Day 8 Second Visit -- Wrap Up

It's our wrap up session today. Time to tidy up everything we've been working on. She's doing well and she tries really hard. Sometimes I have to remind myself how young she really is because of her size. We've worked a lot on self-control which is challenging for a dog her age and with her drive. But she's up for the challenge and loves to work on things.

She had to get in her last romps today.

She gets along so well with other dogs and really enjoys playing with them. This makes training so much nicer when she has a variety of motivators to use as rewards for all her hard work.

Although she will be missed by all, it won't be long before she's back and part of the pack again.

This will be great for consistency and to help her continue to work through her distractions and adolescence. Not to mention that we just plain love having her here!

But you have to wonder, exactly how big will she be by then? It's a good thing she's learning more self control and she's doing more of the work on her own because she is growing like a weed!

Day 7 Second Visit -- Self Control

We're doing a lot of exercises with Sia on self control. She earns a lot of the things in her environment by displaying her self control and she's learning well how to turn in on and off.

With things like leash walking and recalls, I want her more excited and driven to do those things. She does much better with her leash walking if I walk fast with her, change direction and talk to her a lot. It's fun for her and she stays engaged with me. But most times when I'm working on self control, I don't want the fast movements. I want her to be more calm and in control.

She's been working on her stays and doing pretty well. I'd still like to see her relax into her stays a little bit more but she's responding well to the request and she is easily redirected if she starts to get out of position.

When we practice stays, I talk to her in a calm, soothing voice and I reward her with slow, soft pets to mimic the behavior that I want from her.

She's also practicing her "leave it." Food is a challenge for her but she's making it happen.

She particularly has a hard time when it comes to her meals. But, instead of jumping and whining, I'd like her to sit quietly for her meals. Sometimes the excitement of getting fed is too much so we have to break this exercise down even further. I start out during a non meal time and get out her food bowl and reward her for calm, quiet behavior. If she gets too excited, I simply put the bowl away. We are working up to calm approaches while I prepare the meal, stopping to reward frequently for calm behavior. So far so good, she's doing well. Training is a lot easier if you can break it down into smaller steps like that. It's much more satisfying to see a dog's progress when working on baby steps rather than continually working in an environment that is too hard for the dog.

Day 6 Second Visit -- Variety

Variety is such an important part of dog training. Variety in environments, rewards, toys, people and other dogs are all important tools in keeping the training interesting for those involved and keeping Sia's attention. It would get a little bit dry if there was no variety and it also helps with Sia's socialization. Different playmates keep things excited and help her to remain tolerant of other dogs as she grows older.

Sia was happy to see Brutus again. They play well together and they are similar in age.

Play can even be used as a reward for Sia. Really fast recalls warrant really big rewards so, if she responds quickly, she gets lots of praise, treats, pets and then she is released right away so she can go play again.

It's also a great time to work on Sia's on/off switch so she can learn to go from all out play to nice and controlled quickly and easily. For a girl like Sia who has an on switch turned on most of the time, sthis is really important. But it's also makes training fun and enjoyable for both Sia and her handler.

I like to also give her variety in her toys. I rotate the toys in the toy basket every couple of days or so.

This helps by making the same old toys seem new and exciting to her.

And it helps her to make better choices about what is ok or not ok to chew on. If a toy is new and exciting, she's much more likely to choose that over a toy that's been available day in and day out.

Day 5 Second Visit -- Out on the Town

We took advantage of the patches of nice weather today and took our show on the road. Practicing greetings, attention work, self control, and leash skills while we are out on the town helps Sia to generalize her skills and work through distractions.

It takes several minutes when we get to some place new for Sia to focus. Everything new has her interest and she's sometimes slightly anxious about the new surroundings. At that point, if I can, we stop moving and just work on attention with her. Adding movement in a distracting situation is frequently much harder for dogs so sitting still and giving her something easy to do (like sitting or giving me eye contact) will help her gain some focus. Notice that I also used a Gentle Leader in such a high distraction environment. I used that and a shorter leash. She doesn't need a lot of leash if she is walking next to me and, if I give her too much leash, it's too easy for her to self reward by interacting with things in her environment.

We tried going to a quiet restaurant. Portland is pretty dog friendly so there are several places that allow dogs in their outdoor seating.

A little trick I use when I'm trying to get a dog to settle in a sit or a down is to put my foot on the leash. This allows me to do other things with my hands and keep Sia in position. Sia had a hard time relaxing in this environment so we made it a very short visit. It's important to be able to abort the mission if she's not feeling comfortable and that small amount of time we were there will hopefully help her to be more comfortable next time she is out and about.

A quiet day in a pet supply store was a perfect opportunity to practice some good greetings, loose leash walking, and attention work. As she is growing bigger, it becomes more important for Sia to be the one to do the work when in environments like this. She will soon be too big to try to physically manage but, if she's doing all the work, it is little to no effort to take her places.

She did great with her greetings and melted a bit with some of them. This kind of behavior is much preferred to jumping on people. And, of course, everyone just fell in love with her.

And, after all that hard work and taking us a little bit out of our comfort zone, it was time to play in the sun. Finding that nice balance between work and play makes a huge difference for the dog and our relationship with the dog. Not to mention what the sunshine does for us...

Day 4 Second Visit -- Something New

Yea! The Kong was a success...a mess, but a success. I usually stuff them with kibble mixed with a little plain yogurt and frozen. That's not nearly as messy as raw meat. So it might take some fine tuning to find the right Kong stuffing for her that doesn't require laundering her bedding every day but well worth it to nip the yodelling in the bud.

Sia does LOVE her food. I noticed she was taking treats a little bit rough. Because we want to work on more self control, this is a good thing to work on. To teach a dog to take treats nicely, I place a treat under my thumb on the palm of my hand. While she is trying to get it, I wait until I feel her tongue or a soft mouth. If I feel her teeth at all, I continue to hide the treat from her. She keep trying different things to get the treat and when she finally tries using her tongue or a really soft mouth, I say "YES!" and give her a treat.

I doesn't take her long before she figures it out. I can do sessions that deal specifically with this issue and I can also require her to take it softly any time I give her a treat. So even if she has done a skill really, really well, I'm still going to be consistent with her about making her take the treat nicely. Once she has the idea, I start to add the word "easy" before giving her the treat.

I noticed a new behavior today that I had not seen from Sia before. She's barking at people she sees outside the window. I want to teach her an alternate response to seeing strange people. Instead, I'd like her to come check in with me. So, if I'm watching her at the window and I can see she's about to bark, I will say "Sia, come" and reward her heavily for coming to me. If I can't be right there with her at the window to catch her before she barks, I'm going to block her access to that window. I don't want her to practice that behavior. It's really rewarding for a dog to bark at someone and then have them leave. That reinforces the barking behavior ("I bark, the mail carrier goes away...great, that worked!").

It's hard when a girl gets distracted by everything around her...even when it's high up in the sky. But the really nice thing is, that even though she is testing the waters in this particular developmental stage, she still has a foundation underneath all of that to fall back onto.

Even though she still occasionally thinks about being naughty, the times she does that are much fewer and she is much easier to redirect.

Day 3 Second Visit -- Retreat Indoors

Well, our nice weather couldn't last forever. And while Sia doesn't seem to mind playing and working in the rain, I'm not so thrilled about spending a whole lot of time outside while all the wet stuff falls. So, we retreated indoors for a lot of our training and play time.

One of the things I like to do with dogs on rainy days (also works well for dogs who are on restricted activity due to an injury or surgery) is to play with puzzles with them. There are all sorts of awesome puzzles that make dogs think and problem solve to get treats. It's fun for the dogs and thinking helps them burn some energy too. It also gives us a chance to practice a few things in the process, like sitting and waiting for me to place the puzzle on the floor. This is teaching her self control and helps with some of the demanding behavior that can come along with adolescence.

There are different kinds of puzzles, most of which can be changed up to make them harder for the dog. She has to figure out how to move pieces around in order to find the hidden treats.

This is a popular game amoungst the dogs, as you can probably tell by Sia's audience.

And after we are all done, there are puzzle pieces all over the floor. What a perfect opportunity for Sia to work on picking up her toys.

Not only does she have to use her paws and her mouth to figure out how to pick up the pieces, but we are also working on drop. She has to return the puzzle piece to me before getting a treat. She's so enthusiastic about this that I kept tossing the puzzle pieces back on the floor so she could do it again. Wouldn't it be great if we could get kids to be this enthusiastic about picking up their toys?

As with any day, we have a little bit of crate time so she can have some down time and I can work on training notes. She's doing great about going into her kennel and does so with great enthusiasm but she is yodelling a little bit once I close the kennel door. Tomorrow I'm going to try stuffing a Kong with some of her food and refreezing it so she has something to work on while in the kennel. Hopefully that will create a more peaceful downtime for her.

Day 2 Second Visit -- The Great Outdoors

We tried to spend most of the day today outside since we know the rain is suppose to be back soon. Lots of play outside and most of our training sessions were outside. It always comes with built in distractions of different smells, sounds, and sights to peak Sia's interest.

When we are practicing her loose leash walking, I always do it on a flat collar. I want her to really learn what it means when I say "let's go" (to walk on a loose leash beside me) and, if I have other training equipment on, I can't tell if she is responding to the equipment or if she really understands what I am asking of her. If I just need to get from point A to point B and I don't have time to really focus in on her leash skills, I will use training equipment like a head halter. I also use the training equipment when it is a super high distraction situation or environment just to give her a little help.

Regardless of whether she has her training equipment on or not, any time she gets ahead of me I will either stop or turn the opposite direction. I will encourage her to return to me but I won't reward her until she is back walking with me for several feet. If she pulls, I'm going to resist the urge to pull her back. Anytime you are pulling on the leash it increases the pulling behavior because she's automatically going to pull in the opposite direction. And, besides, we want her to do the work instead have all the work fall on our shoulders. Instead, I'm going to encourage her to return to me or move in a different direction. Another things to note, she's much more distracted at the very beginning of her practice session so reward more often and with a high value treat to get her to check in with you. Keep the training sessions short (5 minutes or so) but do several throughout the day if possible.

And do something fun with her or allow her to go play after a training session. It will make her more enthusiastic about her work and help to relieve stress.

Tag, you're it!

She has most definitely entered adolescence, a time period when they sometimes seem like they can't hear you well. When she does blow you off, make sure to follow through with her. She tried to play keep away with a toy with me. Instead of chasing her, which would be engaging her in this game, I turned away from her and talked to her in a happy voice. Pretty soon she wanted to see what I was doing and I was able to get her to approach me so I could work with her on the drop command.

So that just reminds me that even though she has a beautiful recall most times, it's something we still need to practice a lot throughout this developmental period.

And, as always, work on attention.

Day 1 Second Visit -- She's Back!!!

Guess who is back!!! I'm so excited to have Sia back here for training! She's such a fun girl to work with. The whole pack was excited to see her and she was definitely excited to see them. We set aside plenty of time for everyone to get reacquainted. Even if dogs got along previously, it doesn't mean they will always get along. As dogs grow older, they can change quite a bit and that can translate into a little bit of grumpiness or quite a bit of joy.

Healey hasn't changed at all. Sia still finds her to be a little grumpy with puppies. Healey is grumpy in a good way. She doesn't over correct the puppies but she does set boundaries with them. Sometimes those boundaries speak much more loudly than anything humans could say or do to impart those words of wisdom on a younger dog. We call Healey the "fun police" because she feels like she needs to monitor everyone and make sure no one is having too much fun. Sia is doing an appeasement behavior with her in this photo which is a very appropriate interaction with Healey.

Sia also met some new friends. This is Thistle. She's a retired breeder for Canine Companions for Independence. I stay close at hand while they are playing so I can quickly intervene if things get too rough. But this proves to be a pretty well matched group. Everyone is playing really nicely or they are easily interrupted if it's getting too loud or rough.

I'm going to give Sia plenty of exercise, especially on day one, before we get to work. She is so excited to see everyone and is ready to romp. If I tried to work with her right off the bat I would be struggling a lot to get her attention and to reign in her energy.

This is a great way to start out any training session. It's much more pleasant for her and it makes the handlers job so much easier.

Funny girl! She had to stick her head through the railings on the deck to see what was going on in the other yard. Now that we've got some of her energy out, it's time to start checking in with one another again.

It usually takes a little bit of time for a handler and dog to check in with one another. I might need to back up a little bit in her training in the very beginning or do some basic attention work with her to remind her what we are doing. I start off slow at first and build up from there. I already know what she is capable of because of her last visit so she can't pull the wool over my eyes. Even though she's right in the middle of adolescence, I know where she should be at with her training so I know what needs more training or what needs follow through because she has temporarily forgotten it.

In no time at all she was back to her beautiful recalls, dropping shoes when requested (oh yeah, I need to close my closet door when she's here), and walking nicely on leash. I'm looking forward to this week!