Chase's Motivation

How do you train a dog that you can't motivate? Chase is a wonderful dog - sweet, hilarious to watch, incredibly clumsy, always puts up a fuss if kenneled for what he deems to be too long away from the action. He's a great dog, and I don't think I ever regretted taking him in almost a year ago. While I don't think we'll ever show him in AKC because he has hip dysplasia (limping isn't allowed in any performance ring), we've been taking him to training classes to give him some better manners. I've always found that I'm more willing to practice with my dogs when I have something to work towards, and training classes help that a lot.

The only problem with Chase is motivating him. He came from a life where he lived in a 4x12 run outside, and rarely got any attention besides when he got his food twice a day. Because he had hip dysplasia, he wasn't really worked with as much as the show prospects were. The first time I saw him, though, he heeled perfectly with me without a leash. You'd call his name and he'd come bounding toward you. This dog absolutely lived for human contact. When we took him home at 2 years of age, he didn't know what a treat was, or what to do with a toy. Any training except housebreaking (which that smart boy learned within only a week) was put on hold until he got used to being inside, playing with other dogs, and learning the joys of treats and toys.

Now that we're working more with him outside the home, though, you can really tell that he doesn't have as much of a food or toy "drive" as most dogs do. How do you reward a dog that is indifferent to conventional dog training rewards? He'll do what you want him to in training, is actually one of the better dogs in class, but he doesn't have that drive to really watch his handler, that joy that comes with the strong connection between dog and handler. I always used to think that it just takes finding that one special thing that your dog will do just about anything for, be it hot dogs or a tug toy, or whatever. Lately, though, I'm not sure that that's quite it. I think a lot of that motivation for a toy or a piece of chicken can be built to some extent, by using methods trainers like Susan Garrett preach. But then again, maybe there is another way out there yet to training that we still haven't discovered.

Kira's Shyness

Since the day we brought her home at 4.5 months, Kira has been one incredibly shy sheltie. Shelties naturally have a tendency to be more reserved, but she takes it to a bit of an extreme. She will not let anyone she doesn't know come within 10 feet of her if possible, she barks like crazy at strangers, and shys violently away from anyone petting her. While it doesn't take her super long to start to get to know someone and allow them near her (especially if they are sitting on her couch looking quite non-threatening), it's really been holding us back when it comes to showing. This is a dog that will not stay for even a sit for exam (where the judge comes up and pats her on the head, then walks away). In every other way, she's a delight to work with in obedience. She's attentive for the most part, has a beautiful heel, and does her long sits and downs.

To get a qualifying score in obedience, dogs must receive at least 170 out of 200 possible points, and at least half of the points in each exercise. During her first two shows, Kira got a 191, but was disqualified because she got up and ran in terror before the judge came within even 8 feet of her. But we never gave up! I cannot even begin to tell you how many visits we've made to pet stores and farmer's markets, and any other place I can think of to expose her to more people.

After the second show, however, I decided to change my approach. Previously, we spent a lot of time asking strangers to hold a treat in their open hand, not make eye contact with her, and let her come to them. While we had limited success with this, I've been doing it at least a few times a week for the past 6 months, and I really wanted to get into showing more with her. My new tactic was to reinforce her stays. Now every time I tell her to sit and stay before the stranger approaches, and put her right back where she was if she tries to get up. This has had some great results, despite the fact that I'm not letting her make her own choices as much. I like it though, because I'm reinforcing my stays, plus I'm finding that she's starting to realize more quickly that people aren't bad. It used to be that no matter how many times she met a Petsmart employee, she still acted terrified of them, like she'd never seen them before. Now, I can see a difference between her first meeting with an employee and her second. By the second time, she's a lot less shy.

The best part of all, though, is that we finally got a qualifying score in Pre-Novice Obedience! Now just two more legs until she earns her title!

Welcome!

Well, here it is. I'm finally going to start myself a training log. It'll force me to be more accountable when it comes to my dog training, plus it's really helpful to see where I started and what results I've achieved! This blog is mostly for my own benefit so that I can access it from wherever I am.

At the moment, I have three beautiful dogs.

Chase the German Shepherd is 3, but we've had him for less than a year. He's an incredibly clumsy but my goofball.

Kira the Sheltie is 2, and the smartest of the bunch. She can be such a sassy dog at home, but get her out of her comfort zone and she's incredibly shy.

Gambit the Australian Shepherd mix is most likely about 4, and very smart as well, but he likes to play it down.

This blog will show you my struggles, but also my triumphs with my pups.