peers for guidance, so that its very important to instill the methods that you want to use during that time, and not let their behaviors get out of hand. She also said that they do mature at different times, and that most of the behavior I was talking about was pretty normal, to just watch and observe your dogs and understand what triggers their 'fear' factors.

Enjoy!

Paylsee wiped out after her class!

Edited July 22, 2009 by kcsheperd

[MaryBebo 3]

Thanks again KC! this is all great information. I have been working on my two and it's going great, although I haven't done the leave it yet.... but it's on my to do list!

Tell Pays Thank you too! and we are proud of her for doing so good! :birthday_toast:

[janemin 5]

I have really enjoyed Paisleys school reports.Sounds like she's pulling A+ so far.I had to chuckle at her crashing on the couch.Penny loves to sleep with something on top of her.She'll crawl right down the back of the couch cushions with her doggy.

[Mom-Abby 0]

I enjoyed reading all the things you've been learnning. It sounds like your trainner knows a lot about small dogs and that is great because I really do think there is some differences between big and small dogs. Not that they are not all dogs, but they do have different issues. I do hope you will tell us about next week. I personally enjoyed reading about your class, because in the small town I live in, there is no class for me to take Abby too, so I"m sure I'll get plenty from your experiences.

[luvinpreciousntoby 0]

Great Stuff KC!! Thanks so much! Hooray to Pays!!!! What an awesome girl she is...

[kcsheperd 13]

Thanks everyone! If you have any specific issues you want me to ask about, just post them..I tried to ask about the barking this week since I knew it was something that several of us were having problems with. Its a small class, so we are free to ask questions..

[TheShihtzuation 0]

Oh how I miss my shihtzu friends!

This sounds like a lot of the stuff Mr. Pokey learned in his class. With "leave it" he gets so anxious.. you can see in his eyes or in his little wiggling of the tail how much he wants it.. but LEAVE IT! means LEAVE IT! and he'll leave it. Instead of "Look at me" we were taught to say "Watch me..." which is pretty much the same. Oddly enough, the COME command ONLY works when we're not in the house.. in the house he'll only seldomly come when called.. Our trainer told us its ok to get all high squeaky voiced and excited to try and get him to come.. so I just let out a loud screechy scream and he comes a runnin'.. haha.

I've been thinking of maybe putting him into the next class.. they said if he passes that one then if we wanted we could take the certification test! I'm not exactly sure what that entails though.. I mean, the whole my dog is a certified therapy dog thing.. (Pardon the ignorance..) so that means you'd then be able to next Pays to nursing homes and such?

Anyway - glad to hear Miss Payslee is doing so good!! :)

[chloechanel'smommy 2]

Way to go Payslee! That picture of her wiped out is too cute!

[kcsheperd 13]

Yeah, the basic dog commands are all pretty much the same, you just have to decide the 'words' that you want to use. I think they NEXT class after the basic class is the CGC..Canine Good Citizenship. The things they actually have to KNOW for that are HERE and they are pretty basic..

The Therapy stuff is a bit more intense, because your dog has to work directly with people (Who aren't you) like eldery people, kids, etc.. and they have to be okay with that.. Here's some more info on that.. Therapy Certification. Once they get the certification they are insured. Meaning there is an insurance policy in case something happens when they are out doing therapy work. My mom has several therapy dogs and they go to schools and let kids read to them, and to the nursing home to help out with the elderly folks, and stuff like that. I am already taking Payslee to my hospice patient that I volunteer with and she LOVES her, so I'm hoping she continues to do well.

Tell Pokey that Payslee hearts him. :)

[Kae+Gizzy 5]

I really enjoyed reading this Very insightful.

I have often tried to put myself in Gizmos position and wonder how huge things must look to him.

Pays is doing fantastic!! You must be sooo proud mom!

[tzuhouse 4]

KC, I feel like I am cheating, no paying for these classes.....will you accept a charge card....

Such great information, thank you so much.

[Riquena 2]

Great info! Glad to hear Ms. Pays is doing great! So how much do you charge?? lol...I need help with Chico's pulling on the leash and to not be distracted by other people around him. No matter how much I try to direct his attention to me by blocking him from doing so, or pulling him back, he just won't do it. He will sit if I stop and pull back, but the minute I let the slack go on the leash, there he goes again. As much as I've watched Cesar and Victoria and tried to do the same, it's just not working for me.

As to the mean friends calling Pays "Gouch-eyed" and "Weird-eyed"... they're dumb.. .Ms. Pays is one of the cutest smiling Tzu's I've seen! Chico thinks she's just too adorable

Keep up the good work!!

[kcsheperd 13]

Well the class on Tuesday was mostly about "Come" and "Down".. Payslee is pretty good at Down, but I didnt' think she would Stay in the down position, but she did. The trainer said its important that when you are walking your dog, and you quit walking, that they just sit patiently by your side. I realized that If I adjusted my posture of standing, then Pays would sit beside me, but if I turned TOWARD her, then she would stand up, so I had to remind myself to not TURN towards her, and she was great at sitting patiently. To teach your dog to come she had us stand on one side of the room, and she would lead Payslee away from me. Then she would talk sweet to her and try to talk to her..Payslee was having NO part of this..lol.. She kept looking back like "mama..come get me".. so when I did say "COME" she ran as fast as her little legs would carry her! It was hysterical. I'm going to have to work with Sawey more on this..

When teaching "Down" you just place the treat all the way down by their front paws and say "DOWN".. ONE TIME. Then just wait..eventually they will lay down, but you have to watch them, because if they dont want to do it, they will trick you, and kinda just kneel down..You have to wait for them to go down on all fours. Then praise/treat. Then after they get more comfy about it, you put up your hand (the Trainer doesn't suggest teaching 'stay' because it takes away from "sit" or "Down") so I just use my hand as a stop-sign, and it works with Pays..Then you give the release word "OKAY" and she runs up and gets a treat.. Teaching the release word has been VERY helpful. It works for so many things.. When you teach 'sit' then say "okay" they know its okay to get up, so you don't have to keep saying 'stay..stay..stay'.. Or if you are teaching them "leave it" (I do this with pieces of things i'm eating..I'll put one on my arm chair, and tell Pays to LEAVE IT..she won't get it till I say OK)..when they don't try to get it, you can say "Okay" and they know its okay to do whatever you say.. I also use it when going outside..Mine tend to want to dart out the garage door to go get in the car..but I'll say "WAIT" and they will wait, then say "OKAY" and they know its okay to go on. You'll see that gradually as you keep doing it, it will stick with them..Even though it really doesn't at first.. Like Sawyer, he doesn't know HALF what Payslee knows, because he is a different type of learner..he learns on his OWN time, much like Pandora did..Payslee wants the liver, and she will do whatever to get it, so she is a very quick learner! I also use "Leave it" when they are trying to get ANYTHING I dont want them to have..scraps, other dogs, leaves, etc.. eventually they understand 'leave it'..

I'll say..the two most important things that have mattered the MOST when teaching them, has been getting Payslee to 'watch me'.. She's very good at paying attention to me. Then when she is doing something, or barking, if I say "Payslee, watch me" I can usually get her to stop whatever it is she is doing.. That and "Okay" have been the most helpful to me.. Payslee already knew 'come' but I could see how that one would REALLY help people out.

Our Class TONIGHT was basically going over the same commands. However, I took Sawyer to see how he would do in class, and quickly found out that he and Payslee feed off each other, and act out BECAUSE of each other. Therefore its much easier to train your dogs ONE at a time. I also found out that they are not allowed to go TOGETHER on therapy dog visits, its one at a time. So I'm going to have to be more dilligent in working with each dog one on one.. Teaching them together makes them learn only together, so that if they are by themselves in the same setting they will more than likely NOT perform the command. I thought that was very insightful..

Next week Payslee graduates. She is doing great! She will go for her CGC when she is old enough. She cannot be a therapy dog until she is at least a year old. That gives us time to work with Sawyer Biscuit! :D

[kcsheperd 13]

**Oops, ONE more thing:

They gave me this really good handout called "What to do When what your Doing isn't Working"

1)The Behavior is being reinforced: (example) An austrailan Shepherd keeps jumping up. The woman folds her amrs and turns away. The dog jumps again, now at her side. She turns away. Again he jumps, again, she turns..This common method for jumping is supposed to remove the reinforcment (attention), but what if your dog is reinforced by the movement? Then it won't work. When the woman was instructed to turn TOWARD the dog and told him to 'sit'..the dog stopped jumping, because his 'game' had been ruined.

2) There is a medical cause: If your normally happy dog, suddenly appears to have a split personality, it might be health related. Most of the time you can relay the symptoms to your vet, and he can give you an accurate diagnosis.

3) Animal Already has an answer to this problem: This is a massive category where many animals get labeled as stubborn or difficult. Our job as trainers is to figure out with the animal does not understand, but needs to for success. So you will have to work with your dog to figure out what he truly "Knows" and doesn't Know , and then continue to work on the problem areas.

So the next time a behavior you are trying to change isn't changing, ask yourself: Is the unwanted behavior being reinforced in some way? Could there be a medical reason for this behavior? Does the animal understand exactly what we want? More often than not, the key to resolving the progme lies in the answers to one of these questions..

By Sarah Wilson..

[chacha 1]

What a smart girl she is. Good for you. I would love to learn how to be a dog trainer. I have 4 to practice on. LOL

[Stacey 7]

Bert is one of those that feeds off the movement. He will litterly jump up to my chest for a treat and wont stop, Ill turn, then ill turn again, he still does it BUT the minute I say sit, stay he calms down

I also have to "treat" him last, because he butts his way in and tries to take their treats..... so I put him in the kitchen in a sit stay, then I can give maci and lea their treats, then say "Bert, come" and here he comes.......

for whatever reason he loves this, he is so happy to do a sit stay it isnt even funny, I think thats his favorite series of commands lol

We have been working with sit stay when the someone knocks at the door, if they try to come in and they move, then we shut the door and put them right back in the position we had them in. it is getting better, the neighbors understand we are in training mode and may take them longer to get in the door lol