The Smart Dog U Blog

Building Body Confidence in Your Dog

Lily's a pretty agile girl. She jumps into the wheelbarrow when we're working in the yard. Jumps in when it's moving. And loves to stand and shift her balance trying not to fall. 

She delights in riding in the little trailer behind the lawn tractor, too. If it's moving and unsteady, she wants to be involved in it. Maybe this summer we'll get her on a wake board or water skis.  

In the meantime, I've found a great tool that helps Lily build her muscles, challenge her balance, and gain body confidence. I call it The Egg.  It's an exercise ball that's well, egg-shaped!

When introducing Lily to The Egg, I used really tasty treats and made sure The Egg was super secure. The last thing I wanted was her first experience with The Egg to be a bad one. 

Below you'll see the video I made of her first Egg experience (eggsperience?). I kept the session short, fun, and easy. Even super-confident, eager-to-try-anything-Lily thought The Egg was a little weird, but she quickly got the hang of it. She was able to get onto The Egg in two different ways: from the floor and from the couch. 

I'm looking forward to working with her more with The Egg. Once she gets the hang of it, I think the sky's the limit as to how far we can go with The Egg. Stay tuned and I'll bring you more from The Egg and give you some ideas on things you can do with The Egg and your own dog!

Noseworks - The Cool New Canine Sport

Nemo and I went to an all-day  Noseworks seminar on Saturday. Noseworks is a new canine sport that incorporate's your dog's natural ability to use it's nose. 

I took Nemo because he's got an really good sniffer. Not only is his sniffer good, but Nemo really likes to use his nose! Here's the basic premise behind Noseworks:

Dogs have an amazing sense of smell and a natural desire to hunt.  The sport of K9 Nose Work is designed to develop your dog’s natural scenting abilities by using their desire to hunt and their love of toys, food and exercise.  It’s a great way for your dog to have fun, build confidence, and burn lots of mental and physical energy (from the Noseworks website). 

Noseworks is good for every type of dog: big ones, little ones; tall ones, short ones; fast ones, slow ones; mellow ones, hyped ones. It's really a sport for any dog that can walk and sniff. 

There is (of course) a competition set up for dogs who excel at Noseworks. The National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW) sets the standards governing the sport of canine nose work. NACSW is the only official sanctioning and organizing body for nose work titles and certification in nose work.

I'll be posting some video in the next few days of Nemo and the others trying their hand - um, nose - at this cool new sport. If there's enough interest, I'd be happy to offer some Noseworks classes for my clients. Interested? Leave me a comment!

True Confessions

Ok.  I'm history. I'm madly in love with Talos. It's bad. Really, really bad. 

I know, I know. I'm supposed to remain detached. I knew when we got him on Memorial Day weekend 2009 that he was temporary. Not staying. Not mine. 

I had a job and I knew it: raise this puppy, give him lots of love, lots of novel experiences, and let him learn about the world. 

Yeah. 

But he crawled into my heart. He's in my veins. I can't make it through the day without getting lost in his ice-blue eyes. 

I've gotten oh-so-dependent upon getting snuggled every night. Hearing his sleepy-time grunts. Hearing his sighs as I rub his chin and he falls asleep. 

 I need to hear his tell-tale sniff, sniff, sniff - his very unique way of saying "I really like this." 

I have to  have him in bed with me each night. I can't sleep nearly as well if he's not plastered against my leg, hogging 3/4 of the bed. 

His silly antics - gangly legs barely keeping him upright as he runs from me with a toy in his mouth. Chasing the birds who always get away.  No matter, he still runs after them as if he's never chased them before. 

Oh. It's bad. It's really, really bad. Is there any way to make time just stand still? So I can make these few final months together last a lifetime?

Get Your Dog To Notice You!

Does your dog dash out the door, pulling you along behind. 

If you dropped the leash, would your dog even notice?

Does your dog pay more attention to the distractions outside than you?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you're not alone! This is one of the most common complaints I hear from owners. Their dog doesn't even know they exist once the dog is outside. Thankfully, there's an easy remedy to this situation. 

You'll need:

• a clicker
• delish treats
• 6' leash (no retractable leashes!)
• regular buckle collar (no prong or choke collars!)

Leash your dog, put your treats in a fanny pack and have your clicker ready. Open the door, step outside and wait for your dog to look at you. Don't move any further than just outside the door. As soon as your dog looks in your direction, click and give him the treat. You may have to reach and put the treat in his mouth if he's really distracted. Then just wait some more. Click every time your dog looks in your direction. If you're using super high-value treats, your dog will start looking at you more often than he's looking at his environment. 

Here's a video of my four dogs so you can get a feel for what this exercise looks like and how to do it. Each piece is only about two minutes long.

Return from ClickerExpo

Tango and I got in very early this morning (3:00a) from our 10-hour drive from Lexington, KY where we'd attended Clicker Expo 2010. 

 I Tweeted, I Facebooked, and now I'm blogging about the fun we had in KY. I traveled with three other positive reinforcement trainers and we talked the entire 10-hour trip. The subject? Dogs, naturally! 

Tango traveled with us, laying happily at our feet. He trekked with me from seminar to seminar for three full days, never complaining, never causing any trouble. He's the perfect conference dog.

He even accompanied me on stage when I gave my talk Social Media for the Entrepreneurial Dog Trainer. You can't see him in this picture - he's behind the podium eating a rawhide. Later during the talk he came over and laid quietly. Until he wanted a tummy rub. Then he flipped onto his back and rolled with his feet in the air. Ever the obedient and well-trained person, I obliged him. I kicked off my shoe, rubbed his tummy, and never missed a beat in the presentation. 

I found it extremely calming to share the stage with a dog. I gave this same talk at Clicker Expo - Portland and was much more nervous. It was a fun weekend filled with learning, fun, and catching up with training friends from distant states. Keep an eye on the blog for lots of ideas I picked up at Clicker Expo!

On His Best Behavior

 Spam Lite. 

That's what I took with me this morning to the Frederick Chamber's Summit Award breakfast. Talos and I were there to accept the At Your Service award for Smart Dog University. 

It was diced into tiny pieces and it was my super-duper high value reinforcer for Talos to reward a job well done. He earned quite a few pieces this morning. 

We walked into a full room - over 100 attendees were there for breakfast and the awards. Talos noticed the bacon wafting through the air while we were still in the parking lot! The room was packed and to navigate through the sea of people, Talos had to follow closely behind me as I cut a path through the room. 

He's a big dog - he stands taller than the standard table top - so everyone's breakfast was at the perfect viewing, smelling, and eating height for this hungry Great Dane. He passed every plate he saw, not even stopping to get a better view (or smell). I took him through the buffet line and he politely kept his muzzle clear of the blueberry pancakes, crispy hot bacon, scrambled eggs, and oven roasted potatoes.

Upon returning to our seat, I cued "your mat" which means lay down on your mat and be a good, quiet boy. The picture above, taken by crazy-talented Mary Kate McKenna, is proof that he earned his Spam Lite this morning by doing everything I asked. 

 He sat patiently through the meeting. You'd have thought he'd been training for years as composed as he was when we were introduced and received our award. He was more pulled together than I was! 

Then the other recipients came up to receive their awards and carefully stepped around Talos and his tail. Talos never batted an eye. As if he was born to accept awards and attend ceremonies. What a dog. 

Finally, the ceremony came to a close, and it was picture taking time.  He got to have some fun after the formal ceremony was over and really enjoyed the social aspect of the event. 

If he's anything, it's a social butterfly. Never one to turn down a scratch under the chin or a belly rub, Talos is always up for whatever attention will come his way. 

A quick thanks to everyone who came up to say hello to Talos - every function he attends with me is a learning experience for him. You're not just saying hello, you're helping him learn. 

Here's a little bit of the morning on video:

Targeting - Your Secret Weapon

Sometimes the solution to a dog's behavior problem can be as easy as teaching the dog a brand new behavior, then asking for that behavior right before your dog starts the old, problematic behavior. We teach targeting in Canine Building Blocks group courses because it's a nice, simple solution to many behavior problems. 

What is targeting? Targeting is simply teaching the dog to touch his body (most often his nose) to a specific target (your hand, for example). 

Because it's so simple, many people miss the importance of this behavior. 

I hear this a lot:

"My dog lunges at other dogs, what do I care if my dog touches my hand?!" or "My dog pulls me off my feet, how can targeting stop that?!"or "My dog barks his head off when he sees another dog - targeting's not going to help me."

Targeting can do all that. And more. Targeting is a powerful tool. Here's what it looks like. (Lily's good at targeting, it's one of her favorite things.) After you watch the short video, scroll down to read how I use it with Lily, who's reactive when she sees other dogs. 

When I take Lily to the vet, we're likely to run into other dogs. If I don't give Lily something to do, she'll lunge, bark, and jump at any other dog at the vet office. She's not aggressive, but it looks like she is. To prevent her from displaying those lovely manners <ahem>, I simply give her something else to focus on -- me!

We run through the touch game, as seen above, complete with clicks and very high value treats (think: steak). She's happy to engage with me and I'm preventing her from practicing the very ugly and inappropriate behavior of reacting to other dogs. 

Even if your dog is super-duper friendly, not all dogs (or people) want a dog coming up to them. Use targeting to keep your pal involved with you, not with someone else or their dog. 

Sleep, Sleep, Sleep!

You know how I'm always talking about how to find the most reinforcing thing for your dog? I've discovered the "magical" reinforcer for Talos.

Sleep.

Counter Surfing? Not Here!

We're dog-sitting for a friend whose dog is a confirmed counter surfer. Barley steals anything and everything from the counter. Or so says her owner. He left us with this dire warning: Barley will surf the counter. She will steal. 

Counter surfing isn't a problem in this house. We've got dogs big enough to do it (my god, Talos's head rests on the counter!), but they don't steal from the table or the counters. Before Barley came to visit, I thought  my dogs weren't interested in surfing. But since Barley's been here, she's not stolen one thing from the counter either. So maybe it's not a matter of interest in surfing the counter, but rather opportunity to surf that keeps my dogs off the counter.

So what's different about my house? Why isn't Barley surfing the counter here? 

It's because I watch her. I watch my counters. When she (or any dog) goes to the counter and they sniff the air, I call their name and give them something else to do. 

They get the feeling that they're always being watched. And they are. I watch them like a hawk. I don't give them enough time to get into trouble. I re-direct them long before their paws are on the counter. 

I'm not yelling at them, either. I never want my dogs to think: ok, she's gone, now's the time to get on the counter. If I'm yelling at them, they figure out a way, a time, when they can accomplish their mission. They're smart and they figure out that they can safely surf the counter when I'm not there. 

That's definitely not what you want to teach. 

I don't yell at them, I just give them something else to do. So when Barley wanders over to the counter where I've got the chicken ready for dinner, I simply and sweetly call her over to me and then throw a ball. She loves to chase the ball. I've given her an appropriate alternative behavior - chase the ball - and I've avoided the trap of yelling at her. 

Pretty soon, with enough experiences of "do this, not that," she won't even try to surf the counter. And I'll make her job really easy by ensuring that she's always with me when I leave the room.