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Week 5 Days 1-7 Shana's Training Blog

4/22/2019

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PictureThis is my happy girl, Shana, on her (our) bed.
4/10/2019 Week 5 Day 1 Wednesday:
Special circumstances:  three board and trains in house plus Harley boarding (who Shana likes and plays with, but even her good friends can stress her out when there are totally strange dogs in the house or dogs who have been here less than two weeks)
Assumed equipment:  electronic collar, crate, food rewards
Activity level:  Was not written down
  1. Quiet in crate got 3 (out of 6) 5 minute quiet events that could be food rewarded.  Did not write down what equipment was used.  I am going to assume she had an electronic collar on, which I would just vibrate in this instance.  Not positive though, since I did not bother to write it down.  Had there been no electronic collar used, this would be super good.
Notes on Shana:  Shana progress remained, but has not progressed in this circumstance.  New board and trains coming 4/12, so I am hoping for it just to remain steady.
Notes on My handling: I need to remember to mark down equipment and activity level during the day.   If she did not happen to be wearing her ecollar (which is possible) this would be great progress instead of the same.
4/11/2019 Week 5 Day 2 Thursday:
Special Circumstances: Same as above, but Harley (who Shana likes and plays with, but even her good friends can stress her out when there are totally strange dogs in the house or dogs who have been here less than two weeks) arrived today for boarding.
Assumed equipment:   electronic collar, muzzle, leash, probably treats but I don't think I used them.
Activity level:  Not sure but her best buddies were here, so I am assuming very much running and play.
  1. Pack heel in driveway with Boarders, Daycare, Sharpie, and our dogs.   30 minutes She did great and looked happy and comfortable.  Loose body language.  Harley, a boarding client that Shana does know, had not arrived yet.
  2. Quiet in crate (once Harley arrived) 30 minutes She did 5 treats or 5 five minute instances of quiet that got rewarded.  She did give toothy grin to Harley once or twice.
​Notes on Shana:  Confinement when new dogs come (Harley is known but only since once a year) makes Shana very nervous.   Both sessions were exceptional good, and showed marked improvement.   
Notes on My handling: I need to remember to mark down equipment and activity level during the day.   If she did not happen to be wearing her ecollar (which is possible) this would be great progress instead of the same.

4/12/2019 Week 5 Day 3 Friday:
NOTHING NOTED  Very possible that I intentionally gave Shana the day off due to new stress.  She can see everything through the mudroom door.

4/13/2019 Week 5 Day 4 Saturday:

Special circumstances:   Arrival of two new dogs yesterday (Lemmy and Brandy) who are completely unknown to us or our household.
Equipment:  Muzzle, Leash, Food (no ecollar)
Activity level:  Vigorous ball play, a couple of sessions this day. 
  1. Warm up 5 minutes heeling around dog room until she was more settled.   I believe she did well, except for a couple of barks and no attempted lunging.   Everyone else but Boris and Harley were in crates.
  2. Sit on the dog the official way not my modified leash associated behavior enhancement (may need to find a better acronym or name with this) .  So no actual input from me, all her.  Barked at the beginning for 3 minutes.  Started again from the 7th minute to the 11th minute.  Started again from the 13th minute to the 15th minute.  Started again from the 20th minute to the 25th minute.  Quiet from then until the 30th minute.
  3. Sends to place for 15 minutes (I do work at the end to replace her feelings of dread being in a room with strange dogs to her being happy).  Shana loves to work and she very enthusiastically jumped on her places in front of all the dogs.  So much so that her and the place would go flying across the room.
  4. Stay on place for 15 minutes.   This is harder work for her, but she still loves it.   
  5. Ball play in room for a few minutes with her and Boris, and then we took it outside (basically big reward and replacing her dread of the room to having fun in it without having to worry about other dogs. 30 minutes
NOTES ON SHANA:  Given the circumstances and that she knows the electronic collar is not on her (she responds to the vibrate in these situations, so it's not like she is getting a severe correction, we have just been training together for a long time so she knows the prompt for cut it out) and this is a super stressful situation for her, she did very well.  Especially because she did not give her friend, Harley, who she only sees once a year any problems or snarks.  She sometimes has been known to take out her angst on her friends.  So she was nervous, but not so much to illicit that response.

NOTES ON ME:  Good job in documenting equipment used and activity level for the day.

4/14/2019 Week 5 Day 5 Sunday:
Special Circumstances:  Same as above
Equipment: Toy
Activity Level: Did not write down
  1. Hide and seek game with Shana and Boris (Tommy uninterested).  This works the stay, impulse control, and find command. 30 minutes
NOTES ON SHANA:  Shana 5 of them, and Boris got one.  She is very good at this game, and Tommy is too when he is interested.  Boris likes to basically chase Shana around.
NOTES ON ME: I sucked today.  No good notes or notations.
​

4/15/2019 Week 5 Day 6 Monday:

Special circumstances:  Lucy, Shana's arch nemesis, in the house and visible behind mudroom door.
Equipment: Banana, and I am assuming ecollar was on but not necessarily used. 
Activity Level:  I did not notate, but I am thinking Shana would not have performed so well had she not been out for a vigorous game of ball.
  1. Out of sight downs for 5 minutes a piece 35 minutes  Banana (Shana high value item) was reward for each successful one (so she would have gotten four pieces).
NOTES ON SHANA:  She stuck each one (we did them in sun room, bathroom, foyer, kitchen, upstairs hall, and living room).  There was one that she got up but did not move (therefore not successful but huge improvement) when Kate drove up to get Lucy.
NOTES ON ME:  still sub par on the notation of things.

4/16/2019 Week Day 7 Tuesday:

Special circumstances: Same just no Lucy.
Equipment: Ecollar, treats, leash, chuck it and balls (not for the heeling work in dog room obviously)
Activity Level: Chuck it play with Reggie for 30 minutes (also a training session)
  1. Fuss (focused heeling) in dog room, including heeling backwards 30 minutes  Five minutes in tried to do a sustained bark at Brandy, but was corrected on ecollar.   Twenty minutes in, barked at friend, Harley, just once.  He was following us, and Brandy + Lemmy in crates were making her worried.
  2. Out, Down, Drop, Leave It, Spin, and Roll over all worked during chuck it game with Reggie.   30 minutes
NOTES  ON SHANA:  On Shana, I have never taken notes before on her progress with this.   Overall, there was no lunging so I am happy thus far and think this may have been status quo or improvement.   This is why I need to have a training journal so that I can look it up.
NOTES ON ME:  I need also to practice more frequently on the newer stuff especially (weave, leash pressure for pinky like handling, hold item while walking, stay commands and hold commands in public)   Since we are doing so much, I need to organize my training plan a bit better.   Tough I did state the behavioral aspect does take top priority, which is where most of the work is going now.   The other stuff is not AS important, but still important to Shana's development.

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Week 4 Days 1-7 Shana Training Journal

4/16/2019

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PictureShana's baby picture 6 years ago or so. She turned six on 4/8/2019.
So from 4/2/2019-4/8/2019 We were on a sort of home vacation, and I wrote nothing down for Shana.   So I am going to have to assume while we were out and about with Shana and amusing her, that I did no real training of note.  Or to put it in short hand---I suck.

Week 4 Day 7 4/9/2019:
  1. Yard work of fetching large branches and bringing them to throw out area.   10 minutes  NOTE:   Started off having to encourage her to pick up sticks (she has never been a fan of them in her mouth, but then she was off to the races)   
  2. Chuck it with Boris and Reggie.  Had Shana do drops come go stay out and leave it.   NOTE:   Very good, but sometimes trying to sit her from a distance or down (not drop which starts with recall) from a distance is confusing to her.  Guess we need to work on that more.
​

NOTE T O SELF:  I NEED TO MAKE BETTER NOTATIONS ABOUT EQUIPMENT USE.   I ALSO NEED TO MAKE BETTER NOTATIONS ON SUCCESSFUL REPS FOR CHARTING PROGRESS AND MOOD FOR THAT MATTER:)  SHANA'S MOOD HAS BEEN MORE POSITIVE ON DAYS STRANGE DOGS ARE HERE AND EVEN HER NEMESIS, LUCY.  I'M GETTING A LITTLE STRESSED THAT I AM GOING TO MAKE A MISTAKE AND RUIN THAT FOR HER.
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Week 3 Day 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Shana Training Blog

4/16/2019

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Picture
I have been marking down our work in our Calendar but have been very inconsistent until today.   I also have three board and train dogs in plus the regular work, but that should be no excuse for me not fully committing to Shana's training program.

3/27/2019 work (Week 3 Day 2):

Just a half and hour chuck it game with Shana and Boris.

3/28/2019 (Week 3 Day 3):

Nothing written down (was finishing up with previous board and train clients.  No Excuse.

3/29/2019 (Week 3 Day 4):
  1. ​Sits before mudroom door four in a row without corrections needed (while board and train and daycare are on the other side, this is our dog room).  5 minutes  ​Improvement:  Much less reactive towards door even when totally strange dog on the other side, and (while her arch nemesis was not there today) also improving when Lucy is on the other side).
  2. ​Downs before mudroom door four in a row.  5 Minutes ​Improvement:  Much less reactive towards door even when totally strange dog on the other side, and (while her arch nemesis was not there today) also improving when Lucy is on the other side).
  3. Heeling warm up while in dog room around bnt dogs and daycare friends to get her calmed down.  10 minutes Note:  She was pretty bratty.   Improvement:  Calmed down sufficiently at 10 minutes and also not that ramped up going into it.
  4. Sit on the dog 30 minutes.   Note:  Super bratty.   Improvement:  Went down right away and stayed down through out although there was barking.
  5. Leash pressure around daycare and bnt.   30 minutes  Equipment:  (did not notate but I believe no ecollar, muzzle, food reward, and leash) based on how we would regularly be doing this.   Plus she is not as bratty with the ecollar on, I doubt I would have needed to notate that.  Notes: Looks like Shana did very well, but I need to finish that Mike Ellis video to be sure I am doing it correctly.  Improvement:  I did not write anything down, so I am assuming that Shana was focused on her work (she loves working) and the treats were keeping her anxiety at bay.
3/30/2019 (Week 3 Day 5)
  1. Walk with leash pressure reps around neighborhood.   Equipment:  muzzle carried by me, treats, leash, prong, and safety lead in case prong were to come off----could not find nylon backup training collar  30 minutes  Notes:  did not write anything.   This was only less than a week of leash pressure work.  I should probably do more inside in less distractions first.   However, looks like Shana did well, though I did not notate any reps or success rates of four in a row yet.
  2. Place in dog room during Bailey's (board and train dog) free time.  Notes:  Again, I did not write any.  Need to remember in case I get backed up putting notes on here.
3/31/2019 (Week 3 Day 6):
Did not write anything down on this day, so I am going to assume we did not work on anything.

4/1/2019 (Week 3 Day 7):

Wrote that I did heeling and leash pressure around daycare.  No notes or anything else.
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Shana Training Journal Week 2 Days 5, 6, 7 3/23 3/24 and 3/25

3/26/2019

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PictureShana on a walk with some of her buddies.
3/23/2019 Training (Saturday):

  1. I did not put anything in, so looks like my day off for Week 2.  If I did, bad on me for not putting it in AND not logging it right away.  Nothing is really occurring to me that we may have done.

3/24/2019 Training (Sunday):  
  1. During very vigorous chuck it ball game, I did some things that I consider training.  Her play fetch and find it, are not really considered training as she knows them well.   Did drops during her return with ball, and then some on her leave, push ups before getting ball thrown, down from a distance (it has become apparent that she is beginning to think down without the drop is meant to be right next to me), outs, leave its, and stays so her older brother could comfortably get the ball.  He is getting a little too frail for body bumps by Shana.   Keep at this, this is very informal training session.   30 minutes.
  2. Sit on the dog in dog room with Bailey about and Robert return home.   Equipment was ecollar, muzzle, leash, and no treats (I like to rotate these things).   Did not bark when she first went down, but about 30 seconds following.   Then again when Robert came home about 2/3s of the way through (excitement or stress get her to barking and directing it towards others sometimes).   Otherwise, all was quiet.   
  3. Place in master bedroom while I was doing sit on the dog with Bailey.  I did not notate it, but I believe the same equipment used in #2.  Also failed to notate it, but I believe there were no problems, Shana was relaxed, and I didn't need to hold the end of the leash.    Seem to remember that she feel asleep (probably the vigorous chuck it game helped). 45 minutes
3/25/2019 Training (Monday):  
  1. Robert took Shana out with her friends for an 40 minute period of time to burn some energy off.
  2. Quiet in crate for an hour or so, while Robert had a friend visiting.   Shana would bark when the visitor got up or moved, but other wise was quiet.   I was using ecollar on vibrate for correction, and treats as reward.   1 hour

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Shana Training Journal Week 3 Day 1

3/26/2019

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Picture
Getting to today's training journal early so everything is fresh in my mind.

  1. Shana sit on the dog ​in dog room. Muzzle and Britis Slip leash were used (no treats or ecollars). Bailey and Boris were loose each playing with a ball themselves. Not by design, but Shana's favorite teaser ball was out. So we need to work with that toy, especially, out more often in the short term. Shana had sime melt downs. Three minutes into sit on the dog, Bailey just walked near her ball and Shana went into a barking and pulling fit (had been in a nice quiet down under her own power before). If we had had rewards, there were silences but not enough to get any of the six rewards, if I was even prepared to give them out. 30 minutes
  2. Heeling around toys and Boris and Bailey playing with their balls. It took more than 15 minutes to get her in sync and paying better attention. Same equipment and set up as in #1. At the end got some good turns and heeling close up to her favorite toys and dogs with her favorite toys. More attention during her heeling portion (not doing focused heel). 30 minutes
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Shana Training Journal Week 2 Day 4 3/22/2019

3/23/2019

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PictureShana's favorite thing is her tuggy.
  1. Started new trick with Shana, which will eventually be jumping up in my arms.   Someone was also doing this and had their dog jump in their lap first.   So I did this with Shana for about 10 minutes with food.   She loved it.  I need to look at next steps.  No equipment on except her flat collar, a chair, and the use of food. 10 minutes
  2. Placed Shana in the master bedroom while I did sit on the dog with Bailey.  She looked the other way (avoidance) but did not bark or give any hairy eyeballs.  I was using treats, her muzzle was on, and I did have her on leash to hold.   45 minutes (Bailey getting used to new rooms---he has a little anxiety, so Shana had to do a little longer than I usually do---though one hour is not unheard of).
  3. Not training but Brother in Law came over.   I did not let Shana check him out first.  She never really calmed down while he was here (as in look comfortable, she did lie down while we were watching tv).   So I need to put time in getting her used to people (long story that you can find probably in her lengthy about posts in the archives).   She also does not like crowds of people, as in it makes her nervous, but then she is curious.  2 hours   Solution:   make this also a priority as we are working on the strange dog behavior.
Also want to note, she had no real physical activity burn off nor a really physically challenging training session(s).   Getting this done each day (along with the mental challenges) would probably go a long way.  I need to rotate these things better.
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Shana Training Journal Week 2 Days 2 and 3

3/22/2019

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PictureShana training at York High School.
On March 20 2019:
  1. ​I started the Micheal Ellis focused heeling video again, to get ideas on fixing Shana's crabby (position) heeling and make it look more polished and focused.   Thing is the video is so long (which is great) that you are not likely to get through it and retain the info in one day.  So this is a continuing work in process for me.
  2. Quiet in crate before #3.  No muzzle or ecollar on and Bailey out with Boris.   She of course had a harder time, but still did very well at self chilling herself.  I did not notate the time this happened, sadly.  The whole time was 55 minutes, and I believe I ended it with a half hour of quiet.  Need to remember to notate times down to measure improvement.
  3. Ball play fetch and retrieve with Boris.   Also primarily to make the dog room a fun place for her even in the presence of not well known dogs in the crates around her.   She did great concentrating on the game, and fetching balls when they went behind the crate without need to comment to our guest dogs, even if they barked in excitement at the activity.15 minutes
  4. Also forgot to mark it down, but I worked a little bit with Mike Ellis leash pressure (what I could remember as I haven't gotten to that part of the tape yet).  Maybe  5 minutes or so
​On March 21, 2019:
  1. Heels with down out of motion and sits out of motion in living room (no ecollar or muzzle or leash), around daycare friends that Shana likes and knows well.  She has been known to feel vulnerable in a down and thus defensive around friends.  In the beginning, I saw a little of this when I downed her near Boone. 10 minutes   Solution:  Keep going with this.   She is improving.
  2. Heels and sits later on in dog room (muzzle on) around Bailey in mudroom to accustom her before a sit on the dog.   Was more interested in going after toys in crates then worried about Bailey (who is nothing to worry about of course).  10 minutes
  3. Sit on the dog.  I set up the beginning a few times, as this is when she gets tense with a little known dog in the room, until I could sit and she would not automatically bark at any newcomers.   We got four out of six rewards, which has been standard at the end of last week.   First bark was when Robert came up the stairs, which is typical as she does not like to share her owners.   I can't remember what caused the next.   Solution:  Keep it up.   She is improving. 30 minutes
  4. Quiet in crate while I worked Bailey.  I did not notate anything.  I can't really remember, but I think I would if she was not quiet for that period of time.  ​Solution:  Remember to log these things.
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Shana Training Journal Week 2 Day 1 3/19/2019

3/20/2019

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Picture
Ugh, first time I posted this did not go through.  

3/18/2019 was a day off.  I was super tired, and Shana was super tired and grumpy as well.   Figured we could both use some rest

3/19/2019 We both woke up refreshed and went to work.
  1. 15 Minutes of 1 minute holds both sitting and while heeling, around friends and brother (and bnt dogs in their crate).
  2. 30 minutes quiet in crate (a couple small barks and one large bark when Bailey went near her crate) while bnt clients were out with Cujo, Bandit, and Boris playing.  Very much improved.
​Week 1 last week finished had a great improvement in Shana's relaxation in stressful situations (pack walks around neighborhood and in dog room around newer bnt dogs.

My present strategy in managing her week is giving behavioral work the largest concentration.   This includes the perception modification of things that stress her out by bringing her to a threshold that is challenging but not overwhelming and moving her forward in that (use of motivational work, tricks, music, and food).   Then working on polishing up the look of our obedience exercises (I need to get to a place where I can work just her an I a few days for this, which I did not get to last week).

The most noticeable difference last week was in behavior.   In this vein, working a lot on her managing her excitement level when seeing her friends too.   Love that she is enthusiastic to see them, but she can be a bit rough still at 6 years old.  Managing this just increases her impulse management and allows the self chill before released to happen.
​
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Shana 3/17/2018 (DAY 7 WEEK 1 OF KEEPING JOURNAL)

3/18/2019

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Picture
Not the training day I had hoped or planned for. I was planning on doing fetch and hold. So I will move tgat to Monday.
  1. Long 10 minute places. I didn't notste how she did, but we probably did at least four. I don't think.she broke any of them, but really don't remember.
  2. Long place for an hour plus, while I was in the bedroom sitting on the dog with Bailey. Did have her on a leash, as I would not have been able to get up while doing sit on the dog. She did grouch and try to leave a few times in the beginning. Overall, an improvement with having a newer dog in the bedroom.
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Shana 3/16/2019

3/17/2019

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Picture
  1. Shana sit on the dog in room (modified) with Bailey out. She got through the whlle thing without barking. So she got six out 6 food rewards (spaced five minutes apart). 30 minutes
  2. One hour walk (20 minutes relaxation), (20 minutes easy---being rewarded after four times of holding back from putting pressure on the leash), and 20 minutes sits and downs out of motion. Brought Bailey along. Before this, I had played ball games with Boris and Shana so she would not be as wound up. She had an infection in her nail bed so haven't done sny ling walks in awhile. She saw Nellie where she was interested and a little wound. We slso saw two smsll d9gs ysppung on a porch at us during the sit and down portion. Kept it together, but did not execute commands as wanted for a few minutes after. Then on going to Spruce, she started her excited whining, where I saw a cat peeking at us from a snow bank.
  3. Quiet in crate while Bailey and Boris playing ball for 15 minutes. Shana struggled more with this. But we finally got to a place where she had settled down.
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    ​Owner and Head Dog Trainer in Maine, Robin Katherine Rubin, started her Maine dog training business in September 2004.  Our dog training facility is located in Southern Maine in York Beach and we help families enjoy their dogs more, making sure they listen reliably and resolving unwanted behaviors.

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