Morpheus Burge 3/20/20 – 3/21/20

3/20 No Jumping/No Humping/Polite Greetings

For our first session today, Morpheus and I worked on keeping four-on-the-floor. Morpheus was initially very excited and had trouble with not jumping/humping, but he improved the more we worked. We will want to continue working on polite greetings, but I could tell he was trying! –Gloria

3/20 Recalls

For our second session today, Morpheus and I worked on building a reliable recall. We did this first session inside to limit distractions, and I would have a 30 second party each time he responded to “Come!” We also got to continue working on no jumping/no humping throughout the session. Good job, Morpheus! –Gloria

Miyagi Martin 3/20/20 – 4/19/20

3/20 Get To Know — Introduction to the Clicker

Welcome, Miyagi! For our first session, we spent the time getting acquainted with each other by working on no jumping (i.e. four-on-the-floor) and building up a conditioned response to a clicker. In his training video, I also talk about harness and why I like to use them when training a pup. –Gloria

3/20 Attention and Name Game

For our second session, Miyagi and I worked on attention (“Look”) and name recognition. These are great tools that will build a foundation for other training goals listed on your sheet. He did really well and is a fast learner! –Gloria

3/21 Not Jump Up – Group session

I worked with both Nola and Miyagi on not jumping up on people. Since they are such young puppies with a lot of social drive towards people, we first worked on getting “four on the floor” by using something called a “treat shower”. This technique allows you or another person enter the room without having the puppies jump all over people. Basically, you re-direct all of that initial energy into a treat-finding mission. Then, when the puppies are over the initial excitement of the greeting, you ask for polite sits. They are still very young, so I had to be very patient waiting for them to sit. Miyagi sat first, and it was cute to watch Nola try to figure out why Miyagi was getting treats and she wasn’t. Eventually, the light bulb came on and Nola understood that sitting was the name of the game. We still have a LOT of work to do on this, but I do think both puppies had a real “ah-ha!” moment today. — MG

3/21 More Not Jump Up

I put all three puppies out to play in my front yard, with the intention of doing recalls out of play. However, I had to switch our lesson to another not jump up on people session. The three puppies were very excited and jumping all over each other and me. So, I switched gears and we just focused on not jump up again. It took a lot of patience, but eventually, I had all three sitting at once (even if it was just a brief moment). I think our next sessions will be individual sessions so we can build the behavior up before adding the other puppies in again as a distraction. — MG

3/22 Walk on a loose leash

Since it was such a nice today, we did a session outside in the front yard. This time I did individual sessions with each dog on walking on a loose leash. I looped the leash around my waist and walked with each puppy, until the puppy was four on the floor, with their attention lifted up towards me. I clicked those instants, and rewarded with a squirt of squeeze cheese. The reason I used this reward is to keep moving and for the dog to be able to get the reward without dropping it, which might happen with small solid treats. Miyagi did a great job of this and was even able to walk without a bounce for quite a few steps. Again, it is not important whether the dog walks on the left or the right…you might end up walking both dogs at one point and need one on each side! What is important is that they walk in a straight line with you and don’t trip you. Puppies aren’t born knowing how to walk in straight lines. lol We have to teach them. I see you don’t have a command for walking on leash. If its o.k. with you, we can use “let’s go” for this behavior. Today I was just getting the concept across. Both dogs did a great job. There were moments of puppy brillance! –MG

3/22 Leave-it

For our second session today, Miyagi and I worked on the command “leave-it”. This word should be reserved for when your dog absolutely cannot have what is on the ground (like a dead toad or other yucky things!). Note: if you like to have your dog sit before eating a meal and then release the dog, just use stay, then “o.k.” or your release word, rather than “leave-it”. Leave-it should mean no, not ever should you pick it up and put it in your mouth! For this demonstration today I used a slice of frozen zucchini as our leave-it item. The reason I used that is that 1) it wouldn’t be harmful if the dog did eat it by accident 2) it should be lower value than the rewards I had to offer. I dropped the zucchini (like it was an accident), and then stepped on it and said “leave-it”. When Miyagi looked up at me, I clicked and gave him a treat. You will see that Miyagi did an absolutely stellar job with this exercise. –MG

On another side note, our DSL here in Youngsville (or “Dinosaur Signal Link”, as I call it) is being very sluggish about uploading videos and the uploads keep failing. I am going to bring the memory card into our Raleigh location tonight, where we have Spectrum, and upload the videos from there. If you would, though, please download the videos you do have in your folder and delete them when you have copied to your own computer. If you have a free Drop Box account, it will only allow you to view a certain number of videos. Deleting the ones you have already copied to your computer at home will ensure that you continue to see the new videos. –MG

3/23 No Jumping/Sit

Mister Miyagi and I had a nice session today of working on his name recognition as well as reinforcing his sit! This is a great alternative behavior to jumping up. Anytime he would jump up on me, I would wait and ask him for a sit then reward him for that instead. He is doing great with this, but we will continue working with him on this too – Whitney

3/23 Place/Down

Miyagi and I had another session today working on introducing him to the mat, or place training. The first step in this is working on getting him to understand a down. First I just clicked and treated for him going into a sit position, then I used a treat to start luring him to a down position so I could click and treat this. He was starting to go into a down more easily by the end of the session, but was not quite ready for me to fade the luring, as he still needed a little help to understand what I was asking of him. He needs a little more practice, but he’ll get it soon! – Whitney

3/24 Drop It

Mister Miyagi and I worked today on getting him to understand dropping a toy. I got him interested in playing with the toys I had and then showed him I had a treat. I would click and treat when he let go of the toy. He needed a little bit more luring away from the toys, so I think he will need a few more sessions to understand better what I’m asking him to do – Whitney

3/24 Sit/Stay

I worked with Miyagi today on beginning sit/stay. First I reinforced the sit, then started continuing to click and treat if he stayed in that position. After adding the cue “stay”, I then started working on trying to get him to stay for a second or two longer. He did start getting a little frustrated with this and whined a little, so I tried to release him and keep the stays short for now. It’s hard for puppies to stay still, but he will improve soon! – Whitney

3/24 Loose Leash Walking

Today I also worked with Mister Miyagi on his loose leash walking. We were outside and I knew it might be a little distracting, but he did really well! He was able to start walking with me for a few steps and was attentive as well, as I clicked and treated for him being at my side. He was doing a great job! I think this was his strongest session with me today – Whitney

3/25 Loose Leash Walking

Today we did another loose leash walking session – because, well, “practice makes perfect”. 🙂 Miyagi was a good boy and even sat while I stopped to talk to you on the camera. Both puppies are very active, so this skill is going to be very important so that they can get lots of exercise! – MG

*Note: I will be heading to the Raleigh location tonight (3/26)to upload videos from 3/25 & 3/26

3/26 Come when called.

Miyagi & I worked on Come when called. He did a great job. It’s important to keep these sessions short & lots of fun & do them OFTEN! Several times a day with lots of praise & rewards – its money in the Bank!!! If he doesn’t come when you call, try pup, pup, pup & run off in the other direction. Your movement will capture his attention & he’ll come running in. Reward/Praise & toss a treat a little distance away so he focuses away again & then call him again. He did a great job, he was focused on me the whole time. That is so great for a young pup – Diana

3/26 Stay with Distractions

This afternoon we worked on Stay, hold your position until released. To begin its important not to get too far from the dog. Just one or two steps away, to the side, slightly behind them & then reward delivery needs to be quick so you don’t pull them out of the sit or up from the down – he did a great job. Michele had her pups outside for a walk & he just kept working! – Diana

3/27 Drop It

Miyagi did great today working on his cue for “drop it”. He was a little more engaged with the toys than Nola was, and got some great repetitions of dropping the toy, clicking and treating! Once we had been playing for a few minutes, he started sniffing around and circling, then sat down and looked at me. This was his way of indicating that he needed to go out! Great job on the potty training too, Miyagi! – Whitney

3/27 No Jumping/Loose Leash Walking

Today I also worked with Miyagi on his loose leash walking outside, as well as reinforcing sitting rather than jumping for attention. He’s doing so well with not jumping, and only jumps some in the beginning of our sessions when he’s more excited to see me. I think he might be ready soon for polite greetings with a second person to add to the challenge of not jumping up – Whitney

3/28 Loose Leash Walking

Miyagi and I had a good session outside today on loose leash walking. He was pretty distracted by being outside and wanted to smell everything and also watch birds flying by! But this was a good level of distraction as I was able to get him focused on me for a few good moments of walking at my side. He did require some luring with the treat to get his attention and coax him into a sit at my side but he’s getting there! This skill takes a lot of practice – Whitney

3/28 Stays

Mister Miyagi showed off his skills with sit, down and stay for you all in person today! He was able to regain his focus and then did fantastic as I continued to add in distance to both his sit and down stays. Great work, Miyagi, even with all the distraction! (there is no video for this session) – Whitney

3/28 Note from Michele: I will drive to Raleigh tomorrow night and upload videos from today and tomorrow. Thanks.

3/29 Recalls

Mister Miyagi and I had a good session with recalls. I threw a treat to get him to go out and away from me but he did struggle some with seeing where the treat went. I helped him find then treats, then backed up and away from him while calling him which helped him to follow after me. He was doing well with this, even with the distraction of my dog in the room in a crate also, but I would like to see him get even more excited about coming when called before adding more distraction – Whitney

3/29 Loose Leash Walking/No jumping

Miyagi did very well with this today. We worked nearby to Michele’s client meeting so Miyagi could hear them but not see them. This was a good level of distraction, and he was also distracted some by being outside as well but we were able to work through it during the session and he was making some improvements on paying attention to me while walking next to me, and sitting at my side. Needs more work, but he’s getting there! – Whitney

3/30 Place Training

Today I worked with Miyagi on his place training, and the goal is to have him hold a down stay while I worked up to getting more distance between us. I have noticed that he usually takes a little bit longer to start getting focused during our sessions, so at first he was popping up out of his down a lot. by the end of the session I was starting to get a few feet further away from him and he was doing much better. Good work Miyagi! – Whitney

3/30 Loose Leash Walking with Distraction

Miyagi was very unfocused during the first part of this session as well, especially since I took him to a new area and there were new things to smell! I was using cheese instead of hot dogs with him today and that higher value treat was good for getting his attention in a newer, more distracting place. When I ran out of the cheese he was less interested in the hot dogs, but he had started catching on better to staying at my side. His best loose leash walking occurred after I had turned the camera off and walked him back to his kennel! He is slowly but surely making progress on his goals – Whitney

3/31 Polite Greeting

Today Miyagi got to meet another bearded guy! My husband Kevin came with me to work so that we could do agility with our dogs in Youngsville. It was a great chance to have Miyagi meet someone who looks a little different, which is great for his socialization. He was very excited and jumping up at first, but then started getting much more focused especially after I began clicking and treating his sits. He really exceeded my expectations because he was actually able to sit very still and calm while getting petted for 30 seconds to a minute! I kept rewarding him while he was staying still. He did fantastic! Good boy Miyagi! – Whitney

3/31 Drop It

Today Miyagi and I worked on his “drop it” cue this time using a rawhide bone. This was definitely more challenging for him since he really wanted to just lie down with it and chew it! At first I tried getting his attention with treats in my hand so I had to switch to tossing the treats out in front of him to entice him to let go of the bone. I tried this a few times, and then towards the end of the session tried to just use the cue of “drop it” so that he is responding to that and not the dropped treats (this would be an unintentional cue) That way he responds to the verbal rather than waiting until he sees treats fall from the sky before he lets go of something! We will need to work on this more before he really gets the hang of it better – Whitney

4/1 Loose Leash Walking Around Distinctions

Miyagi and I worked on loose leash walking today around a chicken coop whom were rather talkative today. Miyagi did a wonderful job with this and worked very hard by staying focused one me. I explaining in the video how I start out the session some high intensity focus work and what I mean by that. Great job Miyagi!! -Carson

4/1 Leave Its

I worked on leave its work Miyagi today. I normally start with a milk bone which are many dogs least favorite treats but I only had toys a my disposable today so I used a tennis ball instead. Even with a tennis ball seeming to be more enticing for Miyagi, he was able to stay focus on me and really showed the understanding of the words leave it! Wonderful job Miyagi!!-Carson

4/2 Come When Called / Heel Off Leash

Today I worked with Miyagi off leash in our back pasture. Its fully fenced in, but has the distraction of the chickens and the roosters (who always have a lot to say). 🙂 The goal was to work on come when called. The basis of a good come when called is a high rate of reinforcement near the person. So, when Miyagi was heeling off leash near me, he was clicked and given a treat. When he ran off to explore, I went the other direction, and called him as I ran away. He soon learned to stay near. By the end it was basically a “heeling off leash” exercise. What a great job, Miyagi! –MG

4/3 No Jump

Continued working on no jump with Miyagi. Miyagi worked very hard during our training and didn’t jump on me once! We played a great game called “catch me if you can”. I explain in the video how to play and what this game helps train! Great job Miyagi!!-Carson

4/3 Doorways

Miyagi and I worked on doorways today working on walking in and out by sitting before walking through the door. he did a very good job with this and really showed that he was comprehending what I was asking from him. He also checked in with me by looking at me after walking through which is very good. Great job Miyagi!! -Carson

4/4 Walk (off leash) / Come When Called

Today I worked with Miyagi off leash in our back pasture. He did really well, staying in position. I was able to make some sharp turns and he followed me. At the end of the session, though, he decided that the chickens were pretty interesting. lol We ended on a good note, though. — MG

4/4 Station Training

Today I worked on Miyagi doing a down stay in his “place” (mat). He was a very good boy and we worked up to some pretty impressive duration. — MG

4/5 Recalls Outside

Miyagi did a great job today working on his recalls with you all as a distraction! It was also the first time we had worked on this outside, and while he was a little distraction by smelling things at first, he got more focused as we went along. (no video for this session) – Whitney

4/5 No Jumping with Nola

Miyagi was very challenged to work alongside his sister and remember his polite behavior of not jumping up and sitting instead! I worked with both of them while standing as well as while sitting down. I had to be really patient and remind them to sit and sometimes reward only one of them if they were doing it, but then the other one would wonder why they weren’t also getting a treat! We will need more work on this, but I think they both made some progress during our session – Whitney

4/6 Place Training with Distractions

Mister Miyagi and I did a challenging session today with place training, this time with some distractions! I had my dog in the room in a crate whining some, and I also used some squeaky toys nearby to give him an added distraction. He was a little more distracted than his sister, and once he started getting focused he was doing a bit better, but he needs a little more work with this. He could handle some light squeaks from a toy but needs to work up to handling more distraction – Whitney

4/6 (Anti) Counter Surfing

Today we also worked on Miyagi’s counter surfing, or rather, preventing it! We worked on having him sit when we got close to the table, and worked on his “off” or putting all four paws on the floor. I didn’t need to use “drop it” with him because he didn’t actually grab any of the toys, he did a pretty good job with this one! way to go! – Whitney

4/7 Drop It

Miyagi and I continued to work on his drop it today, using a variety of different toys. He still gets really excited about the stuffed toys and wants to run around with them for a while before I can get his attention to drop them. He also still needs to be lured with food some to be convinced to drop the toy. He does enjoy chasing the tennis ball and fetching it back and will drop it more reliably. – Whitney

4/7 Polite Greetings with Michele

We had a fun session this afternoon with Michele introducing Miyagi to all sorts of new things! She used varying levels of excitement in her voice tone and body language to help him understand to stay sitting no matter how excited the person greeting him is. She also used squeaky toys, a face mask, and a wheelchair to get him used to seeing all kinds of different things. Miyagi also struggles with remembering to not jump up, and would often displace the jumping on me (the person holding his leash) versus Michele (the person being greeted). This seems to be very frustrating for him and he will need to continue working through this over time – Whitney

4/8 Leash Walk with distractions

Miyagi worked on focus whilst walking beside me & did a very nice job. He’s very sweet & willing & really wants to get it right. Good Boy! – Diana

4/8 Leave It

This afternoon we worked on Leave it & Miyagi again was working hard & did a great job of taking notice of the cue ‘Leave It’ & was responsive, backing off it. Good Boy!! Really enjoy working with these two siblings – Diana

4/9 Polite Greeting

Miyagi did such a great job today with his polite greeting/no jumping! Michele’s neighbor Joann came over and really challenged him to stay calm because she was a new person with a very exciting tone of voice. Miyagi was able to calm down and lot with Joann and even wanted to roll over for some belly rubs. What a great job Miyagi! – Whitney

4/9 Recall out of Play with Nola

Continued working on recall today with Miyagi. Recall out of play helps with breaks in the play with other pups. He did a very good job. I am very proud of all that he accomplished today. Carson

4/10 Puppy Agility

Miyagi had fun today getting introduced to some agility obstacles! He did a few jumps, including a tire jump, a short tunnel and an a frame obstacle. He was excited about it and gave it his best shot, but he is still a little awkward as a growing pup. He was a little unsure about where his back legs needed to be when jumping as well as going over the ramps on the a frame. He will need to develop what is referred to as “hind end awareness”, and this will come with both maturity but also doing specific exercises that can help him be more aware of what he’s doing with those back feet. Right now he’s just growing so quickly he doesn’t have as good an awareness of his body and this is totally normal for a puppy – Whitney

4/10 Cafe Training

Miyagi and I also worked on his “cafe training” today, which is basically place training specifically for a dog friendly restaurant setting. He really had a tough time with controlling himself from jumping up while I was sitting down and really wanted to jump on me a lot. He will need to continue to work on his place training, as well as not jumping up while people are seated! – Whitney

4/11 Stay with Distractions

Miyagi worked well though he was inclined to collapse into a down from his sit today. Perhaps he was a little tired from such a busy week. He certainly did a good job staying in place & as you’ll see he was able to stay with good distance & distractions. Still a work in progress & you will need to do lots of this when they come home. Good tests are sit, stay when preparing meals & setting their bowls down with a release to the food. Also always ask for a sit at or near the door before letting them out. – Diana

4/11 No jump greeting with Betsy

Miyagi was very excited to greet Betsy so it was a good exercise for him & he settled down nicely. If he is too excited when first greeting someone, set up the greeting somewhere that’s easy to manage, with a little distance at first so that you can drop cookies around your feet if need be in order to draw focus away from the person. Getting closer & asking for focus back to you so that eventually the dog understands your expectations of them & that this too is a required behavior – Diana

4/12 Drop It

Today I worked with Miyagi on the drop it cue using that delicious rawhide bone again! I practiced a couple of drop its first with a toy that he liked, then moved on to using the bone. At first he needed a little bit of luring to show him the cheese that I had in my hand, then he started actually getting more interested in the cheese that I had rather than the rawhide! I would keep this in mind whenever you want to be sure to get his attention or are teaching him something new: Use cheese!! – Whitney

4/12 Stay with Distraction

Miyagi and I also worked outside today on his stay, and I added a distraction of toys on the ground nearby. At first he really wanted to go play with the toys, but after a few minutes got very focused and did much better with his stays. He did want to lie down a few times on his sit stay, but other than that did great! – Whitney

4/13 “Good Things Come to Those Who Sit” (Not Jump Up)

I decided that today was going to be “boot camp day” for not jump up on people. Since we have such a nice group of socially compatible puppies staying here, I walked out into the middle of the group of bouncing, playing puppies. I ignored those who jumped and rewarded those who sat. The idea is that behaviors that are reinforced will be repeated, and those that are not reinforced will cease. I also added saying each puppy’s name as I gave a treat. This teaches each puppy to take its “turn” and not try to grab another puppy’s treat away. You will see that there were moments that I almost had all 7 puppies sitting at the same time. -Michele

4/13 “Good Things Come to Those Who Sit” (Not Jump Up) PART 2

One of the keys to good dog training is lots of repetition. So, I decided to repeat this session again in the afternoon. This time I was able to get all 7 puppies sitting nicely at the same time! I was able to repeat that several times. Then, I was able to walk across the play yard without being jumped on. What amazing progress they all made today!- MG

4/14 Buddy Walk with Nola

Miyagi and I had a nice walk with Carson and Nola today! This was a good chance to work on his focus with Nola nearby and practice his loose leash walking as well. He wasn’t paying attention as well until I got some cheese, although he did get really excited about it and jumped up a few times, for the most part he listened well. (no video for this session) – Whitney

4/14 Station Stays with Food Distractions

Miyagi and I worked on both leave its and sit and down stays around the food distraction. We did this outside so at first he did really smell the food so we were able to do some wonderful sit and down stays right next to the food. After he got a sent of the food we worked on leave its for a second and were able to get back to sit and down stays. He did a very good job with this!! Very proud of him! Carson

4/15 Drop It

Miyagi and I continued to work on his drop it today with both toys and the rawhide bone. The cheese I was using as a treat was more exciting than the toys! He is still having some trouble jumping up on me as well as a table nearby so we will need to continue his work with jumping up on people as well as working on his counter surfing – Whitney

4/15 Recalls

Continued working with Miyagi on recalls. In the video, I explain 2 ways of working on recalls by doing a treat scatter and playing treat fetch. Miyagi did a fabulous job with his recalls and I also walked on no jump during this session as well because recall is a very fun thing for pups and entices pups to jump sometimes simply because they’re excited. He did a great job and had a lot of fun. Carson

4/16 Cafe Training with Nola

Miyagi had a real challenge today to go into a down stay next to me while I was eating, and ignore Nola nearby with Carson! He did try to counter surf a couple of times for the food, and tried jumping up on me to get cheese, but he did start to do well holding his down stay towards the end of the session. – Whitney

4/16 Leave Its Outside

Continued working on leave its today with Miyagi. He was very interested in the toy so i didn’t turn it on because I new that would be too much to ask from him and we strive here to set him up for success. That is exactly what he did. Carson

4/17 Not Jump Up

Today I worked with all three “Martin dogs” on not jump up as a group. MaryLou wanted to steal Miyagi’s treats and Miyagi was bouncing around for joy. There was a brief “discussion” they had, which was all talk and no action, but I had to step in. After that, we worked on taking “turns”. See the email I sent to you about instructions for at home. — Michele

4/17 Walk on Leash

In the second session, Maria and I worked with Nolan and Miyagi to walk nicely near each other. We reinforced attention on the person, and walking without jumping up. They did a great job. They have come a long way! — Michele

4/18 Stay with Distance

Miyagi did an amazing job during our stay with distance training session today. We worked up to a distance of 5 steps away which is very impressive. I explain in the video how varying the number of steps away is a good way of helping him really understand the task at hand. Very nice job! Carson

4/18 Come when called

Continued working on come when called with Miyagi today. Miyagi had a very good time running around and we did work a little on no jump during our session as well. I am very proud of all that he has accomplished while being here! Carson

4/19 Drop It

Today I worked with Miyagi on his drop it, this time using a bully stick. He was interested in the bully stick at first but then started wanting the cheese I had more than the bully stick! I managed to get him interested in the bully stick enough to chew it a little and work on drop it some – Whitney

4/19 Stay with Distraction

Miyagi and I had a challenging session working on his stays outside with distraction. I had put some toys on the ground but Michele was also outside in her fenced yard with her dogs, and this was an even bigger distraction for Miyagi! I had to feed him a lot during his stays to keep him focused, and tried to keep his stays short as well. He will need some more work on this with a lower level of distraction first – Whitney

Nola Martin 3/20/20 – 4/19/20

3/20 Get To Know — Clicker Introduction

Welcome, Nola! For our first session, we spent the time getting acquainted with each other since Nola was a little nervous without her brother. We started working on no jumping (i.e. four-on-the-floor) and building up a conditioned response to a clicker. –Gloria

3/20 Attention and Name Game

For our second session, Nola and I worked on attention (“Look”) and name recognition. These are great tools that will build a foundation for other training goals listed on your sheet. Nola seemed a lot more relaxed by our second session and is such a sweet girl! –Gloria

3/21 Not Jump Up – Group session

I worked with both Nola and Miyagi on not jumping up on people. Since they are such young puppies with a lot of social drive towards people, we first worked on getting “four on the floor” by using something called a “treat shower”. This technique allows you or another person enter the room without having the puppies jump all over people. Basically, you re-direct all of that initial energy into a treat-finding mission. Then, when the puppies are over the initial excitement of the greeting, you ask for polite sits. They are still very young, so I had to be very patient waiting for them to sit. Miyagi sat first, and it was cute to watch Nola try to figure out why Miyagi was getting treats and she wasn’t. Eventually, the light bulb came on and Nola understood that sitting was the name of the game. We still have a LOT of work to do on this, but I do think both puppies had a real “ah-ha!” moment today. — MG

3/21 More Not Jump Up

I put all three puppies out to play in my front yard, with the intention of doing recalls out of play. However, I had to switch our lesson to another not jump up on people session. The three puppies were very excited and jumping all over each other and me. So, I switched gears and we just focused on not jump up again. It took a lot of patience, but eventually, I had all three sitting at once (even if it was just a brief moment). I think our next sessions will be individual sessions so we can build the behavior up before adding the other puppies in again as a distraction. — MG

3/22 Walk on a loose leash

Since it was such a nice today, we did a session outside in the front yard. This time I did individual sessions with each dog on walking on a loose leash. I looped the leash around my waist and walked with each puppy, until the puppy was four on the floor, with their attention lifted up towards me. I clicked those instants, and rewarded with a squirt of squeeze cheese. The reason I used this reward is to keep moving and for the dog to be able to get the reward without dropping it, which might happen with small solid treats. Nola did a great job of this and was even able to walk without a bounce for quite a few steps. Again, it is not important whether the dog walks on the left or the right…you might end up walking both dogs at one point and need one on each side! What is important is that they walk in a straight line with you and don’t trip you. Puppies aren’t born knowing how to walk in straight lines. lol We have to teach them. I see you don’t have a command for walking on leash. If its o.k. with you, we can use “let’s go” for this behavior. Today I was just getting the concept across. Both dogs did a great job. There were moments of puppy brillance! –MG

3/22 Leave-it

For our second session today, Nola and I worked on the command “leave-it”. This word should be reserved for when your dog absolutely cannot have what is on the ground (like a dead toad or other yucky things!). Note: if you like to have your dog sit before eating a meal and then release the dog, just use stay, then “o.k.” or your release word, rather than “leave-it”. Leave-it should mean no, not ever should you pick it up and put it in your mouth! For this demonstration today I used a slice of frozen zucchini as our leave-it item. The reason I used that is that 1) it wouldn’t be harmful if the dog did eat it by accident 2) it should be lower value than the rewards I had to offer. I dropped the zucchini (like it was an accident), and then stepped on it and said “leave-it”. When Nola looked up at me, I clicked and gave her a treat. You will see that Nola did an absolutely stellar job with this exercise. –MG

On another side note, our DSL here in Youngsville (or “Dinosaur Signal Link”, as I call it) is being very sluggish about uploading videos and the uploads keep failing. I am going to bring the memory card into our Raleigh location tonight, where we have Spectrum, and upload the videos from there. If you would, though, please download the videos you do have in your folder and delete them when you have copied to your own computer. If you have a free Drop Box account, it will only allow you to view a certain number of videos. Deleting the ones you have already copied to your computer at home will ensure that you continue to see the new videos. –MG

3/23 No Jumping/Sit

Today I worked with Nola on reinforcing her sits, as an alternative to jumping up. I also worked with her a little on responding to her name. When I said her name, she looked at me, I clicked and treated. Same with the sit, I asked for a sit, and when she sat I clicked and treated. She quickly caught on to paying close attention and seemed to really enjoy the process of training! She is such a cute little girl! – Whitney

3/23 Place/Down

Today I also worked with Nola on the beginnings of place training, or learning to go to a mat or bed and going to a down/stay. The first thing to work on with her is learning what down is! I helped her a little at first by using a treat to lure her into a down and then clicked and treated her a lot for being in this position. By the end of the session I was able to start fading that lure so that I could just give her the “down” verbal cue and she went into a down! Smart girl! – Whitney

3/24 Drop It

Nola and I worked today on learning to drop it using some toys. I first got her to play with the toys, and she very much enjoyed running around with them! Then I got her attention and showed her I had a treat. Then I clicked and treated her dropping the toy when she came towards me. After a few repetitions, I started anticipating her dropping the toy and added the cue “drop it”. She did need a little bit of luring with the treat to let go, but she was picking it up well! – Whitney

3/24 Sit/Stay

Today I also worked with Nola on a beginning sit/stay. I began by reinforcing the sit, then began clicking and treating her staying in the sit for a few seconds longer. She quickly learned that staying in the sit got her more treats! I started adding her cue “stay” but I kept the rate of reinforcement high and didn’t ask her to hold it for too long. We also worked on her recognizing the release word “ok” and she also got rewarded if she held her stay until I released her. She did fantastic in this session! – Whitney

3/24 Loose Leash Walking

Nola and I started working on her loose leash walking today. I had her outside, which was a little distracting for her. I started off by luring her to my side and then clicking and treating. If she got out in front of me, I turned the other way and encouraged her back into the position at my side so I could click and treat again. Eventually she was able to stay walking at my side attentively for a few steps. Not bad for a beginner! – Whitney

3/25 Loose Leash Walking

Today we did another loose leash walking session – because, well, “practice makes perfect”. 🙂 Nola had a bout of “jumping bean” behavior, but quickly settled down into a nice walk. Both puppies are very active, so this skill is going to be very important so that they can get lots of exercise! – MG

*Note: I will be heading to the Raleigh location tonight (3/26)to upload videos from 3/25 & 3/26

3/26 Come when called

Nola & I worked on recalls & she did great. She is very energetic & more bouncy when working than her brother so it’s important to ignore the behavior you don’t want & encourage the behavior you do want. I let her focus on other things so I could surprise her off guard & call & she came every time – They are terrific pups, both – Diana

3/26 Stay with Distractions

Again, good distractions with other dogs playing in the yard beside our but she was very solid & in the end was offering stays so she could be released to rewards! – Just Great!! – Diana

3/27 Drop It

Nola and I worked again today on her drop it, she wasn’t as motivated by playing with the toys today. We had to take a break and stop the first video, because she was circling and showing me she might need to take a potty break! So we did that and I made sure to reward her for letting me know and going outside instead. When we came back I was able to get a few clicks in for her dropping the toys or taking her attention away from them. – Whitney

3/27 No Jumping/Loose Leash Walking

Today I also worked with Nola outside on reinforcing her sits and walking calmly beside me instead of jumping. Her loose leash walking is coming along very well, and her sits are getting better as well. She is still jumping occasionally when I have my back turned, and especially when I first go and get her in the kennel. I also had a chance to work with her some on counter surfing, because I needed to go refill my bag of treats and she was trying to get up to them on the table. So I started showing her “off”, and rewarding for putting all four feet on the floor. There’s always an opportunity to work on training! – Whitney

3/28 Loose Leash Walking

Nola is making great progress on her loose leash walking! I worked with her outside again today on reinforcing her being at my side and looking at me while walking, I’m also working on teaching her the concept of sitting at my side rather than just in front of me like she has been used to. This does require some luring with a treat to get her to my side but then I can click and treat that position! She was a little distracted outside, but overall is really doing well with this – Whitney

3/28 Stays

Nola and I had a chance to show off all she’s learned in person! She was very excited as you all provided a challenging distraction! But she was really making some great progress on both a sit/stay and a down/stay. I’m still working on helping her understand the difference between these two, and we added a bit more distance in, and along with the distractions she was doing fantastic! (there’s no video for this session) – Whitney

3/28 Note from Michele: I will drive to Raleigh tomorrow night and upload videos from today and tomorrow. Thanks.

3/29 Recalls

Today Nola and I worked on her recalls inside in the pen area. She did well with going out to find a treat that I threw and then came back to me when I called her. I also had my dog Luna in the room in a crate, and she was barking some so this provided a good distraction for Nola. I would like to see her get a little more excited about coming back to me so we may need to work on that some more before adding more distraction – Whitney

3/29 Loose Leash Walking/No Jumping

Nola and I also worked on her loose leash walking a little more today, she was doing pretty well with this and then Michele walked by and we did a brief polite greeting. This was really tough for Nola and she got really excited and jumped up a lot, much like what you observed yesterday. After Michele walked away, Nola got really unfocused and she could hear Michele talking to some other clients as well. This put Nola in a state where I could not get her focus back and we needed to end the training session. Sometimes this happens, and rather than continue to get more frustrated with your dog and the situation it is better to end the session and start again later. – Whitney

3/30 Place Training

Today Nola and I worked some on her place training. I had her work on holding a down stay while I walked away to put more distance between us. I had some cheese to use for training today, for the last week or so I have only been using hot dogs, so this new treat was causing her to be more excited and pop back up out of her down. She made more progress with this as we continued working though, she’s doing so well! – Whitney

3/30 Loose Leash Walking with Distraction

Nola and I found a new spot outside to continue working on her loose leash walking. I set up close to a neighbor’s fence where they had a dog that would come out sometimes and bark. Nola was doing very well, and then we passed by a section of the fence where the dog could see her and he started barking. This made Nola nervous, but not so scared that we needed to stop training. I was able to help her continue and walk past the fence several times, continuing to reward her for being at my side. It was a great chance to help her work through something a little bit scary and get more confidence! – Whitney

3/31 Polite Greeting

Today Nola had the chance to meet a man with a beard! This was my husband Kevin who came out to Youngsville today to do agility with our dogs. Meeting people with beards or hats are always included on lists of things to socialize your puppy to, so this was a great opportunity to cross that one off! At first she was really excited and was jumping up on me a lot, and I think she was also excited to get the cheese I was holding. At first I was just feeding her, but then started using the clicker to mark and reward her sits, and this got her attention much more focused on what I wanted and she started to improve. Great work today Nola! – Whitney

3/31 Drop It

Nola and I continued working on her “drop it”, this time using a rawhide bone. She was very focused on this bone once she got it, and wasn’t really interested in the treats I had in my hand. I needed to throw treats out in front of her to get her attention enough to drop the bone. Then I was able to finally click to mark the moment she got up to go to the treats. She definitely needs more work on this, but she has been making improvements with the lower value items! – Whitney

4/1 Leave it

Continued working on leave it with Nora today. She did a wonderful job with it and really showed to know the words leave it. I explained the difference in a leave it where she engages with the item you would like her to leave for a treat instead of leaving the item alone as you would prefer. Great job Nora!! -Carson

4/1 Loose Leash Walking Around Distractions

Continued working on loose leash walking by adding distractions. We worked around a rather noisy chicken coop. Nora worked very hard to keep her focus on me which she did a very good job with! Nora, you are one smart pup!! -Carson

4/2 Come When Called / Heel Off Leash

Today I worked with Nola off leash in our back pasture. Its fully fenced in, but has the distraction of the chickens and the roosters. The goal was to work on come when called. The basis of a good come when called is a high rate of reinforcement near the person. So, when Nola was heeling off leash near me, she was clicked and given a treat. Nola also still likes to bounce up and down, so I worked on her not being a “tree frog. 🙂 By the end it was basically a “heeling off leash” exercise. What a great job, Nola! –MG

4/2 Stay with Distractions

Nola and I worked on her stay again today with the added challenge of being outside! This was pretty tough although I was able to get brief moments of focus from her. She definitely needs more work to build up the duration and distance while working outside! – Whitney

4/3 Doorways

Nola and I worked on doorways today. She did a wonderful job but with this. Nola proved to comprehend everything that I was asking of her. I am very proud of all that she accomplished today! Beautiful job Nola!! -Carson

4/3 No Jump

Continued working on no jump with Nola today. She worked very hard while she did jump a few times but that just means it needs a little more work. Very nice job! -Carson

4/4 Walk (off leash) / Come When Called

Today I worked with Nola off leash in our back pasture. She did so well that I posted her video on YouTube! — MG

4/4 Station Training

Today Nola and I worked on doing a down stay in her “place” (mat). She was a very good girl and we worked up to some pretty impressive duration. — MG

4/5 Recalls Outside

Nola did a great job today working with you all as a distraction! She was still doing a fantastic job of coming back to me outside. This was the first time we worked on this outside, and with so much distraction, she did so well! (there’s no video for this session) – Whitney

4/5 No Jumping with Miyagi

Nola had quite a big challenge working with her brother and remembering her polite behavior of not jumping up and sitting instead! I worked with both of them while standing as well as while sitting down. I had to be really patient and remind them to sit and sometimes reward only one of them if they were doing it, but then the other one would wonder why they weren’t also getting a treat! We will need more work on this, but I think they both made some progress during our session – Whitney

4/6 Place Training with Distraction

Nola and I worked today on her place training, this time with distractions! My dog was in the room in a crate and she was whining and barking some, and I also had some toys nearby that I was able to go and pick up and squeak as well. She really handled all of this very well and was able to hold her stay! So proud of how well this girl is doing! – Whitney

4/6 (Anti) Counter Surfing

Today I also worked with Nola on keeping her from jumping up on a counter, or in this case, a table with toys on it. I worked on reinforcing her sitting close to the table, also worked on teaching her an “off” (all 4 paws on the floor) and we had a chance to practice “drop it” when she grabbed some of the toys. She will need more work on this, but still a nice job! – Whitney

4/7 Drop It

Today I continued to work with Nola on her drop it. I had several different stuffed toys out today, which she had a bit more hesitation to let go of, and needed a little luring or showing her treats to convince her. She did great with the tennis ball however! She was chasing it and bringing it back to me and dropping it very reliably! Great job! – Whitney

4/7 Polite Greetings with Michele

We had a fun session this afternoon with Michele introducing Nola to all sorts of new things! She used varying levels of excitement in her voice tone and body language to help her understand to stay sitting no matter how excited the person greeting her is. She also used squeaky toys, a face mask, and a wheelchair to get her used to seeing all kinds of different things. This was a tough session for Nola because she gets so excited! I can tell she understands that she’s supposed to sit, but she struggles with controlling herself when there’s exciting distractions! – Whitney

4/8 Leash Walk with distractions outside

Nola was very distracted by the chickens in the coupe at first. She was not interested in hot dog treats at all but when I switched to cheese she was back in the game & worked well. It is fair to say however, that chickens are a big distraction for her at this stage. She did a good job & is a real sweetheart – Diana

4/8 Leave It

Nola did much better with Leave It this afternoon & very quickly caught on to the idea that the piece of cheese on the floor was not for her. Good Girlie xx – Diana

4/9 Recall Out of Play with Miyagi

Today we had a fun session with Nola and Miyagi together, practicing recalling them separately to two different people, in two different directions! This should really help them learn to recall separately, such as if you have both of them out in the yard and only need one of them to come in. Nola needed some prompting at times with treats but she was getting more focused by the end – Whitney

4/9 No Jump / Polite Greeting

Continued working on no jump and polite greeting with Nola. I showed a great way of helping Nola succeed but doing a treat scatter on the ground in front of the person which haves her sniffing the ground getting rewarded for staying 4 feet on the floor and pets and then when she’s done with snuffling out the treats she gave up her belly for belly rubs. She did a fabulous job. Carson

4/10 Puppy Agility

Nola and I had a great time today getting her introduced to some basic agility equipment! She did a few low jumps including a tire jump, a short tunnel, and a low a frame obstacle. She seemed to really take to this, and I think she has the makings of an amazing agility dog! – Whitney

4/10 Cafe Training

Today I also worked with Nola on “cafe training” which is place training while you are at a cafe or dog friendly restaurant. It is a challenge since I have to sit down with her as well as eat something in front of her, and she needs to hold her down stay in place. She did want to jump up on me a few times, but she showed some progress with holding her down stay. – Whitney

4/11 Stay with Distractions

Nola & I worked on her stay in position (sit or down) with movement from the handler & distracting chickens in the background. She settled into her work quite quickly & did well. She understands the idea that she must hold her position & looks for her reward. I like to reward frequently as this is a tough exercise for youngsters & the more you reward the behavior the stronger it gets. It is important to remember the release out of the stay as part of the exercise. When you are ready for your dog to move you should have a word that allows her to move rather than just letting her get up & wander off. OK, Free or Break are good options. – Diana

4/11 No jump greeting

This afternoon Nola worked on polite greeting with a new friend, Betsy. Nola clearly saw the link between this exercise & the stay from this morning & worked hard for her treats. Another very good session for her. – Diana

4/12 Drop It

Nola and I had another session today working on her drop it cue, again using the yummy rawhide bone! We also had some toys out and I had her practice with those a bit first before we moved on to the rawhide. She has improved a bit on her responsiveness with this, but will still continue to use work with something as high value as the rawhide – Whitney

4/12 Stay with Distraction

I also worked with Nola on her stays, this time outside and with toys on the ground to serve as distractions. This was tough for her to ignore since she loves playing with toys! However she did start focusing more after the first couple of minutes and then did a fantastic job with both her sit and down stays and left the toys alone – Whitney

4/13 “Good Things Come to Those Who Sit” (Not Jump Up)

I decided that today was going to be “boot camp day” for not jump up on people. Since we have such a nice group of socially compatible puppies staying here, I walked out into the middle of the group of bouncing, playing puppies. I ignored those who jumped and rewarded those who sat. The idea is that behaviors that are reinforced will be repeated, and those that are not reinforced will cease. I also added saying each puppy’s name as I gave a treat. This teaches each puppy to take its “turn” and not try to grab another puppy’s treat away. You will see that there were moments that I almost had all 7 puppies sitting at the same time. -Michele

4/13 “Good Things Come to Those Who Sit” (Not Jump Up) PART 2

One of the keys to good dog training is lots of repetition. So, I decided to repeat this session again in the afternoon. This time I was able to get all 7 puppies sitting nicely at the same time! I was able to repeat that several times. Then, I was able to walk across the play yard without being jumped on. What amazing progress they all made today!- MG

4/14 Place Training with Distractions

Nola had a great session showing me how well she can stay in a down stay on a mat today with my dog in the room barking and an open container of hot dogs nearby! Even though my dog was quite loud in her crate during the session, Nola did great with not being phased by her and she restrained herself from going to check out the hot dogs too! She did so well – Whitney

4/14 Buddy Walk with Miyagi

Nola and I worked on loose leash walking, sit and down stays, and focus work. It was a little difficult for her at first but all she was telling me was that the treats were boring because she had enough of the hot dog. I switched to cheese as she began to focus back on me and really get into training I began doing both cheese and hot dogs which she seemed to like. Great progress Nola!! Carson

4/15 Drop It

Nola and I did another session today working on her drop it and she is coming along well with it. She was reluctant to let go of a toy and the rawhide bone a few times so she will continue to need practice with this – Whitney

4/15 Recalls

Continued working on recalls with Nola today. In the video I explain 2 good training methods for working on recall. The 2 ways were called treat scatter and treat fetch. Either way for Nola definitely seem to be useful and fun for her. She did a fabulous job with both and completely understood what I was asking from her. As we worked on recall I also worked a little on no jump when she as she seemed to get super excited and decided to jump. She also did a very good job with as well! Carson

4/16 Leave It

Nola and I worked on having her continue to learn leave it, using some toys and dog biscuits on the ground outside. She was doing well and pretty focused, but did try to grab a rope toy with tennis balls, as it looked pretty fun to her! But I was able to get her to drop it, and come back to me. Having some cheese helps! – Whitney

4/16 Cafe training with Miyagi

Nola and I worked side by side with Miyagi and Whitney today on Cafe training which is station stays while we bring out all the distractions. We had food distractions, face masks, another dog and another person. Nola put the peddle to the medal during our session! She rocked it! Carson

4/17 Not Jump Up

Today I worked with all three “Martin dogs” on not jump up as a group. Nola was a great student. Its difficult for her not to bounce around, but she understands that what we want is a “sit”. — Michele

4/17 Walk on Leash

In the second session, Maria and I worked with Nola and Miyagi to walk nicely near each other. We reinforced attention on the person, and walking without jumping up. They did a great job. They have come a long way! — Michele

4/18 Come when Called

Nola and I worked on come when called around the chickens today. While Nola is such a loving pup and wants to work for what she gets! The more we we worked the more fun she seemed to be having. She was slightly interested in the chickens as well. Great job! Carson

4/18 Stay with Distance

Nola and I worked on her stays today and worked mainly on distance. After getting very excited that she was doing so well that I was able to take 5 steps away from her, I feel like she got very distracted as if that I went from 0-60 a little too fast for her. I was able to get her focused back on me a little but I do think that she will need a little more work on this. By using the vary method of changing the number of steps away such as going 1,2,1,3,2,3,1 sort of deal would really help her. Carson

4/19 Drop It

Nola and I worked on her drop it today, this time using a bully stick. She really liked chewing on the bully stick so she did still need a little luring to let go of it, but her response to the cue is getting quicker so she’s making progress – Whitney

4/19 Stay with Distraction

I also worked with Nola today on her stays outside with toys on the ground nearby as distractions. She was a little unfocused but I tried to keep the rate of reinforcement high (more frequently feeding her treats) and this seemed to help her – Whitney

Mango MacDonald 3/16/20 – 4/16/20

3/16 Get to Know/Basics

Mango and I started off our day getting to know each other! This was a time for me to just start working with her and see where she is with some of her basics. First thing I noticed is that she is very excitable and jumpy, a typical puppy. Once I spent a few minutes rewarding her for a sit instead, she started to understand this is what would give her treats. She has a nice down as well, but I noticed she had some confusion over down vs stay. When I asked for a stay in a sit position, she offered a down. She has the beginning of some very nice loose leash walking as well! – Whitney

3/16 No Jumping

I wanted to work with Mango on curbing her jumping as this is the first step to getting her focused to work on more training. First step is to ignore the jumping and turn my back, and then ask for a sit and reward her. I also started working with her on “off” which is putting all 4 feet on the floor. She made some progress during the session, this is something we will be continuing to work with her on every day during our interaction with her – Whitney

3/17 No Jumping

Today Mango and I worked on developing a default behavior for when she wants attention. I used “Sit” today, but ultimately you can use any behavior that is hard for the pup to do simultaneously with jumping. She made some good progress! –Gloria

3/17 No Jump/Stay

Since Mango was struggling with keeping four-on-the-floor, we ended up spending our second session working of having an alternative default behavior. I also started working on Sit-Stay to help her build impulse control for when there is a human standing in front of her. She likes to jump if I remove my attention or eye contact, so the Sit-Stay well help her build self-control. Good job, Mango! –Gloria

3/18 No Jump/Stay

For our first session today, Mango and I worked on not jumping when trying to get attention. Once she was consistently keeping four-on-the-floor, we started to work on sit-stays as well. I have noticed that she believes “Stay” means to lie down, so I stopped used the “Stay” cue while working on Sit-Stays so that we could build up duration in the sitting position. –Gloria

3/18 Loose Leash Walking

For our second session today, Mango and I worked on loose leash walking in a classroom. We also worked on leash boundaries by having Mango provide a visual check-in with me if she ever hit the end of the leash. We have a little ways to go, but I know she will get there! –Gloria

3/18 No Jump/Loose Leash Walking

For our final session today, Mango and I practiced keeping four-on-the-floor in a new location. We also worked on loose leash walking inside, and she did really well when I would use a target to keep her by my left side. Good job, Mango! –Gloria

3/20 “Quiet” vs “Speak”

Since Mango does demand bark when wanting attention, treats, etc., I worked on putting her bark on a “Speak” cue. From there, I also started to introduce a “Quiet” cue so we can communicate with her when we do not want her barking. Great progress, Mango! –Gloria

3/20 No Jumping (Summary Video)

Mango and I continued working on not jumping when wanting attention/treats. To help her generalize the behavior, we practiced in the kennel area and outside. She was very excited and bouncy at first, but she quickly progressed the more I reinforced four-on-the-floor. –Gloria

3/21 No jumping up on people

Mango worked on not jumping up on people as they enter a doorway. I talked about what to do when someone comes in the front door – how to redirect that intial energy of the guest and also Mango. Then I worked with Mango on the cue to sit actually being an excited greeting. Mango was a superstar student. — MG

3/21 More Not Jump

I put all three puppies out to play in my front yard, with the intention of doing recalls out of play. However, I had to switch our lesson to another not jump up on people session. The three puppies were very excited and jumping all over each other and me. So, I switched gears and we just focused on not jump up again. It took a lot of patience, but eventually, I had all three sitting at once (even if it was just a brief moment). I think our next sessions will be individual sessions so we can build the behavior up before adding the other puppies in again as a distraction. — MG

3/22 Walk on a loose leash

Since it was such a nice today, we did a session outside in the front yard. This time I did individual sessions with each dog on walking on a loose leash. I looped the leash around my waist and walked with Mango, until sh had “four on the floor”, with her attention lifted up towards me. I clicked those instants, and rewarded with a squirt of squeeze cheese. The reason I used this reward is to keep moving and for Mango to be able to get the reward without dropping it, which might happen with small solid treats. Mango did a great job of this and was even able to walk without a bounce for quite a few steps. Again, it is not important whether Mango walks on the left or the right. What is important is that she walks in a straight line with you and doesn’t trip you. Puppies aren’t born knowing how to walk in straight lines. lol We have to teach them. I see you don’t have a command for walking on leash. If its o.k. with you, we can use “let’s go” for this behavior. Today I was just getting the concept across. Mango did a great job. There were moments of puppy brillance! –MG

3/22 Leave-it

For our second session today, Mango and I worked on the command “leave-it”. This word should be reserved for when your dog absolutely cannot have what is on the ground (like a dead toad or other yucky things!). Note: if you like to have your dog sit before eating a meal and then release the dog, just use stay, then “o.k.” or your release word, rather than “leave-it”. Leave-it should mean no, not ever should you pick it up and put it in your mouth! For this demonstration today I used a slice of frozen zucchini as our leave-it item. The reason I used that is that 1) it wouldn’t be harmful if the dog did eat it by accident 2) it should be lower value than the rewards I had to offer. I dropped the zucchini (like it was an accident), and then stepped on it and said “leave-it”. When Mango looked up at me, I clicked and gave her a treat. You will see that Mango did an absolutely stellar job with this exercise. –MG

On another side note, our DSL here in Youngsville (or “Dinosaur Signal Link”, as I call it) is being very sluggish about uploading videos and the uploads keep failing. I am going to bring the memory card into our Raleigh location tonight, where we have Spectrum, and upload the videos from there. If you would, though, please download the videos you do have in your folder and delete them when you have copied to your own computer. If you have a free Drop Box account, it will only allow you to view a certain number of videos. Deleting the ones you have already copied to your computer at home will ensure that you continue to see the new videos. –MG

3/23 No Jumping/Loose Leash Walking

Mango and I have a lovely session today working on her walking at my side and keeping four feet on the floor, as well as continuing to reinforce her for sitting. She has a habit of getting out in front of me while I was walking and I really wanted to encourage her to stay at my side instead. Her jumping has already gotten so much better than the last time I worked with her about a week ago. She’s making great progress! – Whitney

3/23 Place/Down

Mango and I also worked today on her “place” cue, or learning to stay on a mat or bed in a down/stay. We worked on her building up a longer duration of the down, and I was able to add in the distraction of me walking back from her a few steps. She is starting to learn to go to her place on the mat and go right into a down position from a few feet away as well. Great job Mango! – Whitney

3/24 Drop It

Today I worked with Mango on learning to drop a toy or other item. I used a couple toys and got her interested in playing with them, then I said her name or got her attention and right when she is about to drop the toy I added the cue “drop it” then clicked and treated when she did let go of it. She was picking up on this really well and we got some good repetitions in during the session! – Whitney

3/24 Sit/Stay

Today I worked with Mango on her sit/stay, as yesterday we worked on down/stay with the place training. I continued to try to help her with understanding that “stay” means stay in the position you are in, rather than going right into a down. We worked on building duration of the sit/stay, and having her recognize not being release until given the release word “ok”. She made great progress! – Whitney

3/24 Loose Leash Walking

I did a session with Mango today outside working on her loose leash walking. This is something I have been working with her on while taking her from her outside pen to the training area. I have been clicking and treating her being on my left side (either side is fine, that’s just what I’m most familiar with) and giving attention while walking next to me. She is doing much better with this and not jumping out in front of me as much! Great work! – Whitney

3/25 Loose Leash Walking

Today we did another loose leash walking session – because, well, “practice makes perfect”. 🙂 Mango was a very good girl and even sat while I stopped to talk to you on the camera. She is an active puppy, so this skill is going to be very important so that she can get lots of exercise! – MG

*Note: I will be heading to the Raleigh location tonight (3/26) to upload videos from 3/25 & 3/26

3/26 – Come when called

Mango is a very smart puppy. She has great focus & is extremely willing to learn. Teaching Come is obviously very important. How you teach it is even more so. Rule #1… never to call your dog unless you have control over her until you have a rock solid recall. Every time you call her name or come as you are teaching her & she responds you should reward her – this is like putting money in the Bank!!! The more you reward this behavior the more solid her response will be. I worked outside with her this morning, giving her an opportunity to focus on other things around us so I could catch her off guard to call her. ‘Mango..Come’ is better than Come as it gives her a heads up that we want something. Don’t repeat it. If she does not respond, call pup, pup, pup or run off in the opposite direction to get her to come & then give lots of praise & reward when she does. Calling repeatedly deadens the recall word & ultimately causes the dog to ignore you. You see in the video that I would call her, reward & the toss a treat away from me to get her to focus away so I could call her again. If you do this at home, use a higher value treat for the recall & lower value one for the toss away. You can play this game is the hall of your house with 1 person at each end. One calls her & the other one stays still. Once she comes to you, Praise, Treat & then ignore her. Let the other person try calling her. You can do this game with several people, each one has treats & each one gets to call the puppy while the others are standing still ignoring her. Making a game of the recall, making it happen when she looking at you & running away calling her name so she’ll come chasing into you is a great way to build her enthusiasm & willingness to play this anytime. She did great! – Diana

3/26 Stay with distractions

Mango & I worked on this outside while Michele was walking her dogs which would have been very distracting for most dogs but Mango is working so hard right now that she really paid very little attention to them. We worked on asking her to hold a down while I stepped back & then came in & rewarded her between her front & on the ground. I did this 4 or 5 times & then tossed a treat away as I said OK to release her from the position. Even more important than the Stay command is the Release as once the dog understands stay means stay in place UNTIL I say OK, the reward becomes the reward & they will hold the position, waiting for you to say OK. Once again she did great! – Diana

3/27 Drop It

Mango and I had a chance to work on drop it a bit more today. She was a little unfocused, but my timing was also off a bit as well. She did let go of or take her attention off the toy a few times and then I was able to click and treat. She was offering downs a lot so she must’ve remembered her session with Diana from yesterday! – Whitney

3/27 No Jumping/Loose Leash Walking

I worked with Mango some outside on her loose leash walking as well as reinforcing the sit to replace the behavior of jumping. Mostly she jumps a lot when I first come into her kennel to get her for training, when we start working together after we get out of her kennel she does well with not jumping then. She is making some great improvements this week! – Whitney

3/28 Loose Leash Walking

Today I worked with Mango again outside on her loose leash walking which is coming along great! I am continuing to click for her attention on me while we’re walking as well as sitting when we stop. I’m working on trying to increase the amount of time that she has her attention on me before I click and treat to work up to a more sustained attention while walking. When I go and get her out of the kennel I am also seeing an improvement with her sitting nicely when I put her harness on, and we have a chance to practice “drop it” when she picks up sticks while we’re walking. Lots of chances for training! – Whitney

3/28 Sit/Stay

Mango and I also had a great session working on her sit/stay and starting to add a little more distance in. She is still trying to offer downs instead of sit every once in a while, but it’s getting less frequent. She also did some demand barking a couple of times but I was able to get her refocused so that didn’t continue. I was able to get about 10 feet from her in a stay, so she’s really making huge progress with this! Great job! – Whitney

3/28 Note from Michele: I will drive to Raleigh tomorrow night and upload videos from today and tomorrow. Thanks.

3/29 Recall

Today I worked with Mango some on her recall inside in the pen area. I tossed a treat away from her to get her to go out and away, then call her back again for another treat, then click and treat for a sit as well. I had my own dog Luna nearby in a crate and she was barking since she heard me working with another dog, this provided a good distraction and Mango was not bothered at all! I think she’s ready to work on this outside in a fenced area or on a long line! – Whitney

3/29 Loose Leash Walking/No Jumping

Mango is doing so much better on not jumping when I go and get her out of the kennel to start training! She does still jump on me initially but then I have her sit to get her harness on and this is going much better than last week. I worked with her on her loose leash walking during this session and it is really coming along well. She was a little distracted by walking by an open gate that she wanted to investigate but worked through this well for an awesome session! – Whitney

3/30 Place Training

Mango and I continued work on her place training today, teaching her to hold a down stay on a bed or mat while I walked away from her to put more distance between us. She was still doing a little demand barking but it was only a couple of times, and at first she was popping up out of her down, but she improved on that as well during the session. I was able to walk about 7 to 10 feet away today! – Whitney

3/30 Loose Leash Walking with Distraction

Today I also worked with Mango outside on her loose leash walking. She has been doing so well with this skill! I chose a new area outside to practice in and she quickly found a piece of fluff on the ground that she wanted to pick up and try to eat! It looked like the fluff that came out of a stuffed toy. I was able to move this to the side and use it to also work on her “leave it” while we walked by, and it made a good distraction! Sometimes just using what’s in the environment makes for great training moments – Whitney

3/31 Polite Greeting

Today Mango and I had a chance to work with having her greet another person. My husband Kevin had come with me out to Youngsville to do agility with our dogs, and he also happens to have a beard! This is always included on lists of things to socialize your puppy to, so it was a great chance to have her meet someone who looks a little different and practice not jumping up as well. She was very jumpy at first and bouncing around, but she started settling down after a few minutes and doing much better sitting instead of jumping up. Needs work, but a good start Mango! – Whitney

3/31 Drop It

Mango continued to work on her “drop it” cue today, this time using a rawhide bone. This was definitely more enticing than that toys we used previously, so it was more of a challenge. I had to really show her that I had treats in my hand to get her attention and drop the bone and come towards me. She will need more work on this, especially with higher value things! – Whitney

4/1 Loose Leash Walking Around Distractions

Continued working with Mango on loose leash walking with added distractions. We worked around a chicken coop which was rather noisy today. Mango did a very good job with this but she was a little intrigued by the noise that the chickens were making. Which I think was pretty cute!! She did keep her focus on my the whole time and kept a loose leash even when sniffing here and there! -Carson

4/1 Leave It

Continued working on leave it with mango today. She showed that she understood the words leave it very well and at times completely ignored the tennis ball. Very proud of her! Great job Mango! -Carson

4/2 Come When Called / Heel Off Leash

Today I worked with Mango off leash in our back pasture. Its fully fenced in, but has the distraction of the chickens and the roosters. The roosters always have a lot to say. 🙂 The goal was to work on come when called. The basis of a good come when called is a high rate of reinforcement near the person. So, when Mango was heeling off leash near me, she was clicked and given a treat. Mango also still likes to bounce up and down, so I worked on her keeping those feet on the ground. By the end it was basically a “heeling off leash” exercise. What a great job, Mango! –MG

4/2 Stay with Distraction

Today I worked with Mango on her stay while outside, so this was a big challenge! She wasn’t able to hold her stay for as long or let me get as much distance, but she was making some progress. She still tries to go into a down occasionally on her sit stay, so it continues to need work – Whitney

4/3 No jump

Continued working on no job with mango today. We played a very fun game called “catch me if you can”. Mango did a very good job with this both working on recall and no jump. We had a lot of fun!! -Carson

4/4 Walk (off leash) / Come When Called

Today I worked with Mango off leash in our back pasture. She was a rockstar! — MG

4/4 Station Training

Today Mango and I worked on doing a down stay in her “place” (mat). She was a very good girl and we worked up to some pretty impressive duration. — MG

4/5 Recalls Outside

Today I worked with Mango outside on her recalls, using a long line. She did fantastic with this! She was reliably coming back to me each time I called her, and I didn’t have to call her more than once! Great job! – Whitney

4/5 No Jumping/No Barking

Mango and I also worked today on her impulse control with both the jumping up as well her her demand barking for attention. Both of these behaviors require the same method of ignoring, not looking at her so as to reinforce the behavior, then waiting for her to calm down and asking for a sit, or just clicking and treating the calm behavior. We worked on this both while I was standing as well as sitting down – Whitney

4/6 Place Training with Distractions

Today I worked with Mango on her place training once again, this time with my dog in the room in a crate nearby, as well as using some toys as distractions! Mango did very well, she was able to hold her down stay while my dog was barking, and I was even able to walk over to a table and pick up toys and squeak them! She was handling all these distractions so well, and she also didn’t do as much demand barking today! – Whitney

4/6 (Anti) Counter Surfing

Mango and I also worked today on her counter surfing, or rather trying to prevent it! For this I used a table with some toys set up on it, and I reinforced her for sitting when we got close to the table. It’s also an opportunity to work with her on putting all 4 paws back on the floor, or “off” as well as continuing to work on leave it, and drop it if she does grab something. She did such a great job today! – Whitney

4/7 Drop It

Today I continued Mango’s work with her drop it cue, and she’s really doing great! We have practiced this a lot going back and forth from training sessions to her kennel since she likes to pick up sticks in the yard. I also learned in this session that Mango LOVES tennis balls! – Whitney

4/7 Polite Greetings with Michele

We had a fun session this afternoon with Michele introducing Mango to all sorts of new things! She used varying levels of excitement in her voice tone and body language to help her understand to stay sitting no matter how excited the person greeting her is. She also used squeaky toys, a face mask, and a wheelchair to get her used to seeing all kinds of different things. This was a really tough session for Mango since she gets excited about both people and toys. She needs lots more work with this, but it was good practice for her! – Whitney

4/8 Leash walk with distractions

Mango worked on great focus whilst walking on loose leash beside me this morning. We worked out beside the chicken coupe which didn’t phase her at all. The chooks were chatty but Mango stayed on course & kept to her work. I am really impressed with this little Bernadoodle – she is so smart & such a willing worker – Diana

4/8 Leave It

This afternoon Mango worked on Leave It & again, she really understands the concept of work & focus & she was very quick to ignore the cheese under my foot & then just sitting nearby. Great work Mango!! – Diana

4/9 Polite Greeting

Mango made a lot of progress during this session. Michele had her neighbor Joann come over, and she was very excited to see all the dogs! This was really tough for Mango since she is so jumpy, but I began to click when she sat and this really helped her improve very quickly. By the end of the session she was able to sit while Joann bent over her and talked to her in a very excited voice! so proud of Mango today! – Whitney

4/9 Recall out of Play with Mary Lou

Mary Lou and Mango had a fantastic time playing today. Every time we recalled them out of play we did something like sit and down stays. They recalled out of play very well. Carson

4/10 Puppy Agility

Mango and I had a fun session introducing her to some basic agility obstacles! She did some very low jumps, including a tire jump, a short tunnel and a low a frame obstacle. She did great on all of this and had a blast! – Whitney

4/10 Cafe Training

Today I also worked with Mango on something we call “cafe training”, which is place training while you are at a cafe or dog friendly restaurant. She has really been excelling at her place training so did very well with this. She only did a little bit of barking at the beginning of the session, and then quieted down and focused. Great job Mango! – Whitney

4/11 Stay with Distractions

Mango comes out of her run in the morning with lots of energy & enthusiasm & you think ‘oh my, this will be a tough session’. You walk her to the work area with a few treats for her as she starts to focus & by the time you start the camera she is settling in for whatever the exercise you have for her. It is extremely gratifying as a trainer to have a dog like this, she really understands the concept of work & is mindful & ready to respond to your cues – Diana

4/11 No jump greetings with Betsy

Betsy has had quite a few Bernese Mt dogs in her life, not to mention lots of other breeds too so you should be pleased to hear her singing Mangos praises as she offered her such solid greetings, sits & downs. Really lovely work little one – Diana

4/12 Drop It

Mango and I continued to work on her drop it cue today, again using the rawhide bone that is so delicious! Mango did a much better job this time dropping it more consistently and was more responsive! great improvement! – Whitney

4/12 Stay with Distraction

I also worked with Mango today on her stays, this time outside and with a couple of toys nearby as distractions! This was really tough for her since she does love toys so much, and at first was frustrated about wanting to go check them out. But she focused well with me and worked through it. Her sit and down stay are both becoming much more distinct, as she is learning the difference! She has made so much progress – Whitney

4/13 “Good Things Come to Those Who Sit” (Not Jump Up)

I decided that today was going to be “boot camp day” for not jump up on people. Since we have such a nice group of socially compatible puppies staying here, I walked out into the middle of the group of bouncing, playing puppies. I ignored those who jumped and rewarded those who sat. The idea is that behaviors that are reinforced will be repeated, and those that are not reinforced will cease. I also added saying each puppy’s name as I gave a treat. This teaches each puppy to take its “turn” and not try to grab another puppy’s treat away. You will see that there were moments that I almost had all 7 puppies sitting at the same time. -Michele

4/13 “Good Things Come to Those Who Sit” (Not Jump Up) PART 2

One of the keys to good dog training is lots of repetition. So, I decided to repeat this session again in the afternoon. This time I was able to get all 7 puppies sitting nicely at the same time! I was able to repeat that several times. Then, I was able to walk across the play yard without being jumped on. What amazing progress they all made today!- MG

4/14 Place Training with Distractions

Today I worked with Mango on her place cue, with the distraction of my dog in the room in a crate as well as an open container of hot dogs nearby! Mango handled all of this beautifully, she did very well with the distractions, and Luna was quite loud and barked and whined quite a bit, which you will hear on the video! Mango is really coming along well with her place skills! – Whitney

4/14 Buddy Walk with Arlo

Mango and I worked on loose leash walking, sit and down stays and focus work. Mango was very focused on me the whole time. I think this really helped Arlo as well because he really wanted to play with Mango and was a little more focused on her than training at the beginning. Mango has worked so hard while she has been here and I am very proud of all that she has accomplished! Carson

4/15 No Jumping with 2 People

Carson and I did a joint session with Mango today testing her ability to sit nicely instead of jumping up on us. We recalled her to us and used excited voices to talk to her and she still did a great job not jumping! She mostly jumped up on me today when I first went to get her out of her kennel, so she does need more practice with this skill – Whitney

4/15 Recalls

Continued working on recalls with Mango today. We played a fun game of treat fetch which enticed her to jump due to excitement and having fun with the game. I was able to also work on no jump as well because of this. She did a fabulous job and I am very proud of her. Sadly my camera died midway through our session which deletes the current video if it is in process, so there is no video of this session. She is working very hard and is showing a lot of progress!! Carson

4/16 Grooming

Today I had a nice session with Mango working on brushing out her fur before going home! It was a big help having Carson focus on feeding her treats while I could focus on the brushing. I used a pin brush on her, which really seemed to do the best job of getting some of the loose leaves and dirt out of her coat – Whitney

4/16 Leave its outside

Continued working on leave its with mango today. I pulled out all the stops for her because I know she could handle it. She was able to sit next to the toy and completely ignore it. I am very proud of all that mango accomplished during our session!! Carson

Samson Hamma 3/14/20 – 3/15/20

3/15 Leave It

I worked with Samson today on his leave it, using toys and a couple of dog biscuits on the floor. He was doing great with this until he realized he could grab one of the dog biscuits and eat it! After that I worked with him more on leaving the remains of the dog biscuits. I said leave it or his name when he was focusing on the biscuit, then giving him a treat when he turned back to me. He didn’t really care much about the toys, but could use more practice with the food. – Whitney

Sawyer Hamma 3/14/20 – 3/15/20

3/15 Leave It

Today I worked with Sawyer on leave it by putting out a few tempting toys and dog biscuits. We worked a little further away at first to help him get the concept. If he looked at the toys or treats I asked him to leave it or said his name, and when he focused back on me then I gave him a treat. He is catching on but needs more practice! – Whitney

3/15 Leash Manners

Sawyer and I worked on his loose leash walking and leash manners outside today. At first he was really wanting to get out in front of me, but after stopping a few times and getting him to come back to my side he was starting to get the hang of it! – Whitney

Murphy Hodge March 2020 Dayschool

3/13 Dog Focus with Brewster doing basics

Murphy did a great job with his dog focus today! I had him do some loose leash walking, sit and down stays and recalls from both a sitting and down position. Beautiful job Murphy!! Carson

3/13 Target

I saw that agility was on Murphy’s training wish list, so we worked on a target cue. I used a foam puck today, but you could use any items around the house (coaster, small mat, etc.). By the end of our session, Murphy was offering a consistent target touch (still building a cue association) and seemed to be having a lot of fun! –Gloria

Pongo Boldt March 2020 Dayschool

3/12 Polite Greetings

Today I worked with Pongo on not jumping and polite greetings. He did jump up a few times but did ok on that part of, the main concern I have is with his demand barking for treats. I practiced turning my back on him and waiting for him to be quiet before rewarding him, even if he was sitting. Definitely could use some more work, but we made a little progress – Whitney

3/12 Dog Focus with Bentley

Pongo was slightly distracted due to the fact that Bentley is one of his play partners. I gave him a little bit of space from Bentley before we started to get some focus work in. After working on focus and as long as we were at a good distance at the beginning he gave me beautiful sits and focus. We were able to work up to sitting at a small distance from Bentley and have great focus. Wonderful job Pongo!!

3/13 Dog Focus with Hank

Pongo and i worked on loose leash walking with Hank today. Pongo did a fantastic job with this. He had some very focus on me and did some beautiful loose leash walking toward and by Hank!! Carson

3/13 Stay

To help Pongo with his excited jumping/impulse control, I wanted to work on “stay” today. Pongo made some great progress keeping a sit-stay while I walked away from him in various directions. I would recommend more practice to continue building a solid stay even when there is movement nearby. Good boy, Pongo! –Gloria

Bear Hogg March 2020 Day School

3/11 Recall

Bear did a great job with our session on recalls. I explain in the video, the importance to work on this everywhere you go if its a new place, if he’s playing with another dog or anytime you can because having a good recall is always a good thing! Its important because dogs have a hard time generalizing. Great job Bear! Carson

Sam Joslyn March 2020 Dayschool

3/11 Get to know

For the first day, seeing how Sam was a little unsure of being at teamworks we do a nice get to know session just to see what they want to do and what treats he prefers. I find out he likes cheese more than peanut butter but he was also exhibiting some calming signals so I didn’t want to push him any further than he was comfortable with so sits are what all I could get today. Good job Sam! Carson