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Training question?

Sawsealady

Well-Known Member
All right guys n gals Ruger has come to a new stubbornness with training. Nothing out of control but by no means acceptable in my house, so come on with the training tips because I need new eyes for this hunk.
Dog park, he has mounted less than 5 times but I don't want to make a habit of it. It's been female one and male twice.
Next he pulls like crazy and his ears stop listening when he sees other dogs while out on a walk. He wants to play so bad.
Recall is getting shotty.
So there you go. I tried to keep it shirt and to the point.
All your advice is so welcome and appreciated!
 

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Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
These are my opinions only. Until you get a reliable recall and a solid focus - no dog park. I actually think no dog park at all, but I know that it works for some people. For right now, however, while your dog is mounting and doesn't have a solid recall or leave it I would say no dog park.

I would immediately start working on focus/attention/impulse control. There's no punishment or correction involved in getting the dog to focus on you. You just have to figure out how to make yourself the most rewarding thing in the area. There's a lot of info online about this, but please make sure to keep it positive. Start at home where there are low distractions and slowly increase the distraction level. If at any point the dog can't focus on you, you've gone too fast. Go further away and work the dog below threshold, where the dog is able to focus. This should help with the reactive behavior around other dogs. You want to reward heavily and frequently for the dog giving you attention/focus. At least one treat every ten seconds in the beginning. Work in about ten minute intervals and count out your treats - 60 for sure, maybe 70 in case you need more. Be patient.

Recall. Probably the single most important thing that you can work on, imo. I know some people say a distance drop, but if you have a rock solid recall, your dog's going to turn around and race back to you immediately and I think that's as important as a distance drop. As well as being easier for the non-competitive dog owner to achieve. First, no freedom until the recall is solid. The dog should race to you as soon as you call. I add a collar touch when the dog gets to you because many, many dogs are collar shy. Reward heavily with extremely high value treats in the beginning and you can transition to a play session or whatever else the dog finds highly rewarding. Again - you need to be the best thing around. Call once. Be silly. Be upbeat. If the dog doesn't come, go get them. Still upbeat. Never, ever call the dog for anything unpleasant. If you can't enforce a recall then just go get the dog. You can play puppy ping pong. Arm yourself with the best treat around and have a partner across the room/yard/etc. Call the dog back and forth making it a game. Reward every time. I don't remember how old your dog is, but adolescent dogs often have a lapse in their recall and other training that you think they've mastered. Step up your work and expectations. And again - no freedom off leash, including dog parks, until you have a rock solid recall in all situations. Be consistent, but fair. Set your dog up for success.

I hope this helped. If there's anything you'd like clarified or if you'd like any resources please let me know and I'll see what I can find.

One last thought. You can still use the dog park. From a distance. Work on focus and impulse control at a distance from the park when he's ready. Dog parks are great for working around distractions. Just make sure you stay far enough away so he doesn't go over threshold. Move closer as he gets less reactive. Move back if you have to.
 

Sawsealady

Well-Known Member
These are my opinions only. Until you get a reliable recall and a solid focus - no dog park. I actually think no dog park at all, but I know that it works for some people. For right now, however, while your dog is mounting and doesn't have a solid recall or leave it I would say no dog park.

I would immediately start working on focus/attention/impulse control. There's no punishment or correction involved in getting the dog to focus on you. You just have to figure out how to make yourself the most rewarding thing in the area. There's a lot of info online about this, but please make sure to keep it positive. Start at home where there are low distractions and slowly increase the distraction level. If at any point the dog can't focus on you, you've gone too fast. Go further away and work the dog below threshold, where the dog is able to focus. This should help with the reactive behavior around other dogs. You want to reward heavily and frequently for the dog giving you attention/focus. At least one treat every ten seconds in the beginning. Work in about ten minute intervals and count out your treats - 60 for sure, maybe 70 in case you need more. Be patient.

Recall. Probably the single most important thing that you can work on, imo. I know some people say a distance drop, but if you have a rock solid recall, your dog's going to turn around and race back to you immediately and I think that's as important as a distance drop. As well as being easier for the non-competitive dog owner to achieve. First, no freedom until the recall is solid. The dog should race to you as soon as you call. I add a collar touch when the dog gets to you because many, many dogs are collar shy. Reward heavily with extremely high value treats in the beginning and you can transition to a play session or whatever else the dog finds highly rewarding. Again - you need to be the best thing around. Call once. Be silly. Be upbeat. If the dog doesn't come, go get them. Still upbeat. Never, ever call the dog for anything unpleasant. If you can't enforce a recall then just go get the dog. You can play puppy ping pong. Arm yourself with the best treat around and have a partner across the room/yard/etc. Call the dog back and forth making it a game. Reward every time. I don't remember how old your dog is, but adolescent dogs often have a lapse in their recall and other training that you think they've mastered. Step up your work and expectations. And again - no freedom off leash, including dog parks, until you have a rock solid recall in all situations. Be consistent, but fair. Set your dog up for success.

I hope this helped. If there's anything you'd like clarified or if you'd like any resources please let me know and I'll see what I can find.

One last thought. You can still use the dog park. From a distance. Work on focus and impulse control at a distance from the park when he's ready. Dog parks are great for working around distractions. Just make sure you stay far enough away so he doesn't go over threshold. Move closer as he gets less reactive. Move back if you have to.
What a lovely and much needed reply boxergirl. Everything u said I truly believe and respect. We lost our way when we evacuated florance. Then had a big move and now were moving again so not only his focus has suffered but mine as well. Basically I got lazy and distracted mentally and also that lead to weakness in simple terms. I was walking today and finally came to terms with that. I don't think anyone plans on it. But without being aware or honest with myself there was a bit of depression on my part with the changes that I failed to notice and power thru. Dang human emotion.... however picking up and moving forward is my specialty and I'm definitely stronger than I lead on. That being said Ruger is a late Nov pup so that puts him at 15 months. Good news is a socialized the crap out of him up until florance and that was September. I just need to get back I to the grind and not be lazy. Truth hurts but a good kinda pain.
I do highly value the input. I'm solving so many problems that when an outsider has helpful usable info I'm all about it. So thank you kindly and respectfully!
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
Sawsealady, these aren't big issues. Stressful times for you are stressful times for your dog. And 15 months is about the right time to start testing the boundaries. Moving is a big deal for everyone. If we can be of any help at all, please say something. I know I don't speak only for myself when I say that we all care about the people (you) as much as we do about the dogs.
 

Ben Curtis

Well-Known Member
I'm always a fan of stepping back to basics, and rebuild. They learn much faster the second time, and the third time they master it.
 

DennasMom

Well-Known Member
Boxergirl always has the BEST advice!

I'll just add a few more thoughts...

Make him "heel" in the parking lot at the dog park... stop short if he tries to pull away from you to get to the "playground"... he must "give up the park" to "get the park"... (Doggie Zen).

When you go in the dog park, have a "check-in" command and use it a LOT. Start first in the parking lot, when he's still on leash and use LOTS of praise and excitement for a successful "check-in".

Having a hand signal for the "check-in" command is a HUGE help.

Denna knows "right here" as being "nose-to-palm-of-hand"... so, at the park when we first get there and she's right next to me (often still on leash), I'll say "Denna, Right Here" and hold out my palm... she does a nose touch, and I'll then say "GOOD!" - unfasten leash tell her to "Go Play!!"... and send her off to run around.

I'll follow her... and when she's looks back to see if I'm there, I'll say "Right Here!!" - palm out - she comes running for a nose touch and gets LOTS of praise!!!! (and another send off to "go play!"). If she doesn't look back, I follow and wait until she's taking a breather (so I know I have a chance of getting a good response), I'll get closer and again "Denna, Right Here!"... again, nose touch and "GOOD! Go Play!!"

If she ignores me and runs off, I do NOT yell after here... I follow... and when she's distracted and I can latch on her leash, I do... without saying a word... and we leave the park.

The gist is that as long as she checks in with the "right here" command, she gets to keep playing... as soon I get ignored, we leave.

After a while the "Right Here" command becomes a positive "I get to play more" association... so on the rare occasion you need to use it in an emergency, there's no question the dog will run back to you. And even if there's no play after "capture"... there's ALWAYS lots of love and praise for a successful return/recall/capture event. :)

---
As for going back to basics... Denna is pushing 7 years, and WE need some refreshers, too... she now has a bum knee (torn CCL), which has limited our outings and her social skills have suffered. I'm thinking of enrolling in another obedience class (or nose work, or some other fun activity) to force us to get together with other like minded dogs in a structured setting again... It's never too late to go back to class! :)
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
Excellent suggestions from Denna's Mom. I was hoping she'd show up.

Sawsealady, Doggie Zen is also known as It's Yer Choice. There's a ton of information online about it. Also, she's right about checking in. You can look up "targeting" to get started. It's an excellent tool for so many different things. My daughter uses it during greetings. She has her guests hold their hand out and Otis "targets" or touches their hand and then races back to her or to his place. That's only one thing she uses it for. It's truly a great tool.

Denna's mom's checking in is not quite the same as this, but I don't have a video of using the hand touch for greeting and shaping things. Here's a video where you can see my daughter using her palm to help move Otis into the correct position for the task she's teaching him. It's really a useful thing to teach. There's also the added bonus that it's pretty funny that he's doing it backwards. He's really good at it now and can walk backward and forward between her legs while she walks. There are also some videos where you can see Otis "checking" or nose bumping her leg while their working in stores. That was shaped with targeting too.


 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
I sure wish we could edit longer than three minutes. Sorry for typos ... my computer lagged and I missed the window.
 

Sawsealady

Well-Known Member
Excellent suggestions from Denna's Mom. I was hoping she'd show up.

Sawsealady, Doggie Zen is also known as It's Yer Choice. There's a ton of information online about it. Also, she's right about checking in. You can look up "targeting" to get started. It's an excellent tool for so many different things. My daughter uses it during greetings. She has her guests hold their hand out and Otis "targets" or touches their hand and then races back to her or to his place. That's only one thing she uses it for. It's truly a great tool.

Denna's mom's checking in is not quite the same as this, but I don't have a video of using the hand touch for greeting and shaping things. Here's a video where you can see my daughter using her palm to help move Otis into the correct position for the task she's teaching him. It's really a useful thing to teach. There's also the added bonus that it's pretty funny that he's doing it backwards. He's really good at it now and can walk backward and forward between her legs while she walks. There are also some videos where you can see Otis "checking" or nose bumping her leg while their working in stores. That was shaped with targeting too.


Wow y'all are so helpful! I'm taking notes for sure! It's amazing but when me and Ruger are usually finally in our groove at the end of our walks over the last few days he bumps his nose against my thigh or on my hand on the side he walks in and it's making me feel like he all ready is showing targeting.... crazy. I'm so thankful you all put time in to respond! Thank you
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
If there's something he's doing that you like, reward it. Far too often we humans tend to only see the things we don't like and forget to reward all those things they do during the day that we do like. That includes relaxing and doing nothing, giving eye contact, or that nose bump to check in. Capture what you like and you'll end up seeing those behaviors repeated. It works with people too. You've got this!
 

Michele

Super Moderator
Staff member
If there's something he's doing that you like, reward it. Far too often we humans tend to only see the things we don't like and forget to reward all those things they do during the day that we do like. That includes relaxing and doing nothing, giving eye contact, or that nose bump to check in. Capture what you like and you'll end up seeing those behaviors repeated. It works with people too. You've got this!

And when you do reward, make it a very "high value" treat.