Is Your Recall Word Poisoned?

Baily is on a leash I'm not holding it but I'm too afraid to let him run loose without a leash. That is Bailey's friend Casey

This topic came up in Peanut's Really Reliable Recall class and again in Pat Miller's book. I had never heard of this concept before. A poised cue word is a word such as come that your dog has been conditioned to have a negative association for. A common example is the command "come". If when you tell your dog to come you take them away from having fun with their friends or yell at them from running off that cue has been poisoned. You will want to start using a new word such as "here". This way your dog will come with out thinking something bad is going to happen which will make them more likely to come.

Pat Miller - Power of Positive Training

I just started reading Pat Miller's book The Power of Positive Dog Training. Pat worked as a humane officer for twenty years in California and is now CPDT-KA certified dog trainer. This is the first of her books I have read. Her books were recommend to me by one of the trainers at Lollypop when I had Peanut in one of her classes. I had been reading Cesar Millan's books and I wanted to read more about dog training.

Pat's book is a million times better than Cesar's. I love her philosophy of positive training. So far the book is really easy to read and understand. I am so excited to start using these new techniques with Peanut and Bailey.

You can check out Pat's website here: http://www.peaceablepaws.com/index.php

Peanut Graduates Really Reliable Recall Class

Last night Peanut graduated from Really Reliable Recall class at Lollypop Farm! This class was a great opportunity for us to practice and strengthen her recall. This is something I will always need to keep working on with her but the class gave us some great ideas. Last night Peanuts challenge was to come to me when called across a room filled with yummy treats and fun toys. To my surprise she came each time with out stopping for a snack! She even came to me right away while someone was shaking a food bowl full of treats. Now maybe if there was a squirrel in the room as a distraction it would have been a different story.

Almost Ready to Compete

Peanut is learning so quickly during her flybal practices. Last Friday we had another break through! She has been running the jumps and grabbing the ball consistently for a few weeks now. On Friday we added loading the ball into the box. Now when she runs and jumps on the box the tennis ball will release and she will grab it and run over the hurdles again back to me. She did fantastic on her first try! It feels like not long ago I was trying to teach her the swimmers turn on the box. They grow up so fast :)

Here is a video of her practicing the jumps last week. The jumps are her favorite part.

Really Reliable Recall

Peanut started Really Reliable Recall class Tuesday at Lollypop Farm. I wanted to enroll her in this class for her own safety. Peanut loves to run and shes very fast. She has slipped away from me a few times outside and every time she does I am so afraid she is going to get hit by a car. Our first class went well, we practiced outside which is great since it offers lots of distractions for her. We practiced coming in a fenced in area and on a 40 ft. lead. I made sure I had some great treats with me but still sometimes she would rather see what everyone else is doing than come to me. The instructor told us that the key to getting them to come when called is you have to be more fun than what ever they are currently doing. They called this "Having a Party" So I have to be more fun than a squirrel!? That's going to be a challenge. Our homework for the first class is to write down all of the toys and activities our dogs like so that they can be used as distractions in upcoming classes.

Peanut sniffing a donkey after class!

Bailey's Outward Hound Sling

Because of Bailey's bad leg he gets a little tired on walks. If we take really long walks his bad leg will start to drag and the nails will bleed. He wears a little boot to help protect his foot but he loves his Outward Hound dog sling so he can be carried on walks! The sling works fantastic for when we go out to crowded places. Bailey is so small and low to the ground that I worry about people stepping on him. He loves riding in the sling. Usually once hes in the sling he starts to fall asleep. If I carry him in the sling for several hours it will start to hurt my shoulder but I think you would expect that. Outward Hound makes the sling, they have a few other dog products that we have tried and they have worked out well.

June 11th Fast and Furriest

The love of my life Bailey was adopted from Rochester Animal Services. Yet I have never participated in this fundraiser. A few years I meant to go but the weather wasn't great and I backed out. This year I definately want to go on the walk to support the shelter that took care of Bailey before he came to live with me. According to their website they take in about 6,000 animals a year. Unfortuneately about 60% of them are humanely euthanized. Last year this event raised $28,000, the goal for this year is $40,000. Thats a big increase in fundraising goal but I hope they can do it!