Week 3 LaLa (Laurel) Training Blog

New things we learned about LaLa this week:

1. She would like to chase cars (and most likely motorcycles and bikes..
2. Motorcycles and bikes set off barking.
3. How to start interactive play (for future training) with LaLa.
4. LaLa does not like when her dog friends leave.
5. LaLa likes to think about chasing seagulls as well.
6. Pretty easy to handle on the beach and in public, generally speaking for a dog in training.
7. Reacts to small critters but not other dogs when out and about.

This is another reason why training is important.  You want to know your dog and not be surprised by their reaction when you are not prepared.

Having and working with an adult rescue dog is somewhat different than working with a puppy.  Some things remain the same however:

1. Safety, safety, safety for your dog so you don't add any bad experiences in error.
2. Safety for yourself and others, as you don't know how this new adult dog will react based on their past experiences.  (Note:  LaLa is just as lovely as she looks, so this has not been a real concern.  You never know what their experiences have been, so being cautious at first and being safe is never a bad thing).
3. Training starts on a leash or at least in confinement.  The leash is the best way, however, to be sure your dog can not decide something is more interesting than you during a training session.  (Unless you want to play the game of chase with your dog, which will not be efficient when you try to train come later).
4. There should be at least a loose training plan in place.  It is almost impossible to make progress without a training plan. ​

I log what we train on with notes in my Google Calendar.  I have found that it is hard to really see what we did and did not do, so I also use sheets (Google Sheets) so I have a visual of what we have and have not worked on per day.  I am going to start making this available in my student blog package as well.

This sheet shows me what I have been remiss on working on. See how I highlighted those things, that I plan on working today (at last some of them). I notate the time, and I put comments in the sheet as well (although those comments are also in the calendar in more detail). If I forget where we were, I can just go back to the comments. For instance, how many seconds was the last sit stay OR how many circles did we get to in the circle sit stay?

This week, we have been outside a lot, so I have clearly neglected my lured heel and sit stays.  Sits, relaxation walks, long place, and sit on the dog have all been started outside.  It is going to be a little bit until full still sit stays (1 minute, we did 10 second outside), full circle sit stays, lured heeling, and play training are going to be outside.  Today is a cloudy day, so I will take advantage of that today.

Why does environment make a difference for some commands?  It is going to take longer and be less efficient if there are too many distractions in an environment especially for newer commands.  You want muscle memory to start to kick in first (for the both the owner or handler and the dog).  Once you can achieve a goal inside, then it may be time to increase the distraction to outside.   If you need less of a distraction than full outside, I have been known to use the porch or garage as a pre outside environment.

FYI, this would be too much to give to a training student.  It is a lot to give to me and LaLa.  I wanted to keep it fresh, and I am not under any deadline per say.   These months are to get to know LaLa and what motivates her as we get to know each other.  Why train your dog for that?  Dogs need activities just like we do.  It is easy for them to get bored without structure, activities, and being active with their humans.  Dogs are not as easily to satisfy emotionally as cats or some other pets can be.   LaLa does not have the drive of a working dog, but that does not mean she enjoys being bored.  One of LaLa's primary reinforcers is being and doing something with her owners.  The more skills she learns just increases all the things we can do together with less stress than having an untrained dog.