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The Pet Expo at Ag Hall at the Allentown Fairgrounds was a really fun event. There were tons of live animals for the kids to see and touch including pot bellied pigs, rabbits, all kinds of birds, snakes, turtles and other critters. A lot of people brought their own dogs for a fun day out too. There were about 30 rescue dogs there for adoption and most of them were puppies.
I taught some demo classes – one just for puppies and one for basic obedience for all aged dogs. In the puppy class we used some of the rescue dogs and got volunteers from the audience to come handle them. We had a great time and some of the dogs got adopted.
Besides us, the K9 Gym from Colmar, PA was on site doing agility demonstrations. The owner/agility teacher of the gym ended up adopting one of the rescue Aussies that we used in our obedience class.
Also present at the event was Judy Bonos, the newest addition to our training staff. She was a great help at the event. In our next post we’ll tell you more about Judy and her unique skill sets.
Join us at the Allentown Fairgrounds for the Pet Expo on Saturday, July 31st 2010 where Trainer Debi ElChaar will be conducting interactive trial classes that you can join for FREE! Current and prior students are welcome to join for a practice session too.
Puppy Headstart
10:30AM and 3:30PM
For pups 10 weeks to 6 months of age. Debi introduces 4 essential skills for raising and teaching a pup. No more naughty puppy habits! Owners learn how to turn mischief into manageable.
Obedience
12:00PM
For dogs 6 months and older. In our Obedience class Debi covers basic commands and manners, and introduces the skills needed to build better focus and calm down high-energy dogs.
Here’s how to sign up:
Visit Booth 90 by the Main Demo Ring prior to the class you wish to attend. A signed Waiver Form is required to join. You can obtain this form at the entrance of the Pet Expo, or online at www.PAHorseExpos.com.
The Allentown Fairgrounds welcomes all well-behaved pets, but they must be leashed or in a carrier.
Call or visit our store for pricing, schedules, and any questions.
We hope to see you there!
Good manners and understanding human rules are hard for dogs. Your dog might be listen very well at home alone, but not so well when you go out or have company over. That’s why we like to add distractions incrementally. When your dog can perform around a few dogs or mild distractions it’s time to up the ante – but just a little. Let’s use learning to swim as an analogy to our training. First you learn to swim in the shallow end of the pool where the water is calm and you can touch the bottom, then you move to the deep end, you can’t touch the bottom but still calm water, and finally you can give it a try in a lake or ocean. In the ocean you have no control over the environment and yet you can still swim. What we’ve done in this analogy is gradually surrendered control of our environment as skill and awareness have increased. »Continue reading
Always make “come” a positive cue. You want your dog so conditioned to come that he is half way back to you before he even thinks about it.
- Start in the house then in the yard while close to your dog and under minimal distraction. Then move on to more and more distractions and distance from your dog. You may have to start over with step 1 when you change locations.
- Reward most of the time (with treats, toys, car rides, a ground hog hole if he likes to dig at them, something great)
- Don’t bribe or wave the treat around
- If on a leash, try not to tug on it. It could be confusing to the dog. A tug on the leash could also mean don’t do that or hold still.
- Make sure your dog is 80% successful before moving to the next step
- If at any point your dog is not complying you have probably moved too fast or asked too much in your training. Either reduce your distance, eliminate some distractions, or use better rewards.
1. Say your dogs name and immediately pop a treat in his mouth. (10x’s a day for the first few days). He doesn’t have to be doing anything in particular, he’s just getting a treat because you said his name.
2. When your dog is walking or running toward you say his name and give him a treat. (10x’s a day for the first few days)
3. When dog is slightly distracted and you are close by, call him. If he comes, big reward, 5 treats or play a game.
4. When dog is slightly distracted and you are farther away call him.
5. Go to a more distracting area but stay close and try.
6. When your dog gets to you ask for a hand touch or gently grab the collar give a treat and release, “go play”. Why? A couple of reasons: a) your dog will get to you and wait instead of running past you; and the collar grab gets your dog used to being handled by people – the collar grab is also a good thing to practice in case you need to call your dog out of a dangerous situation.
7. At this point you can ask for a sit before you reward. Tell him to go play again, most of the time, so he doesn’t start thinking come means all the fun is over.
Debi
I always ask the handlers in my classes to focus on both on their own actions and the dogs’. That’s because we humans make a lot of mistakes and can unintentionally yank the leash and give the dog the wrong message when either the dog did nothing wrong or if the dog was right. Sometimes we do drills in class that highlight our mistakes; for example, I ask a tricky question like, “Everyone spell the word ‘silk’ out loud.” Then I ask, “What do cows drink?” Most people give a slight jerk and shout out, “milk.” (wrong answer, another reason not to jump the gun) That accidental jerk is definitely perceived by your dog. That’s because dogs are very in tune with our body language and reactions.
Because dogs are so in tune with our body language, they are able to perceive our emotions. That perception can affect your training. About a year ago I had a woman with a supposedly aggressive German Shepperd come in for some private lessons. The dog definitely showed signs of fear aggression and whenever he gave warning signs the handler became tense. Her speech and movements changed and the dog could detect it. The handler’s actions only made a stronger case for his reactivity. It was like she was saying “You’re right, this is a dangerous situation, just look at how nervous I am.” We spent the half the class working on the handler’s ability to be calm, confident, and relaxed. Only then the dog was ready to learn and by the end of our session the dog was noticeably more at ease and was able to execute commands.
What’s the moral of the story? Always be aware of your body language and reactions – try to control them. If you can’t because you’re having a bad day, don’t train that day. To train your dog you need to show him that your are confident and relaxed no matter the environment you’re in or the task your performing. That mentality will instill confidence in your dog and make training a whole lot easier.
-Debi
Housebreaking a puppy or dog of any age requires nearly the same process. Here are a few “Do’s and Dont’s” we talk about in class to help you at home.
DO: Put your dog in the crate if you are mentally or physically absent.
- If you are not watching the puppy, you take your eyes off the puppy (even if for minute) the pup must be in the crate. Make sure you have a crate that is the proper size for your dog.
- This rule greatly aids in housebreaking, but it can also deter other bad habits that might occur when you’re not looking
DO: Take the puppy outside frequently
- As a rule of thumb, puppies can usually hold their bladder 1 hour more than the number of months old. They usually need to go number 2 2 to 4 times a day – try to sync this up with your meal schedule.
- Take the pup out as much as possible for the first week so they really start getting the idea. Going out every hour is a good idea during this period.
- If you have to leave the puppy alone during the day either come home mid-day or ask someone to go over and take him out.
- Take the puppy out first thing in the morning and last thing at night. And give him a chance to walk around and do #1 and #2. Don’t be too rushed. »Continue reading
Some dogs are natural retrievers, but if your dog isn’t and you would like to train a great retrieve for a competition or service dog, there are several ways of training this. I like to start by targeting an object. (See Clicker Lesson #3: Hand Touch). The following is a 6 week plan to start teaching your formal retrieve. »Continue reading
Last night I watched a program on PBS about the Canine Assistant Program called “Through a Dogs Eyes.
All the of the training is positive, based on targeting (see clicker lessons) and relationship building; what we teach in our classes. These service dogs live at “school” for 18 months and are extremely well socialized. If you want to train your dog to do some of the things these service dogs do, you can, it’s really not hard, it just takes time, patience and a step by step plan. You can see the entire show on here: http://video.pbs.org/video/1475527358
Debi
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