futuredog

[futuredog]

Say it with me folks:

The average family deserves a dog that has had thought put towards its health and temperament. Pet dogs deserve health testing before being bred. Being a breeder for the pet market does not excuse a lack of health testing or lack of breeding for structural soundness. 

Stop buying from breeders that do not health test. Just because you are buying a pet does not mean you can ignore the “fancier” aspects of dog breeding because it is “just a pet”. Your dog deserves to be healthy and your dog deserves to come into this world at the decision of people that care, not about making money, but about creating happy, healthy, LONG-LIVING, family pets. Your dog deserves that. And so do you.

HERE is where you can browse the recommended tests from the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) by breed. OFA was founded in 1966.

HERE is information about another type of health testing, PennHip. PennHip was founded in 1983.

[futuredog]

i forgot...i have. a blog for this but we might actually maybe be getting a dog??!?!?!?!? finally! it’s been seven years since i left home, thought i was going to live with cap, found out i wasn’t, and realised at every turn that it wasn’t going to be possible until now! 

but now i’m in australia, so all the old stuff research i did is kind of a wash, and uh. they don’t like good harnesses here? i’m just trying to find a simple H or even Y harness and it seems like..you might be able to get a Y with bulky hiking padding but H is nigh impossible to find, especially with enough adjustment points. tried just googling and got So many hits from all sorts of “gentle trainer” websites and rescues that were like “you NEED a front clip harness. it’s the only humane way to ensure you’re forcing your dog into loose-leash walking because you’re squishing their shoulders together” like???

i saw a rescue that sends every dog home with a balance harness and was So excited until i realised that the Balance Harness here isn’t the blue-9 one, it’s one of those terrible directly-across-the-chest ones :C

but we might actually get a dog!!!! like whatever i’ll import stuff i’ll do my own research i’m a lil bummed if that’s the culture here, that it’d be even behind the states?? but we’re getting a dog! and will do the best we can by them ♥️

[futuredog]

I saw the dangly dog and was like “what lol-worthy bullshit is this random ad” but then I gave it a real look and I think I actually need this??

[futuredog]

I’m going to beat this dead horse and just say that I find it amusing that in every one of these spay/neuter ‘debates’ someone tries to argue that a person who dedicates a great part of their own time to providing for their dogs and ensuring their welfare should snip-snip their dog because many irresponsible pet owners let their dogs reproduce.

accidentally hit the nail right on the head, got right to the root of the problem.

[futuredog]

Tips on dealing with a dog in heat, esp one that sleeps in my bed? Phaedra’s coming up on six months and I’m not sure when I’ll have her spayed but I don’t want her bleeding on my sheets OR getting preganananant.

Wishing you luck! Doggy undies can be really helpful and have the added bonus of making them look ridiculous

Some dogs keep themselves so clean you never see blood (Trixie was like this) but then you have that awful slorping noise instead......

If you lived in the city I'd tell you not to worry about accidental puppening. A dog who's leashed when they're outdoors, in a city of other dogs who are leashed, isn't much of a risk. But since you're in the country there's a possibility of neighbor dogs coming from pretty far away. I dealt with that when I was in rural IN :/ obviously leash walks for the duration, and don't take her around to pee places that might be "sign posts" for roaming dogs

One major thing most people don't know is that the portion of the heat with blood is not when they're receptive to getting pregnant. After that is when they actually ovulate. Don't let your guard down until both the swelling and clear or yellowish fluids have completely subsided! Heats are a several week production. But if you don't own a male they really aren't too big a deal, you two will be fine

It's awesome you're holding off on spaying til she's more mature. I wish dealing with a heat or two beforehand was more normalized. The research isn't super conclusive but in general it seems wise to let their bodies go through doggy puberty first!

Btw. Cannot fathom that Phaedra is a teenager already, that's wild

[futuredog]

So a few months ago I started using Megan @meimogui style heads-ups with Happy. Megan uses a lot of specific phrases to let Jarvan know how she’s going to interact with him as she approaches, like saying “pet you” vs telling him she’s going to grab the string of his ball or touch his collar. Jarvan has incredibly high possession and this is one of Megan’s many ways of managing it productively. Happy ain’t possessive at all, but I’ve found this has helped a lot of our conflict for similar reasons: she knows exactly what to expect when I approach her. Recently it’s helped in a different way. Happy and I play 1v1 (no toy) a lot. Sometimes Happy gets too mouthy or I’m just ready to be done. When I say “pet you,” she can immediately switch from CHOMP CHOMP to relaxing her ears and leaning against me. Even when she’s overaroused and vibrating out of her own skin. I use “pet you” during our regular training sessions too, so she doesn’t view it as a terminal cue; it just helps her come down in a pleasant way, and redirect her to stillness from there. I prefer it a lot to using an obedience exercise for capping in Happy’s case, for sure. It’s a super smart training idea in so many ways and been so handy!!

[futuredog]

I noticed in your recent video that you use ‘okay’ as the release command. The trainer we had for my current family dog said to not use ‘okay’ because it’s so common in normal conversation that you don’t want to release the dog by accident. We use ‘all through’ instead. Do you worry about an easy release command that is a regular word in every day use?

That is a good question! Thank you very much.

Yes, I definitely think it could lead to some confusion from the dog’s point of view but I’ve been really lucky with Nefja because that girl is one smart cookie. I can say all sorts of cues she knows and she won’t do them if I don’t direct them at her. 

When giving her the “okay” I either have to look at her, say her name before the ok plus a pause between the words - “Nefja…[~2 second pause]…okay”. If I don’t include the pause she will still just stay in her place and look at you like “Are you sure?”. This is mainly when it comes to food.Or when she’s really engaged it’s enough to just look at her and give her the “okay”.

In the past, I’ve had more accidental releases when calling another dog and Nefja thought the “come” was for her.

During training, I chose “yes” as her marker word (I’m German) which basically means “okay” + “good job”. 

I hope that answered your ask and I wish you a lovely weekend :)

[futuredog]

Azigen !

[futuredog]

I saw the dangly dog and was like “what lol-worthy bullshit is this random ad” but then I gave it a real look and I think I actually need this??

[futuredog]

How do you the out of motion down? Like when you call the dog and then have them lay down before they get to you. Darcy has a really crisp "platz" (which is the cue i want to use for downs out of motion ideally) and a superb distance down...but I am struggling to connect these skills to the out of motion down.

People frequently teach the Schutzhund down out of motion by walking backwards facing their dog like this:

It’s an imitation of heeling while not being heeling, BUT for non-heeling work it also seems to help the dogs learn the out of motion concept a little faster. It often takes them a few tries to really commit because they’re unsure, so it’s a good idea to reward any effort. You can break this down a bit further by adding in some stops - so like, walk backwards, pause for a split second, walk backwards, pause, etc, cue. Will Darcy down if /you/ are moving? If not that’s a good piece to break down for the above exercise!

Also, you don’t have to be moving specifically like this - the idea is that your movement cajoles the dog into movement in an engaged, focused way, vs them moving randomly or being fixated on an external prize. So they’re not just walking around sniffing and checked out, and they’re definitely not running full-tilt. And a different form of movement may work much better for Darcy as a first step, and for not prepping for a down out of a heel. You can make your movement a lot less sterile than the above video - playful, and moving, but using a lure to lead Darcy to the ground last second. Think waving around a toy or food and getting him chasing after it, and bringing it down the ground with the cue to introduce the concept. Any way you can encourage even a tiny bit of motion before you cue the platz is key here.

Other than that, generalizing the down as much as possible hugely helps - isolating the cue “platz” from body language and environmental stuff. I never had to do the above with Happy’s down out of motion, because we had already practiced platz in SO many different environments for SO many different reasons. With my body language presenting differently! Part of that is because I am a bad dog trainer and frequently use competition cues for day-to-day stuff, lol, and part of it was deliberate practice. When they’ve performed a platz in a thousand slightly different situations (on top of those you’ve already taught), it’s a lot easier for the cue to cut through the noise and the response to be automatic. And it makes the platz out of motion 100x easier.

Good luck!

[futuredog]

…and Maya, too!

[futuredog]

A few tricks with Logan…

[futuredog]

What a great list of ideas for proofing sit (and drop and stand)!

[futuredog]

Fenzi TEAM 1 exercises.

[futuredog]

Dogblr Ring Stack Trick Challenge

Run out of things to teach your dog? Need a party trick? Or just want to challenge your shaping skills?

$5 at Walmart buys you a toddler ring stacking toy, soon to be filled with tooth marks (mine doesn’t have the top ring because it was full of very noisy beads and I was tired of hearing them as my dog threw it at me).

There are no prizes, because I’m poor because everyone is at different levels of skill, and I honestly want this to me more about bonding with your dog and learning than solely competitive. Your prize is now having a cool trick to show off.

Now this one can be a tough one, so don’t get discouraged if it takes a while. Give yourself a goal of about four weeks, for some it may take longer, or it may take a shorter amount of time. My dog is clumsy and uncoordinated and REALLY enthusastic, so it is taking a little while to work on being calm and not just throwing the rings at me/the stand.

Here is a break down of behaviours to shape:

-Touch the ring.

-Pick up the ring

-Bring the ring near the stand.

-Touch the stand with the ring

-Touch close to the top with the ring.

-Drop the ring into the stand.

Some tips:

-Either hold the stand yourself or nail the stand to a board. It wobbles, which will make your dog less successful. You can fade it out later if you really want to, but for now, make sure it stays still.

- I initially taught all rings at once, but it resulted in a lot of misses and was much more difficult for the dog. My suggestion is to teach one ring at a time. Start with the largest first. When your dog is consistently placing it, move to the next size up. Each size requires a slightly different way for the dog to place.

-The way I have been teaching this is by having my dog work for his dinner, with occasional treats thrown in for variety. Less motivated dogs may need something more interesting than kibble.

-Keep sessions short! If your dog is successful, throw a party and STOP THERE. End on a success. As your dog gets better, you can push, but in the beginning, don’t push your dog too hard. Don’t fall into the “Just one more” trap.

-I found using a clicker in the very beginning more helpful than my verbal marker. Once my dog understood that he had to put the ring through the stand, I switched to my verbal marker.

-Use your resources! Check out shaping on youtube. You may even find a tutorial on how to teach this if you’re more of a visual learner. If you’ve never done any shaping before, 101 Things to Do With a Box is a great introduction.

Have fun with it and post pictures/videos of your progress! If enough people show interest and participate, we may do another one next month with a different trick.

[futuredog]

Not a Robo-Dog

My dog is not a robot. It is because she is not a robot that I push her to do things that are exciting and new. 

My dog loves a challenge. It is because I love to see the concentration on her face when she seeks to unlock a new task that I raise the bar. 

My dog is intelligent. I push her boundaries and test her intelligence because otherwise she would be bored. It is because I love her that I get creative, and we avoid the mundane. 

My dog is a living and creative being. I keep teaching her new things and pushing her to do more because I love her and appreciate her individuality, not because I am trying to push her down. 

I’m not suppressing her charisma, I’m encouraging it. I’m not shutting her down. I’m activating her. 

My dog is not a robo-dog. She was born to learn. She was born to do. She was born to live hard and go strong. That doesn’t make her a robot. It makes her an individual. 

She was born to do great things, and that is what she is doing. 

[futuredog]

… Our journey took us to a workshop and some private sessions where some exercises had a profound impact on my way of thinking.  I realized that intending to use positive reinforcement was not the same as using it effectively.

An important thing to remember, especially since it is less common to recommend getting expert guidance when learning R+ based training frameworks.  I’d like to add that there is nothing wrong with not knowing enough to make something work. Everyone who has mastered something has at one point known as much or less than you. If you don’t want to work beyond what you know and try something else, that is perfectly fine.