| ThePastFewDays |
[Sep. 12th, 2006|09:26 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  frustrated | ] |
Sorry we haven't written yesterday, or at any point today, but, we've been sort of busy... or preoccupied, anyway.
Max is having a hard time with his obedience, but I know that he knows it, because Maria got a perfect obedience session the other day.
Down is not a good word for him, but I think it is because he is just learning all of these commands. I know it's a lot for a dog, especially one who is as old as Max, but I do believe that he can learn it.
We've been incorporating the word "come" and he's doing well with it. He got a bit of offleash time today, and it was good. Counter conditioning works, but he gets dependent on it, so you have to be careful about it. Also, since he is on a medication for his seizures that makes him thirsty, we have taken the liberty of watering his food, and he seems to like it that way. Right now, he's eating half Science Diet, and half neutro. He likes to chew on his balls, and he also likes to chew nylabones. Throwing his tennis ball is something he enjoys, but we've noticed that he doesn't like to share his human, and he doesn't like to have to be cared for by another person, other than his human. He is also learning "quiet," because this morning, I took him out to do his business, and there was another dog barking, and he thought he'd start barking to, at 6:30 in the morning. Well, I put a stop to that--quickly, might I add. I corrected him, and said, "no, quiet." It took a time or two, but he finally got the point, and stopped. Light corrections seem to be best for him, and Kibble is a good incentive to use when trying to teach him something new, or reinforcing something recently learned. I don't know if I have outlined our "training program," as it were, so, I'll do that now.
We personally have guide dogs. These guide dogs are taught basic obedience, along with more complex commands, in order to guide us safely from point A to point B. While Max will never be a guide dog, he should at least have the same basic obedience. All dogs should. It would be like having a child who didn't speak your language living with you, doing anything he wanted, whenever he wanted, and you having no way to communicate properly with him. In order to establish this communication that is necessary for a dog and a handler to live companionably together, without stress on either parts, there needs to be a set of words, or commands, that the dog should be able to recognize, and upon recognition, obey. To establish this communication, and this list of commands, you need to first designate signs for both good and bad behavior. The obvious sign for good behavior are verbal praises like, "good boy/girl," or "good dog," or "good job." So on and so forth. Then there is physical praise, where you will touch the dog in a spot he/she enjoys. For example, Max likes the underside of his chin scratched. So, one way of communicating that he has done something good, would be to combine verbal and physical praise. Sometimes, they are given separately, sometimes together. It all depends on the situation, and the degree of the praise, or the impression you want to make. So, the next sign to establish, would be reprimands. There are verbal and physical reprimands. A verbal reprimand, most of the time, will get the job done, especially if your dog is bonded, or loves to please. Some dogs are born to please, and this is a good trait for a dog to have, but not all possess it.
A verbal reprimand most common, is "no" but there are others that are used. We use "no" on Max, but most times it depends mainly on your tone of voice for reprimands. The other form of reprimand is physical, and it is given by way of a "training collar." This is a choke chain that fits over his head, in the same position as a normal nylon collar, only it can tighten and loosen.
When the leash is clipped onto the "live ring," or the ring that moves in and out of the "dead ring," it can be jerked and released quickly, all in one motion. Jerking and continuing to hold such a position can and probably will hurt a dog, but if you jerk and release, all in the span of about 5 seconds, it is just enough to grab their attention. Much like a swat on a baby's bottom doesn't really hurt them, but they realize that they have done wrong and should not do what they did again. Also, just like babies though, they will do it again, at some point. The key is to be ready for this, and to not let it discourage you, but be consistent and correct for this again, and teach them the proper thing to do instead. So now that you understand what it is to communicate right and wrong, good and bad, the rest of it is farely simple.
You pick something you want to teach your dog, pick a word for it, and then begin to work with the dog on mastering it. So, the process is as follows:
"max, sit."
While giving this command, physically make the dog complete this action.
After you have done this, use some reward, physical as well as verbal, and maybe even a food reward, or, what we call counter conditioning.
Repeat these steps, until your dog begins to understand, and then slowly withdraw the food reward and begin to use only physical and verbal praise.
after some time, your dog will automatically know whenever he hears you use this word, what you want him to do.
So when we teach Max something new, if he does it wrong, or he does something that we dont' like, we correct him with the training collar and say "no."
If he is asked to do something, and e doesn't do it, but we know he knows it because he has shown that he does, by doing it without corrections before, then we will correct him, say "no," and then repeat the command.
The process sounds impossible whenever written down, but in practice, it's not as difficult as it sounds.
This is all for tonight. We will go have a late supper and then the dogs will go out to relieve one more time, and then we wil go to bed.
Take care all, and have a wonderful evening.
Renee and maria |
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