I started a new job on Monday. Needless to say I am not getting the daily training in for Gracie and Susie. I leave at 6:30 am, it is dark and cold. I get home at 6:30 pm, it is still dark and still cold. No I am not in Alaska. Working an hour one way from home makes for a lot of challenges. Once I am home I have to spend time with my kids, time with the dogs, time with the chickens and time with the husband. All I want to do is have time for myself, which equates to maybe a half an hour at 10:30 pm while I get ready for bed and another long day at work. I love my job, but I already miss being home and I hope my motivation for training my dogs doesn't leave me. I have a very long and full weekend ahead me.
Hoping to have part two of series on Gracie and Susie up this weekend as well.
Journey through learning how to train myself to lead and my dogs to be well-behaved dogs
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Day One - Leash training
One of my goals for 2013 is to became a dog trainer. I have it figured if I train my three stubborn mules dogs then I could use that knowledge to help others that have behavior issues. I started or better yet ended day one by taking Gracie and Susie for a walk. Walking really helps with behavior issues as it helps tire the dog out and puts them in a better frame of mind for learning new commands. Since Gracie and Susie are coming up on 8 years I am going back to the basics as if they were puppies. Even older dogs can learn basic obedience.
One of my favorite tools for working with my dogs is the Halti lead. It is a small halter that fits over their muzzles and fastens behind their heads below their ears. It has a small lead with a ring on the end that you attach the leash to. What I love about it is that when you tug on it, it forces the dogs head sideways, much like the bridle does on a horse. For dogs that pull like mine do, it causes them to stay back and not pull as much. They hate it. They shake their heads and Gracie, well she thinks she is a horse and tries to go between my legs, dragging the lead against my legs practically knocking me over in the process until she gets use to it.
We managed a 15 minute walk which took us only a few blocks away from the house since we stopped often to work on not pulling and to work on sit. They both know sit, but it hasn't been reinforced properly. I thought this would be a good time to work on it. They both learned quick that when we stopped I was going to say sit. They didn't always sit, but they did look towards me, tongues wagging waiting for something to happen.
By the end of the walk, on the way home both had stopped trying to get the leads off and were responding well to the sit command. Gracie more so than Susie. Susie was being a bit stubborn about sitting, and took more touching to get her to do it. She also had a fit when she heard a car coming and didn't want to walk anymore. I took this opportunity to work on come with her as she is the one who doesn't come at all.
Lots and lots of praise was given and each dog went eagerly back into the pen without complaint. This is usually a chore with me dragging one or both in as they don't want too. I hope as we continue this training that they begin to anticipate the walks and start to pull a whole lot less.
I have a call into a professional trainer, hopefully sometime soon I get some help and some tips. I am determined to make this work, for all of us.
One of my favorite tools for working with my dogs is the Halti lead. It is a small halter that fits over their muzzles and fastens behind their heads below their ears. It has a small lead with a ring on the end that you attach the leash to. What I love about it is that when you tug on it, it forces the dogs head sideways, much like the bridle does on a horse. For dogs that pull like mine do, it causes them to stay back and not pull as much. They hate it. They shake their heads and Gracie, well she thinks she is a horse and tries to go between my legs, dragging the lead against my legs practically knocking me over in the process until she gets use to it.
We managed a 15 minute walk which took us only a few blocks away from the house since we stopped often to work on not pulling and to work on sit. They both know sit, but it hasn't been reinforced properly. I thought this would be a good time to work on it. They both learned quick that when we stopped I was going to say sit. They didn't always sit, but they did look towards me, tongues wagging waiting for something to happen.
By the end of the walk, on the way home both had stopped trying to get the leads off and were responding well to the sit command. Gracie more so than Susie. Susie was being a bit stubborn about sitting, and took more touching to get her to do it. She also had a fit when she heard a car coming and didn't want to walk anymore. I took this opportunity to work on come with her as she is the one who doesn't come at all.
Lots and lots of praise was given and each dog went eagerly back into the pen without complaint. This is usually a chore with me dragging one or both in as they don't want too. I hope as we continue this training that they begin to anticipate the walks and start to pull a whole lot less.
I have a call into a professional trainer, hopefully sometime soon I get some help and some tips. I am determined to make this work, for all of us.
Gracie and Susie - Part One
This is a three part series chronically my journey to become a better dog owner and hopefully a better dog trainer.
My husband and I got Gracie and Susie back in August 2005 from his grandfather. He owned both the mother Windy and the father Buster. AKC German Wirehaired Pointers from good lines we thought we could train them for hunting upland game and ducks. We also had wild notions of showing them and eventually breeding them.
Our first obstacle came when we didn't get the house we wanted. See we were living in a one bedroom apartment above the best friend of my mother-in-law. We were only allowed one dog, now we had three. When my husband went to get the dogs, he was suppose to come back with only one, on the way home he calls me and tells me he is bringing home two.
Graceful Midnight Breeze aka Gracie was to be my dog because I wanted to show and she was beautiful. Great marking for a GWP, long body, not too long of legs, just gorgeous. Susie Q High Twister aka Susie was just as gorgeous but for a GWP her coat was all wrong. She was a through back to the Shorthaired Pointer in this breed and a a solid brown short coat. Only way to tell she was a GWP was to look at her face, she has the GWP beard.
Due to not being able to keep them at our apartment after the purchase of the house fell through we were forced to take them to my mothers. She wouldn't allow them in the house, but she did say we could set them up outside. We got them a kennel and were certain we would have a place for them in a few months. I tried working with them, but with working 12-16 hours a day, most days I barely managed to get over to my moms house to feed them let alone work on training them. Soon they got to big for the kennel and a few months turned into even more months. We built them a larger kennel on the property.
In 2007 we finally found a house. We also were expecting our first child. Gracie and Susie were lacking severly in training but knew sit and back up. They also started to have their first behavior issues. One of the poles holding the fencing up had rotted away leaving the fence sagging in parts, we tried to reinforce it until we could afford to fix it right, but Susie learned she could climb out of it and run free. She hasn't liked a pen since. Everytime she got out, she got put back in. She learned to run away and not come because she knew what it meant. I remember one day when both Susie and Gracie got lose together. They stayed just ahead of me as I ran and walked after them. I followed them across the back field and down the road. I was crying because they would not come, though we had been working on the command for a month with success (I thought). They happened upon a man walking and stayed by his side, two happy campers. I was finally able to catch them, about that time my husband found us, he had the pickup. I loaded up the dogs and thanked the man for his help. I should have let them go home with him.
We fixed the pen that day. Susie found an alternate route out. She soon discovered that she could jump up on top of their dog house and get out that way. This is when she discovered goose as well. My mother was furious. She got hold of three geese my mother had planned on giving away as Christmas dinner presents. One was found dead and the other two injured. One of the two injured geese died a few days later. She never are the geese, just mauled them. A few days later we closed on the new house and immediately started work on a six foot fenced yard and kennel.
Funny we thought having them at our own place would help them. The first day we put them in their yard they seemed content, especially since they had room to move around more. That evening Susie jumped the fence.
Background
My husband and I got Gracie and Susie back in August 2005 from his grandfather. He owned both the mother Windy and the father Buster. AKC German Wirehaired Pointers from good lines we thought we could train them for hunting upland game and ducks. We also had wild notions of showing them and eventually breeding them.
Our first obstacle came when we didn't get the house we wanted. See we were living in a one bedroom apartment above the best friend of my mother-in-law. We were only allowed one dog, now we had three. When my husband went to get the dogs, he was suppose to come back with only one, on the way home he calls me and tells me he is bringing home two.
Graceful Midnight Breeze aka Gracie was to be my dog because I wanted to show and she was beautiful. Great marking for a GWP, long body, not too long of legs, just gorgeous. Susie Q High Twister aka Susie was just as gorgeous but for a GWP her coat was all wrong. She was a through back to the Shorthaired Pointer in this breed and a a solid brown short coat. Only way to tell she was a GWP was to look at her face, she has the GWP beard.
Due to not being able to keep them at our apartment after the purchase of the house fell through we were forced to take them to my mothers. She wouldn't allow them in the house, but she did say we could set them up outside. We got them a kennel and were certain we would have a place for them in a few months. I tried working with them, but with working 12-16 hours a day, most days I barely managed to get over to my moms house to feed them let alone work on training them. Soon they got to big for the kennel and a few months turned into even more months. We built them a larger kennel on the property.
In 2007 we finally found a house. We also were expecting our first child. Gracie and Susie were lacking severly in training but knew sit and back up. They also started to have their first behavior issues. One of the poles holding the fencing up had rotted away leaving the fence sagging in parts, we tried to reinforce it until we could afford to fix it right, but Susie learned she could climb out of it and run free. She hasn't liked a pen since. Everytime she got out, she got put back in. She learned to run away and not come because she knew what it meant. I remember one day when both Susie and Gracie got lose together. They stayed just ahead of me as I ran and walked after them. I followed them across the back field and down the road. I was crying because they would not come, though we had been working on the command for a month with success (I thought). They happened upon a man walking and stayed by his side, two happy campers. I was finally able to catch them, about that time my husband found us, he had the pickup. I loaded up the dogs and thanked the man for his help. I should have let them go home with him.
We fixed the pen that day. Susie found an alternate route out. She soon discovered that she could jump up on top of their dog house and get out that way. This is when she discovered goose as well. My mother was furious. She got hold of three geese my mother had planned on giving away as Christmas dinner presents. One was found dead and the other two injured. One of the two injured geese died a few days later. She never are the geese, just mauled them. A few days later we closed on the new house and immediately started work on a six foot fenced yard and kennel.
Funny we thought having them at our own place would help them. The first day we put them in their yard they seemed content, especially since they had room to move around more. That evening Susie jumped the fence.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)