All posts tagged dog training

Andy’s Babysitter…by Lisa Harmon

It never fails to amaze me how naturally grateful many dogs are! I “doggy sat” a neighbor’s GSD mix, and decided to try and use up the remaining Bravo raw in my freezer. Boy did he chow down, too. He ate almost as much as Kenai used to, roughly 3 pounds per day. And despite missing his “family”, he happily ran around the back yard playing with me which he’s never really done before.

Andy also has (had) a habit of jumping up on people. A clicker and 10 minutes pretty much took care of that, with me anyway. He got clicked and rewarded every time he sat beside, in front, or just near me. If he was about to “forget” and I’d see him ready to jump up, a simple “ah ah” and I’d get a nice pretty sit. Followed of course, by a click and a treat.

For all our fun though, you could tell he missed his own people. He’d sometimes just stand and look down the road for awhile. Then he’d come get the jolly ball and run about with it. Andy’s a mostly outside dog, but the temps were cold a couple nights so I would bring him in from the garage for a warm up hour or two. He would get a comfie, have a snooze, then when he woke up he’d want out again for awhile.

He’s a good fella, that Andy. We had a pretty good time together, but he was off like a shot when he saw “Mom and Dad” pull into their driveway! What did surprise me, was he came back down to my house about 2 hours later, just for a hug and pat. Then he went home again. Maybe it’s between my ears, but I think he wanted to say thank you for the company.

6 Comments

by greatdaneservicedog on November 16, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in clicker training

Posted by greatdaneservicedog on November 16, 2012

http://greatdaneservicedog.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/andys-babysitter-by-lisa-harmon/

Choice and Recognition…by Lisa Harmon

my late Kenai, way back at 10 wks old

Many of us who’ve trained a dog have come to really understand the principle of cause and effect: the more we reward a pup for something, the more they do it. Many have also learned the more opportunities you find to reward a pup, the more enjoyable your time together is.

It’s why I like clicker training–the person gets trained to look for things to reward, rather than just things to correct. Sure, there’s always something that needs some corrective attention, like teaching a pup to “go” outside or not to chew the furniture.

But even those times present the chance to reward when they do “go” outside and ignore their chewing post you call a table leg. The more your pup is rewarded for choosing a behavior on their own that is “right”, the more they realize they have a choice and can choose well. Confidence soars!

Clicker training teaches dogs they aren’t entirely at the mercy of whatever impulse or event happens. It’s all about choice and positive recognition. Somehow, that understanding of cause and effect gets “lost in translation” when it comes to how we treat ourselves and other people.

The more you take note of and give weight to the positive in yourself and your life, the more confident you become. You can “positive train” yourself, too, if you are willing and consistent. This can really be hard to do when you’re used to being hard on yourself. It’s worth the effort.

One of the things I’ve had to learn to do, and re-learn to do many times over, is to alter my internal focus. What are you really giving weight to? How do you talk to yourself or your spouse? Do you take note of more things to correct then things to be proud of?

This isn’t trivial or pollyanna stuff: if I spend my time noticing the negative, and passing up chances to recognize the positive, I will become less confident and constructive. The more we “correct” a dog, the more uncertain of themselves they can become. Great Danes are typically sensitive dogs, and if they can’t seem to do anything that pleases you, anxiety rather than confidence increases. So do behaviors you’ll need to “correct”. It becomes a negative feedback loop.

That reality is equally true for people, and becomes very stark to me when I talk to my mother. She’s suffering from depression, and long term PTSD. When I ask her what she likes about herself, she literally cannot think of one thing. Mom does not give any notice or weight to her triumphs, so the negatives totally overwhelm her. She is anxious, and chronically negative. Cause and effect manifests.

I’ve suggested she keep a little notebook with her, and write down what’s positive in her actions and thoughts. That’s been remarkably hard for her–she finds it difficult to even think of what she does in positive terms, and when she does, it is very quickly forgotten. Now I can point things out for her, like she went to pilates when she didn’t feel like it. Big things, little things, matters not.

But until Mom chooses to begin noticing and giving weight to the positive herself, my pointing out the positive becomes yet another means of dependency and “I can’t for myself”. That endless dependency is exhausting for me, and a reinforcement of the negative for her. When somebody can rapidly turn a positive like encouragement into a negative like neediness, you have to be very cautious and deliberate about how, and how much, you “help”.

The correlation in dog training is when we try to reassure and soothe a fearful reaction by petting and affection. What we’ve inadvertantly done is reward timidity and neediness. A better response is to let them settle down some, then go investigate what rattled them: what made that sound, did you hear that (click/treat)? See that skateboard, sniff it (click/treat).

This teaches a pup that they can rather than they can’t. At first you may have to take the lead, but when they begin to do this on their own, you’ve laid the groundwork for a dog that can cope and overcome! The pup’s discovering they can figure out what that was. They can touch it, and move it, and even play with it themselves.

They can move away if they need to, but they can also move towards “it” with curiosity after the initial fright. They can lose their fear, be empowered, and be rewarded. They can turn a negative into a positive, and with consistency in rewarding, they begin to make that response a habit. It changes how they think and feel.

I came across this pic on facebook, and taking this advice to heart and putting it in practice is tremendously powerful. You have a choice for positive or negative, every moment of the day. That choice of positive or negative comes with every feeling that arises, every thought that you have, every interaction you’re a part of. Choose wisely…

Aggressiveness in Dog Owners…by Lisa Harmon

It seems there’s a huge fight about crate training these days. Some seem to think it’s cruel and done just to temporarily “get rid of” a dog when the owner feels lazy. Huh? First it’s the “food fights” people get in an uproar about, then it’s the choice of leash or training equipment that sets off WW3. Now it’s crates?

It’s amazing to me how wild-eyed hateful dog people can get. Really. If it was our dogs fighting about food or territory, we’d be all over the problem; not to worsen it, but solve it and re-establish a respectful, harmonious relationship. Right? But for some reason we seem to think it’s okay for dog owners to be aggressive to each other, to snarl and bite at each other.

So here’s my thoughts: there is more than one “right” way to raise a child, cook a turkey, treat an injury, and feed a dog. So the heck what if someone chooses a food that has grains in it or decides to feed raw. What gives you or me any right to jump them for it? What difference does it make to me what you feed or what you do with your dog when you have to leave them alone?

One of the things I’ve discovered having service dogs, and I hear it all the time from other SD owners, is that humans seem to think dogs are public property. Some folks go so far as to get miffed and fussy if they aren’t allowed to pet your service dog. It seems they also get miffed if they aren’t allowed to tell you what to feed and how to train your dog. I will try to tell you why a food or training technique is potentially unsafe, but it’s not my right to demand you feed a specific diet or I’ll take a chunk outta ya.

As for crate training, the complaints against it run along the lines of “it’s not comforting, it’s prison”, or “they develop behavior problems from the un-enriched environment”, or the “owner is too selfish”. All of those have the underlying assumption that the dog is left in a crate for extended periods. And another assumption that I totally reject is that the owner who crates doesn’t ever provide an enriched environment, exercise, and interaction to counter the effects of extended crating.

Are there some people who don’t provide play, exercise, and interaction after uncrating the dog? Sure. There are still people who put their dogs permanently on a chain in the backyard too. There are puppy mills. There are animal abusers without question in the world. Does that mean everyone that doesn’t do what you do is abusing their dog? Of course not.

First, some people work. Not everyone can afford doggie day care or ask their mother in law to keep the dog during the day. Second, a dog that is trained to go in a crate to sleep, to have down time, and to have a little private space is not being punished or imprisoned. Third, some dogs will be destructive if left uncrated when alone, doing potentially life threatening things like eating garbage or medicine.

Someone else’s dog is not yours to dictate about, and we have desperately skewed what is abuse and what isn’t. We humans of late have also greatly exaggerated the importance and expertise of our own opinions in just about everything. So I am hoping that doggie people, all people really (ever talk politics?) just calm down and try to regain a reasonable perspective. And remember that dogs are not public property.

4 Comments

by greatdaneservicedog on August 19, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in puppy training, service dog

Tagged animal abuse, crate training, dog food, dog training, human behavior, service dog

Posted by greatdaneservicedog on August 19, 2012

http://greatdaneservicedog.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/aggressiveness-in-dog-owners-by-lisa-harmon/

Good Advice and Bad Attitudes…by Lisa Harmon

Bigger boy getting a nap!

Levi’s vet check Monday went well: bladder infection’s gone, the ears are cleared up, and no worms. He’s 27.2 pounds now, and has had his first Heartguard dose!

He met several nice people in the lobby, and liked getting the attention. And my nephew came over to do his laundry again. No barks and fusses this time! A tad of submissive peeing, but not much. He couldn’t get enough petting, nor give enough kisses.

We worked on some off leash “come” in the back yard, and hooray he did great! Levi’s always been pretty good about it naturally, but I need to be more consistent about clicking and rewarding him for coming whether I call him or not. That would cement the habit alot better.

The xpen is working–he only had to be put in it for the growly/bite n bleed once Monday night. I did put him in it two other times, before he got really frustrated in hopes that 15 or 20 seconds would pre-empt an outburst from him. Most of the time now I only have to rattle the expen to remind him, and I can actually see him deciding if the grab and tear it up is worth it.

I’m glad something is going to help actually stop it, and since I still haven’t gotten the tether I ordered priority shipping last week, it’s going back. I was starting to feel “WTHeck”, am I defective or something, can’t stop this behavior?! I KNOW about raising puppies, having plenty of experience.

Which brings me to a very important point: trainers and people whose blanket response is to say the problem is always the person, and never the dog. The “any dog can be trained but you’re an idiot” kind of people.

We’ve all encountered them, so superior and dismissive. They do way more harm than good, because the owner feels to foolish to keep asking around for a solution that works for them.

I want to remind such trainers that even THEY own or encounter client dogs THEY can’t always improve. If they haven’t yet, they will.

I was lucky to have gotten good advice from Laurie Luck at Smart Dog University, and a few other people. But the majority of responses I got when I asked were kind of snotty and condescending. People skills are just as important to a dog trainer as doggie skills.

Now I’m no novice when it comes to puppies, so I know what’s normal and what isn’t, and I know how to deal with most all the usual “puppy stuff”, but way too many people responded to me like I’m an idiot or a bad owner.

So if you encounter these folks, before you give up and live with a problem, or worse yet give up on the dog…remember a dog’s behavior isn’t personal. They aren’t trying to distress you, nor is it always your fault.

You may have to make a few changes in how you interact with your dog, but that’s okay. We all need to learn and grow. If one technique doesn’t work for you after a reasonable period, try another. I’m always surprised with how negative and judgemental a “positive” trainer can be with humans.

Tell the rigid “my way only” and “I’m better than you” folks to take a hike. Odds are, they’ve not yet had a dog they couldn’t deal with yet, which believe me, can humble a person pretty fast. A trainer like Laurie is amazing, and sadly, outnumbered.

1 Comment

by greatdaneservicedog on June 26, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in clicker training, Levi, new puppy, puppy training

Tagged crate training, dog training, great dane growth, obedience training, puppy behavior, puppy socialization, veterinary care

Posted by greatdaneservicedog on June 26, 2012

http://greatdaneservicedog.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/good-advice-and-bad-attitudes-by-lisa-harmon/

Hear That Games for SDit

The “hear that” games for a 2-3 month old puppy were about recognizing what object makes what sound. Alot of sounds service dogs alert and respond to are 1–beeping (coffee pots, watches, alarm clocks), 2–ringing (phones, doorbells, cooking timers), and 3–human made noises (dropped items, handler’s name called).

There are other alerts as well; to vehicles so a person doesn’t get hit by the car they didn’t see or hear, a pan on the stove forgotten about, bikes coming too close from behind, the bathtub faucet left on by a distracted handler.

The beeps, rings, and human voice alerts are what I focus on for youngsters. The others mentioned are difficult, and often require more complex training.

Noticing certain sounds while ignoring others really has to be taught. I’m not usually too hearing impaired, having an odd mix of hypersensitivity to noise and yet not noticing sounds sometimes. When I need an alert, I really kinda do need it though.

I am able to teach these sound alerts when my ears aren’t full of noise and I’m reasonably un-foggy. If you have consistant hearing difficulty, you’ll likely need a family member or trainer to assist on the alerts for you.

There is many a moving part to a hearing alert and response, which means a thousand things can go sideways on you! So just like other tasks and obedience commands I avoid lumping by practicing the individual “parts” seperately with little pups.

I began by drawing attention to a sound I want to be alerted to, and luring a touch from them. Provide ample and consistant click and reward each time the sound occurs, and they begin to automatically look then touch, anticipating their yummy.

The “find it games” makes yet another appearance, when I ask them to then find what made the sound they’ve alerted me to.

If they know what a coffee pot is and where it’s at on the counter. They might also know the door greeting ritual. It’s just a matter of putting those parts together in a behavior chain.

Now that they can alert to the cooking timer, I will wait on the click and treat and ask them to find first. When they show me the timer, they get their click and considerable rewards. Since I’m putting more than one thing together now, I need to make concentrating easier.

So reduce the distractions around them by beginning this when the house is quiet and bones put away, lessen the distance they have to go to find the source of the sound, and increase the value as well as the amount of their reward. As they become reliable with an alert and find, you can re-introduce distraction and distance.

Here is a document you can download with a fairly large list you can alter to your own needs: HEARING ALERTS

The majority of my problems with hearing are related to the inner ear or forgetfulness.

Can’t count the number of times I forgot there was something in the microwave, or had too much ringing in my ears to notice the coffee maker beeped when it went off.

Rarely do I need to be awakened for an alarm clock or the house alarm (wow those are loud).

But I still want to teach some hearing alerts, especially for when ‘me and he’ are in public. I’m usually concentrating too hard to hear my name called in a busy restaurant. Most of the time I hear the cell phone because I only turn it on when I’m expecting to hear from someone. Sometimes I miss it though.

1 Comment

by greatdaneservicedog on May 18, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in clicker training, puppy training, service dog

Tagged clicker training, disability, dog training, hearing impaired, puppy training, service dog training

Posted by greatdaneservicedog on May 18, 2012

http://greatdaneservicedog.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/hear-that-games-for-sdit/

Beginning Obedience With Clicker Training

I plan on clicker training my next little pup from the start, because I have learned that 1) the clicking sound gets a dog’s attention faster than verbal sounds, 2) always sounds the same unlike a human voice, and 3) it stimulates a large range of acoustic sensors in the dog’s brain.

Big sentence shortened: a clicker is more effective than words. Especially when a behavior you want has more than one step to accomplish it.

I begin teaching very basic ”obedience” commands like sit or down pretty much from our first day together. The reason is that 16 week window where a puppy learns at warp speed, and what they learn sticks with them. Early development periods are vital. I don’t expect a 20 minute wait for it mind you, but to at least know the sit and such.

I’m more interested in rewarding attentiveness, touching, tugging, mouthing, nose poking, and “finding” for a young SD candidate, to make their retrieving, opening, and other tasks easier later on. These are common behaviors of most any puppy, so ”capturing” it is easy. (See Helpful Techniques) to right.

Since that 16 week window goes by so fast, I focus on laying task foundations and socializing more than obedience class. I want to have established the idea at least of finding, opening, picking up, and nose poking before spending too much time on down stays. Probably by 11 or 12 weeks, though, it will be obedience “class” at home or at a training center.

I’ve also decided to use a method of formal obedience training that’s already laid out for me this time, not to mention it’s tried and true. Sue Ailsby has created what she calls “Levels” http://www.sue-eh.ca/page24/page26/page10/ for the “formal” training. In other words, come, sit and down, and stay.

From all I’ve read (and tried) of clicker training, there are 3 iron clad commandments: shape slow, click fast, and reward fast. Sue explains it very simply:

The first is Criteria. Criteria is what you’re expecting from the dog. Poor trainers ask for a lot in one lump…Lumpers look for a complete, perfect behaviour from the beginning. They want to tell a dog to stay, toss a dumbell across the room, tell him to get it, have him bring it back and sit perfectly straight in front of them, hand it to them, then return on command to heel position. That’s a big lump. And if something goes wrong with part of that lump, it’s very difficult to fix it, buried as it is in the middle of the lump.

Great trainers, on the other hand, split behaviours into tiny bits (surprisingly, this is called “splitting”). There’s no problem correcting a poor dumbell pickup if picking it up has been taught in six small stages. Simply identify which of the six stages has the problem and retrain it the way you want it…When you have a problem – or, preferably BEFORE you have a problem – why not write down your training splits for each behaviour, and exactly what your criteria is for each small split?

The second problem area to examine is Rate of Reinforcement. Effective trainers give information to dogs at a rate up to five times faster than less effective trainers. Sophisticated clicker-trained dogs can work for several minutes at a time with no further information from their trainers, but even clicker-savvy dogs will quit if they aren’t getting enough reinforcement.
Beginner dogs don’t have the stamina of their more advanced sisters and are frequently labeled “stubborn” or “bored”. In reality, these dogs just need more information. In the first stages of training, a dog should be getting clicked at LEAST every couple of seconds. A dog that can’t seem to focus on the training can frequently be brought back by ten or twenty treats given, one at a time, as fast as the trainer can hand them over. This is called Rapid-Fire Reinforcement. Sometimes you can almost hear the dog saying “Oh! THIS is more like it! There IS a reason to play this game!”
And finally, to solve a problem, look at your Timing. If you’re getting behaviour that follows or precedes the behaviour you really wanted, you probably aren’t hitting the correct behaviour with the click.

That’s the “basics” for us humans, and I have to get the basics sharp and fast if I want my puppy to, right? What doesn’t usually get mentioned is the human’s attitude. It has to be fun for us too. We have to enjoy it, or our attitude rubs off on the pup. So if I’m feeling “driven”, “pressured”, “irritable”…well, what would be the point of making a puppy feel pressured?

This is supposed to be fun, for you and your puppy, or “working” later will be drudgery to them and you too. Sit back and be amazed at how fast and how uniquely your little pup uses that brain of theirs!

5 Comments

by greatdaneservicedog on March 11, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in clicker training, Great Danes, puppy training, service dog

Tagged clicker training, dog training, obedience training, puppy training, service dog training

Posted by greatdaneservicedog on March 11, 2012

http://greatdaneservicedog.wordpress.com/2012/03/11/beginning-obedience-with-clicker-training/

Selecting Just The Right Pup

I am afflicted with incurable Dane love, this I know. So a future puppy I would pick to owner/train as my next service dog would naturally be a Great Dane. Aside from a life long love affair with the breed, they also have the size and physical strength for what I need in an SD.

I won’t say I’m fat (I am), I’ll just call it “well insulated”!

I began to formulate a guideline for myself, for choosing a future Great Dane service dog in the last post. The place I started was knowing 1) what I would need from an SD, 2) what I would want but could do without from an SD, and 3) how breeders can give a puppy a head start before they are 8 wks old and coming home with me.

This post is the next step: selecting the puppy that is just right for what I will be asking of them. When I go to pick a puppy, I will be looking for is first and formost a natural attentiveness. Other vital criteria are curiosity, tenacity, calmness, and quickness to learn. Most all puppies have that, but I’m looking for those things in near raucus abundance.

Puppies change, going through stages of development just like humans do. So a puppy will not be the same “person” when they are an adult. Just because a puppy can learn a sit or a down fast doesn’t mean they will do it so easily later on.

An 8 wk old puppy hasn’t been “trained” yet, so what is most visible about them is their innate nature.That is why when I look at a puppy, I am watching for inborn habits, the deeper personality traits that will later result in a behavior that I have “trained”.

The next posts will be how to build, encourage, and shape each of these traits in a new puppy once they are home with me. But they gotta have the tendency to build on, and I have to recognize them in an 8 wk old puppy. As well as “catch” the subtle red flags of a tendency that would make training them harder.

ATTENTIVENESS:

A puppy that would rather play with littermates than hang with me isn’t going to have the innate desire to attend to my needs and wants 24/7, which is an essential part of the work drive of an SD. If the most commonly seen side of a puppy you’re considering is his backside, think again. I spent a huge amount of time trying to build on my late Kenai’s attentiveness, with limited success. Take it from me, you don’t want to consider a puppy that isn’t a “people person”! The puppy that leaves a good romp with his or her littermates to come see me is the single most important quality I’m looking for. There isn’t much you can’t teach a dog that wants to interact with you.

After all, how do you train a dog that isn’t paying attention? So the puppies in the litter that happily and repeatedly come to me, or follow me, even paw me for attention make the candidate list right away!

CURIOSITY:

Puppies are naturally curious little tots, and that’s exactly what a future service dog needs to have. A willingness to pick up, mouth, swat around, and generally interact with anything in their environment morphs into a dog that will have a big skill set.

Selecting canned veggies at a store, pulling out a pan lid, putting dirty clothes in a washer, or finding a bench in a park without my direction are not typical activities of a companion pet. But a puppy that’s willing to adjust to the taste and texture of metal, willing to get their nose into a cabinet, or plays hide and seek can learn those tasks more easily.

Tugging games later become opening the fridge, or hauling a hamper to the laundry room. They will be inclined to pull up covers to help make a bed, or to open and close doors with a strap. Nosing toys around is where I can start to teach how to turn the lights on or off in a room. Or hitting the automatic door buttons, and even the elevator buttons. A curious puppy enjoys knowing they can affect their environment, and likes to do it.

CALMNESS:

What I don’t want is a super high energy puppy, a nervous and shy puppy, or an easily excited puppy. I have chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), Lyme disease, and fibromyalgia (FMS). The pain and exhaustion of those conditions means I can’t properly exercise or provide continual activity to a very high energy dog.

Nor will I have the energy for the extra socializing a shy pup will require. A sensitive puppy has potential as an anxiety or medical alert dog, but my physical limitations kinda rule out an extra sensitive little one. Most Danes are sensitive to their person’s emotional state anyway, so why go too far in that direction if it makes more work for me?

An easily excited dog will have trouble remaining calm and focused in higher stress environments like shopping malls. Which is precicely where I need them to be calm and focused. I do encourage and reward puppies for being calm and quiet, but again, it’s more work if they’re turning into Scooby on you!

So a confident, chilled out fella is the man for me. A puppy that is happy to lay at my feet when nothing’s going on is what I want. His working life will have long down stays while I eat out, or watch a movie. He will have to enjoy the frequent naps and lay down times I need, too.

One thing I’ve noticed about my past Danes in particular is noise sensitivity, so I watch specifically for startling or lack there of. Socializing helps with that, but I’d like most to start out with a bomb-proof pup.

TENACITY:

Opening a knob handled door is not an easy business for a dog. I don’t necessarily need a dog to, but wouldn’t it be great if they could open a closet door to get the blanket for me? It makes an exellent example for the need of a service dog to be willing to keep at it until they “get-r-done”.

Many SD tasks are what trainers refer to a “complex behavior chains”; in other words, there are many different skills involved in completing a task. For a knob door, they have to use their mouths, tighten their jaws around it, turn their heads far enough for it to release, and pull to open.

Some dogs will naturally put all those steps together. Others will have to be taught and rewarded for each one individually, until they are ready in their own minds to make the chain happen in order. (That’s called shaping, btw).

Like attentiveness, tenacity is an integral part of an SD’s work drive. A certain amount of stubborness is good, at least when it comes to mastering what they want to do.

INTELLIGENCE

I’ve posted in the past about how some breeds learn and understand differently than others. Some by repetition, and some by figuring it out themselves. These are generalizations of course, but overall, a Great Dane tends to happily learn a bit “on their own”.

By that I mean, left to themselves they will make associations, learn habits, and problem solve without your guidance. After all the breed was created to hunt without human assistance. A great book about training a dog with those habits is “When Pigs Fly”.

But having put so much emphasis on choosing a naturally attentive puppy, I should be able to avoid much of the difficulty I had with my late Kenai about changing his attitudes and associations with situations. Once he made up his mind, that was kinda it if ya know what I mean. (Told ya attentiveness is essential!).

So a pup that learns quickly, both on their own and equally well from me is a very good candidate. Even an 8 wk old puppy can learn a sit in just a few tries. Their memory and quickness improves over time but they can learn the basics really fast at that age.

I would like a puppy that is smart enough to problem solve on their own, to initiate or offer an old behavior in a new place or situation. If they need a little direction at first, that’s fine, but a pup with inititive and a willingness to try what worked “over there” is ideal.

To test for that in a new pup, I simply teach a sit with a reward, then move somewhere else to do it again. After maybe 3 sit lessons, I go to another place and look at them, waiting. If they pop a sit, I reward it really big and get myself some soft, fat baby love. (Best part).

****

The next posts will go into more detail, and I’ll be trying to “put together” everything I’ve learned and read over the years now. But this is a big enough order for a little 8 week old!

2 Comments

by greatdaneservicedog on February 22, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in anxiety, Great Danes, puppy training, service dog

Tagged "When Pigs Fly", Choosing a Dog, Chronic fatigue syndrome, clicker training, Dog, dog training, great dane, great dane puppies, Lyme disease, Pet, Puppy, puppy socialization, service dog

Posted by greatdaneservicedog on February 22, 2012

http://greatdaneservicedog.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/selecting-just-the-right-pup/

Dignity Restored…by Lisa Harmon

You won’t see this everyday, Danes in water willingly! From “Lookout Danes” in GA.

I finally got a chance to bring up a frustration of many Dane owners–how do ya get them to swim!! I’ve had one Dane, just one, who liked water enough to get in on his own. It would seem that Danes generally don’t like getting wet.

But swimming is the all around best exercise for a Dane–they can use their muscles but pressure is off their joints. Old Danes, puppies, Danes with joint problems, and even just Danes who’s owners want to keep them fit without risking wear n tear on their loves benefit from water exercise.

Most Danes though would rather turn inside out and walk on their tails than get their feet wet. Kenai’s online buddy, Otis, had left a comment a post or two ago about learning to like water. I’ll just copy it here:

The big exception is ‘feeding the fish’. It’s a communally played game at the dog park to throw pieces of dog cookie into the creek for the dogs to wade out and catch. The original purpose of the game was to lure not-very-water-enthusiastic dogs *ahem, Otis* a little bit deeper in an effort to wash off sand/mud/general nastiness before going back to the car.

Otis was terrible at it at first (most dogs struggle a bit, it is a challenge to find half of a small dog biscuit bobbing in the current before it can zip past, especially if there is competition) but now he runs for the creek and wades eagerly out, stakes out a fishing spot (within his ‘safety zone’), and happily spends long minutes scanning for and scooping up cookie after cookie…

Thankfully it worked for Otis, the “feeding the fish” game. Watching other dogs get “his” treats, maybe? If you have a dog or your dog’s play buddies that likes water, you may have a certain amount of leverage. What’s that phrase, ‘power of the pack’?

Encouraging and rewarding the water games when they are puppies may be the best way to set the habit though. I’ve never had much luck getting my Danes to wade in, but I’ve never actively started working on it when they were tiny, either.

I imagine the puppy water sports intro is the same as anything else you introduce a puppy to: start small, big rewards, lots of fun, short duration. Mind you I have little experience with introducing water, but if you’ll allow me to base my thoughts on basic principles, I’ll have a go at making a plan.

START SMALL

Rather than expecting the pup to paddle in the kiddie pool first thing, or just put them in to sink or swim…introduce water in smaller ways. Get a foot wet in the sink or maybe a bowl. If they don’t seem to notice or care about the sensation, that’s great!

If they do seem to dislike it, swish their foot around in the water and make a happy fuss over it. Let them have the bestest of best treats during and after. You want to create a good association with water strong enough to overcome their resistance.

You could lure a puppy to walk in a puddle with something they really love, like a bone or a super snazzy treat. Let them watch you or their coolest play pal playing around and swimming–if the seem to want to jump in with ya or better yet, get a foot in or two in, give them a great reward but don’t push em.

You want the pup eventually to get in on their own and enjoy it. Once you can get a little nonchalance about the sensation of feet in the water, try getting other body parts wet. Use a dripping hand towel while they’re eating to wet the tail or the tush.

Bit by bit, get your puppy accustomed to being wet without objection.

LOTS OF FUN

Some pups, the more exciting and high energy an activity is the more they like it. For these tots, supply all the excitement they want–toys to pounce on in the kiddie pool, splish splash with you in the puddles. Whatever interests them, go with it.

Other pups, more reticent ones, will have the opposite reaction to the excitement. If your pup is feeling pressured, you need to make it a quieter, more relaxing event. Make getting a little wet here and there part of their brushing time if they enjoy being brushed.

Or have a little ‘baby massage’ while they stand in just enough water to wet their feet. Try to associate anything that relaxes and reassures them with feeling wet. Some puppies who like “Thundershirts” or calming music will be less disturbed about the soaking toes.

SHORT DURATION

The less your puppy likes the water, the shorter the duration and more frequently you should do these things. Puppies have short attention spans, and are easily distracted so they don’t stay in one place very long. But if being wet is just part of their normal day, they will probably get used to it.

If you are able to “sandwich” the quick water work between say, chewing a bone and chasing a ball, they might hardly object at all. Or between eating and napping, where wet will just seem to be part of the relaxing ritual of getting ready for a nap.

MOVING UP TO A SWIM

Bit by bit your pup should grow to like water, and if you’ve gotten wetting them down to be okay, try luring them to get their feet into water on their own. Once you can get them to step into the creek or walk into the lake just a little, you’ve got a foot in the door!

The same principles apply to deeper water–start small, not expecting them to suddenly go in over their heads. Reward any moves they make about going out deeper like they are being crowned king. Let them come out and go in as they choose too, so you don’t set off a flight response if they get spooked.

Use all your resources, like the feed-the-fish game that got Otis to jump in. Take advantage of other dogs they like that like to swim. Use the lawn sprinkler and a game of chase me chase you. Be creative and learn to read your puppy’s signals.

***

Back at the fort…I’ve started the boys on a product called “Total-Zymes” to see if it can improve their digestion. My hope was to get them back on at least some kibble and stop the chronic die-in-the-rears. It’s been more than a week now.

The 1 pill per meal dose with 1/2 cup of kibble and 2 deboned chicken leg quarters seems to have really done the trick. They have normal stools finally. But when I tried 2 pills and a full cup of kibble they started the itching and body odor again, as they did back when they were on pancreatic enzymes.

So I backed down to 1 pill and 1/2 cup again. And gave them a Kandida-plex supplement for a couple days to knock the yeast overgrowth down. The local Ace Hardware had Taste of the Wild kibble which is what I’m starting out with.

Sometime soon I’m going to get a small bag of EVO red meat for them, and see if that improves their coats as it had in the past. Got my fingers crossed, tinkering again with their food!

Kenai’s old game of ‘messin with sasquatch’ has reappeared and reinvented itself. Where once it was the master bath as a venue, it’s now the kitchen in our new house.

Starts off the same though–boy feels the need to complain about something. Then Mom, whose nightie is just barely in the pic but threatened me if I put the rest of her in…

Mom makes faces and funny noises at the Brown Bellyacher. He begins with whar whar and moves on to ah-roo.

The foot’s been known to stomp, too. The tail is always going (wagging mostly to the right means happy). There is the occasional high pitched yip, which gives the opportunity to tell him he barks like a girl…

This then moves along to ‘mockin your manliness’, and my rubbing his tush brings on flamigo puppy two-stepping. All of which intensifies the need to backtalk considerably.

The barks begin. You know, the ones with a shock wave. Dane owners know ’bout that one. That’s how he gets his ab workout.

Pilates for Pups?

Before ya’ve had enough of mockin him, the Golden Grump decides he must restore confidence in his manliness. Let the snitching games begin. Anything he can steal.

Or at least anything he can steal and not get in hot water. Slippers on your toes are the usual target. Hand towels and socks are in peril of death by Dane.

Since re-establishing messin with sasquatch in our new kitchen, Toffee Toots has found the stash of ‘babies’ to be washed.

Thus Boy rescues a toy and trots off like his monarchy has been restored. He doesn’t play for long, but makes the most of the time he does.

A boy can take in silence only so many affronts to his dignity…

BB of course is having kittens in the living room, looking between door and window for the herd of saber toothed tigers gonna get us. He once even peeked in the closet, just in case. Ya never know; they could be hiding in coat pockets.

I’m so glad special K’s rediscovered his fun if noisy game. It’s a blast! What a stinker, the pointy eared half of the Brother’s Grin.

2 Comments

by greatdaneservicedog on June 13, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Kenai

Tagged dog behavior, dog food, dog training, great dane play, Great Danes, puppies, puppies and stress, puppy behavior, puppy play, puppy socialization, puppy training, veterinary care

Posted by greatdaneservicedog on June 13, 2011

http://greatdaneservicedog.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/dignity-restored-by-lisa-harmon/

A Calmer Pup is a Wiser Pup…by Lisa Harmon

you can see BB is feeling pretty good again. His sanctioned crazy puppy time outside…3 yrs

As I’ve been blogging alot about puppies lately, an online poll about what Dane owners expect from their dogs and a search question about calming a high energy pup got me thinkin. Some pups are naturally calm, some are naturally higher energy. I have one of each.

Considering their size, you don’t want a hyper Dane anymore than you’d want an aggressive Dane; either can hurt you. If 150+ pounds spins in circles like a spazzed out terrier, it’s Marmaduke time! Furniture, people, kids, groceries, clean laundry, all go flying in every direction. It’s only funny in the movies.

All dogs are excited to see you when you come home from work; they’ve been alone or at least without you all day. You and I both are probably just as likely to happy to see them as they are to see us. Even more likely that you’re excited if it’s that adorable puppy you got a couple weeks ago on the other side of the door.

But here’s a word of warning: if you respond to their excitement with your own, and show lots of affection while they bounce around and twirl…well, you’ve just reinforced an emotional response you may regret when the butt’s three solid feet from the head.

A better response, especially if your pup is quick to excite and hard to chill out? Ignore them. Ooooo, yeah. Hard. Sound cold and uncaring?

Our typical human inclination is first outta the gate with affection, which is not natural in the doggie world. Excitable dogs often find themselves avoided or even snapped at. Not recognizing this greeting ritual in particular is an underlying reason so many dog owners are surprised that their “friendly” dog gets it’s furry rump in a big rumpus at the dog park.

The dog world has rules, you see, certain standards of acceptable same as ours. If you do like a dog would and wait calmly for kisses and cuddles until your cutie pie pups has relaxed, you’ve just taught him or her two of the best doggie-life skills: to relax themselves and self control!

Anytime you reward calmness or calming themselves down, you reinforce the idea that he’s allowed for sure to be happy but not outta control wild. He or she doesn’t get what they want, your affection, until they are calmer about the whole affiar. Not only does your furniture survive their adulthood, they don’t get in trouble with canine buddies later.

Personally I insist on calmness in my big guys. Not that they don’t have opportunities to act like a wild child. It’s just that zoomies and crazies happen outside in the yard when the toddlers aren’t around kinda thing. They can burn off steam and have to really, but not whenever the impulse hits them is all.

If you’ve got a really wired pup, here’s a few tips on teaching them to be calmer:

sufficient exercise–not just brainless pacing along the fence for an hour, though. Some dogs need an energy drain before the exercise, so a treadmill or something along those lines might be a warm up to their real exercise. The exercise you’re after is interactive play with you, like a game of fetch or find the toy, followed by a walk around the neighborhood. The best exercise involves and tires their brains as well as their bodies.
training and games that teach self-control–once getting tired from exercise, use their play time to practice simple wait or stay commands, leave it games, look at me clicker training and the like. Sort of like a cool down period! Gradually increase the time they wait, and increase the frequency you wait for relaxation in their bodies to take hold. A dog that waits long enough (if the wait is gradually lengthened) will begin to lay down, to sit on the side of their rumps and the like rather than just break the stay.
be strict with yourself about NOT reinforcing hyperness–the door greeting already talked about is a good example. Not tossing them a pacifier-bone to chew if they’re running like a banshee up and down the hall with company at the dinner table is another. Refuse to feed them if they are all over the kitchen and underfoot while you get their breakfast ready. Instead, teach them the wait you’ve worked on until the bowl is set down.
ask everyone the dog meets to please ignore them until they are sitting or standing quietly, be they strangers at the pet store or your sister in law. What’s the point of trying to teach them to be calm if your Aunt teaches them that hyper puppy gets more attention?
reward any, ANY, calmness. Reward when they curl up on their bed for a nap, reward if they are laying quietly at your feet, reward if they sit and wait for their new toy, reward even just looking out the window if they don’t bounce up and down barking like a herd of water buffalo is coming.

Thinking to yourself “my pup would burst into flames before he waited quietly?” Don’t think you have to wait until your spazzy darling is half zombie to reward them; any self-imposed reduction in the craziness level they started with needs to be recognized and rewarded. Over the course of a week or two you might wait it out and see if they can ratchet down even more before you reward. Then over another week or two, wait for more calmness.

Another big influence on how hyper or how calm your dog becomes is you. Check your voice–is the pitch higher than if you were talking about personal finance? Check your body–are you tense or have your hands going? Check your emotions–are you as relaxed as you want your pup to be, or are you frustrated?

Is it worth all this effort when you could just put them outside and leave them? YEAH! First you get a companion you wouldn’t have if they were banished to the back yard (never do that to a Dane–they go bonkers from boredom and loneliness). Second, the aforementioned furniture will not perish.

But mostly because a calmer pup is a wiser pup. If they aren’t overly excited, they are able to actually notice something besides their own feelings. They notice body language, they pick up on environmental cues. They can actually learn and obey. If they run out in the street for not listening to you…yeah. It’s worth the effort to calm your overgrown lap Dane.

Both of you will be happier, safer, and better off…

Brown-er Boy…by Lisa Harmon

Guard puppy Kenai, 3 yrs

My golden grizzly is holding up his end of the gardening; making sure no critters take us by surprise. You never know about them bunnies. He like me is tanning as he’s gotten older.

The thinner haired places are darkening with all the sun exposure we get gardening together. Check out the ears, and the sergeant’s stripes on his front legs!

Each morning that the legs and hands are in good enough shape me and Brown head for the veggie patch. Or should I call him Brown-er? Personally, I’ve gone 5 shades darker in make up. He’d have a fit of indignance if I put lipstick on him…

We’ve found another Dane SD on facebook! http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=100001256992349 Splash is a hard workin fella, and a gem of a boy. Handsome too.

BB’s infection is greatly improved, but he’s not quite back to pre-chicken leg nightmare shape. The antibiotics are giving him some unpleasant die in the rears, poor kiddo. And a fungal ear infection has flared up. So it’s “pretty ears” time.

Both boys were left at home in the AC when Mom and I went to buy appliances for the kitchen. I almost felt guilty about the cost, but I’m a serious cooking gal. 10 pounds of chicken legs a day for the oven, pastas to boil, bread to bake, eggs to fry…

The kitchen/living room area can’t seem to stay cool in our new house. The bedrooms are like 5 degrees or more cooler. So I’ve been trying to roast the chicken early or at night, and use the new grill for lunch and supper.

Sunday we had bbq bacon cheeseburgers on that lovely new grill. I’ve really gotten into it, mostly because I haven’t mastered this charcoal thing. The burned potatoes being a recent example. The burgers were killer though!

It’s too hot on the deck when I’m grilling in the afternoons for Brown-er, so he just walks the fence like a four legged sentry. Peeing here and there of course. Boy thing. I put him inside when he starts to pant though. I’ve had all the bloating and belly problems I want for a goodly while, thank you.

One thing I do miss, or at least miss for Kenai, is a nice big patch of tall grass for him plow through and peek at you from. He enjoyed his “ambush puppy” games. I guess the duration of outside time he gets now makes for a fair trade off.

***

I’ve submitted a short article about a training technique called ‘capturing’ to http://danetrainer.wordpress.com/. I’ve written about it on the training pages to the right over there, but it seems to me that it’s the best technique out there.

Capturing is both very simple and supremely natural. The short definition is recognizing and rewarding a behavior you want from the dog that they do on their own. No commands, no deliberate cues, just seeing something the dog does naturally and reinforcing it with a reward.

Anything from as basic as rewarding a dog for laying down on their bed when you’re busy, to as important as setting the habit of tugging in a puppy that will someday open doors for the disabled can be created with capturing.

One of the two things that makes this a fantastic training skill is how little the affair requires of you–all you do is reward what the dog already does. Puppies play tug and follow you, dogs lay down and carry their toys. You simply notice and give a treat or “good boy”.

The other great thing about capturing is it lets the dog know when they do something right. Rather than watching for an uh-oh to correct, you are looking for a good to reward. Most every dog wants to please, and all creatures need positive affirmation.

There are other important things a pup learns indirectly this way, like you are the dispenser of goodies, doing what you want gets them what they want, and establishing you as the person to look to for what to do. I like most of all how simple and a natural way to learn it is.

Now if that little pup has a big job in his future, capturing will definitely create a life long willingness to work for you. The younger you start the better. But have both an idea of what you want the dog to do, and what foundations they must have to accomplish it.

Working dogs need a work drive, obviously. So you want to encourage any, ANY, attentiveness they pay you. The more often and more consistantly you reward them for looking at you, following you, coming to you the better.

If you want a pup to become a service dog, you gear towards other actions in addition, like the tug to open something. Pawing things is good if your dog will need to turn on a light switch, or hit the button to open a door. Or noticing a sound if you want a hearing dog.

Perhaps tunneling through your laundry would be the thing to reward for a future in agility. Sniffing out their favorite bone for a search and rescue career. A little thought about what they will do can give you endless opportunities for capturing.

If all you want is a well behaved companion, pretty much all you need to raise one is capturing. Getting them used to their feet or ears messed with at the vet is as simple as frequently touching their parts and rewarding for their puppy tolerance.

All puppies, exhuberant energy or not, will eventually lay down for a snooze. Reward the laying down, and later you can put a down command to what they’ve already learned is good to do. Most all puppies will follow you around, which is what you want when later working on a leashed walk.

For lack of a better word, capturing is “training” but really it’s not. It’s nothing more than the natural way pups learn. You’re becoming friends, figuring out how to have a happy relationship with each other. Just being buddies.

Dogs are masterful figure-outers of what you want, without any formal commands or practice times! Believe me, however much you pay attention to them, they pay more attention to you.

They use their nose, their eyes, their sense of touch, just everything all the time to learn what you do and want and feel. Their capacity for awareness is absolutely astonishing. They can pick up on your mental and emotional intentions before you actually do anything.

On the same principle of frowning displeasure alone can make a pup back off from the trash (who hasn’t felt the unhappy mom vibe?), you can almost create opportunities to capture good behavior with mere emotion. How? It’s easier than you might think.

Dogs can tell you’re going to get up from the firing of your nerves in preparation before your muscles actually move. So if you are going to have an SD to help you get up without falling, reward that pup for popping up before you.

Dogs notice the change in our emotions right away from smelling brain chemicals like adrenaline or the tensing of our muscles. So the pup that comes up and nudges you when you get tense would make a great anxiety alert dog or seizure alert dog if you reward them.

When you relax, the dog will sense the change and relax. Reward that, and later you can put a word to it and get them to do it on command. That way the postman will become a reason to chill rather than go off.

This all may seem like getting lost in the weeds, but the subtleness of a human-dog relationship is a beautiful interactive reality. The more you pay attention to your dog, the more of that amazing you see. And the more aware of yourself you become.

2 Comments

by greatdaneservicedog on June 6, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Kenai

Tagged anxiety, chronic fatigue, clicker training, disability, dog behavior, dog training, gardening, great dane exercise, grilling, puppies, puppy play, puppy training, service dog training, veterinary care, working dogs

Posted by greatdaneservicedog on June 6, 2011

http://greatdaneservicedog.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/brown-er-boy-by-lisa-harmon/

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lisa harmon
Having become disabled in my 30's, I began a new and unexepected life journey, chronicled on a blog. The need for tenacity, maintaining a stubbornly positive outlook on life, and the determination to focus on what I can do, have been the most important lessons disability has taught me.
I decided that training my own Great Danes to be my assistance dogs was one way I could have a fuller, more independent life. The experience has taught me more about life, love, and respect than any other endeavor of my life. There has been amazing triumphs, and deep sorrows but I wouldn't trade one moment of it!
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All posts tagged dog training

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I finally got a chance to bring up a frustration of many Dane owners–how do ya get them to swim!! I’ve had one Dane, just one, who liked water enough to get in on his own. It would seem that Danes generally don’t like getting wet.

But swimming is the all around best exercise for a Dane–they can use their muscles but pressure is off their joints. Old Danes, puppies, Danes with joint problems, and even just Danes who’s owners want to keep them fit without risking wear n tear on their loves benefit from water exercise.

Most Danes though would rather turn inside out and walk on their tails than get their feet wet. Kenai’s online buddy, Otis, had left a comment a post or two ago about learning to like water. I’ll just copy it here:

Thankfully it worked for Otis, the “feeding the fish” game. Watching other dogs get “his” treats, maybe? If you have a dog or your dog’s play buddies that likes water, you may have a certain amount of leverage. What’s that phrase, ‘power of the pack’?

Encouraging and rewarding the water games when they are puppies may be the best way to set the habit though. I’ve never had much luck getting my Danes to wade in, but I’ve never actively started working on it when they were tiny, either.

START SMALL

Rather than expecting the pup to paddle in the kiddie pool first thing, or just put them in to sink or swim…introduce water in smaller ways. Get a foot wet in the sink or maybe a bowl. If they don’t seem to notice or care about the sensation, that’s great!

If they do seem to dislike it, swish their foot around in the water and make a happy fuss over it. Let them have the bestest of best treats during and after. You want to create a good association with water strong enough to overcome their resistance.

You want the pup eventually to get in on their own and enjoy it. Once you can get a little nonchalance about the sensation of feet in the water, try getting other body parts wet. Use a dripping hand towel while they’re eating to wet the tail or the tush.

Bit by bit, get your puppy accustomed to being wet without objection.

LOTS OF FUN

Some pups, the more exciting and high energy an activity is the more they like it. For these tots, supply all the excitement they want–toys to pounce on in the kiddie pool, splish splash with you in the puddles. Whatever interests them, go with it.

Other pups, more reticent ones, will have the opposite reaction to the excitement. If your pup is feeling pressured, you need to make it a quieter, more relaxing event. Make getting a little wet here and there part of their brushing time if they enjoy being brushed.

Or have a little ‘baby massage’ while they stand in just enough water to wet their feet. Try to associate anything that relaxes and reassures them with feeling wet. Some puppies who like “Thundershirts” or calming music will be less disturbed about the soaking toes.

SHORT DURATION

If you are able to “sandwich” the quick water work between say, chewing a bone and chasing a ball, they might hardly object at all. Or between eating and napping, where wet will just seem to be part of the relaxing ritual of getting ready for a nap.

MOVING UP TO A SWIM

Bit by bit your pup should grow to like water, and if you’ve gotten wetting them down to be okay, try luring them to get their feet into water on their own. Once you can get them to step into the creek or walk into the lake just a little, you’ve got a foot in the door!

Use all your resources, like the feed-the-fish game that got Otis to jump in. Take advantage of other dogs they like that like to swim. Use the lawn sprinkler and a game of chase me chase you. Be creative and learn to read your puppy’s signals.

***

Back at the fort…I’ve started the boys on a product called “Total-Zymes” to see if it can improve their digestion. My hope was to get them back on at least some kibble and stop the chronic die-in-the-rears. It’s been more than a week now.

So I backed down to 1 pill and 1/2 cup again. And gave them a Kandida-plex supplement for a couple days to knock the yeast overgrowth down. The local Ace Hardware had Taste of the Wild kibble which is what I’m starting out with.

Sometime soon I’m going to get a small bag of EVO red meat for them, and see if that improves their coats as it had in the past. Got my fingers crossed, tinkering again with their food!

Kenai’s old game of ‘messin with sasquatch’ has reappeared and reinvented itself. Where once it was the master bath as a venue, it’s now the kitchen in our new house.

Starts off the same though–boy feels the need to complain about something. Then Mom, whose nightie is just barely in the pic but threatened me if I put the rest of her in…

Mom makes faces and funny noises at the Brown Bellyacher. He begins with whar whar and moves on to ah-roo.

The foot’s been known to stomp, too. The tail is always going (wagging mostly to the right means happy). There is the occasional high pitched yip, which gives the opportunity to tell him he barks like a girl…

This then moves along to ‘mockin your manliness’, and my rubbing his tush brings on flamigo puppy two-stepping. All of which intensifies the need to backtalk considerably.

The barks begin. You know, the ones with a shock wave. Dane owners know ’bout that one. That’s how he gets his ab workout.

Pilates for Pups?

Before ya’ve had enough of mockin him, the Golden Grump decides he must restore confidence in his manliness. Let the snitching games begin. Anything he can steal.

Or at least anything he can steal and not get in hot water. Slippers on your toes are the usual target. Hand towels and socks are in peril of death by Dane.

Since re-establishing messin with sasquatch in our new kitchen, Toffee Toots has found the stash of ‘babies’ to be washed.

Thus Boy rescues a toy and trots off like his monarchy has been restored. He doesn’t play for long, but makes the most of the time he does.

A boy can take in silence only so many affronts to his dignity…

BB of course is having kittens in the living room, looking between door and window for the herd of saber toothed tigers gonna get us. He once even peeked in the closet, just in case. Ya never know; they could be hiding in coat pockets.

I’m so glad special K’s rediscovered his fun if noisy game. It’s a blast! What a stinker, the pointy eared half of the Brother’s Grin.

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you can see BB is feeling pretty good again. His sanctioned crazy puppy time outside…3 yrs

As I’ve been blogging alot about puppies lately, an online poll about what Dane owners expect from their dogs and a search question about calming a high energy pup got me thinkin. Some pups are naturally calm, some are naturally higher energy. I have one of each.

But here’s a word of warning: if you respond to their excitement with your own, and show lots of affection while they bounce around and twirl…well, you’ve just reinforced an emotional response you may regret when the butt’s three solid feet from the head.

A better response, especially if your pup is quick to excite and hard to chill out? Ignore them. Ooooo, yeah. Hard. Sound cold and uncaring?

The dog world has rules, you see, certain standards of acceptable same as ours. If you do like a dog would and wait calmly for kisses and cuddles until your cutie pie pups has relaxed, you’ve just taught him or her two of the best doggie-life skills: to relax themselves and self control!

If you’ve got a really wired pup, here’s a few tips on teaching them to be calmer:

ask everyone the dog meets to please ignore them until they are sitting or standing quietly, be they strangers at the pet store or your sister in law. What’s the point of trying to teach them to be calm if your Aunt teaches them that hyper puppy gets more attention?

reward any, ANY, calmness. Reward when they curl up on their bed for a nap, reward if they are laying quietly at your feet, reward if they sit and wait for their new toy, reward even just looking out the window if they don’t bounce up and down barking like a herd of water buffalo is coming.

Is it worth all this effort when you could just put them outside and leave them? YEAH! First you get a companion you wouldn’t have if they were banished to the back yard (never do that to a Dane–they go bonkers from boredom and loneliness). Second, the aforementioned furniture will not perish.

Both of you will be happier, safer, and better off…

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My golden grizzly is holding up his end of the gardening; making sure no critters take us by surprise. You never know about them bunnies. He like me is tanning as he’s gotten older.

The thinner haired places are darkening with all the sun exposure we get gardening together. Check out the ears, and the sergeant’s stripes on his front legs!

Each morning that the legs and hands are in good enough shape me and Brown head for the veggie patch. Or should I call him Brown-er? Personally, I’ve gone 5 shades darker in make up. He’d have a fit of indignance if I put lipstick on him…

We’ve found another Dane SD on facebook! http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=100001256992349 Splash is a hard workin fella, and a gem of a boy. Handsome too.

BB’s infection is greatly improved, but he’s not quite back to pre-chicken leg nightmare shape. The antibiotics are giving him some unpleasant die in the rears, poor kiddo. And a fungal ear infection has flared up. So it’s “pretty ears” time.

Both boys were left at home in the AC when Mom and I went to buy appliances for the kitchen. I almost felt guilty about the cost, but I’m a serious cooking gal. 10 pounds of chicken legs a day for the oven, pastas to boil, bread to bake, eggs to fry…

The kitchen/living room area can’t seem to stay cool in our new house. The bedrooms are like 5 degrees or more cooler. So I’ve been trying to roast the chicken early or at night, and use the new grill for lunch and supper.

Sunday we had bbq bacon cheeseburgers on that lovely new grill. I’ve really gotten into it, mostly because I haven’t mastered this charcoal thing. The burned potatoes being a recent example. The burgers were killer though!

One thing I do miss, or at least miss for Kenai, is a nice big patch of tall grass for him plow through and peek at you from. He enjoyed his “ambush puppy” games. I guess the duration of outside time he gets now makes for a fair trade off.

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I’ve submitted a short article about a training technique called ‘capturing’ to http://danetrainer.wordpress.com/. I’ve written about it on the training pages to the right over there, but it seems to me that it’s the best technique out there.

Capturing is both very simple and supremely natural. The short definition is recognizing and rewarding a behavior you want from the dog that they do on their own. No commands, no deliberate cues, just seeing something the dog does naturally and reinforcing it with a reward.

Anything from as basic as rewarding a dog for laying down on their bed when you’re busy, to as important as setting the habit of tugging in a puppy that will someday open doors for the disabled can be created with capturing.

One of the two things that makes this a fantastic training skill is how little the affair requires of you–all you do is reward what the dog already does. Puppies play tug and follow you, dogs lay down and carry their toys. You simply notice and give a treat or “good boy”.