I’m not sure if it’s just me, or if every other person that trains dogs as a hobby or as a profession, but I find that I’m a little lazy when it comes to training my own dog. I spend an average of two hours a week at the Watauga Humane Society working with and training a handful of the dogs there. Part of my volunteer time is spent training two dogs in the Diamonds in the Ruff program. These dogs are typically high risk dogs – ones that have been in the system for a few months and keep getting overlooked or dogs that for whatever reason don’t “show well” in the kennel environment. Volunteers week as a team to train these dogs 5 to 6 days a week. We teach them basic obedience commands, self-control skills, and how to walk on a loose leash. I also usually try to work with a third dog when I have time.
When I’m working with these dogs, I usually have a clear goal in mind and never take shortcuts. I know that every moment with them in teaching them something, whether intentionally or by accident. I try to be intentional in all of my interactions with them. However…..that is not the case when it comes to my dog, Knox!
Knox and I have been together for 3 years. He is still owned by the farm and unfortunately can’t live with me, but we spend a lot of time together. Before passing our Therapy Dogs, INC test, we spent a couple hours a week training or practicing. Since passing our test in November of 2013, I’ve slacked off a bit. I have him show off his tricks on therapy visits, but it’s been a while since I really taught him something new. I also find that I let him die on a lot of things. I don’t always reinforce that I want him on a loose leash. I would prefer that he be by my side, or just ahead of me, but lately I’ve let him do what he wants, as long as he’s not pulling. This usually means that he’s ahead of me and that I am not in his peripheral vision – meaning he most likely is NOT paying attention to me.
I am a firm believer that walks should be fun for both the dog and the human. To me, this means that Knox gets to sniff around, greet dogs and people (with my permission) and do other doggy things. BUT he must do all these things on my terms : no pulling me to sniff something, no excessive peeking/marking, and ideally walking by dogs/people unless released to do otherwise. I try hard to be fair on walks and try to use the Premack Principle when I can. If be wants to sniff a bush, but tries to pull me over there, he’s going to have to come back, sit, then I’ll release him to do so, and reward him when his attention is back on me.
I have not been very consistent at all with this, and it shows. He used to be a very reliable loose leash walker, very rarely getting so excited that he would pull me forward. That is not really the case anymore. I have done a little work in the past week to get back to where we were, but I definitely have a little way to go. I’m sure Knox will pick right back up on it once there are solid guidelines to follow. The real work is on my part! I need to be more consistent when I’m with him. Every walk is a lesson, and I need to remember not to be lazy in teaching!
Winter is the perfect time to be refocusing myself. Knox and I won’t be making trips to the park due to weather and short days, so most of our walks will be around the farm. When you haven’t driven somewhere to walk and exercise, it’s a lot easier to tell yourself to focus on the training, not the exercise benefits 😉
My goals with Knox this month are:
-focus on following my loose leash training protocol on our walks
-really utilize the Premack Principle and rewarding for returned attention
– train a new trick: passing under my lifted leg
-utilize a long lead and a release cue to allow Knox to be a dog, too!