Naughty Pie!
July 30, 2010
Pie was so naughty last night, yes really naughty! I had arranged a session in Dunmow Park with a client that I have known for some time, luckily they do know me well! My dog was worse behaved than my clients!! How embarrassing is that? I am going to tell you about this as I think it is good for everyone to know that my dogs make mistakes too, often people think Border Collies are easy, and because, generally:), they do behave well, that my dogs are just easy! Well I have to tell you I do work hard at training my own dogs. I do love training my own dogs but also I need a dog that will help when my clients have a problem dog, plus my dog is an advert for my training! Well last night Pie was a bad advert!! Pie has helped a great many dogs over come their anxiety or aggression, he has a great calming effect on all dogs.
By the time I got home there was steam coming from my ears, honestly I am sure there was!! 🙂
It all started badly, Pie pulled me round the park, when off lead he immediately ran off to some children that were playing and joined in, licking them and dancing around until I got close enough to get his attention! A little further on and he fancied the look of a nice Flatcoat and disappeared with her and her owner! Again until I was in easier shouting distance!!! By now I was fuming with him, he was back on the lead while I trained my client and tried to concentrate on that dog, while my brain was buzzing with shock at my dogs behaviour! Fortunately Pie did his job work wise, the dog I was working with has dog to dog problems and Pie had a great effect on him, he was very chilled and we made some great progress with the dog we were meant to be training! My client left the park by a different entrance and I made my way to the car park, I could now think about Pie, and proceeded back to my car training him, doing downs and recalls etc, my mobile phone rang just as we were turning a corner onto the last field by the car park, and I forgot Pie for a moment as I fumbled to find the phone in my bag, (mobile phones are not good for dog training!) in worrying about the phone I did not notice the boys playing football ahead of us!!! Yes you guessed, Pie loves football, he was gone, like a rocket, I shouted he ignored me and joined in the game! The boys loved it, they soon saw they had a new play mate and started including Pie in the game! It was about now the steam started to come out of my ears!! I had to get right up to Pie and get hold of him, it was like I was on another planet! I then proceeded to do some recall training on the lead near the boys, but really I was to cross, and having made a bit of a point with him, I took him back to the car, where he said no I don’t want to go I like it here, I picked him up, and if he weren’t so big I would have thrown him in the car!!! I drove home, it is many many years since a dog of mine made me feel so out of control, I decided the best place for Pie on arriving home was his crate, I do not lose my temper with dogs, but I knew I was on the edge and if he had put one foot wrong I could have lost the plot and do something I would regret! So there he stayed until after my dinner and my last client had gone that evening, some 3 hours, I had got things in more perspective by then at last!!
Here are my thoughts and reasoning, not excuses for him. As a dog trainer I have to analyse what goes wrong with other people’s dogs everyday, now I must apply my skill to my own dog in a big way! Firstly my angry response, Pie has been to Dunmow Park several times, either when I have been training him or working to help other dogs and has always behaved impeccably, my expectation of him was high and so I felt badly let down and disappointed in him. Were my expectations unrealistic? Maybe.
Secondly, I thought about his activities and behaviour over the last week, what had led up to this behaviour? Well last Friday I had my cousin Cheryl come to stay with her 3 children and her little dog Annie (a sister of Betty’s from an earlier litter), plus my the rest of my family were visiting us all, so for a great deal of the time from Friday through Monday there were 5 children and 5 dogs running round the garden playing, football was pretty high on the list of games, Pie is really good at dribbling and taking the ball off of people! I was busy catering and generally attending the business of hosting, my dogs had little attention from me, and it was so lovely to see them all having such a great time together, children and dogs had a ball (excuse the pun) really just running wild:)! So in the park, in his mind he was just doing what he had done last weekend!
On top of this since Betty has arrived Pie’s training has taken a bit of a back seat as I give most of my time to educating Betty, work has been busy and 2 weeks ago Magic arrived in the front paddock. Magic is a little pony belonging to Adam and Ian (of Barnards Bridge) that they rescued and I am having him to stay to see if I can help him with his issues around trusting people, this means Pie has had even less training and next to Betty of course he looks like the grown up and a really good boy. I know that because of these distractions the attention Pie has had from me has been all the soft stuff, I have over indulged him, unconsciously, to compensate for the lack of training. He has had more cuddles than ever, and all privileges of rank like the scraps from dinner, free tit bits just for being there and so on.
Now, as I thought about all of this build up, I could see that last night was the outcome of a build up, even a well-trained dog needs more continuity than I have been giving Pie, I have let him think he is very important, stopped treating him like a dog and instead over indulged him, just like my clients do:) I am human:). Once I could see all this I realised it was my fault and I have some work to do to get Pie back on track again. So if you are over Dunmow Park and see me out training Pie you will know what is going on:), but first we are out in the garden with that darn football to get some control back!! Followed by inviting my nephew and niece over for some Pie distraction training, he loves children, which is great, but he has to know he must come to me, not run to them!
Have you felt your dog let you down? Have you worked out why? Let me have your stories please? I do think by sharing this information we can help each other don’t you?
Betty and wheels and being a sheepdog!
July 21, 2010
Betty is mostly Border Collie, which means the herding instinct is strong for her! The first signs of this with Betty, and a lot of puppies, is she is interested in small wheels, things like the wheelie bins, wheelbarrows, vacuum cleaner and the hose reel winding and unwinding!
This innocent behaviour can rapidly turn into larger machines like lawn mowers, bicycles, motor bikes and cars! A very dangerous hobby for any dog!And herding is only found in Collies, many breeds can display this behaviour.
Luckily I know my Collies and I take action as soon as the early signs show themselves. For those that read the blog regularly you already know that where ever possible I want Betty to learn from her environment, as opposed to me constantly nagging her and saying “no”! The action I take when Betty starts chasing the wheel barrow wheel is to keep walking, not go round her, she is small so I don’t want to squash her too much, I walk slowly and deliberately, keeping to my chosen path, it is her job to get out-of-the-way! Rather she gets bumped by the barrow wheel than by a car! I do the same with the wheelie bins and the vacuum cleaner, with the vacuum I do push it at her a bit more deliberately, as it is lighter and hurts less if she isn’t quick enough! I also push the vacuum at her if she goes for the cable, I want her to learn very quickly not to go for electric cable!
I must add I don’t move these tools in a playful way, not too fast, as that may be enticing, but a boring ploddy sort of way! plus when I sweeping or mopping I put her in crate, these tools are just too tempting and she would learn more chase from these, the odd bump would not deter her:)
I was delighted this morning when I vacuumed that Betty did not attempt to chase the vacuum nor attack the cable!! 🙂 A step closer to keeping her safe in life!
Betty
Betty watching and not chasing!
has more than enough outlets for her natural instincts when herding me on a walk :), playing retrieve and other toy based games!
Betty feeding, cupboards and bowls!
July 13, 2010
Betty catching up on a walk!
I am really chuckling as I think and write this one 🙂 I am constantly amazed by dogs, how quickly they learn whether it is the right of the wrong thing! The brighter and cleverer they are the more likely they are to learn the wrong things too! Really it is amazing that people don’t have worse problems than I see!
Not long after Betty arrived I remember chuckling to Anne (Betty’s breeder) that Betty was throwing her metal feed bowl round the kitchen because she wanted feeding, she does love her food! I do think there were a few occasions when on seeing her I thought “oh I am late feeding her” and did feed her. I was particularly impressed as metal is the hardest material to teach a dog to retrieve, I am not quite sure why anyone would want a dog to retrieve metal, but anyhow it is tricky! I think it was this that delighted me so much and made me respond to Betty’s antics 🙂 at least that is my excuse! Well anything a dog does that firstly we show pleases us, like smiling and laughing and secondly even gets food in return will soon grow! Betty obviously thought I can do better and by last week this behaviour had grown into throwing the bowl around with great gusto, in between throwing her whole body at the kitchen work cupboard doors, and I mean throwing herself too, it was very enthusiastic! I just stopped myself laughing, just, though I laughed inside! Wow I thought this has gone far enough now, this behaviour could become completely ridiculous and very embarrassing for a dog trainer, in fact it is already!! I turned my back and looked out of the window then made myself busy doing jobs, after about 20 minutes, yes 20 whole minutes, Betty gave up that game and laid down, I fed her! The next few meal times I saw similar attempts, though her efforts started to dwindle until today I noticed her sitting in the kitchen near feed time, just watching me:) she was waiting for her food and she had twigged that sitting or lying got the right result! Now I just have to stick to my side of the bargain:) and only feed her when she is giving me this sort of behaviour!
One or two of you have mentioned the mistakes you have made with your puppies, well I have to tell you I haven’t been so aware with my other puppies as I am with Betty, the process of learning is ongoing, Betty is teaching me so much! Each dog I have lived with has taught me more, pushing me to a new level each time.
How clever is she, how clever are all our dogs? They all do the same sort of thing, just start noticing your dogs attempts to train you:), becoming aware of how they train you or how you inadvertently train them!
I am waiting to hear! 🙂
Update on Dennis!
July 8, 2010
Dennis and Maggie, performing at Saffron Walden Talent as guests!!
I am sure you wall remember about Dennis competing on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s show, and getting to the last 10 out of 1000 applicants!! Well since then Maggie is inundated with invitations to open shows, fetes and do guest appearances! One of these was at the Saffron Walden Talent contest where Dennis was asked to do a guest spot! How can anyone look at this picture and not see the enjoyment for both dog and handler in dog training, just look at the smiles on both faces!! I cried with joy at the sight of them, I am so proud to have worked with Maggie and to have bred this little dog for her, how lucky is Dennis to get Maggie?!!!!!
What Betty taught the dog trainer!
July 6, 2010
Betty learning to sit
and down
High five!
Betty watching me!
Well this blog is really an exciting one for me to write, I am so excited by Betty and her training at just 11 weeks old!!!! As you won’t be able to guess what she did before I finish writing 🙂 I will just have to tell you :).
Betty went “down” on a word command only when she was 10 feet from me!!! yes she did! If you are not as amazed as me I want to know how come you are so clever:) ? And I will come to you for training!
It was just last Wednesday that she went down in front of me for the first time without my usual hand signal, and I think it only took that long because I have been teaching her sit, down and high-five! Normally I stick to 2 positions until a puppy gets them before introducing more, so she was slower than my other puppies have been to go down without a signal close by, but I think it has paid off! I obviously still have a lot to learn about dog training!
I haven’t ever asked a puppy of this age to go down at a distance from me before but 2 things happened earlier in the day that told me that Betty was cleverer than I was letting her be!
firstly the stuff we were doing in the kitchen and garden were so easy for her, I see it as easy for a puppy when they do the exercise really fast, and she was jet propelled!
But secondly it was when I was play retrieving with her in the garden. We had got into the habit when I threw a toy of her coming and lying behind me when I was sat on the grass, today I thought that is weird how I have let her do that, but like every dog owner I want success for her and I had continued to accept this as good enough, mmmm I thought, she is a Collie and I know her training genes, and she is well-bred for training, I wonder? The next time she laid behind me with the toy, I didn’t look round, I stayed looking forward and said, daftly I know:) “Where’s Betty, oh Betty puppy, Betty Boop” and she came to the front of me! Well that was it now I knew she was being a Collie!!!! Collies will always try to control the game, herd the person and toy together, and that is what she was doing, albeit in a small way, she was turning me, just as Collies turn sheep! So no more turning from me, I threw the toy a couple more times, both times she went behind and both times I said “where’s Betty” and she came back round even faster, the third time I threw the toy she came straight to me in front! What is great is that not only have I made a big step in her retrieve I know more about Betty now too a lot more!
I must add when I say throwing the toy, I do only throw the toy a few feet from us, it is hot and she is young, I don’t want her exhausted:)
Anyway that is why I was thinking I have to push this little girl a bit more, not in a pressured way but simply ask and see what happens, I did just that. Which is why we came to be walking around the paddock, me with Betty’s dinner in my pocket and having done a few of the normal sits and downs and comes and high fives all as we walked around the paddock, I waited for her to wander away from me a little and said “Betty down” and she did, so having given her 5 bits of food in my excitement:) I continued to wait for her to go a bit further and try again! And, as I said before, she did it!!
No holding us back now, I am going to have to rack my brains for this little one to see what more we can do, while of course keeping these bits going!! 🙂
I must add too that since that first time Betty went down without the hand signal I sense her listening to me more, I could a bit before, but it is like now she has one word she wants to understand more! She is certainly responding appropriately when I say things like “where is it” when playing and similar. She may not know the words completely yet, but she is trying too and the best dog to train is the willing one:)!
I look forward to hearing about the words and signals your dogs understand and/or how they have surprised you:)?
The puppy class at work and play!
July 5, 2010
The stars of this show are Lisa and Teddy (Bichon cross Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) Hilary and Truffle (Labradoodle) Shirley and Abby (Chocolate Labrador) and Pauline and Ben (miniature Schnauzer)
We always begin our puppy class with the owners sitting on chairs with the leads under a leg to allow the pups to settle and learn not to pull themselves! This time we went straight on to teaching the puppies not to jump up, we took it in turns to walk towards them and turn away abruptly if the pups jumped, very soon the pups were not jumping and we were able to greet them with their bottoms on the floor!
These pups are only on their 4th week of training, they are progressing so fast, at this age the puppy is very willing to learn and hasn’t yet the confidence to be too naughty, that will come a bit later when they go past 6 months, the teenager time is the most challenging period of training! Ben, Teddy and Truffle can do some positions on command now, only using the hand signal when they are distracted. We have also begun come to call, walking on a lead and they all learning to be very patient when groomed!
Ian has taken some wonderful photo’s of them, here is a selection! I plan to add some to the main website over the coming week.
For those of you commenting, if you are a subscriber and click on the email, it seems I am not getting them, could you go on the web site to leave comments please? I look forward to hearing from you soon!
The intermediate class at work and play!
July 2, 2010
Ian came along to take photo’s of the classes this week, some brilliant pictures, the only problem is there are so many of them! Here are some for starters! Sadly Louise and Paddy who are usually at class couldn’t make it this week so no photo’s of Paddy 😦
More to come soon!
This group is intermediate level now, though they are all still youngsters they are progressing well, which means we get to have more fun times at class as we try out more advanced exercises. And it isn’t true that all I do is sit in the garden and watch when I am working, it is a wicked rumour! 🙂
If you are receiving this as a subscriber you will have to log on the main site to view the slide show, and it seems comments don’t work unless you on the web blog version.
Betty’s training – top puppy training tips!
June 30, 2010
This hugely important training tip is that I rarely say no to my puppy or any dog of mine, what I want is for my dog to associate my voice with good stuff, to turn happily and look when I speak to them, verbally correcting and telling off young dogs simply teaches them to take no notice of us at best and at worst spoils the bond between dog and owner! Besides I do not need a command word for things that in just a few months she will lose all interest in, like eating inappropriate stuff in the garden.
That doesn’t mean Betty gets to do whatever she likes though! As with any young baby, I distract her sometimes, when she is for example heading for my greenhouse to eat my plants, on occasions I pick her up and move her to another area, as when she is in the front room and I want her out without damage or fuss or want her in her crate in a hurry, I make picking her up a time for a cuddle to ensure she continues to enjoy being picked up.
When I have time and I want her away from a room or an item, I practice her recall to me, rewarding her with a treat, there are endless opportunities for recall practice with this!
When she is eating or chewing on items of no value and no harm I simply let her get on with it and let her find out for herself that it is not tasty or fun, if I show interest in whatever she has I will simply reinforce her interest.
I keep my corrections gruff, short and sharp for things of more importance like play biting and chasing my feet, she now backs off immediately on these behaviours simply because it is so rare for me to be gruff! So much of dog training is not what you do, but want you don’t do!
I back this all up with titbit training Betty with clear hand signals to do little recalls, sit, down, heel, watch and walk to heel at least 6 of each on the trot, currently I use her normal meals for training these, she is still greedy enough for this food to be important to her, and ensures she gets lots of repetitions on each exercise while having fun!
Betty is far from perfect and I cannot say I want her to be, but she will be perfect for me 🙂 we just need a couple of years! I am so enjoying being with her and be at the beginning of my dogs life again, this time passes so fast, I find each time I have a puppy these early months are more precious to me and that makes me more patient, thankfully as I did need to learn some patience!
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Betty, yoghurt pots, pack leadership and me and Pie
June 24, 2010
Betty waits for her turn with the yoghurt pot!
I do like yoghurt 🙂 not that I have one every day, over the years I have always given my older dog the pot when I am done, to lick out. First it was Truly and Teddy would wait for second pickings, when Truly died Teddy got the pot first and when Pie came along he got it second. Now it is Pie’s turn!
Betty has her turn with the pot!
Now that Pie has taught Betty not to jump on him, it seemed a good time to try out the yoghurt pot with Betty, I don’t give my young dogs food when I am eating generally, but I think this is a great way of emphasing the pecking order to Betty, and I love to see if she has accepted the order of life. As you can see in the photo, Betty pretends not to be interested in what Pie is doing, yet lies close enough to know, and the second he walks away from the pot she has it!
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