Tag Archives: training

17

Mar. ’15

Belle

Last night was Belle’s first time at the current sessions of Canine Good Citizen test classes and she….had a total meltdown.

Belle is our alpha dog, she is the sturdy, “I’ll take care of it”, serious (well as serious as a Golden Retriever who is 2 -1/2 years old can be), and is second in command to Lucy kitty for the title of family Matriarch and the job of keeping this crew in line.  So it broke my heart to have her be so scared.  I was working with Bonnie and Greg is working with Belle, and Greg pretty much spent most of the class walking Belle outside where she would be fine only to come in the room where we were having class to try again.

We stayed after class to talk to Lora, our trainer, to do some brainstorming to try and figure out what is going on with our pup.  We came to the conclusion that it might be anxiety over being with the other dogs as wonderful as they were and came up with several ways to help Belle.  Next week we are going to try some of those suggestions and see if it makes a difference for Belle.

It’s amazing how quickly goals can change.  We started these classes as you all know as a step towards the pups becoming therapy dogs. Now although it would be great if the pups pass the CGC test and we are still working towards that goal, the focus for Belle right now has become to help her through this anxiety so she feels comfortable and secure.

Belle and Greg working on Sit/Stay

Belle and Greg working on Sit/Stay

Belle and her Greg

Belle and her Greg

Posted by . Categories: Anxiety, Dog Training, Golden Retrievers. Tags: , , . 3 Comments

01

Mar. ’15

Steps In The Right Direction

Over the past few weeks we have noticed changes and definite steps in the right direction in several areas.  Bess is learning to be more gentle with “Leave It”, I mean Linus.   She seems to be realizing that if she is going to play with him she needs to tone it down.  Over the past few days I have seen Linus instigate play like he did when she was smaller, before she grew bigger than he.

Belle has relaxed her “I’m the responsible alpha dog” and has been simply having fun playing and snuggling with Bess.

Bonnie is  Bess’s favorite when it comes to a partner in crime.   The favorites are still socks and towels and they are getting very good at the “Quick, she’s coming” handoff as well as the innocent,” towel, what towel?” and flashing me a “Aren’t I  cute, my Margret?”

This week Bess and I will be finishing up her puppy classes then she will take a bit of a break. In the meantime Greg and I will be taking Bonnie and Belle for 6 weeks of Canine Good Citizen test prep classes. Passing the CGC is the next step towards starting Therapy Dog training.

We’ve been doing a bit of refresher work on the very difficult sit/stay and down/stay.  Belle, who this is very challenging for, did well the other day when after working on it by ourselves decided to practice in the midst of everyone.  She stuck the sit even when Miss Bouncy Bess and Bonnie came by to get in on the treat action.  To their credit Bess and Bonnie both immediately sat without being told 🙂

Behavior wise we are working on Bess not chewing up the couch cover, and as soon as we have mastered that task I will be getting new couch covers for our hairy crew, until then it’s just going to look ratty.  When we redirect Bess and give her an approved chew toy in an effort to redirect her, she will chew on it when we are looking then switch back to chewing on what she wants to.   We rarely have problems anymore with the older pups except for when Miss “I want to see what’s in your coat pockets” Belle snoops in our coats or Bonnie reverts back to puppy mode. However Miss Bess is very sneaky but we have caught on and know that “this too shall pass”

We appreciate you joining us on our Golden Adventure and would love to hear from you.  For day to day happenings we invite you to visit  our Two Pups and a Kitty Facebook page.

Take care.

Our Girls

Our Girls

 

Belle (on the left) stuck the sit even with sisterly distractions!

Belle (on the left) stuck the sit even with sisterly distractions!

 

Towel, what towel?

Towel, what towel?

Belle and Bess cuddling on a cold winter day.

Belle and Bess cuddling on a cold winter day.

Bess and Linus

Bess and Linus

Posted by . Categories: Cats, Golden Retrievers, Pets. Tags: , , , , , . 2 Comments

06

Aug. ’14

Refresher Course in Leash Walking

Now that things are settling down and there is a bit more time I decided it was time to start working again with Bonnie and Belle on leash walking. We live in the country and have a long lane which makes it the perfect place to start practicing. After they remember how to walk on a leash politely then we will start going into town to practice.  Our goal is to be able to take them with us when we go to antique car shows, parks, parades ect…

I’m taking the pups out one at a time for a couple of reasons. First so we have some one on one time and second because combined the pups almost weigh as much as I do so it’s easier for me to control one at a time.

Belle got to go out first this time She did pretty good staying by me and walking at a fast but controlled speed. She did a great job listening to the “leave it” command when a bunny ran not once but twice in front of her. She also did great when I told her to “leave it” when she saw a cat cross the road a few feet from her.  She did get scared though when a big truck zoomed passed our lane we were close to the road. We also practiced sitting a few times during our walk.

When it was Bonnie’s turn she kind of wiggled, hopped, and really wanted to run. Luckily the bunny stayed in the corn field this time as did the cat. Because I have a feeling she wouldn’t have listened to the “leave it” command as well as Belle did. However she didn’t have much of a reaction when it came to traffic passing our lane.  When we practiced sitting during our walk she gave me a look that said “You want me to what?! “I mean there’s all this exciting stuff out here to explore and you want me to sit!”  But even though she didn’t want to she did eventually sit.

All in all both pups did very well for the first night of our refresher course in polite leash walking.

Posted by . Categories: Cats, Golden Retrievers, Pets. Tags: , , , . 1 Comment