I hope everyone had a great weekend!! Our weekend was full of training, which I really enjoyed.
On Saturday I met up with our blog friends, Lexi and Jasper the Great Danes, in Mission Bay. It was not just a play-date. Lexi and Jasper's human helped my training not to react to other dogs. Thank you so much, Lexi and Jasper's human!!!
Our humans wanted me to meet as many dogs as possible and that was one of the reasons we met up in Mission Bay, where usually many dogs come down to have walks on the beach. But, we didn't see many dogs on Saturday. However, fortunately Lexi and Jasper's human had brought two dogs under training to become mobility dogs as well as my friends, Lexi and Jasper, so I could practise walking pass them in turn one at a time. Although I sometimes couldn't control myself well enough not to pull my lead toward the dogs, I didn't bark much. :-)
Among other things, the Dane friends' human pointed out that my Mum needed to behave more confidently. The more confident Mum behaves, the less I need to try to protect the pack, which means Mum and me. I thought that was a good point, as I could see Mum getting nervous and in tense whenever she saw another dog coming. Although I didn't realise myself that I was trying to guard ourselves, now I can see why I felt so nervous when I saw another dog coming. Actually some of my blog friends also mentioned the influence of the handler's feeling over the dog in their comments to Mum's post. Thanks, friends!
Hee hee. My barking was not entirely my fault after all!! Mum needs to practise more and more to become a good reliable handler!
After the training, our humans, Lexi, and I went to a cafe in Mission Bay. Because the cafe is next to a burger shop, Burger King, many families who came to the burger shop found us sitting or lying by a table and came to pat us. Then, those families were surprised to see more dogs in Lexi's human's car parked in front to the cafe. If they had been small breeds like me, they wouldn't have been so surprised. But, in addition to Lexi, there was Jasper, another Great Dane, in the car. I wished Mum had filmed it to show you their reactions!!
Then, we went to Waiatarua Reserve together, although we couldn't stay there long as it started raining soon. Actually I couldn't enjoy running around with other dogs much, because I was busy eating rabbit poos and looking for the right spot to do my business. What was funny was Jasper! He kept following me when I was busy. I had to tell him off so many times!
My mum says that Jasper really liked me. If she is right, I am sorry I behaved like that, Jasper. I will play with you more nicely next time we meet up!
On Sunday we trained with our dancing instructor. One of the things she taught us was how to turn when heeling. She showed Mum how to gently pull the lead to keep me close to her knee and when and how to give me reward.
I had a great time in the training because I got to get so much treat!! I felt so full, when we left the place, that I fell in sleep as soon as I got in the car.
Hi Cinnamon, it is great to hear that Laura offered to help you with your training, it sounds like it really helped! I bet your mum is pleased!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness - Mint is the same size as you now Cinnamon! I had to look real close to work out who was who in that first picture.
ReplyDeleteBarry and Bella LOVE to eat rabbit poo too. Our local dog park just up the road from our house has lots, some days I have to put them on the lead and drag them away from it. I reckon if it wasn't so gross for us humans it would make a great training treat!!!!!
Sounds like you've done a lot of good training. Just a quick hint for when you're working on reactivity - if you are still barking, even just a little bit, it may be wise to increase your distance and work from there - you always want to stay under-threshold (meaning you don't react at all). Through conditioning, that distance will decrease, and soon you will be closer and closer.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe how big Mint has gotten!
Sam and MargeDog
Very very busy! Your doggie friends are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWe love to read about your training sessions!
I agree with Sam and MargDog - you want to stay below threshhold if you can - work at a distance where your dog can be successful.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes - totally agree about projecting confidence! That makes all the difference. I find that even with Honey - I know she seems very well-behaved but she CAN also be reactive to dogs (and she used to be very bad when she was a teenager) and I find that the best way is to always keep the leash LOOSE and to remain calm myself and do things slowly but with authority. I find Honey is actually worse with Paul (more likely to react if she is on lead and we pass a strange dog that is barking and lunging at her) - because he tends to react instinctively - like shorten and tighten her leash to pull her close to him - the tight leash is a trigger for her. Instead, I always remain calm and instead of physically trying to restrain her, I give Honey a command - something to do INSTEAD of reacting - so then I can reward her for following the command. And of course, I keep the distance where I can control the situation - with me, Honey can usually pass next to another dog with no problems but with Paul, I often tell him to give himself more space because she is more likely to react with him. I think this is also because she has less respect for his leadership than for mine.
Anyway, good luck and it's FANTASTIC that you have such a knowledgeable trainer as Lexi's human to help you! :-) Just keep practising passing dogs in a controlled manner as much as possible!
Hsin-Yi
Hi, Cinnamon -
ReplyDeleteTry to get your mom to build you one of those ladders. Since you have hip dysplasia, it would be beneficial for you to work on the muscles in your back legs, which the agility ladders helps a lot with.
It would also be good for Mint, as I assume he has a possible future in agility? Either way, it was be good for his confidence, and help keep his back legs strong.