Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the sixteenth day of the month is "Instruction."
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When we first adopted Hannah, we took her to training classes and trained her twice a day for 5-15 minutes. When she got sick, she just refused to do any tricks and something that had made her so happy and excited before frustrated her and caused her pain. So we didn't do much training.
And it shows. She's not great on her leash anymore. She's very stubborn and refuses to listen to commands a great deal of the time.
But we're bringing it back. I dug out all our training tools (see above) and every morning before breakfast and every night before dinner, Hannah and I go through a brief training routine. It's generally two to five minutes long and we're mostly just trying to refresh what she knew before we stopped training.
The beige mat is her "place" where I put her and make her stay. She can sit or stand or lay down, but she can't leave the mat. She can do this for up to ten minutes with no distractions. If the cat walks by, a human moves in the other room, or she sees a snowflake fall out the window, she's not perfect, but we're working on it.
The black feed bowl she's standing on is where she goes to get her harness put on and I have her walk around it clockwise and counterclockwise to work on balance, control of her rear end, and basic obedience. This was the first clue I had that she was really in pain because she would get on it, but refuse to go in circles and when she did, she frequently cried. I do this one every day because it's a really good measure for me to see if her back is doing okay.
Hannah's timid and we use the ball to practice "touch" which is just her touching something with her paw. She's quite scared of the ball because it moves and she always jumps. We started by having one human hold the ball steady while another human gave her treats and we've moved on to her not needing someone to steady the ball, but she won't hold her paw on it. We'll take our slow progress.
My neighbors were throwing the hula hoop away in their trash when I asked if I could have it. Hannah will walk through the hoop, although she's not a fan of jumping through it if it's more than a few inches off of the ground. I also set it on the ground and practice "touch" from the above paragraph, walking clockwise and counterclockwise around it, and having her put one paw inside the hoop while the the other three are out of it, two paws in and two paws out, three paws in and one paw out (we haven't actually accomplished this yet), and all four paws out. We also practice sitting and laying inside the hoop.
I set the cones up for an obstacle course, but generally do this outside in warmer weather. It's been a minutes since we've used them.
We also practice sitting, laying down, staying, walking by my side, shaking paws, having her ears examined, standing to have her back feet looked at, coming when called, and not chasing the cat. That last one is hard, yo.
What's your favorite thing to teach your dog? If you don't have a dog, what should I teach Hannah next?
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To see what Bestest Friend has to say about instruction, go visit her at Too Legit to Quit.
Well, I am helpless on this one - no advice to give. But - gold stars for putting in all this energy into training (and for paying such close attention to her cues), and I'm so happy she's feeling up to some of these activities again.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as always, starting my day with a picture of Hannah (especially those gorgeous eyes) is always lovely indeed <3
I am also super happy she's into training again! It's such a joy to see her watching me carefully for cues. One of the greatest joys of having a dog in your life, I think!
DeleteYou and she are doing pretty well. Me? I have a cat who has me rained pretty well.
ReplyDeleteThe cat has definitely trained the humans in all things around here, too!
DeleteHannah is just so sweet. Looking into a dog's eyes gets me every time.
ReplyDeleteI was my granddog Zydrunas's first trainer. He is very amenable to instruction, but it all goes out the window when he feels there is a threat. Everything and everyone is a potential murderer, and he is the only thing that can protect us. He has been professionally trained, but he is still incredibly reactive, largely to other dogs.
And my cats. Sigh.
Yes to this. Hannah is pretty reactive to men. It's a struggle and we have had a handful of males guests who she is okay with, but if I'm on a walk and a man says anything to me, it's game over. I don't have a particularly good strategy for dealing with this, but I'm focusing on basics and will try to start incorporating more of her socialization when she can stay focused more for longer periods of time. It's very challenging.
DeleteHannah is so cute, touching the ball. I've only had cats, so I can't even imagine training an animal. But it sounds like Hannah is doing great- you'll have her well-trained in no time.
ReplyDeleteYour Christmas card is on the way! It's actually the first one I sent- I know. I'm a little behind.
We have a friend who has clicker trained her cat to do lots of things - high five, jump, go to "place," and all kind of stuff. It's amazing what can be done with a cat if you'll take the time. I have not taken the time with our cat! Ha!
DeleteI am so excited to get your card and will let you know when it arrives.
Your Hannah pictures always make me smile. The one of her with all her training toys reminds me of the Korean dol where on a kid's first birthday a variety of items are put in front of said kid and whichever one the baby picks up is supposed to foretell their future. Clearly she's picked the feed bowl... what does that say about her?
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of this Korean tradition. Very interesting.
DeleteHannah's picking the feed bowl is all because I told her to do it! She didn't choose anything - she'd choose to just lay in bed!
I know nothing about dog training, so I read all of this with great interest. How does "touch" translate into her day-to-day life? Or is it all about getting her to listen to you and do as you say? Or is it more about trust? Honestly, it sounds like you are making great progress (she sounds way better trained than a lot of dogs I know) and I am so happy that she is well enough to resume training! Yay!
ReplyDeleteThese are great questions! The "touch" thing is really about her trusting us to not put her in dangerous spots. It can be useful if we're on a hike and she doesn't want to jump over a branch/go on a bridge or something like that. It's also helpful if we're out and about and she's scared of something (like the dog statue in front of the fire station). I touch the object with my own hands and then have her "touch" and it's quite useful in making her less afraid. Sometimes she still won't go over the bridge, but sometimes she does!
DeleteUh...I have no idea how to train a dog! Stepdog was two when we got her and is good about coming when we call her, sitting, and staying.
ReplyDeleteThe coolest thing that I ever saw was my friend's dog who knew the difference between left paw and right paw.
Hannah was two when we got her, too! I actually like that she was past the sassy teenage dog phase. Hannah shakes with the appropriate paw (i.e., if you hold out your right hand, she shakes with her right paw and vice versa for the lefties) and I think it's so cute!
DeleteYou are the very best Dog Mom! I love all the things you are teaching Hannah. She's so precious.
ReplyDeleteWe had a boxer, Cocoa. I loved her so much. I taught her to sit, stay, down, and I taught her how to Play dead after I used a fake gun. It was so funny!!
Right now, I need a lot of help to tackle Peanut's possession aggression and I just got off the phone with a trainer. :)
I just love how much love and care you put into working with Hannah. I don't know if many people would take the time.
ReplyDelete