Guest sweetpea Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 So the thing with training is consistency and patience and diligence and more patience. I know this, but Sweetpea is THE definition of easy, so I never really had to test it. Sebastian (rat terrier) has been a real test. He does things we don't like, and we just keep reacting to those behaviors, instead of teaching him behaviors that we do like. Frankly, we've been pretty lazy where his training is concerned. It seemed like his issues were so overwhelming, it was hard to know where to start. Well, last week I decided that I might not be able to fix all of our issues, but I could work on one: his hyper-reactivity on walks. When he sees another dog, or a free-range kitty, he turns into a raving maniac, snarling and barking and lunging and twisting every which way to try and back out of his collar. He doesn't pay any attention to whoever is walking him, we have to physically drag him as far from the other creature as possible. It's awful. So I stuffed my pocket with kibble, and taught him "look at me". Every morning walk we'd take our normal route, and at random locations and times I would say "look at me" and shove a piece of kibble in his bikkie hole when he did. He learned the command very quickly, and after a week I was sort of itching to see if it would make any difference in our encounters with other animals. Well, today was the first day we encountered another dog on our walk, and he did great! He did get excited, he squeaked a little and his hackles went up, but I just kept saying look at me and rewarding him every time he did. It probably sounds pretty small potatoes, but it's so rewarding to me. I never had any doubt that he was smart enough to learn, I just never felt like I was capable of over-coming all of his problems. I finally realized that I never had to take on all of his issues, one at a time will do for now. So be patient grasshoppers, and keep at it. And be sure and share your successes, so we can steal your techniques! Buzzy feeling competent, for the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charla Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Buzzy feel free to toot your own horn any old time! Great work with Sebastian, I knew you can do it., now he does too. Quote Charla, Mom to Carl ( Bella Monsoon ) 5/2002 - 9/2016 and remembering Gracie Rose ( Cee Bar Xtreme ) 2/2002 - 1/2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sheila Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 good job! Training the first thing is the biggest hurdle and you might surprise yourself now at how much Sebastion is able to learn. I'm no expert on anything, but I really think that dogs want and need to be shown what is expected of them and using positive training is a good way to begin the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45MPHK9 Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Wow! That is no small accomplishment. Congrats on your success with Sebastian. Quote Tricia with Kyle, our senior mutt dog Always missing Murray Maldives, Bee Wiseman, River, Hopper, Kaia, and Holly Oaks Holly“You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.“ -Bob Dylan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmom Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 That's AWESOME! Good job! Quote Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in IllinoisWe miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greysmom Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Great job Miss Buzzy! I agree that most dogs like and thrive on structure and boundaries. Keep building on your success with him! Quote Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora) siggy by Chris Harper, on Flickr Angels: Libby (Everlast), Dorie (Dog Gone Holly), Dude (TNJ VooDoo), Copper (Kid's Copper), Cash (GSI Payncash), Toni (LPH Cry Baby), Whiskey (KT's Phys Ed), Atom, Lilly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesiRayMom Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Congrats!!!! How great did that make BOTH of you feel!!!! Quote Blessed is the person who has earned the love of an old dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LBass Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Why waste words when there are perfectly good emotis to use? --Lucy Quote Lucy with Greyhound Nate and OSH Tinker. With loving memories of MoMo (FTH Chyna Moon), Spirit, Miles the slinky kitty (OSH), Piper "The Perfect" (Oneco Chaplin), Winston, Yoda, Hector, and Claire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jto_MSU Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 That's great! We have a Jack Russell mix, Oscar, who recently started reacting to one dog in our neighborhood - I think I'll try what you did to see if I can make it work for him too. I think if I can get Oscar to behave, Joker will too since he pretty much just reacts to whatever Oscar is reacting to. Thanks for sharing!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stripeyfan Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Yay! Good on yer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EllenEveBaz Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Congratulations, Buzzy and Sebastian!! Quote Ellen, with brindle Milo and the blonde ballerina, Gelsey remembering Eve, Baz, Scout, Romie, Nutmeg, and Jeter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Congrats! Not that I'm overreaching here with my assumptions or anything, but it sounds to me like you both have a dog who is a quick learner and a trainer who has some good dog sense and timing so you two should be able to accomplish quite a bit if you keep at it. IMHO. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sweetpea Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Thanks guys! The problem with training Sebastian is that he is so food obsessed that he fixates on the treat, and knot on what I'm trying to train him. It's actually easier when he's outside walking and distracted by all the smells, so he will look away from the treat hand for a couple of seconds and I can lure the appropriate response out of him. Inside, it's a whole 'nother story. A seemingly futile and frustrating story. But, he started "huffing" (which is him muffling a bark) when he heard the neighbors moving around outside, so I threw a "lookatme" and he sat QUIETLY and waited for his treat. baby steps.... So if you come over to visit and we all have beefy-treat smelling hands, it's 'cause we want to be prepared to try and catch a good behavior! Buzzy obligatory cute picture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Aw, he's a cutie. Have you tried a treat bag that clips onto your belt or has a waist strap? That way you can keep the food out of sight but still within reach. Using that in conjunction with a clicker may help a lot. Also, if he's looking at your hand rather than making eye contact he's not giving you teh right behavior so I would start shaping the right behavior when there's no distraction to get his attention away from the food. He only gets his click and treat when he makes and later maintains eye contact with you. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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