dog park

edited June 2009 in General
hey,
i was debating about going to the dog park,

toki 9 months does not like getting his leash attached, indoors it takes forever trying to get him to come so i can hook it on. he comes then runs away
and he only occasionally comes when called, it is better, but if he has his mind set on something there is no way to win. not even with food

should I wait and do some more training? if so how do you get a shiba to stay still when they don't want to nor do they want anything you have to offer?

Comments

  • edited November -1
    aw...I think you know the answer. :)

    You need a really really good recall to do dog park safely. If the chance sounds more than likely that you will end up calling him and chasing him around while he ignores you, don't do it. This just gets him more used to ignoring you calling and you dont want reps of that.

    Also, ask yourself what Toki is going to get out of the experience if you do go.

    He could have a positive play experience with a good pal. He also (especially on a weekend) have a negative experience. There is good socialization and there is negative socialization. I did not understand the difference once upon a time and MY pup (a teenager at the time) had enough negative experiences (pinnings, space intrusions, bitten throat) at dog park to outweigh the 90% positive interactions he got there. I began to realize that he was getting nothing but stress out of it and that I was only going there for my OWN desires and illusions. You don't know who's going to be there and you can't trust just any stranger to say "he;s friendly" or "it's okay, it's just dogs being dogs."

    Arrange to meet a known nice dog at an enclosed area= your yard, a tennis court you can close the gates on, and let him wear himself out with a low risk of either him getting ANY idea that strange dogs can be jerks, or that he can blow you off. Let him off leash to play and any time he so much as looks at you, Praise! show a toy. if he comes over, treat and say GO PLAY. Practice calling him when the fun is NOT over yet, so he can go back to play. In this way you establish that it sure was a good idea of his to go check in with you. He'll think it's his idea. With independent dogs, this is awesome stuff.

    If most of the time you call him, its just to give a piece of freeze dried salmon and send him back to play, then that's way worth it. Then only once in a while recall means time to go home, or to the vets or whatever. After he will check in, several off leash sessions from now- touch but don't grab- his collar while he is taking the treat. Release him to play. In time, he comes, and you touch his collar THEN the treat or ball, then release. the more you repeat this, the better he will get.

    Reading Recomendation: "Training the Hard To Train Dog" by Peggy Swager. You'll love it- it's positive training and it has a shiba sticking his tongue out right on the front cover. No lie! :P
  • edited November -1
    Good call Chrys. The dog park should be a reward for good behavior also, and it's a recipe for disaster if your dog is not trained properly before you let them have their reward of off leash time.
  • edited November -1
    your right, sigh, i knew the answer before i posted...
  • edited November -1
    always better to be safe than sorry. i thought that my recall was good enough the first time i brought her to the park but i was terribly wrong. the only reason why i caught her was cause i had to walk to her (she usually doesnt run from me even if im walking towards her in an intimidating fashion) but i couldn't recall at all. the 2nd time was much better after i reinforced her recall a little more.
  • edited November -1
    update...
    i worked on recall and leashing some more and he did okay
    so I took toki to a dog park to scope it out, wasn't planning on going in
    but there weren't many dogs in the park so I figured I'd give it a try
    toki did so well
    I started off away from all the other dogs and had him chase me around a bit (thx to tsukitsune post about natural dog training) and then i took him over to the dogs
    he didn't always come when I called but its a huge park so i don't think he heard me. (and unfortunately my call noises seemed to attract another person's dog who kept hanging around me??? weird)
    But he always came when he saw me walking away from him.

    I still think I need to reinforce his verbal recall in case an incident were to happen
    so I'm gonna limit the dog park till I get that down better
    still, it makes me feel like my dog loves me :)
  • edited November -1
    FYI he heard you. Never forget that dogs hearing is 27000 times superior to ours. They can identify your specific car from a mile away (literally). He was ignoring you. Just keep that in mind. Has he taken any obedience classes? That is a GREAT way to socialize him and teach him a good recall.
  • edited November -1
    Another thing about making recall fun and enticing..

    We're working on distract and recall in fenced-in areas and in our house and in others' houses. I work with my husband usually (a partner is helpful) someone plays and gets them all riled up and the other takes a few treats and goes out of site and calls them with their recall word (for our two, its just their names said excitedly and a whistle) then when they find me, I make them "touch" (their target) and reward with a treat and excited praising. Then the partner calls them the same, targets, rewards... then I move to another area of the yard/house/etc and we go back and forth.
    The pups get really excited about it.

    We followed up with that at the state park this weekend, we have 20 ft leads for our dogs for recall training, they'll be sniffing during our hike, and we'll do the recall routine now and then, keeps it interesting, keeps them interested, and we're using their recall in different places, scenarios, etc., you'll never know when you'll need it to work! Especially in a busy and unpredictable place like a dog park or meetup!
  • edited November -1
    when you say touch the target is that when they push against your hand?
    thanks again for posting this training info, it is a very fun and encouraging way to train a dog
  • edited June 2009
    You can make your target whatever you want, but yes, for us "touch" means "touch the palm of my hand with your nose"

    Touch also really helps acclimate your shiba to new people, asking your dog to touch the new person and get a treat from them helps any fearful behaviors/tendencies. At least it does with our male shiba.
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