Training through a Remodel

For the past 2 weeks, Hunter and I have been moving quickly on our Master Bath remodel project. We were finally able to finish up tile work on the shower and floors, and then install the vanity and toilet. Needless to say, we’ve had a busy and high-traffic house with people going in and out constantly.

Hadley showing off our new vanity!

As you know, Gus struggles with new people coming into the house that he doesn’t know – especially men, but really anyone. He barks continuously due his anxiety and fearfulness, and will run after them/jump up on their leg if they don’t give him attention. It’s been a constant struggle (and very stressful) trying to figure out how to help him calm down and teach him to leave  people alone if he is scared and/or go away to a quiet place. So, since we had such high traffic in our house, we were able to practice a lot with Gus each day in working on calming down.

The first day, we portioned off a part of our living room so that Hadley and Gus could remain in a contained place while the workers went in and out of our house cutting tile. When the workers arrived, Gus went into his crazy barking mode and Hadley just got all wiggly (she loves people and is working on greeting calmly – however this doesn’t happen as frequently when Gus is around going nuts).

We tried something new this time with Gus, as we have been working on changing his association with people to being positive instead of negative. This is called Counter Conditioning – we are giving Gus a very high value treat when new people arrive so he begins to associate that new people = extremely high value reward. For this, we gave him a SmartBone. If you’ve never tried these, they are GREAT bones for small dogs to chew on and eat. They are fully digestible and take awhile for the dog to break down and eat, which is exactly what we wanted for Gus. They now trump ANY other treat we have at any time. You can get them at any local pet store (Petsmart, Petco) or order them through Amazon for a little cheaper and free shipping if you have Prime!

 

Each day, Gus got a little quieter a little quicker as he realized he was going to get another SmartBone when people arrived. In the middle of the week, we had a local behaviorist over to help us make a training plan for Gus. It was very helpful and lined up with everything we had been taught before in terms of positive training methods. The most helpful tool right off the bat was learning how to teach Gus to “Settle”. She taught us how to teach a dog to settle, and worked with us on how we communicate to Gus what he needs to do. It was a lot of fun and we saw Gus starting to learn that being on the mat meant cheese treats!

Waiting outside patiently while the tile is being installed

We are excited to continue working on Settle in the coming weeks and months as I’m sure it will take a while to get down! Updates to come…

 

Proud Moment

I need to brag a little bit about how GREAT Hadley did yesterday in her Therapy Dog Class. For the past 4 weeks, I have been taking a class with Hadley in preparation for the therapy dog certification test in December/January. When I first got Hadley, I had hoped that one day we could do therapy work together. It’s crazy to think that within this next year we could actually see it come to fruition and begin working around town!

But don’t get me wrong, this has not been as easy or as positive as I had hoped. I have taken Hadley through a lot of different dog classes around town. She has gone through puppy classes, some dog sport classes, and now a proofing class and therapy dog prep class. Needless to say we have done a lot together as a team. Now, one would hope that all this training and practice would lead to a very well-behaved dog as a 1-year old right? I mean come on! Well, as surprising as it might seem, Hadley is not always well behaved. She has her very annoying and frustrating quirks that we are working through…and she is just so down right sassy sometimes I question why we got her (not really…but really). In all seriousness, as we have been training together, there have been many times where I thought that maybe she wouldn’t be a good therapy dog after all. I have had discouraging days and weeks sometimes where my investment just didn’t seem to be paying off with her. My husband always likes to remind me of how great she is and how amazed he is at what she has already learned at her age…but being in the trenches of training on a consistent basis can be wearisome.

Luckily, last night Hadley gave me a glimpse into what it will hopefully be like when we are certified as a team together. First off, she has been struggling wanting to go into her crate lately (which is discouraging as it is something I need her to be OK with when we travel or go somewhere that requires it). I had been bringing her crate with me to class for her to rest in while we took breaks in training, but wanted to try a “settle mat” instead as it was something I wanted to start introducing to her. She seemed to pick up what the settle mat was for instantly! I was so impressed. She got on her mat at the beginning of class, laid down, and offered me attention on and off for the first 20 minutes of class. If you don’t know what it’s like to have your dog offer you attention, when it happens, it relieves SO MUCH stress! She waited patiently without impatiently barking (one of her quirks) and waited for her release work “OK”. Talk about a great start to the class!

During our class session, we focused on adding distractions to the “stay” command. Now, Hadley already has a pretty good “stay” but still definitely needs some proofing when we are out in public around other dogs or exciting people. While working on distraction work, our trainer brought out different medical equipment to test as we are also working on familiarity with equipment that therapy dogs will interact with. Hadley did great! She was respectful, non-reactive, patiently waiting for her release command, and very polite when she interacted with the trainer. I might have been throwing a major party in my head while I watched her work.

By the end of class, I had looked down to find Hadley patiently looking back up at me from her mat. I was so proud. All the bad days we’ve had while on this journey so far, and all the frustrations we will have in the future are diminished when I think back to last night and Hadley’s success. The motivation to continue our training is now that much higher and I can’t wait to continue working on her skills and working together to become a great therapy dog team in the future!

Agility Gus – Foundations (Session 3)

As I’ve mentioned before, Gus began taking Agility classes roughly 4 months ago. I had wanted to get him into agility about a year ago but had trouble finding a class. We finally got into one with a local agility barn in town and have had a great time so far! Since Gus is a terrier with a lot of drive (especially when he wants to chase…anything), I wanted to find something he could do that would help build his confidence and also play into this drive.

The first two 6-week foundation agility sessions were held at indoor barn. The first class, Gus was very nervous and would hardly go up to anyone to say hello. He was concerned about his surroundings and would very carefully watch and be on alert while we were doing training drills. After about 3 weeks, he couldn’t wait to get into the barn and start running around – needless to say he began to understand that agility means lots of treats and lots of fun. Our trainer, Jordan, has been great. She teaches from a foundation skills perspective so that the dogs are cleaner on their runs when they begin to compete. I have no idea if I’ll ever be able to compete with Gus, but I’m hopeful that maybe one day we might.

Anyways, throughout the first two sessions, Gus learned a lot of rear-end awareness drills as well as how to read my body language when I want to “send” him to do a task before running back towards me. He also started to learn how to run through the tunnel. At first, he didn’t like it and wouldn’t go through it unless it was very small. I’m proud to say he is now learning how to be “sent” to the tunnel from afar and then run through! (Applause here for bravery).

Gus also began working on the teeter. Usually, loud noises or big things that make big noises make Gus nervous. For example, if I hit the side of my plate with a fork, he will back away. This is a part of his fearful behavior that we are trying to help alleviate. Back to agility – Gus was afraid of the teeter. It was big. It was loud. It was moving…and it was unfamiliar. The first time he stepped on it was his last for a few weeks. While he wouldn’t get near the teeter, we had him work on the wobble board while the teeter made noises. This helped tremendously as he began learning that the noise was not a big deal and the movement was actually not that scary – especially when he got loaded up with hot dog pieces (we needed some very high value treats here). Fast forward a few weeks, and Gus was on the teeter! (Again…more applause for bravery).

Last night, we began our 3rd session of Agility Foundations with Jordan and her new business, Zanee Agility! We are now in an outdoor field area and it is awesome. Gus did some tunnel work as well as some rear end awareness work mostly. We had a great hour and Gus, besides a few distracting smells, did a great job. We are looking forward to next week already!

Our new Agility Training Course

Gus waiting his turn (because mom forgot the crate)

 

Always another dog class

So, over the past 8 months or so, I have gone through many different dog classes with Hadley and Gus. Before we got Hadley, we didn’t really do much training with Gus and I had no idea what I was doing in terms of teaching my dog what I wanted him to know. When Hadley entered the picture, I took her through 3 puppy classes at Petsmart and my love of training began. She quickly went through a beginner, intermediate and an advanced level class – ending with achieving her CGC certification.

As I took Hadley through her training classes, I also started to do the homework and practice at home with Gus. Gus had learned a total of 4 tricks (sit, down, wait, and dance) while we had had him. He was nervous about training and I didn’t know how to teach him anything more than he had already knew. He was not confident and didn’t trust the learning process. Starting from the basics again really helped establish that learning was fun. By the time Hadley was in her advanced class, Gus had also become that much more confident in his overall behavior.

Since the beginning classes, I have done flyball, rally, agility, and now therapy dog training classes. All of these have been eye opening for me as I’ve learned so much about training my puppies. I’ve really taken to flyball with Hadley and agility with Gus, and am now working with Hadley to become a therapy team by next year. Overall it’s been quite the experience but I’m excited to see what another year will do for these two!

Hadley & Gus – Agility

Hadley – Flyball (PC: Crystal Beck – SoFly Photography)

Hadley – Rally

Gus – Agility

 

Wordless Wednesday

In honor of starting our first class in therapy training work tonight, here is a picture of Hadley practicing her “down-stay” at work.

Hadley & Gus

This is Gus. He is a 6lb Yorkie mighty man who has quite the personality. He is sweet, spunky and adorable…but definitely has his moments. We adopted Gus when he was only 8 months old, and didn’t quite realize what we were getting ourselves into. Gus has some insecurities and fear based “issues” that we have had to work on over the past few years. As his newly-established parents, we didn’t do a great job of training him or setting up boundaries at first, which ended up leading to more behavioral problems. This past year however, we have turned a big corner with Gus as he has learned a better recall, gone up to strangers bravely, and even started agility training! His confidence is growing and hopefully soon, he will be a happy and content dog with nothing to fear.

Now this is Hadley. Hadley just turned 1 a few months ago. She is an F1b English Creme Goldendoodle with a lot of spunk and sass. I got Hadley in hopes of one day becoming a therapy dog team with her where we could go around town and help others in medical facilities, schools, the library, and even the juvenile detention center. We have gone through many classes together and are beginning the journey towards joining a therapy dog program here in the next year. Hadley has also joined a Flyball club, which has become a fun team activity for the both of us on week nights and tournament weekends. Hadley is on track to participate in her first tournament this next year and we are so excited! She is a lot of fun and absolutely ADORES her little big brother Gus.

We have a lot of fun at our house, even though we have had to go through lots of training with each dog. Although we have had some rough points, and are still working on some bigger behavioral issues with Gus, both pups bring a lot of joy to our family through their goofiness and love. Throughout this adventurous journey, I personally have also found a love of training and working with dogs. I am excited to continue learning to become a better trainer myself through classes and working with local trainers in town!