Drawing the line ...

We hear it all the time:

"S/he crossed the line"
"I draw the line at giving friends money"
"I drew my line and dared them to cross it"
"It's time to draw the line"

It's a phrase used to take a stand, stake turf,  and it's always struck me as somewhat confrontational in nature.

That said it's important to draw your lines clearly when it comes to much of life, dogs included.

Positive is not permissive.
That means if you don't want your dog on the kitchen island -that's OK!
That means if your dog is losing it's furry,funny,much loved mind by having a butt tucking hairy fit over your couch and under the dining room table it's OK and even important to interrupt him or her.

It may mean you are driven to tears when you just can't think of a positive way to deal with a line your dog is crossing. I very clearly remember standing beside my car tearing up as I just couldn't get Rufus to willingly get in a car and so badly didn't want to force him. It was so frustrating I honestly did not know what to do. Standing in the park watching our Irish Setter dance just out of reach drove me to that point even longer ago. You know something? That's OK too. You are allowed to be frustrated. It's not OK to react to that frustration from a place of anger - but if you do - just like people who love you - it's pretty likely your dog will forgive you and trust you again. (Though what a pain regaining that trust can be).

Options for dealing with crossed lines around here include: slapping myself upside the head for not realizing there was a line; tethering pooch to me so the line won't be crossed; a short time out with young dogs (sometimes as simple as holding Sam's collar and sitting with him for a minute or two); redirection of energy -  playing either a dog or people game. In many ways I think the multi-dog house helps with this - when I'm fed up throwing a ball or two for the big dogs relieves that stress.

People ask me why I don't punish the dogs when they cross a line - sometimes they ask directly and sometimes they ask by their actions. (For example yelling No if Sam jumps up to check a counter). I really don't believe there is a point in punishing usually - all it does it suppress the habit when people are present.
Much better to not have anything of interest on the counter as my habit!  Or have something positive like a stay on a bed in place for when the counter is a mess. A crazy out of control young pooch is usually overtired or overwhelmed. Yelling and punishing aren't going to be constructive in that situation either. A down time is likely to get much better results. If the crazies happen predictably you can take preventative action.
Big T coming home makes every dog happy- CRAZY happy - leaping, barking, maniacal happy. It didn't take long at all to have Sampson hear Big T at the door and run for the back door -where I would toss a Kong out for him. Then I worked on Sally. She now flies to a bed and lies waiting. That means Big T can come in the door greet the small dogs, go get changed and then come down and love on Sam and Sally! Much easier for us all then having a screaming fit every time he comes home!


A routine that avoids issues is such a relief - figuring out that routine is an excellent use of time and energy. Picking your lines is FINE. Important even - remember positive is not permissive - but dealing with the line need not be punitive! 


As Elbert Hubbard so wisely stated “Punishment - The justice that the guilty deal out to those that are caught.” 

how can I be worthy?

What an awesome responsibility comes with the love of a dog. 

Wonderful and inspiring and just a little frightening at times. 

Puppies Test Boundaries ....

Oh yes they do ... and I usually know my bad little puppies are settling in to their homes a little too well when I don't hear from adopters for a few days in a row!

Some puppies discover that they don't have to do what they are asked (for example they may pull on a lead, they may not come when called). They may decide that in their sweet new life they should be the ones controlling resources.

Theorique didn't get rawhides here (Sally is dreadfully allergic to beef so no beef of any sort even gets in the door for the dogs). At one of her puppy sitters recently she had a rawhide and got growly with it! I was SHOCKED when told she was "still" possessive  as she had never been possessive here but on reflection realized it's happened before and will again I'm sure. Smart good puppies test boundaries! So if you find yourself in this situation this may help...

This is a behaviour that can escalate to other toys, or even meals so it's something to address with your dog early on in a positive way. (Lots of traditional trainers have methods for dealing with this too -but they are force based and can both destroy your relationship with your dog and be dangerous!)

It's easiest to understand the basic method (in my opinion) as it applies to meal times. The best resource I have ever seen on this is Jean Donaldson's book Mine. If you are struggling with the issue or working with a tough case it would be a good investment! My short -prevent little problems becoming bigger version of her protocol is below -but I have actually worked with her book open step by step with at least two head cases! If you aren't experienced please do not work through true aggression around resources by yourself. Get a pro to help you!

Fitz

If all your pooch does is stiffen  or eat faster when you are near this will help them too!

Give your pooch his or her kibble meal. (If you feed home prepared-give them the most boring part of the meal) Drop super tasty food (roast beef, chicken, yummy stinky treats from the store whatever your dog will love) into the bowl in small amounts. Use a big bowl so you don't have to aim too closely.  Repeat over at least 3 meals - more if you need to. Repeat several times through the meal.


Meal 4 (or more) start the same way but get closer to the bowl before dropping treat - pooch may decide to not eat kibble and wait for the good stuff. That just means things are going well and you can move on. Once your hand is actually in the bowl to drop in the treat (and I'll be honest here -with crazy Fitz I used kibble only and took 2 weeks to get to this point) pick up the bowl and put the goody in the bowl then return the bowl to the floor. If there are other people who can play this game so much the better -and don't forget to keep working on new things if you are doing this as a preventative thing - new bowls, new locations! This is not a bad game to play throughout a pooch's life. Brody thinks it's a great game to this day. I also play a variation of this game that starts with just one or two pieces of kibble then add kibble to the bowl. 

Toys are similar -some dogs value some toys very highly. We trade for better toys and delicious food regularly around here.  That is say Sampson has a Kong (his number ONE thing in the world). I offer him something tasty; swap it for the Kong then give the Kong back. Or say he has a rope toy - I might swap him the rope toy for a Kong as a special treat. He will now swap my back for the rope but that took quite a bit of work! A little backsliding happens with toys sometimes - perhaps there is a new toy or the dog discovers a new way to play -don't stress just repeat the game. Swap, return, swap, return, swap replace with something else. 

No Kong handy? Sampson can find great joy in any toy!

Yelling, using "NO", taking the toy by force or not following through on the trade (or treat) are all counter to this process. They increase stress and can convince pooch there is something SERIOUS worth guarding! It's a game... as you may know if you've read my posts before I enjoy my dogs no matter if we are training, walking or lounging -life with them is about playing and keeping it fun for us all -no matter what skill we are working on!

Relationship Building

"If there were a single snapshot moment that encapsulates a relationship, it might be simply this: how a person and a dog walk together." 

-- Suzanne Clothier--

No doubt at all our walks at the private park are relationship building for us all. 

Life is about timing ...

so says Carl Lewis (with 10 Olympic medals to his name who am I to argue?)

Dog training is surely about timing too. The impact of reward, punishment (if you use it) No Reward Markers (if you use them) and cues are all profoundly affected by timing.

Tom had the big dawgs out for a road walk yesterday and I wanted to play with shaping. I had nothing in mind but a happy Thea and Brody were staring at me.  I played some tug with Thea which she loved and then started shaping Brody to "go to bed". We had a friend over watching and she was fascinated by the process of shaping. She didn't understand why there was no cue. (I didn't understand how Brody has lived with us nearly 11 years and had never been taught this- it's a great great foundation behaviour).

Sally has "go to..." down to a fine art ..even when she doesn't quite fit!

I was very quickly able to get a down on the bed as Brody has done a fair bit of shaping and was very quick to understand what was paying. He had a couple of typical, for him at least, gap out moments where he stood and stared at me or sniffed the floor but I didn't fall for it. I held out for a down on the bed and sure enough I got it. Going backwards in marking behaviour (which I would have been doing if I had marked him looking at the bed after he was already getting on it) is so tempting but ultimately slows things way down. The Training Marketing Queen of Canada (TMQ?) , Susan Garret has an expression: "average or better".

I'd heard of her before but this book hooked me
The fact Sally was doing her thing as I read it probably helped
TMQ - thank you!

It's a great phrase and one that is influencing my day to day work with the dogs. Why reward something that is regressive in nature? If your timing is average or better - don't do it! Hold out and then pay well for excellence. I have always thought there was value in meritocracy, at least ideologically if not practically. Dog training is a great place to practice this principle. (So is my day job actually!)

It's pretty hard for any of us to ignore Thea

it's the end of the holidays as we know it ... and we feel fine

Lovely lovely break - lots of  farm 'gility and walks at the private dog park.

A little training.

Visitors and visiting. 

Lots of family time. 

Having fun with the camera - even when the dogs weren't!

RUNNING

and rewarding awesome recalls

Thea ran, and ran and did her best to keep up with the big dawgs!

in case you are too young to get the title of the post ...

one percent ....

Some one I have a great deal of respect for pointed out on a FB thread that those of us doing what many of 'us' do are the "1%" of dog people.

By that I think she meant educated, committed, self aware, societally conscious, and with highly defined moral values when it comes to our animal friends.

She posits that simply knowing not to buy a dog from a mill does not put you in the one percent. I would hope that is true but I'm not sure. I bet it puts you in at least  the top 10 percent or so (at least if you expect any comprehension of why mills might be problematic!)

Understanding that a dog is a commitment for life puts somebody into a pretty elite echelon in my experience.
Thinking about vet care, diet puts a person up right up there. Using the thinking you've done to have informed discussions and chose a diet puts you even further up the scale. (Never vaccinating or feeding any diet because you heard it was the best but know nothing about the pros and cons of either slides you down the scale ~ at least  to my mind).Training, using positive methods, slides you right back up the scale again.
Making choices in your life to have dogs as companions and partners not just commodities, working to understand their needs (both emotionally and physically) and offering them enrichment and security  all combine to a pretty unusual attitude towards dogs.


Sad isn't it?