Tracking Log 20141019 Abby

Time Laid: 9:30 AM Time Worked: 10:20 AM
Distance: 131 yards
Weather: 54°F FEELS LIKE 54° Sunny
  Wind: NW at 7 mph
  Humidity: 59%
  UV Index: 3 - Moderate
  Pressure: 30.13 in
  Dew Point: 40°
  Visibility: 10.0 mi

Comments: Worked in north field for the first time. Grass cover varied with some good cool season grass mixed with dead crabgrass and some broomstraw.  Height 4 - 8". U-shaped track from west to east to north to west.  1 article (Lil Cesar) at the end.  Worked with two lines . . . 1 flat collar, 1 prong.

Abby started nicely.  We worked on sit/wait at start.  She responded calmly to the track signal, immediately moving to the flag and finding the bait there. She tracked reasonably deep-nosed in the thick grass. As we moved into sparser cover, she lifted her head a few times and showed some distraction.  She tracked to the first corner, which she over shot.   I had to manually bring her back to the corner, after which she found the corner, and worked the second leg, finding the bait.  She moved into the second corner nicely, but then became distracted on the third leg.  This leg was in deep grass, so no reason to distract that Im aware.  Possible wildlife in the brush alongside the field. She tracked somewhat high-headed for the remainder of the leg to the end, finding the final article.

Estimated score 65.

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The Three Problems

Almost all behavior problems come from just three issues. Now some dogs have one, some have two, and some have all three.

They are:

Pack Order Confusion. In the pack the pecking order is very clear. Every dog knows how high they are in the pack. Pack order changes from time to time. A young dog, as it matures, may move up. Ultimately a new male and a new female will become the alpha pair. And the old pair will move down. But everyone knows their place.
For many dogs in homes, the pack order is not that clear. A dog with high alpha drive may challenge you to become alpha if your leadership is not clearly established. A dog with low alpha drive may still challenge you because your lack of clear leadership makes the dog insecure.

Fear Aggression. All aggression in dogs comes from fear. When the dog is triggered by an event the aggression shows. For example a dog bitten by a badly socialized large dog as a puppy may become aggressive with all dogs, with big dogs, or just that breed. I have a lot of dogs come in that are afraid of vacuum cleaners. So I have what I believe is Colorado Springs only dog training vacuum cleaner.

Trust. Your dog can love you, be a faithful companion, and still not trust you. This is the one that is always hardest for my clients to hear. Because trust issues almost always come with the dog when you first get it. But people want to blame themselves. And they don’t need to.

I have some breeders who bring all their puppies to me for imprinting prior to being sent to their new homes. Now I know these people, I know their dogs and kennels, and I know how they raise their dogs. But in a litter of six, I know I will find two or more puppies that have already developed problems trusting not only humans but other dogs.

The key to successful training is to identify which of these issues exist in your dog and making sure they are dealt with during training.

Doug

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Having a Training Center

The other day I was finishing the first lesson with a new dog. My client looked at me and stated that this was so simple that we could have trained the dog in the park. He then asked my why do I have such a large center, with all the overhead, when Manners in Minutes training could be done anywhere.

I told him when I started I had three other choices. I could work with dogs in their homes, in a park, or in a space rented from someone else.

I will train in people’s homes, but only if they have physical problems that keep them from coming to my center. When you train a dog, you are changing their habits. A dog’s home is its den and pack area. I am a stranger. The dog has too many advantages and we make accepting change that much harder on the dog. In my center is obvious to the dog from the minute they come in that this is my den and I am in charge. The training goes quicker and more smoothly.

Parks are nice, but this is Colorado. We had a huge snowstorm this week and I would have had to cancel sessions. Plus when you are in the park there is always someone who wants to take up lots of time either asking questions or giving suggestions (and the less they know the more suggestions they have). My clients are paying me to work with them and their dogs, not talk to bystanders. And I always worry about the person with an out of control dog off line that they think is friendly. Often it is a poorly socialized dog that causes unnecessary worry and confusion in my client’s dog.

Renting space for an evening pretty much limits you to doing group classes. I don’t mind doing group classes but I prefer privates. In group there is always one dog that has so many problems and or an owner who has so many questions, that the other students don’t get their fair share of instructor time. And I limit my group classes to just four dogs at a time. If I was paying rent on a room somewhere I would have to put too many dogs in a class to make it as effective.

So I have a 3700 square foot facility. Outside we have a huge open area to work with. Inside we can practice stay at 50 to 70 feet, not 10 or 15 feet. We work on long lines so your dog doesn’t think you are only in charge if they are less than six feet away.

Today I was in one of the big pet stores picking up some new collars. I looked at their training area. My office area has more space. Hope they don’t work with many Mastiffs or Great Danes.

But in the end the biggest advantage is that every piece of equipment and supplies is readily at hand. I don’t care how well you plan and pack, everywhere else you run the risk of not having the one thing the client and his dog need to get the most from every training session.

Doug

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Tracking Log 20141019 Asher

Time Laid: 9:15 AM Time Worked: 9:45 AM
Distance: 20 yards
Weather: 54°F FEELS LIKE 54° Sunny
  Wind: NW at 7 mph
  Humidity: 59%
  UV Index: 3 - Moderate
  Pressure: 30.13 in
  Dew Point: 40°
  Visibility: 10.0 mi

Article track laid just north of the dog run blockage fence.  Wind was somewhat diminished in this location.  Articles at 10, 15, and 20 yards. All articles were large leather wallets, similar to what we have been using in the house.

Asher was double-collared with prong and fur saver, one six-foot leather leash.

Track was heavily baited throughout.

Asher started nicely, although a little fast.  I had to stop him for each article, and the down was difficult on the first one especially.  Let him down for an extended period on each article, stroking and talking to him.  Feeding him in the down position.

No scoring for this exercise as it was his first article indication training exercise outside of the house.

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Rescue and Re homed Dogs

The number of rescue organizations has mushroomed in the last couple of years. In addition to the breed rescue organizations and the local shelters, a number of other volunteer groups exist in almost every community. You see them outside the big chain pet stores on most weekends.

Rescuing a dog is a wonderful and generous act. But it is often very traumatic on the dog.

Dogs are pack animals. And for thousands of years dogs were born, raised, and worked, spending their entire lives within the same pack. They were working dogs and the farmer, rancher, or herder needed a pack to ensure that they had a reliable source of working dogs.

Today most dogs are pets, not working animals. So instead of staying in the same pack their whole lives, they end up moving at least once. Now to a young puppy (8 to 14 weeks) that move is usually not too traumatic. The excitement and attention of new people, combined with the fact that all the normal attachments have not been completely formed, make the transition to a new home comparatively easy.

But for the older dog, the effect is much harder. And if this dog has been given up from a home where it has lived a while, that dog it has now lost at least its second pack. It begins to believe it cannot trust that it will be a lifelong member of a stable pack. In nature losing your pack means either death or the difficult task of finding a new pack and fitting in.

Move a dog too many times and it may lose the ability to trust.

When you get a new rescue dog, then the dog needs time to adjust to its new pack. Where we are all excited that the dog now has a secure and loving home, the dog is wondering if this time the pack will accept and keep it.

The dog will often come into your home as the Omega dog. The Omega dog is the lowest ranking member of the pack. It is often the stress relief to the rest of the pack. It will be nipped and harassed, but not harmed. It is the last to eat. Its only job is to play with the pack’s puppies. But in a well established pack even that dog has a sense of security and belonging. But a rescue dog may see this as only a temporary position.

We refer to this as the honeymoon period. Usually this is about a month, but it can be shorter or longer. The dog seems very subdued, submissive and passive. The dog is calculating how high it can move up in the new pack. If it decides it can be the Alpha dog at the end of the period it will “take over.” And if it considers you a weak or ineffective pack leader you suddenly have an out of control dog.

But if it has lost all hope it may actually give up on even being the Omega dog. And without the security of knowing it is a valued member of the pack neither your life or the dog’s life will be very pleasant.

Before you get a rescue, have a plan to establish trust. Also make sure you know how make the first few weeks as stress free and successful as possible. Talk to a trainer so that you know the things to do to make that transition work so that you end up with the kind of dog you want. And make sure the trainer knows the difference between working with a rescue dog in the honeymoon period as compared to a rescue dog that has been in the home for quite a while.

Doug

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Tracking Log 20141019 Penny

Time Laid: 8:50 AM Time Worked: 10:00 AM
Distance: About 40 yards (5 tracks about 10 yards each, 1 track about 45 yards)
Weather: 54°F FEELS LIKE 54° Sunny
  Wind: NW at 7 mph
  Humidity: 59%
  UV Index: 3 - Moderate
  Pressure: 30.13 in
  Dew Point: 40°
  Visibility: 10.0 mi

Five short corner tracks, with curving corners and one small u-shaped track. Single-laid. Mixed results.  I worked very close to Penny, and she felt the pressure, crawling around two of the corners.  I used the prong fairly strongly to try to slow her.  Tracks were fairly heavily baited.

I lost the corners on two of the tracks (couldnt remember EXACTLY where they where) so had to let her cast to find the corner, which sort of nullified what I was trying to teach.  Overall, Penny did well, I did poorly.

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