Posts filed under ‘Dog Training’
Training a Goldendoodle to stop stealing food
Cody has such a sweet expression when you look at him. Well that is if you can get him to stop jumping on you long enough to look. I showed up at Cody’s home on a nice Sunday morning. I was met by a blur of beautiful white fur that kept leaping at me. Than when he finally stopped jumping and I went to pet him, he submissive urinated on the floor. We than sat down and I got to hear Cody’s story. On a walk he either pulls the owner down the street or would lay down and refuses to move.
He had stolen the breakfast bagels off the counter that morning and they showed me a picture of him actually lying on the kitchen counter. When we went to put him in the crate it was like trying to catch a slippery fish. He wouldn’t come and when we finally caught him and tried to place him in the crate. Well, no sooner did we put him in the crate and before you could close the door. He twisted himself around and plowed out the door. Man was he quick. So it was decided to send him to bootcamp.
Cody has a wonderful family and deep down he is an absolutely sweet and very sensitive dog. The problem is he knows he is stronger and bigger than most of his owners and uses this to get his way. He knows he can’t mess with Dad, because Dad is strong enough to make Cody mind. Dad also knows that he is not going to hurt Cody’s feelings by making him listen. This is not the case with the rest of the family. Even though Cody is still a puppy and is only grown to half of the size he will be. He is big and strong enough to throw his weight around. There is no way that Mom or the kids can physically make him do anything. My goal is to teach Cody that throwing his weight around is useless whether it is choosing not to follow on a leash, pulling on the leash or refusing to go into the crate. This needs to be so ingrained, so that he will listen to even the smallest member of the family. Of course addressing the stealing or counter surfing is a must.
As always the very first day of bootcamp is letting him get to know his surroundings followed by a couple of sessions working on getting him to walk on a loose leash.
He did great. As stated earlier, Cody is very smart and soon figured out he had no choice but to walk on a loose leash. He enjoyed getting to meet my dogs and thought Fireball was kinda cute.
On Day two and three we worked on more loose leash walking. Not just working outside, but also up and down stairs. He occasionally forgets himself and needs to be corrected.
The biggest thing that he does is just refuse to move. As stated in other blogs that this is just a passive aggressive way of not wanting to listen to us. We also addressed his charging out of the crate and worked all day long on making him stay in the crate with the door open or when he was told “IN”. He would go in the crate. He is now doing this.
Tomorrow I will address the counter surfing or stealing. I’ll keep you posted and let you know the progress.
Casey Is On Her Way To Become A Seizure Response Dog
Casey is destined to serve a special duty to her owner and that is to inform him of an impeding seizure. In reality Service dogs are born with a certain temperament and personality. But her owners love her and are willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. Casey is 10 months old and is all puppy.
She is quite active, but has more of a nervous hyper temperament and gets startled easily. She is very manipulative and knows how to get what she wants. One of the games that Casey likes to play is to race around the yard and do a full nelson on the owner’s poor Mom. She jumps on guests and sometimes when you try to make her do something she will roll on her belly as she kicks out her feet in all different directions. Oh and I almost forgot about getting car sick. Which can be a problem if she is supposed to travel with her owner all the time.
The actual training to be a seizure response dog will be done by a certified Service Dog Trainer provided she passes the initial evaluation. A seizure response dog requires special training and has to have the right personality. There have been many cases where a dog has actually bitten the person having a seizure.
The major reasons that Casey went to bootcamp is to address the jumping, nervous hyper behavior and to socialize her so that she isn’t so fearful about her surroundings. Even when she sits still it seems like her head and eyes are swinging back and forth and her eyes show how nervous she is.
The first few training sessions were just for brushing up on her obedience. I worked on walking on a loose leash, sit, sit-stay, down & come. By the afternoon of the second day she was working at a level that would allow me to start taking her places.
Now working on the jumping is 24/7. Every time she got out of the crate, running around outside and even a little in the house, she was ready to jump and I was ready to correct. The good news is that her jumping is getting less and less frequent. Once again her jumping is a way to control the situation. If she doesn’t like what you are doing she jumps, if she doesn’t want to do an exercise she jumps and if she is overly excited she jumps.
After the first two days it was time to start socializing her. Shyness can be expressed several different ways. The most common is that a dog will tuck their tail under their legs with ears down and not make any eye contact. They may try to move away when someone approaches. Another way is a dog that really wants to say HI, but is afraid or not sure of how to act. Their tail may wag, but as soon as someone goes to pet them. The dog will turn into a mop. They will suddenly flop down, wiggle all over the place and perhaps submissive urinate. The head will toss back and forth and try to avoid eye contact. This was Casey’s style. So it was essential that she be socialized in a controlled setting.
Our first trips were to different pet stores. The environment at a pet store will have lots of distractions, but will also be quieter and not as many people. The good news is that by the end of the visit to the second store, she was calming down and not so nervous. The next phase was to take her to the city. I took her to Royal Oak and Birmingham.
These would be short jaunts in the car which will let her get used to driving in a car. There was only one time that she got sick and that was actually the second time I took her anywhere. I am glad to say that I am seeing an improvement each time we go. Today my plan is to take her to Rochester. The drive will be the longest she went on and it is my hope that she doesn’t get sick. She is improving each day and I have high hopes that she will be fine.
Jade makes a homerun in downtown Royal Oak
Jade is a beautiful 5 month old yellow Labrador Retriever who is owned by Carlos Guillen of the Detroit Tigers. Jade is your typical Labrador puppy full of energy, gets distracted easily and just wants to play. She is very mouthy, will jump and counter surf, but on the good side she is very sensitive. Another problem is that she is a little cautious of new things. Jade is a prime example of why it is so important to socialize your young puppies.
She has been in boot camp for four days now and besides training. I am working on socializing and desensitizing her to people, places, things and noises. She is also very cautious of new dogs and it will be very important to expose her to many nice dogs.
The training has been going well. She does an excellent sit-stay,
walks well on a leash with mild distractions, and does down, but struggles with down-stay. Don’t worry, by the time she goes home she will have a much better handle on the down-stay. Today was her first big trip to the city. We went to downtown Royal Oak to work around the people. She did great. I thought she might be nervous, because the first time I took her to the pet store “Pet Food & More.” She was a little nervous, but after about 10 minutes she acted like she owned the store. This is normal for cautious dogs, so I figured that she would do the same thing in Royal Oak. Not at all, as soon as she jumped out of the vehicle her tail was wagging and she showed no signs of apprehension. In fact initially she was very distracted and wanted to investigate everything and say hello to everybody she saw. Within a few minutes I was able to get her focusing and start working on her obedience. She walked perfectly past people.
Okay her tail was wagging so hard that her body was twisting back and forth, but she stayed by my side. If I placed her in a sit-stay she would hold that position even if people walked past. I am also glad to say that she had the opportunity to be a therapy dog. There was a lady in a wheelchair and she greeted the lady making her smile. Tomorrow we will go to downtown Birmingham and work her amongst these busy city streets. I’ll keep you posted.
Calming a Hyper Very Active Dog.
Meet Lola she is the cutest little Terrier mix. I know one of the reasons I think that she is so cute is that when I look at her face she looks like a miniature Irish Wolfhound. She has a wire coat, and when she is trying to be cute her ears will even go back like a Wolfie. I just think that Lola is adorable. Another asset of Lola is that she is so sweet. The bad thing about Lola is that she is wild and completely out of control. I wonder if she is part Jack Russell, because of how energetic she is.
The amazing part despite that she is hyper she is very smart and learns quickly. Within one session she learned how to walk on a loose leash, sit, down, come and would even do a sit-stay at the end of the 6 foot leash.
I was originally planning to take training slow, but because she picks things up very quickly and really wants to work. I decided to work on all the basic commands during the first lesson. As with any rescue dog I work with. You never know what they have been taught and what they have forgot. So initially I used a treat to lure her into a down. This is one exercise that she did not know, because even with a cookie she didn’t go down. With some gentle persuading she now will go down. Staying was really hard for her to do as with any energetic dog. As stated before there are action exercises like walking and coming when called. There are control exercises, like sit and down stay. A dog might pickup very quickly that it has to walk on a loose leash, but won’t stay. A more lethargic dog will struggle with walking and have the bad habit of lagging or sniffing. My last Irish Wolfhound was like that.
I could put him on a stay, go grocery shopping, come back and he would still be staying. On the other hand he would try to lag even on short walks. The hardest exercise for Lola to do was the down stay. The good news is that by the time we were done. She would at least do a down stay for 5 minutes, but I had to be right next to her.
Over all I think she did fantastic for her first lesson. I have great hope for her and know that she will be a great dog. She is getting spayed next week and so I’ll continue working with her in a couple of weeks.
Adopting the Right Dog
Adopting the Right Dog? Copyright@2010
Remember that your decision to adopt should be based on your lifestyle and the lifestyle of your family and not based on how cute or cuddly a particular rescue dog may look. Dog ownership is a huge commitment and a big responsibility so you should take your time and avoid a rushed decision.
Be aware that many rescue dogs have a somewhat turbulent past which may require extra attention to training and behavior modification. You must be prepared to spend the necessary time that may be needed to ensure stability in your new dog. It is also very important to make an informed decision on adopting a particular dog. Ask questions about background, prior owners, etc. It is very easy to make a decision based on emotion when the sad eyes and scared faces are tugging at your heartstrings. However, this can be a recipe for disaster. It is your job to make a sound decision based on breed research, stability and appropriateness of temperament for your family. If you are full of emotion, you cannot make a sound decision and your family and your new companion will suffer as a result. So be sure to resist any decision that is based purely on emotion.
I cannot stress enough the importance of analyzing your lifestyle and choosing a dog that matches your energy level. For example, a less active family should not choose a high energy dog that requires lots of exercise. A more active family should choose a dog that is able to join your family functions and is capable of being very social. If a low energy family chooses a dog that has high energy, both family and dog will suffer greatly and behavioral issues are sure to arise. Many dogs are returned to the rescue group or humanely euthanized due to the owner’s inability to control behaviors that are a result of a bad match between the dog’s activity level and temperament and the family’s social structure and activity level. Don’t let this happen to you! You want to make sure your new dog would have a forever home.
I have personally adopted three dogs and they all have brought great joy into my life. In fact my first dog was a stray found on Ryan Rd. We called him “Ryan”.
I also adopted a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever named Rivie. She became a certified Therapy Dog. Currently I have Windy my big yellow Labrador. What a great dog.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HOW TO CHOOSE A RESCUE DOG OR ON HOW TO TRAIN ONE YOU ALREADY HAVE PLEASE CALL (734) 462-2810 OR VISIT US ON THE WEB AT WWW.ALTERNATIVECANINETRAINING.COM
Isaac goes through Obedience Training Off Leash
Isaac is doing great and has learned all the basic commands. His two biggest challenges were stay and come. Initially he would sit and do down, but stay. He really thought he had more important things to do. There are action exercises and control exercises.
Stay is control and Isaac is a little strong willed. ( stubborn.) Isaac likes things his way. I guess who doesn’t. The good thing is that his resistance is more passive. He knows he is big and that it is hard to make him do anything. We had many many sessions with the stay and he is still struggling with the down stay, but is 100% better. Originally he would go down for a cookie and than jump back up, even before he received the cookie.
The second issue was coming when called. How many times have you chased him? How many times has he jumped the fence and wouldn’t come unless you bribed him with a cookie. Once again his self will comes out. (Stubbornness)
I have really been working on making him come and twice yesterday while playing with Duke (the foster dog), Isaac stopped playing and came. It is working. The good news is that he hasn’t tried to jump the fence. I am very grateful that there have been several opportunities to test this. One morning he was outside and a poor baby Robin was in the yard. He initially picked up the baby bird. A stern drop and he did. I gently put the bird on the other side of the fence and he though he really wanted to get to the bird. He didn’t jump. The last thing that we are doing is working on “place” and simply making sure that he is doing all exercises perfectly.
Stopping a Dog from Jumping the Fence.
I am surrounded by yellow Labradors. First we have my precious Windy who I adopted over 4-1/2 years ago. Than I have two boot campers. The first one is Isaac an absolutely wonderful sweat laid back and stubborn 2 year old Lab.

This was a reflector collar so when I jumped, People could see me when I jumped the fence and ran away.
Who will counter surf if given the chance and get into the garbage. The biggest reason that his owner drove in all the way from Indiana is that Isaac is a fence jumper. Of course he doesn’t walk well on a leash and come isn’t part of his vocabulary.
The second boot camper is Duke. He is a neutered male who was given up by his original owner to the rescue group Sanilac Scoopers. He is 2 years old and is absolutely wild. Because of his behavior, he spent most of his life chained up.
He can spring in the air and reach heights of 5 feet (horizontally) without any effort and of course jumps on people just as high if not higher knocking them over. He is completely out of control. When you put him on a leash he either drags you or knocks you over by jumping on you. He does have a great temperament and is good with kids, just no manners.
Isaac’s update: I know why you love him so, he is a sweetheart. He is very loving and somewhat calm in the house. He loves chasing Windy around the backyard. Eclipse (my old Lab.) and Fire duck and hide as soon as they see two blonde streaks racing towards them. He is doing very well with coming when called and I would say after 3 days he is coming 85% of the time. Initially when he was called he never showed any indication that he heard you. At least now he may come to you, but he tends to walk right past you. As if to say, “Here I am but don’t expect me to stick around.”
He now walks very well on a leash and today we were working on Sit & Sit-Stay. You can really see his stubbornness when you try to get him to sit. When you say sit he calmly stands there as if to say, “You can’t possibly talking to me.” Even when you show him a cookie his whole demeanor is one of, I don’t have to. Once you get him to sit he has an eternal clock that told him that after 30 seconds he could and should get up. By the time we were done with the morning session he would hold the sit-stay for 3 minutes and I went 10 feet away from him.
As I stated in our first conversation the trick is correcting him for fence jumping, because we are doing the training at my house. So far he has not tried to jump my fence. He got real interested one time when a squirrel was just on the other side of the fence. He ran up to the fence and put his front paws on the fence. Of course he was corrected. Now I did forget to ask you how he jumps the fence? Does he clear the whole fence, put his front paws on the fence and push off with his back paws or does he climb the fence?
Right now I am continuing to work on walking, sit & sit stay so that they all become more habitual and that he will do them even with distractions. Tomorrow we will also work on down. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Duke’s update: I must admit Duke is wild, he has no self control, no manners and is very busy. He is the AD/HD kid of the dog world. You put him on a leash and he goes into instant pull mode. If I didn’t know any better I would say he is part Husky & kangaroo.
If he isn’t pulling he is trying to jump all over you. Some of his jumping is just from his exuberance and love of people. The other reason is that it is a way to control people. He thinks, “I keep jumping on you, putting my paw around the leash, mouthing you and than you can’t make me listen.” Of course the first thing that I did was to teach him to walk on a loose leash. To be honest when I first started working with him it was amazing. I never knew a dog could go 10 different directions, right, left, behind, in front, up, down and sideways all at once. I have never tamed horses, but it was almost as if I had a bucking bronco at the end of a leash. After about 15 minutes he figured it out and was actually walking by my side. We have had several lessons to work on his jumping. Actually every time he gets out of the crate we have a session or two on jumping, because it is so natural to him to exhibit this behavior. The important part is to remember that even though he is corrected for jumping, when he is calm and not jumping (even if it is for 2 seconds) that he gets a good boy. Often times people only give their dog attention when the dog act up and never give them attention when the dog is calm. Remember negative attention is still attention. By praising when he is calm will teach him what we expect from him.
Duke is an affection starved dog who didn’t know why his owner tied him up outside and from there he went to a kennel to await being adopted. I have only had him for a day and a half and already he is jumping less. He is walking almost perfectly on a leash and will sit.
Duke is a field Labrador Retriever. He was bred to run in a field all day long and is always looking for something to do. He needs a job and if he isn’t given a job. He will become bored, destructive and very nervous and hyper. We have had 2 little training sessions and I already notice a calmness about him. He is actually very intelligent and will learn quickly if given the right guidance.
I was told that he didn’t even know his name and to be honest, since he was never made to respond to his name when called. He learned that his name didn’t mean anything. If you say his name he hesitates for a second and than is off doing something else. I will have a lot of fun training Duke as under all that craziness he is a great dog.
Maui takes Dog Training to the City
Maui’s update: He is doing great! I have taken him many places to work on his listening skills and ability to walk on a loose leash despite distractions.
I must admit when he first started seeing other dogs or a squirrel he got very excited and would try to lung towards them. He went from excitement to frustration. He became frustrated, because he couldn’t go where he wanted to go. This is when he would again try to jump up and grab the leash. Remember “Lets Go” means GO. So I just kept working him around the distractions.
He is now doing great.I took him to the training center while a class was running and he completely ignored the other dogs. Did sit and down stays while the class was walking around him. I have taken him to the city several times and he walks around like he has been doing this for years. On Saturday Karen Biddinger, a wonderful trainer that works with Alternative Canine Training took him to a dog event called Mutt Strutt Pet Expo.
The rest is her commentary of how he did:
Maui and I had a blast at the Mutt Strutt Pet Expo in Dearborn Saturday afternoon. He’s a great dog and everyone kept coming up and complimenting us on how well behaved he was and on how beautiful he was. He was such a good boy and was so friendly with all the people and dogs. Maui made such an impression that he had his picture taken by the crew from the company ‘Blue’ (makers of premium dog food) They put a ‘Blue’ bandana on him for the picture which made him look extremely handsome. The pictures will eventually be displayed on Blue’s website. So keep watching Blue’s website site for his picture! http://www.bluebuff.com/products/dogs/index.shtml.
Maui also had fun running the agility course set up for beginners. He loved it! Went through the tunnels like a champ and jumped through the hoops like he was an old pro. He had so much fun and I truly enjoyed having him with me. I fell in love with him. He had a great day and was exhausted by the time we got home