As I mentioned in a previous post, Ender's dog walker once likened us to tree stumps, based on the amount of attention he would give us when we were outside. He generally walks well with no pulling, but game over if he sees a squirrel, cat, dog, or person that looks like they are considering petting him. Then it's the pull, tug, whimper, lunge routine.
First of all, what a shot to the ego when you realize that your dog doesn't give a crap about you. (And that you might be far less interesting than a tree.) Then, complete and utter despair because really, how do you get your dog to pay attention to you when you personally think you are far more interesting than a tree?
His dog walker started us on clicker training and exercises where we would reward him for just looking at us.
Exercise #1:
Hold Treat to Face
Click when Dog looks at Treat (and Face behind Treat)
Treat to Dog
(This was a serious wtf moment, as in..why am I giving my dog a treat for looking at me when uh, he's SUPPOSED to be looking at me?)
Exercise #2:
Hold Treat to Face
Move Treat to Right/Left of Face
Click when Dog Looks at Face, not Treat
Treat to Dog
So after our initial wtf moment, we committed to the clicker training (because hey, we had nothing else) and Ender has gotten better at paying attention to us when we are outside. (Holy Moly, it frickin' works!)
We still have our moments, where he sees the squirrel before I do, before I get a chance to catch his attention. During those times, I literally have to place the treat in his mouth and let him lick it, and then bring the treat up to my eyes before he looks at me. And yes, sometimes that makes me feel like a crack dealer (first hit's for free!) but hey, they must be doing something right if the drug industry has lasted this long.
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
S is for Stubborn
Sometimes it blows my mind that we haven't returned Ender. He is the most high-energy, spastic, and awkward creature I know.
As a young puppy, he would jump at everything that would dare pass us, including people, dogs, and random newspaper pages flying by. He would try to eat everything off the ground including broken glass.
Between months 5 to 8, he would try to maul the bf at least once a week. (Okay, so maybe maul is a bit overly dramatic, but when a 60 pound puppy is lunging towards your face being nippy, the first thing that comes to mind isn't "oh, fun!")
He was the delinquent dog in his obedience training class, where the trainer diagnosed his problem as being "psychotically friendly." He has been referred to as "rude and pushy" by a dog walker.
He has peeded on almost every absorbent thing we have in the house. He has chewed up three perfectly good dog beds. He has flooded the basement of a home that was not ours.
But alas, here we are, surpassing our one year anniversary.
Without a doubt, we've come this far only due to sheer stubbornness. Stubbornness, determination, perseverance, whatever you want to call it - it is the most valuable tool you can have as a dog handler and it is what you owe your dog once you sign those papers.
It is the thing that will allow you to say, okay one more time, after the millionth time, and it is the thing that will say, when faced with the idea of giving up your dog, there's no way in hell that stinkin' dog is going to get the best of me.
As the internet as my witness, there is no way in hell that stinkin' dog is going to get the best of me.
As a young puppy, he would jump at everything that would dare pass us, including people, dogs, and random newspaper pages flying by. He would try to eat everything off the ground including broken glass.
Between months 5 to 8, he would try to maul the bf at least once a week. (Okay, so maybe maul is a bit overly dramatic, but when a 60 pound puppy is lunging towards your face being nippy, the first thing that comes to mind isn't "oh, fun!")
He was the delinquent dog in his obedience training class, where the trainer diagnosed his problem as being "psychotically friendly." He has been referred to as "rude and pushy" by a dog walker.
He has peeded on almost every absorbent thing we have in the house. He has chewed up three perfectly good dog beds. He has flooded the basement of a home that was not ours.
But alas, here we are, surpassing our one year anniversary.
Without a doubt, we've come this far only due to sheer stubbornness. Stubbornness, determination, perseverance, whatever you want to call it - it is the most valuable tool you can have as a dog handler and it is what you owe your dog once you sign those papers.
It is the thing that will allow you to say, okay one more time, after the millionth time, and it is the thing that will say, when faced with the idea of giving up your dog, there's no way in hell that stinkin' dog is going to get the best of me.
As the internet as my witness, there is no way in hell that stinkin' dog is going to get the best of me.
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