Category Archives: Dan

Dan and the Cone

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Dan has a cyst on his toe that he is licking constantly. The vet said he needs to stop licking. A cone is the easiest way to do this, but Dan hasn’t worn a cone since he got neutered as a puppy. He’s 8 now. I haven’t done any training around wearing a cone with him, although it is now high on my list for both Dan and Doug.

Because I want the cone to be as low-stress as possible, I decided to introduce it slowly. Putting it on and leaving it on right away could be unpleasant and might result in all sorts of avoidance-behaviors or escape-behaviors like pawing it, rubbing it on the ground, or hiding when we pick up the cone to put it on. In the meantime, that we have had to use socks to prevent licking (vet-approved) for now. This is not ideal because they don’t stay on well, but Dan is more used to the socks and it seemed like the least intrusive solution while we work on the cone training.

The cone training is going faster than I expected. My best guess is that maybe our muzzle training is similar enough that there’s a bit of generalization there. We began Saturday morning and are still working on it, but I wanted to share some of the training sessions we’ve done so far.

Generally the steps I’ve used have been:

  1. Introduce the cone, yes+treat for sniffing or interacting with it. (Video 1)
  2. Put head into cone voluntarily–> yes+treat and release word “ok” for pulling head back to take it off. (Video 2)
  3. Wear cone while doing known tricks. This is something I learned from Muzzle Up!’s Maureen Backman. That by doing tricks and playing little games while wearing a muzzle, dogs can contact reinforcement for moving while wearing the thing. (Video 3)
  4. Wear cone while doing the “bed” behavior. This one I decided was critical because ideally he will wear the cone while relaxing and just hanging out. I wanted to be sure Dan could easily navigate to his bed, lie down in the cone, and get back up. It was also a way to add a little bit of duration with a stay on the bed. (Video 4)
  5. Yard walk. We did a few laps around the yard together, frequent treats for coming to me when I called, a chance to try munching on grass and sniffing while wearing the cone. This went so well that I left it on for about 30 minutes while we sat in the yard together. (No video, but photos at the bottom).
  6. Sunday afternoon we tried to have him wear the cone while we watched a little TV. After about 15 minutes he began to paw at the cone. So we took it off immediately. This might be the most important part of the training. I want to be sure that Dan does not practice lots of pawing, or pulling the cone off. This is information to me that he wasn’t ready for that situation. This is one of those escape-behaviors that I want to prevent from popping up. It could be the context of the TV room while wearing the cone doesn’t have enough reinforcement behind it yet or maybe the duration was too long or maybe his foot itched more during this time. Licking has been more likely during TV time than during yard time, so that could be playing a role as well. Cone on during TV time is what we will work on next. (No video)

These steps might be different for different dogs – this isn’t meant to be a training plan or formula. I just wanted to share what I’ve done with Dan so you can see how I gradually introduced the cone. So far, he comes up to us, tail wagging, when we pick it up. My goal is for that behavior to be a lasting response to the sight of the cone and for Dan to be able to wear the cone for longer periods of time, comfortably, so that we can get a bit of a break from putting his sock on over and over again.

1. Introduction to the cone, begin head-in

2.  Practicing head in and out of the cone

3.   Tricks with cone on

4.   Practicing “bed” with cone on

Dan on deck with cone
Dan on deck with cone – first time leaving it on for a few minutes
Dan chilling in yard with cone
Dan and Doug, hanging out in the yard. First longer duration for wearing the cone.

A Deep Breath

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Last summer, when Leslie McDevitt’s new Control Unleashed book was released, I worked through the exercises with my dogs.  One of the exercises is teaching your dog to take a deep breath on cue.  You can check out her book for more information on that and other great exercises for any dog (but especially reactive dogs):

Control Unleashed : Reactive to Relaxed

It took me a few weeks as I wasn’t very practiced at observing my dog’s nostrils and breathing.  But we eventually got it.  

As part of this process, I started trying to capture anytime my dogs took deep breaths while resting.  Dan especially, because he sleeps at my feet when I’m at my desk.  If he took a big, heavy sigh, I would calmly say “gooood boy”, almost under my breath.  I didn’t want it to be exciting, instead soothing praise.  

One suggestion for a cue to ask your dog to do the deep breath behavior is you taking a deep breath.  So when I take a deep breath, my dog takes a deep breath.  I liked this idea for a cue, although my cue ended up being touching my nose with one finger. 

However, because I was thinking of my breath being a possible cue, I started taking deep breaths a lot when working on this behavior.  

Over time it has drifted.  I noticed in the last few weeks that when Dan is nearby resting and he takes a deep breath, I take a deep breath too!  I inadvertently trained myself to breath deeply when Dan does!  It’s such a soothing thing and brings a tiny moment of calm into my day each time it happens.

For me, this happened unintentionally, but I would encourage everyone to teach yourself to take a nice deep breath when your dog gives a big sigh.  You might find that your dog can be your own mindfulness coach.  

Dan, relaxing.

The most important item on my desk.

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Treat Jar – A precious item

Okay, maybe I should say the most important after my computer. Without my computer, I wouldn’t be sitting at my desk!

But this treat jar is key. It allows me to be ready to reinforce nice behavior on the fly.

The problem I needed to solve: Dan historically has barked (a lot! and loudly!) at delivery people and sometimes when the neighbors dog barks or if he sees deer outside. It’s stressful for both of us and really disruptive to my work flow, especially if I’m on the phone.

So, I’ve been consistently practicing:
Hear a delivery truck, or dog = come to me for treat jar time.
When I hear the truck or dog, I call him by saying “Dan!” in a calm, happy voice. He comes running! He still might woof once or twice and thats fine with me. A few weeks ago, he started to come when he heard the truck or dog, rather than waiting for me to call him. Even better! And the treat jar made this possible.

Here’s some keys to our success with the treat jar:

Special treats.

I use a kibble or dry treat that is different from his normal food. This makes it more interesting than his typical kibble, but will still last a long time at room temperature.

Experience with the jar.

I stumbled across this when I took Julie Daniels class, “Cookie Jar Games” through Fenzi Dog Sports Academy . You’ll notice my jar has a metal screw top. This is important. It makes a very specific sound when you open it. This sound can function as a “click” – a marker to tell your dog “that’s the behavior I like!”. So if I’m on the phone, I don’t have to talk to my dog in order to mark the behavior of checking in with me, I can just open the jar.

(By the way, Cookie Jar Games is available for sale as a self study course and all $$ goes to a fund for Julie’s current cancer treatment – link is here: https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/4839)

How you give the treats is part of the reinforcer (part of what makes the behavior worth doing).

For Dan, it has been important to toss a few treats into his bed that is next to my desk. It sort of functions as a makeshift snuffle mat, so he can sniff around for the treats. This does three things.

  • It makes the treats more valuable, because there is a fun sniffing around activity that goes with them.
  • It also stretches out the treat experience in time. So if a truck or dog makes several noises across a few minutes, the doesn’t eat the treat and immediately run to the window and bark. He sniffs around for the treats for 15-20 seconds and then I can either toss a few more in the bed, or wait to let him offer another check in, depending on what I am doing and how intense the truck noise/dog barking is.
  • It gives a predictable place for the treats to land. So now when he hears the jar he actually stands between me and the bed. Sometimes he comes in and starts looking in the bed before I’ve gotten the treats there.

This isn’t just for barking, you can use it to reinforce any behavior you like. For example, if your dog is calmly resting in your office space, you can open the jar and place a treat near her nose (calmly). Or if your dog has stolen your underwear out of your closet, you can open the treat jar and trade treats for the underwear. Maybe give one treat to your dog directly for the initial trade, and then playfully toss a few more to add some movement (read: “fun”) into the treat-getting activity.

Finally, you don’t have to stop at one jar. We actually have 4 treat jars in our house. One by each dog’s crate for “going to bed”. One in the kitchen for calling in from outside, or going to mat while we are cooking/cleaning. And one in my office for coming when dogs bark/trucks come.

So, dig through your cupboards, pull out that nice jar you saved for something, someday, load it up and introduce your pup (and yourself) to the joy of the treat jar.

Dan is 4!

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Dan’s 4th Birthday was this month. It is so close to the holidays that I seem to always miss it, but we have been celebrating life together every day so I don’t think he minds.  Here he is doing agility on his birthday week:

 

I do want to continue my annual “Dan’s Goals” tradition. I have been thinking of writing this post for a week or so, making a list in my head of what we have accomplished and what we need to work on. However, I just looked back at last year’s post for the first time today. I have been having this feeling like we hadn’t accomplished many of our goals, but really when looking over the list we have met about half and made progress towards all of them!  This is why it is so good to write this stuff down – progress is easier to see and feel if it is recorded!

Here are my goals from last year and where we stand with each one:

  • Skateboards: We haven’t tackled this one completely, but I was able to call him away from chasing a skateboard at the park and I can get him to stop barking much faster now. I keep saying this is my priority, but obviously it isn’t as we really haven’t spent much time on this one!
  • Barking like mad at UPS/FedEx/Mailman: Dan will now stop this behavior when we ask. Over the last year we have had some random (creepy) people appear on our porch so I have decided that this one is okay with me. I have noticed that if we have a “substitute” mailman, Dan barks much more intensely. He is very good at recognizing friend vs. stranger. He has a different bark for someone he knows, a stranger, and the UPS/FedEx/Mailman.
  • Herding the cat very intently: This had gotten tons better until about a week ago. I believe it is lack of exercise in these dark winter months.
  • Fine-tune our neighborhood walks: I wouldn’t say these are perfect but Dan hardly pulls at all now, we are more connected with each other when walking, and we can actually walk for exercise, not just training purposes now!
  • Obedience commands in novel environments (parks, parking lots, new buildings, new neighborhoods, etc.): We’ve rocked this one. We’ve been to parking lots, Home Depot, PetSmart, the agility barn, random parks, outdoor eating areas (quiet ones). Dan can heel, sit, down, and stay with almost any distraction now.  Yahoo!
  • Practicing his calm behavior near other dogs in novel environments, separate from playing fetch: We’ve worked hard on this one too! Our biggest accomplishment is a very recent one –we’ve been practicing agility at the barn with new dogs that he’s never met and he has been so good!. I am one proud puppy mama.
  • Continue agility foundation skills: Check!  We took two online foundation classes and one canine fitness class, all to prepare for a solid agility foundation.
  • Do agility in some new places – introduce the rest of the equipment (weaves, a-frame, a full tunnel, dog walk, other jumps): Also check…mostly. Still don’t have the weaves down and we still need to perfect our contacts.  But we’ve done agility in two new places and are working up to a third location (and maybe 4th/5th at some local parks).
  • Take a private agility lesson: Not yet.  But, we did do a couple of herding lessons!
  • MAYBE do a group class – we will see how everything else goes: Not yet.  Maybe this year? We are so close to being able to do this!

So, for this year our goal process is going to change a bit. I want to work on things in several categories: Dog encounters, Agility, and New Sports. This year’s goals are as much for Dan as they are for me!

Dog encounters:

  • Agility with at least 10 new, different dogs – not necessarily all at once. Our club has started hosting monthly fun runs so I think we can practice (work up to this) in that setting. This will need to start with just being onsite while a trial/fun run is going on and we can work up to actually running agility.
  • Walking near other (unknown) dogs at 10-15 feet. Currently across the street is about the distance Dan can handle.

Agility:

  • Dan’s biggest weakness in agility right now is his right-hand turns, especially tight turns. I believe this is a problem with his footwork so we need to go back to basics!
  • Weave poles
  • Improved, fine-tuned contacts
  • Add some advanced/international cues to our handling toolbox.
  • Fitness!! Dan and I both need to be in better shape in order to excel in agility. Some ideas I have been tossing around are biking with Dan, practicing sprints, and even possibly taking an online class for human fitness for agility.
  • A private lesson, or two, or 10….

New Sports:

  • Nose Work: I’ve gotten interested in this and thing Dan would enjoy it. I’d like to do more training at home and take a lesson or two with Dan to investigate more.
  • Herding: Possibly continue lessons later in the year.
  • FitPaws: While not a sport, I would like to treat this like it’s own area to work on. I think it is very important and we just need to make it a priority!

The big one: Compete in an agility trial. I can finally see that this might be a possibility this year. We will see where the year takes us .

As Dan’s trainer, my main goals for myself are to improve my physical abilities for agility training and to keep better logs/data on our training and our progress. I have some ideas for both of these and will try to share with you here as I go.

Happy Training!

Laura

52 Weeks – Week 4 – Pull open a door/drawer

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Okay – we are finally back on track with Project 52 Weeks. Dan’s getting better at “hold it” all the time. We ended up using the words “take it” with a “stay” cue for now, because he already understood the “stay”. But later I am going to transition to “hold it” with the meaning of “take” and “stay”. I found that the type of object we practiced with really matters. Soft, small objects (like a tennis ball) are easier for him to hold for longer periods of time. So, we have started with those types of things and will continue to practice holding different textured, weighted, and shaped objects.

The next trick we will work on is “Pull” – this will be pulling on a rope or towel in order to open a drawer or door.

Here are the shaping steps:

  1. Take your rope/towel by itself first – don’t attach to a door yet.
  2. Hold it near your dog and click/treat for any interaction with the object.
  3. Hold it near your dog and click/treat for mouthing or biting the object.
  4. Hold it near your dog and when he bits it, tug slightly and then click/treat.
  5. Now let him be the one to tug on the object to earn a click/treat.
  6. Next attach the rope/towel to a door. Take your dog near the door and hang out. When he pulls a little, click/treat.
  7. Next wait for him to pull increasingly harder to earn a click/treat. Work up to enough strength in the pull to open the door. Drawers are likely to be more difficult, especially if they are full – We are going to start with doors and then try drawers.
  8. When he can open the door/drawer all the way, add the cue “pull” or “open”.

Don’t forget to share your photos on my facebook page!

Week 3 – Update

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Hi All,

If you’re following along you are probably wondering where the week 3 recap is!  Last week I had a pretty bad cold/flu bug and we didn’t get much training time in.  So, Dan and I are repeating week three and still working on “hold it”.

Interestingly, this is turning out to be pretty difficult for Dan.  Getting any amount of duration for holding the item is tricky.  He wants to grab the item at the back of his mouth and toss it around or spit it out immediately.  It’s a little surprising to me because he carries his toys around all the time.  So, our shaping sessions are turning into “micro shaping” sessions.  I am working on clicking only when he grabs the object with the middle of his mouth and in a gently manner.  If he’s snatching it rapidly and sloppily he can’t hold it for very long.

We will keep working and have another update later this week.

Laura

“Hold it” – Week 3 Training Steps

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Okay, in case you need a little help with training this one – here’s the shaping steps I am using.  Dan is pretty good at grabbing things when asked because we’ve practice that in the past so we are focusing on the last few steps involving the build up of duration.

Target Behavior: When I hold an item out and say “Hold it”, Dan will grab it with his mouth and hold on until released.

Shaping Steps:

  1. Choose one item to begin the training with. Ideally it will be something that is easy for your dog to hold in his mouth, perhaps even a toy that he is used to picking up.
  2. Hold the item out and if your dog moves towards it click/treat.
  3. Next wait for an open mouth reach towards the item before you click/treat OR a sniff, lick, nudge if you can’t get the open mouth right away. The idea is that he needs to interact with the item at least a little. (No more than 3-4 interactions that aren’t closely related to grabbing with his mouth.)
  4. You should easily be able to move from open-mouth reach to actually closing his mouth on the object. Click/treat for mouth closing.
  5. Now you’ve got the grabbing part! Next build duration. Wait to click until he has held onto the object for a second or two.
  6. Slowly build up duration a few seconds at a time until you reach your goal. As you build the duration, it can help to sometimes go back and do a shorter duration so that it isn’t too predictable for your dog.
  7. Now add the cue “Hold it. Begin by saying the cue when you present the object. Click/treat for a hold behavior (at least a few seconds)
  8. Finally – repeat with lots of different objects! Sometimes you might have to go all the way back to step one, but other times you might be able to jump right to step 7. It depends on your dog’s history with holding things and the type/texture of object (among many other variables).

Enjoy!

Laura

Week 2 “Clean” – Toys in the Box and Next Trick

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Okay, this week was much easier for us than last week.  The video below is our second training session.  The trick needs fine tuning, but he is starting to really get it.

Next Trick!

For week 3 we are going to work on “hold”.  The goal is for Dan to take and hold an object (a variety of objects will be used) until released.  I am hoping to work up to 30 seconds of duration on this one.  He can sort of  do this trick, but we have never formally worked on it and he only holds the object for a few seconds.

Also, I think I need to change my posting schedule.  It has been difficult to post on Sunday nights, so the final trick and the new goal will be posted on Mondays instead from now on.  An update and shaping plan will be posted on Thursdays.

Don’t forget to post a photo of your dog doing one of the tricks from 52 Weeks to be entered in the October raffle!

Laura

Week 2 – Toy to Box Training Plan

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Okay, here is the training plan for teaching “put a toy in the box”.  I chose the word “clean” for my cue but you can, of course, choose a different word.

Goal: When cued to “clean” Dan will pick up a toy and put it in the box.

Shaping steps:

  1. Position box in front of you between you and your dog. Hold a toy over the box and ask your dog to take the toy. Once he grabs it, even a little, let go and wait for him to drop it. As soon as he lets go, click/treat.
    • Repeat until he is getting it right every time.
  2. Now place the toy next to the box. If he picks the toy up, click/treat
    • Repeat a few times to reinforce picking up the toy from the ground.
  3. Place the toy next to the box. Wait for your dog to pick up the toy and take a step or two toward the box. Click/treat for moving toward the box. To get the treat, your dog will need to let go of the toy J.
    • Repeat a few times to remind your dog that the box is important.
  4. Now, when you place the toy next to the box, wait for your dog to pick the toy up and drop it over the box. Click/treat for dropping it over the box.
    • For the first few repetitions, even if the toy doesn’t go in the box you should click/treat.
    • Then, require that the toy land in the box before your dog can earn a click/treat.
  5. Next add the cue.  As your dog picks up the toy and heads for the box say “clean” then click/treat for dropping it in the box.
  6. Once you have gotten this far, you can begin to place the toy further from the box or in random locations around the box.

Note: From step 3 on, if your dog makes a mistake, take the toy back and put it back in the same place on the floor. For example, if you are working on step 3 and your dog picks the toy up and drops it without moving, simply put the toy back in “start” position. This way, he won’t get in the habit of picking up the toy, dropping it near the box, then picking it up again and dropping it in the box. Instead it will he will learn the smoothly and deliberately pick up the toy and put it in the box on the first try.

“Crossed Paws” and Next Trick!

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It turns out, we picked a tough trick for the first week, at least for Dan.

We are getting very close, but the behavior isn’t quite on cue yet. We will keep working and have it soon.

Here is a photo of Dan practicing with the paw target:

Dan Crossed Paws

I thought for the follow up this week, it would be fun to talk about what challenges we ran into when practicing this trick.  So, here we go.

The first thing we struggled with was the target – Dan’s nose touch behavior is much stronger than his paw touch behavior. So, we had to go back and review the “paw” behavior before we could begin with this trick.

The second challenge was that the place I had to hold the target in him to touch with his paw looked very similar to his cue for “bang”. This was another place where we had to go back and review – “bang” vs. “paw”

Third was getting Dan to lie down in an upright position. We have done TONS of practice on his “relaxed down” where he rolls his hip and tucks one paw. This has helped a lot in situations where he needs to calm down a bit, but in order to perform the “crossed paws” behavior easily, he needs to have his hips square and both front paws out straight. To practice this, I simply worked with him on our ottoman. It was narrow enough that he had to do an upright down rather than a relaxed down or he didn’t fit!

As you can see, Dan’s training history really determined where we had to start. What challenges did you face when teaching this trick?

Don’t forget to share a photo of your trick on my Facebook page for an entry in the October drawing!

Also, it is time to announce the trick for Week #2:

I have been coming up with some themes for tricks and the first one I want to work on is carrying, putting things in, and picking things up.

I am going to start with Putting a Toy in a Basket (Can you see where this one is going? Hopefully we can get to “Dan…pick up your toys!”)