#i am no dog trainer

[nefja]

Another thing we've been working on for quite a bit now -

Nefja, as a herding breed, likes to police other dogs. When other dogs are getting into a scuffle she either wants to break it up or team up with the dog she knows/likes better.

Nowadays she basically has an instant recall which is triggered by other dogs being mean/fighting because she knows she gets a treat from me every single time.

I basically started it on our walks by rewarding her every time we came across a dog that went nuts at her or just right out tried assassinating her with laser eyes.

TLDR: other dog being an ass -> get treat from human

[fayeandknight]

Speaking as a professional dog trainer, I want to take a moment to talk about relationships with the human half.

I am really tired tonight and I received a lengthy email from a client that was essentially looking for validation of their efforts. Initially I was annoyed at the prospect of doing a lot of written hand holding. So I sat on answering it for a bit.

In that time I thought about my past self and some of the emails I sent when working with a trainer myself. They are so very cringe inducing now. Needy and desperate to hear that I was doing right by my dog. If that trainer was irritated with me, they never showed it. They always treated me with patience and kindness. And I honestly draw a lot of guidance from those interactions.

I want to give my clients the same reassurance and compassion that I was treated with. It's a cornerstone of my personal approach to dog training.

I did end up writing an equally long email back highlighting their hard work and dedication to their dog. I reaffirmed their progress and cheered them on for future successes. Because even when I'm tired and cranky, I want to give my clients, on either end of the leash, encouragement.

All learners deserve compassion and that absolutely includes the human half.

Anyway, happy training y'all and I hope you take time to be kind to yourself.

[moe-broey]

I def wanna color these when I have the energy BUT..... back on a Pokemon kick.... ever so slightly......... also second sketch is so rough SORRY (I DO WANNA CLEAN IT UP!!! But I was mostly focused on conceptualizing the outfits!!!!)

I have soooo many other sketches too but I wanna save em for later.... but let it be known, this is just an elaborate excuse to play dress-up. Esp for Moe I'm gonna be so real, it has SUCH A SILLY OUTFIT and it is SO. SOOOOOO jackass rival coded. Guy who is gonna pick fights and cause problems for NO reason. Or for gay reasons. Most likely gay reasons tbh

[x22817]

HEK AND I JUST GOT ASKED IF WE WOULD LIKE TO BE THE DEMO DOG FOR OUR NEW SD TRAINER FRIEND

[blueboyluca]

I have started Overall's Relaxation Protocol and I really liked this video to show me exactly how it looks before I started. I find this kind of training really difficult because it's boring and I'm impatient and I struggle with environment setups. But anyway, I started last night. It started really badly! I was trying to do all three dogs at once, which absolutely did not work. So I stopped that and took Topaz into the kitchen and did Task Set 1 with just her, which was fine.

I'm not sure if it's going to translate that well because Luca and Marceline were hovering at the babygate the whole time. I am already over it thinking about having to repeat multiple task sets in different parts of the house. My house is small and open plan so it's not easy to separate the dogs. I need to do this though because Topaz needs extra help learning to settle.

[purplesaline]

Been working on some basic scent detection with Parker. Second training session today. I have a small cotton pad with peppermint essential oil placed in one Ziploc bag, and a cotton pad with no added scent in another. Last session we worked on rewarding for nose targeting the peppermint. First without the control, then with the control. If he nose targeted the control nothing would happen and I'd let him keep going until he touched the peppermint.

Once he'd gotten the hang of that I had him diary sitting immediately after he touched the peppermint then I'd mark the behaviour and reward him.

Today when we picked up we started with the one bag again briefly and he remembered to sit without being cued! I was impressed! When we moved on to the scent and control bags he'd sit after touching either though so we backed it up a bit.

I did a few with just the peppermint and then when I reintroduced the control as an option, if he touched the control and sat I'd reset with no reward.

When he touched the control and didn't sit, then touched the peppermint and sat he got a big jackpot and we ended the session on a high note.

I was very impressed!!

[theadventurek9]

This was a good session. He woke up and felt confident yesterday on this. I was super happy with him. It's been a lot of work to get him to be okay with varying entrances.

But then today he woke up and wouldn't even engage with a toy after seeing the weaves.

I had done one too many reps yesterday, and pushed a little too hard. He had a few errors before I stopped and made things super easy for a success but he still had negative feelings today.

[allthings-acorn]

I have been trying on-and-off to teach Acorn to back up on cue for about a year now. Tonight he seemed to finally understand what I was asking him 🥹

[vcrnons]

Some favs of mine 🫶🏼

feeling feelings. thank you for this attempt on my life, i’m calling in sick the rest of this week and it’s your fault <3

[fayeandknight]

I don't think agility class is a good option for dogs struggling heavily with reactivity - particularly if they are constantly lunging at other dogs.

That is not to say that I think dogs struggling with that level of reactivity are bad dogs. Nor do I think they should be sequestered away in their homes and never allowed to be out in the world.

Heck I'm not even of the opinion that they shouldn't learn agility. Just that private lessons would benefit the dog more than a class setting while they are working through reactivity.

Because the thing is, agility is super stimulating for most dogs, whether participating or watching. Even more so if it's an intro class where the team is learning to navigate the equipment and handling. Additionally keeping the dog from going after others is stressful for everyone involved. And I just don't see it as a kind or fair setting to be introducing something as complex, and let's be honest - potentially dangerous - as agility.

I also don't think there's any shame in realizing that an agility class may be too much for where the dog currently is in working through reactivity and taking a step back. Dog training in all its flavors isn't always linear. But I do think it's important, for the people both handler and instructor, to ensure the dog is being set up for success even if it doesn't look the way we'd hoped it would.

Much love and compassion for folks working through reactivity with their dogs. Your dog is not a bad dog. You are not a bad handler. Y'all are working through something difficult and I wish you kindness and patience in your journey.

[ajax-mew]

when i back in uni

me think

i do uni updates again

[watching-constellations]

I think people need to accept that there's more than one way to be human. That may sound really obvious, but I'm not talking about identities, or opinions, or looks. What I'm saying is that not everybody wants to do a silly little dance. At all. Ever. It doesn't have anything to do with embarrassment or shyness or ability. Some people just don't want to.

I've been going to this dog training school with my new puppy recently, and one of the things they're having us do is train our dogs to stay put in a sit while we do a silly little dance next to them. I know this exercise is meant to be approachable to standard beginner trainers, but I can't even begin to describe how anxious I was when the trainer told us to do this. I remembered years of getting in trouble at summer camps for not participating in icebreakers and name games, being called a spoilsport in school, being called cold and distant as a teenager, and even been made fun of in a mean-spirited way and getting trouble in college for opting out of "group bonding activities". I refused to do the silly little dance. Instead, I've distracted my dog by shaking and dropping objects, stepping over her, sitting down, doing pushups, whatever. To my surprise, the trainer complimented me on my choice, and I could finally breathe.

It's not that I can't dance— I've trained as a dancer for years. It's not that I don't like being silly, or that I don't want to look stupid. I make myself look stupid on purpose on a regular basis because it's fun, and I love a good joke. It's just that there has to be consent for this to be fun. I don't need to loosen up and enjoy myself. I won't enjoy myself, because I don't want to do the silly little dance. I never want to do the silly little dance (not alone, not in a group). I don't want to be loud and yell, I don't want to do a call and response game, I don't want to mirror your body movements, I don't want to play zip zap zop, and I don't want to introduce myself with an animal that shares the same letter as my first name. It's not that I'm shy or quiet or even introverted— I just don't want to do it. I don't connect that way. It's not fun for me, it's miserable.

There is nothing wrong with any of this. I do not deserve to face any kind of repercussions for not wanting to do the dance. I'm not less fun because of it. I want to play tug of war with you— hand me the end of the rope. Sit down and let's tell a story. Let's make dumb jokes about street names and let the energy bounce off of each other and crackle. If our group plays mafia, no one will ever know I'm the killer. Come walk with me through the woods, and let's look for bugs under rocks and logs. We can eat lunch on the ground and poke at the moss.

I've spent so long thinking something was wrong or broken with me because I didn't want to do the silly little dance. I like dignity. I like elegance. It's not that I'm pretentious, it's that I like being ridiculous on and within my terms only.

Honestly, I was worried that, when I decided to get a dog, I wouldn't be the right kind of person to train one. I mean, have you seen how people act around dogs? I was worried that my lack of external bouncy enthusiasm, and profound disdain of doing squeaky voices, would make my training and my relationship with my dog fail. I thought I wasn't the right person for a dog, because I'm not even really the right person for a person. Turns out, I don't need any of that. Every now and then, because she's a puppy, people come up to Evie in their standard "dog-mode". Whenever they start doing... whatever it is people think they're doing with dogs... Evie pauses and looks up at me. I swear she's asking me what the hell is wrong with them. And, well, all I can do is sigh and shrug. She waits patiently for them to stop with their bouncing and squealing, and then cheerfully greets them when they're done. It doesn't seem like my dog wants to do the silly little dance either.

[blueboyluca]

Post-trial thoughts

We had our first trial last night. It didn't go well. It also didn't really feel like it went any better than trials last year. I'm trying not to despair because there were some observations I can take forward and try again at our second trial next weekend.

First, our warm-up went well. Marceline seemed really engaged in tug, ODE and our standard warm-up exercises. I was feeling really good as we headed to our first run. She did 8 obstacles flawlessly, then I lost her. I attempted to re-engage three more times but I wish I hadn't because she left the ring after that.

The moment I lost her was when I hesitated on the course (I lost my way slightly). When I course corrected she was put off and then checked out. What confuses me is she didn't seem shutdown, but she definitely was stressed because she scratched and rolled.

Our second run I didn't film. To be honest, I shouldn't have tried because I knew it wouldn't go well. She wouldn't even run at the startline. The judge let me try with a toy and she did run, but I stupidly didn't reward her after doing two or three jumps, and instead tried to keep running. She checked out again around obstacle 8. That was a major mistake. If I was going to try with a toy, I should have given it to her almost right away.

The judge did observe that both times she checked out were when we got near the table. This made us consider that perhaps, because I was stationed at the table, that it was tempting to just leave and go back to her bed. At training, I set her up in a different place that is not easily visible from any courses. Next weekend I won't help at the table at all and I'll set up further away to test to see if this improves our performance.

The other thing that is probably having an impact is my anxiety. I was trying really hard not to be anxious but I had a very stressful day partially because I was dwelling on the trial. I did a meditation in the afternoon to try to clear my head, but I still had stressful work stuff after that so I don't think it helped.

I ran with Tulip first, which I enjoyed, and I thought it helped release my nervous energy. I don't know what else to do in regards to anxiety – if my feelings are a major component to what's holding us back, I don't know if we will ever improve because I'm stuck in a feedback loop there. I don't know how to let go of it all and just have fun. I keep trying, but I still get anxious.

I don't want to put everything on our next trial, but if I see no improvement next week I honestly don't know what the next step is. I feel like I've tried almost everything at this point.

[elongated-twink]

I think being autistic does actually make me inherently better at animal handling because I, too, have been yelled at for growling and biting when everyone ignored my previous warnings and didn’t set clear boundaries

[nabsthevulture]

I'm also going to make @bambambambino my dog stuff blog, so go there if you'd like dog content from me

[uchuujinu]

my favorite thing about dog training is that it forces you (the handler) to become a better version of yourself; confident in the uncomfortable, adaptable in the unpredictable, and quite independent. you learn how to focus, and prioritize your goals. you become truly neutral, and realize how reactive everyone around you is. you learn self control and consistency, and benefit enormously from the spillover into other areas of your life.

people look at dog training as a silly little profession, i think. but, i think, it is no coincidence that some of the most adaptable, confident, and receptive people i’ve met have been canine professionals. successfully working with dogs requires a unique combination of abilities: the insight and empathy to understand another creature and think as they think, and the force of will required to be a consistent leader.

excited to keep training this little bugger into the weekend