These cute canines joined our STEP ONE classes in September and October. Some of them returned after having taken our PUPPY'S FIRST STEPS class and they were stars! The others quickly caught up one the skills too. They were ALL stars in their owners hearts! Any they earned Super Star certificates to put up on the fridge at home :0)
Harley
Kona
Ruby
Harvey
Fozzy
Meisie
Erik
Sascha
Thank you so much to your owners for putting the time in to training you all to be good companions and citizens! Our community and world is a better place when we spend time with our dogs and train them!
Happy tails until we meet in NEXT STEPS class ... coming soon!
Is anyone doing a dress rehearsal before the big Halloween night? Send us a photo of your dog! My dogs are dressing up ... Opal as a cow and Trixie as a duck!
Paw In Hand is excited to announce … Jenna MacBain has joined the Paw In Hand team!
Jenna brings with her a lifelong love of dogs... and of course a love of the outdoors ... and sharing them together. She has taken some training courses with her own dog "Juno" and is Canine First Aid certified. To find out more Jenna has written a note, see below.
Last week and this week Jenna is joining me on the daily field trip rounds and I’m really pleased with how well she interacts and manages the dogs. If we don't see you and your doggie in passing and you would like to meet Jenna, contact me and we will be happy to arrange a time to do this.
We both look forward to many happy trails together with your dogs! Thank you!
Arrrooooooo! Maren
Hello my fellow animal lovers!
I’m thrilled that Maren has welcomed me to the Paw in Hand team as a dog walker! I’ve met some of your furry family members already and am looking forward to getting to know them all soon.
Dogs have always been a huge part of my life and it’s great to have work that allows me to be with them. Along with my certificate in K9 First aid, I have a background in fitness and holistic nutrition. I joined the Squamish community about one year ago, and my furry baby - a shy husky Sheppard named Juno - is a Mamma’s boy through and through. We've taken some training courses together and continue to learn about positive reinforcement relationship based training.
I’m so happy to be able to help your canine friend explore the beauty of this area with other dogs, and while helping me continue to learn the absolute best ways to keep everybody having a good time on the trails.
All four of the canine students in our August STEP ONE Dog Training class had been recently adopted. Here are three of the lucky dogs! (the fourth was unable to make all the classes but still did some homework)
By the end of just 4 weeks they had learned foundations of manners, self control and attention ... an amazing bond had developed between them!
This is a video of Opal, my 4 year old Wirehaired Hungarian Vizsla. I captured video footage the first time I put this safety fan on the coffee table. She loves to bite at the water stream from a garden hose and I wonder if she felt similar sensations doing this.
When I play garden hose games with her I use turn the water on and off and use the game as a reward. eg: I ask Opal to "down" and as a reward she gets to catch the water stream. Hmmmm.... wonder how I could use this as another training opportunity...?
Please know that there are many "funny" dog videos that I find offensive because the dogs show obvious signs of stress. I believe this was safe and stress free for Opal and hope you feel this to be true as well.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Do these statistics motivate you to do some more training with your dog? Of those reading this that have taken our STEP ONE Class who would like a Recall Workshop in August?
Paw In Hand will be taking holidays from July 18 - Aug 7. Part of that time will be family holiday in Oregon and part of the time I will be taking a Dog Trainers course in Washington.
When I come back I will have some fresh ideas for the fall!
Katherine and Maren met 5 years ago and instantly recognized that they shared the same philosophy of relationship based dog training. Since then they have attended training workshops and seminars together. They often get together to play, train and hike with their own dogs. In 2010 Maren and Katherine started teaching dog training classes -- so -- time is overdue for a formal introduction!
This year we are offering Puppy's First Steps Classes as well as continuing with our STEP ONE classes. NEXT STEP classes starting later in the spring will further you and your dogs learning by targeting specific issues such as Trailettiquette, leash walking and more.
Maren and Katherine are also both available for private training sessions, either in your home or out and about for followups. See http://pawinhand.com/pages/training.php for more details.
We both look forward to sharing many happy training successes with you and your dogs!
Arrrooooooo!
Maren and Katherine
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Those of us who share our lives with dogs are spoiled.
I think Marc Beckoff sums up my fascination of living with; communicating with, and being respectful of the emotional and physical needs of dogs.
"...the more we learn the more we see that other animals are smarter and more creative than we give them credit for, or perhaps ever imagined. Best to keep an open mind about the cognitive skills of the animals with whom we share our homes and the rest of the planet for "surprises" are continually forthcoming. " Marc Bekoff
Dogs LOVE to learn, play, socialize, cuddle, enjoy tasty things and explore the world through their noses. I find ways to tap into their strengths and LOVES in life to teach them appropriate social skills, which in turn deepen their bond with their guardians.
It brings me much joy to see guardians and their dogs in lightbulb moments, both learning to work together. I'm very excited to be able to join the Paw In Hand crew of like minds!
I share my life with 2 Beagles, Daizy n George, and a free spirit Aussie named Keegan. Our never ending training scrapbook is the tip of the iceberg happy-houndz.blogspot.com on our quest to overcome challenges as they arise and enjoy life at the same time. We're always up to something new!
I've worked with puppies and dogs; my own, fosters, and clients using relationship building exercises for 9yrs. My training came by way of taking classes apprenticing and volunteering at Dogsmart.ca. My ongoing mentors are Alice Fisher, CPDT-KA, Rita Britton, CPDT-KA. I'm a training junkie, and attend as many seminars, buy DVD's , read as many books as I can. I admire the work of and use training methodology, the likes of; Dr. Ian Dunbar PhD, BVetMed MRCVS, Susan Garrett, Dr. Patricia McConnell Ph.D, CAAB, Kathy Sdao, CAAB, Dr. Karen Overall, VMD, PhD, Diplomate ACVB, Dr. Sophia Yin, Sylvia Trkman, Leslie McDevitt, MLA, CDBC, CPDT, and that's only naming a few!
Paw In Hand is now offering Small Dog Field Trips. All the goodness of our popular group dog walks but with a "small" difference! Small dogs need exercise, a chance to be out in nature and interact with other dog buddies too. Maren's dog Trixie is a small 10 pound Chihuahua/Yorki? cross and has taught her a lot about small dogs' needs. Occasionally a relaxed, friendly larger dog will be incorporated into the group to to help small dogs desensitize to larger dogs. As with all our interactions with dogs we carefully monitor their social body language signals which show their emotional state and help ensure everyone is comfortable.
We always consider your dogs’ safety in all our interactions and though there are inherent risks to off leash dog group activity they are minimized by careful observation, interception, behaviour modification and training. We reinforce desirable behaviours using praise, rewards and play. Long lines and bells are available for dogs not quite ready for full off leash freedom.
What a fun day! Fluffy snow falling all day! Puppy's First Steps -- making snowy footprints! Then a great group of puppies and people at puppy socialization class tonight! Between the snow fun and the play'n train in class I bet they will sleep soundly tonight! Kinda like this fun loving pup!
Wanda, Babs, Sally and Jack have all done some great homework with their people. It was nice watching your interaction with your people!
We missed Icycle and Niki this class but here are some notes so you can see what to work on this week.
We talked a bit about the difference between learning and testing. Find ways to incorporate training into daily life rather than reacting. http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/not-test
Socialization - Keep up the good work. The critical socialization period is coming near an end. Make a checklist of what you still want to expose your puppies to so they will become adaptable canine members of society. http://www.aspcabehavior.org/articles/83/Socializing-Your-Puppy.aspx
Attention - Last week I asked you to watch your dog out of the corner of your eye as often as possible and when they glance at you and to say "yes" or "good" and follow it with some rewarding treat, toy, praise, game, or activity. Owners said that their dogs were more tuned into them already! The next step we practiced tonight was to ask your pups to "say please" with eye contact before being released to freedom and play and other life rewards. http://dogscouts.org/Indirect_Access.html
Leave It Foundation Exercise - (Closed fist "zen") We used the Reward Marker RM when the dog backed off and stayed away from the treat hand. The reward came from a different hand. A couple of the puppies advanced to eye contact before being rewarded. We also tried "under the foot" zen with a couple of the pups. Great progressions. See what you can work on at home this week! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNAOe1djDyc&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Dogs NAME - That's my name ... don't wear it out! Reminder of the difference between training and testing again. In a learning situation if you think there is a pretty good chance of your dog responding then say their name and the instant they turn their head say "yes" and then reward that head flick with something really great! Treats, toy, game, or all of the above. In a "test" situation then try to prevent from repeating your dog's name multiple times. Say "hey pup pup" or "Fuzz Wuzz" or maybe just go and get the little wuffie and then make a note to keep working on training and slowly working up the distractions. http://pawinhand.blogspot.com/search/label/name%20game
Hand Target - This simple exercise is actually a key to many more training games. Use high value rewards and lots of enthusiasm for this game in the beginning stages so that it's value can transfer to other exercises and eventually become rewarding in itself! Focusing on you, poliste leash walking, off leash trail manners, meet and greet with people, and plenty of fancy tricks too! http://pawinhand.blogspot.com/search/label/Hand%20Target
By finding ways to incorporate these simple games into your ever day life you dog will look to you more often for interaction and as a provider of the good things in life. You will be your dog's benevolent leader!
Next week I have to remember to get out my camera!!! It is so hard to take my attention away from the puppy fun!!! I did get one short video clip the first night though...
Thanks for joining our Step One Companion Dog Training Class. It was a pleasure to share training time with you and your doggies! We feel proud seeing everyone embrace our style of training! You wrapped your heads around something different, asked questions and were honest about what was working and what wasn't so that we could help you tweak things along the way.
The attention and reorienting games that we taught you are the foundation for Step Two Classes. "Trail Ettiquiette" (Spring 2011) and "Tricks and Games for Leash Manners" (Next).
For those who would like a quick reminder of what to practice this week, and how it can be applied to everyday life, here's a quick overview. We'll be showing you how to use the foundation skills when working through moving distractions on Sunday.
Remember when you were a kid and you heard or read the words "You Won" it really meant something special to you and you looked forward to your prize with great anticipation? I bet now you are skeptical when you hear these same words and hardly pay any attention to them...
In dog training we use a "Reward Marker". We want our dog to eagerly anticipate hearing it and getting the coveted prize! In order to keep it meaningful to the dog we have to ensure it stays "charged" and ensure that it is followed every time with powerful rewards that your particular dog finds reinforcing in that situation. It is usually used in the learning stages of a new behaviour.
In the later stages of training we use praise, petting, happy body language and intermittent rewards to reinforce behaviours that your dog already responds to. (I hesitate to say "know" as that is a whole different blog post!)
This article will help you understand when and how to use a "Reward Marker".
Over the past week I have had 3 -- yes, three -- phone calls from people who found a dog wandering or lost and called the phone number on the back of the little green Paw In Hand Pet Services tag. In all cases the dog was not far from home or nearby with it's owner and quickly reunited. If you and your doggie are a client of mine I will do my best to retrieve your dog if found and take care of it in the meantime until you can be contacted.
Check your dogs' collar and tags daily. Tags do fall off occasionally ... some dogs are rougher on their tags than others ... right Sophie? ;0)
Please ensure that your pet has a snug fitting collar and that tags are current with at least two different phone numbers. Local Pet Supply Stores can make identification tags on the spot! For travelling you can also get temporary pouches and tubes for alternative contact information.
Having the rabies tag and the municipal dog licence tag on your dog is also important. In case of emergency all the information is available.
Microchips and Tatoos are options that you may want to consider but they are secondary to the first place people look when they find a loose dog ... the bright green Paw In Hand tag!!! My doggie buddies!
- Doorbell ringing means automatic "go to place" - Opportunity to accept rushed handling and having costumes adjusted - Default "Stay" while I open the door... - "Wait" even with goulish distractions! - Attention to me gets a treat - Then a chance to say hi to the trick-or-treaters! - A chance to check out the candy with their nose is cued by "sniff-sniff"
I am very lucky that my dogs aren't upset by fireworks but I also didn't want to chance it and take them out on the streets on Halloween evening. We had fun at home!
Join our dog training classes and teach your dog some of these foundation behaviours so that next year your Halloween will be happy too! Step One http://pawinhand.blogspot.com/p/step-one.html
