Dog Training Resources

We’ve all seen people do it. And, let’s be honest … We’ve all done it. Repeat commands, hoping it’ll work. Generally, it just erodes the word’s power. So much so that Patricia McConnell included a section subhead in one of the chapters of her books called something like … “Don’t repeat commands. Don’t repeat commands. Don’t repeat commands.” That still cracks me up. But, it is important to know what words we use with our dogs and what we expect them to mean. Enter the Command Log.

Lilly likes to play hide-and-seek. But, she’s a total cheater. She often breaks her stay before she’s released, or she sneaks a peek when we slink off to hide. To prevent this, Tom
often hides while she’s outside. Then, I let her in and say “Where’s daddy?” Lilly loves this game. Perhaps her calling is in tracking.
…

My name is Roxanne, and I hug my dogs … a lot. After learning how much dogs hate hugs, I’ve tried to stop, but it’s very hard. Maybe we should form a support group.

There are two kinds of fear. Fast fear and slow fear. (FYI – slow fear takes a whopping 24 milliseconds.) Either way, Lilly can react faster than I can even process what she’s seen or heard. Author Temple Grandin explains it like this: “The reason fast fear can be so fast is that accuracy is sacrificed for speed. Fast fear gives you a rough draft of reality.”

Fear recovery may change outward behavior, but research shows that real fear is NEVER forgotten. Even reactions trained to “extinction” can come back in a flash.

There is one ball Lilly loves more than any other toy in her sizeable toy basket. I had to teach her to love the ball, but once I did, there was no going back. I now use it to train her to play with new toys or to do agility (at home). Tug on the rope, get the ball as reward, for example. Or, if she’s learning something hard, we’ll take a break and play. However, she gets food rewards when she’s learning something new or when she’s working in public because the ball doesn’t cut it when Lilly feels nervous. She won’t play … at all. And, that fact blows a big hole in the make all learning like play theory (at least now that we’re already in trouble).

I like to think that I’m a good dog-mom. Of course, around here dog care goes well beyond food, water, and shelter. Ongoing behavioral training is another must, especially for Lilly. And, yet, I read something in Temple Grandin’s book, “Animals in Translation,” that stopped me cold.

We teach our dogs “Watch me” for a number of reasons. I, for example, mostly use it to distract Lilly from anything that might upset her. Since her list of scary things is ever growing, we spend a lot of time looking at one another. Truth be told, she passes the better part of every day monitoring my every move and every word. Lilly is the queen of watching me. Yet, there’s a bigger reason we want our dogs to watch us.