Mochie Goes to School: Week 3

I LOVED LOVED LOVED today's class because it's practically everything that I want Mochie's mama to know. Ugh, I wish I took pictures of Mochie in class. It would make this look much more exciting.

Recall

The most important thing about getting your dog to learn come is to make it the most positive experience ever. That means do not call your dog over for something it doesn't like. For example, cutting its nails, taking a bath, getting its themperature taken... basically things it doesn't like to do. If you do that, then it just associate come with those things. I also learned that if you are at the park and you call your dog to come and then leave, then it will associate that coming with you will mean it is time to leave. We were also taught that if your dog is in a situation where they will not coming to you, it is better to just go up to the dog and get it. Lastly, when calling your dog, you have to make it the greatest thing in the world. Yes you may look dumb practicing it, but it's the way to get your dog excited about coming to you.

We learned a strict version of come and it's can be broken down into two parts. First part is getting the dog to come and the second part is having the dog sit and grabbing its collar/harness. The second part is important because the dog has to get used to having its collar grabbed so it doesn't run away from you when you call it and you have to grab its collar in an emergency situation.
Mochie got to the be example dog for come. Yay! It was her first time to be the example dog and I was excited for her. Kristen (our trainer) let Mochie sniff around a bit and let her do her own thing. She called Mochie and made kissy noises and lured Mochie towards her while she backed up. Mochie looked at her and ran towards her. She praised Mochie and gave her a treat. Next, Mochie went back to sniffing and Kristen tried to get her to sit. Mochie took awhile, but she sat. So Mochie got her 2nd treat even though it took awhile. Yay!

Practicing this is so much fun! I tried to do what Kristen did, and it worked! I let Mochie kinda sniff around and let her explore the floor. I then called her and the moment that she looked at me I said good girl and she came running towards me! =D I gave her her treat and praised her. Then I asked her to sit, gave her treat and grabbed her harness. I even showed Anthony later that night and Mochie showed her that she knew what to do.
 
Stay w/ Distance
Last week, we worked on Stay w/ Duration. This week we added another D - Distance. With all dog training it is important to take baby steps. Which means don't ask your dog to stay 1 foot away from you and then expect them to stay 20 feet away from you. It's not going to work because they don't generalize well. For now, we are working on a 1 foot stay. So we ask her to stay 1 foot away from us and when we step back towards her, we make sure she stays. She kinda gets it, I kinda get it...it's a work in progress. I also learned that Mochie is much more successful at down-stay rather than sit-stay. So for now, we are gonna work on her down-stays. Always have to remember to set her up for success.

Loose Leash Walking
I am not really a religious person, but THANK THE LORD! We have FINALLY come to Loose Leash Walking (LLW). What is LLW? It's where your dog walks loosely on a leash. Sounds simple, right? But it's not. First, walking on a leash is very unnatural for a dog, so they must learn how to walk on a leash. Second, it is a dog's natural instinct to want to pull on their leash. Third, on a walk the dog and human have their own separate agendas and in 99% of most cases that's what causes the pull.
So how does one get their dog to walk loosely on a leash? First we have to get them to understand that pulling and feeling that tension in their collar/harness does not get them a reward. But when they don't feel that pulling sensation, they get a reward. To teach that, we let the dog get interested in whatever at a distance. For Mochie we let her sniff some treats our hand and place them in at a distance - not too far not too close. Of course Mochie would try to lunge for it, but we can't let her. Once she stopped and the tension in the leash is gone, she would get a reward. Then we would step forward and repeat the whole cycle again. Kristen said it could take up to 40 minutes just to walk from your house to your neighbors house when doing this for the first time because it takes a lot of repetition and consistency.

In class, Mochie just worked in her own corner, and Kristen helped us. Mochie's momma held the reins while I observed. Kristen showed the treats to Mochie and placed them at a distance. Mochie tried to lunge at it, but we wouldn't let her. Once Mochie stopped and released the tension, she got a reward and we took a step forward. Eventually we got to the treat pile and Mochie got to eat it. So hah! Whatever I learned on the internet is what I learned in class, except I wanted Mochie to sit before we move on.


After class I asked Kristen a few questions, especially about Mochie's shyness/fear of other dogs. She recommended that we try to find another small calm dog, maybe another pom, and let Mochie approach the dog, and maybe have a trainer involved. *sigh* I asked if daycare would help her, but she said being around a bunch of other dogs might freak her out. I guess daycare is out of the picture. =(

In class we also did some sits and downs and ugh. Mochie is being told to "sit sit sit" instead of "sit" Ugh. No wonder this dog gets confused. Once is enough! That teaches her to respond to "sit sit sit" instead of a good ol' "sit" blah. We need to fix that and work on it ASAP.  

Anthony had a funny observation last night. He noticed that Mochie would try to look occupied anytime his mom was in her little play area trying to tidy up things. Mochie would kinda half ass chew her toy instead of being engrossed in it and glance up trying to see if she was around. hmm.... He realized that Mochie is very smart, and indeed she is. If she figured out to do that, what else can she do? Oh the possibilites! Anthony also thinks that the novelty of owning a dog has worn off for his mom. She's slowly realizing how much work it is to own a dog. So ya... See what happens when you jump in feet first? And who has been right all of these months? hmmmmm???

Ooo I have been trying to teach her shake hands. She is slowly getting it and it starting to offer her paw a bit higher. Now I need to take away the lure out of my hand and see if she will do it. I had her practicing it in class to keep her occupied. hehe.