Second Visit Day 2 -- The End Already?

This visit was even shorter than the last. Too short for us...we're all going to miss Zoltie.

He's been having a great time with his friends and learning to play appropriately. No pinning another dog for more than a few seconds. Not too much vocalization. Lots of good give and take. So many rules to learn...

The play gives us excellent opportunities to practice his recall. He had a hard time "checking in" with me when he first got here and needed some reminders about recalls but not he's doing it just great. I can hide in the house while he's playing with the other dogs and call him to come. He's lightening fast!

But sometimes having his friends around, even when they are not in the same room, can prove to be a challenge. Something dog trainers hear frequently is "But he does that so well at home." Simply being away from home can be more distracting for dogs. They also do not generalize what they have learned very well so practice in a variety of locations is very important. It teaches the dog that "stay" means "stay" at home and "stay" away from home.

One little trick to stays is teaching the dog to lie in a relaxed position with his hip out (instead of square up on the hips). This teaches him to settle into the position. It's also helpful to catch him naturally in the position and reward him by praising him and slowly stroking him all the way down his back.

Another thing to remember is that he is heading into adolescence. It may seem like he will have forgot everything you taught him or maybe he keeps testing to see how much he can get away with. I like to use mistakes as teaching opportunities. If you follow through with his lessons, it's a chance to make sure he really solidly knows what you are asking of him. So stay not only means "sit" or "down" but also means to not move out of that position. He wouldn't have a full understanding of that if he never had an opportunity to get up and have someone redirect him back into position.

Adolescence doesn't last long and pretty soon you have that bright, attentive dog back who still has all the foundations from the lessons you taught.

Until next time Zoltie...we'll see how big you are then.

Second Visit Day 1 -- He's Back!!!

Zoltie's back!!! And we are so happy to see him. He's just a sweet guy and it looks like he's been working hard since he left.

Because he gets a little car sick, we decided to stop off on the way home to get some socialization done. Poor Zoltie does not like getting in the car. He probably has an association with feeling nauseated with the car (similar to the way we feel about a certain kind of food or restaurant after we get food poisoning). I think that's why he's hesitant to get his leash on with me. At home he goes straight in the garage. But at my house, I put his leash on before he gets in the car. So, we've started to pick up the car keys and give him a treat. Soon we will move on to the leash, the front door, walking to the car, getting into the car, etc. Each time pairing it with something he really likes and moving slowly (only moving onto the next step once he starts to get excited or anticipates the previous step).

But back to the socialization:

We went to a small, neighborhood pet supply store so he could do some meet and greets with people he didn't know. He gets really uncomfortable walking on the sidewalk if there is traffic nearby. But once we got into the store, he was very happy to meet new people.

He met a wide variety of people and did an excellent job at sitting for his greetings! We met men and women. People in hats. Men with beards. People in glasses. Anything that is new and different is good to get him exposed to. It helps that they have tasty treats at this store. In new places he becomes a little more picky about what treats he will take so it's helpful to have a variety.

Back at my house he was happy to see his old friends (as old as friends can be when you are only 4 months old). Lots of play time will help us with our training sessions.

It's helpful to practice stays when a dog is a little tired. They are more likely to offer the behavior and it gives you more chances to reward the appropriate behavior.

I keep a pile of small pieces of treat on a counter nearby when we start to work on stay. It's easier sometimes, if I don't have the treats on me. Zoltie tends to follow me from place to place when he knows I have treats on me. But, if they are on the counter, he is more likely to settle. This is also good practice for when you eventually wean off of the food rewards. It makes it so much easier if your dog does what you ask regardless of whether you have treats on you or not.

After a busy day, Zoltie tried really hard to curl up with Sinbad on the smallest dog bed. He was pretty disappointed when he realized he didn't fit.

I'm not sure why he wouldn't curl up with Rosario. She was on the biggest dog bed and only using it to rest a couple of paws. Maybe he just wanted to hang out with the big kids...