Yeah, I have been teaching my husband the hand commands we use so that way he gets into using them as well. Sake is Daddy's girl and she will do ANYTHING for Chris, even if he doesn't have a yummy treat. Such a brown noser!
Congrats to little miss Sake! Especially on greeting the big, scary, bearded man. That is so cool that she has improved. Once Sake gets the "target" recall down, I'd love to see a video of it, if possible. Maybe get Chris to video it? It'd be really cool to watch. And Sake is so cute, I need some more Sake spam -grins-.
I don't use the word "come" either for recall. I use "hier" instead. In obedience, I trained all my dogs in German. I also train in English for other things though. Either way, I'm still having to tell people what the commands are. Otherwise my dogs will be confused and either ignore them or starting offering random behaviors until they "hit" something that gets earns them a reward, lol.
So I just wanted to update everyone on Sake's obedience training.
She is doing really well! She has learned a few new tricks and is really paying attention to me more and more each day. We are in total "NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE" mode which is working really well. She knows now she has to sit or down for pretty much anything. She is so cute now too, when she wants to go outside she goes over to the door and sits and gives paw to the air just waiting for one of us to go let her out!
Classes are going well. This week was pretty interesting. We got there and went into the training area and our trainer gave the dogs 5 minutes of play time so we let all the dogs off leash (the training area is fenced) and instead of playing with the other dogs Sake went up and greeted all the men in the class! EVEN SCARY BEARDED MAN! It was really awesome.
But then we got to training and in the training area Sake does great, but once we move out into the store she totally goes scaredy cat and tries to hide under the aisles. And when the same men she greeted in the training area come up to her she flips out like she has never seen them before and gets really nervous.
We are keeping up her training and trying to get her out into the world as much as possible to try and help her build confidence. I know she can do it!
Other than that she is just being sweet as pie lately....I think she has a master plan in the works and I am scared :P
Maybe a difference in her response to the man was that in the training area she approached him, but in the store he walked toward her?
I know Sage is incredibly sensitive to how people walk, and if I speak to the person or not, and if they specifically address him (voice or eye contact) or ignore him and how close they get before relaxing. There are so many tiny incremental factors that matter to our fearful dogs that we take for granted. I am sure he has all my gaits and gestures and even my breathing and hesitations down cold- makes it impossible to fool him, and adds so many nuances to train against.
But we love our intense dogs and are glad they are not airheads!
Sounds like all in all, Sake is rocking her obedience class!! The more she does positively, the more her confidence will build!
I found going to a state park with tons of distraction and going through obedience routines with treats and tons of praise really helps Kitsu get excited about the whole thing. Its fun!
Glad to hear that Sake is doing so well with her training! I agree with Chrystal that Sake was probably cool with the men in the training ring because she took the initiative and went to them. Since in the aisle, this was reversed, she may have been intimidated.
Maybe taking her to the store half an hour or so before training to walk around might help. We did this with Nola for her puppy class, and it really helped. She was able to take time to get familiar with her surroundings, plus when we went out of the training area, she was not quite so distracted or afraid. Not sure if this would help in Sake's case, but it might be worth a try.
Best of luck and keep up the good work, Miss Sake!
Mochi used to always try to hide under the shelves, try to run out the door, and never let anyone pet him. So I took him to Petsmart once or twice a week for about 2-5 hrs straight, ask about 50 random people (including the staff) to give Mochi a treat or at least let it drop from their hand for Mochi to see. I did the same with our neighbor next door and it took her 10-20 treats until he would actualy let her touch him (not pet yet, just touch for a couple of seconds) Now he actually runs up to her to greet her, runs up to some people to get a treat and let them pet him. I did that with all kinds of people (with hats, canes, wheel chairs, beards, person holding a baby (i watched very closely of course and had Mochi leashed so nothing would happen), screaming and/or running kids, kids with skateboards, bikes etc. you get the point. It really helped not only Mochi but it also helped me a lot since we were both able to be calmer and more relaxed.
Glad to hear Sake is doing so well! Isn't it just the most awesome feeling when your dog overcomes a fear? GOOD JOB Kristin! Your work with Sake is paying off! Keep it up!
Good job Sake. I found one of the better ways to help my shibas feel okay about being somewhere, was to just get there early the first few times and let them take the initiative to go explore, letting them think it's their idea. The worst results I attained were thru the "just jump on in cold turkey and do it like the German Shepherd lady" technique. These dogs definately like to take their time deciding some place is worth their attention. You are doing an awesome job with her!
We usually arrive to the store 15-20 minutes prior to the start of class so Sake can walk around a little bit and get used to the sights and sounds. I have also been trying to take her and Miso to Petsmart once on the weekends since she gets an extra confidence boost while he is around.
Tonight is school night, I will let you all know how it goes.
Pretty much the same as last week, okay in the training area and completely freaked out outside of it. We have a big social weekend planed so hopefully that will help Sake.
Saturday Beth, Tom, Tetsu and Takaani are coming over for a visit and some BBQ and then on Sunday we are heading to Maine to see a Portland Sea Dogs game for their "Bark in the Park".
Comments
Once Sake gets the "target" recall down, I'd love to see a video of it, if possible. Maybe get Chris to video it? It'd be really cool to watch. And Sake is so cute, I need some more Sake spam -grins-.
I don't use the word "come" either for recall. I use "hier" instead. In obedience, I trained all my dogs in German. I also train in English for other things though. Either way, I'm still having to tell people what the commands are. Otherwise my dogs will be confused and either ignore them or starting offering random behaviors until they "hit" something that gets earns them a reward, lol.
She is doing really well! She has learned a few new tricks and is really paying attention to me more and more each day. We are in total "NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE" mode which is working really well. She knows now she has to sit or down for pretty much anything. She is so cute now too, when she wants to go outside she goes over to the door and sits and gives paw to the air just waiting for one of us to go let her out!
Classes are going well. This week was pretty interesting. We got there and went into the training area and our trainer gave the dogs 5 minutes of play time so we let all the dogs off leash (the training area is fenced) and instead of playing with the other dogs Sake went up and greeted all the men in the class! EVEN SCARY BEARDED MAN! It was really awesome.
But then we got to training and in the training area Sake does great, but once we move out into the store she totally goes scaredy cat and tries to hide under the aisles. And when the same men she greeted in the training area come up to her she flips out like she has never seen them before and gets really nervous.
We are keeping up her training and trying to get her out into the world as much as possible to try and help her build confidence. I know she can do it!
Other than that she is just being sweet as pie lately....I think she has a master plan in the works and I am scared :P
Maybe a difference in her response to the man was that in the training area she approached him, but in the store he walked toward her?
I know Sage is incredibly sensitive to how people walk, and if I speak to the person or not, and if they specifically address him (voice or eye contact) or ignore him and how close they get before relaxing. There are so many tiny incremental factors that matter to our fearful dogs that we take for granted. I am sure he has all my gaits and gestures and even my breathing and hesitations down cold- makes it impossible to fool him, and adds so many nuances to train against.
But we love our intense dogs and are glad they are not airheads!
I found going to a state park with tons of distraction and going through obedience routines with treats and tons of praise really helps Kitsu get excited about the whole thing. Its fun!
Maybe taking her to the store half an hour or so before training to walk around might help. We did this with Nola for her puppy class, and it really helped. She was able to take time to get familiar with her surroundings, plus when we went out of the training area, she was not quite so distracted or afraid. Not sure if this would help in Sake's case, but it might be worth a try.
Best of luck and keep up the good work, Miss Sake!
Mochi used to always try to hide under the shelves, try to run out the door, and never let anyone pet him. So I took him to Petsmart once or twice a week for about 2-5 hrs straight, ask about 50 random people (including the staff) to give Mochi a treat or at least let it drop from their hand for Mochi to see. I did the same with our neighbor next door and it took her 10-20 treats until he would actualy let her touch him (not pet yet, just touch for a couple of seconds) Now he actually runs up to her to greet her, runs up to some people to get a treat and let them pet him. I did that with all kinds of people (with hats, canes, wheel chairs, beards, person holding a baby (i watched very closely of course and had Mochi leashed so nothing would happen), screaming and/or running kids, kids with skateboards, bikes etc. you get the point. It really helped not only Mochi but it also helped me a lot since we were both able to be calmer and more relaxed.
Tonight is school night, I will let you all know how it goes.
Little miss Sake is doing great though!!!!
Saturday Beth, Tom, Tetsu and Takaani are coming over for a visit and some BBQ and then on Sunday we are heading to Maine to see a Portland Sea Dogs game for their "Bark in the Park".