Training Archives - Page 7 of 8

Category: Training Page 7 of 8

Bang! Teaching the dog to “play dead”

On June 22, 2013

We’ve been kept indoors because of the haze and Donna is very restive. She’s a laze-about dog at home, but she does need her daily walk or she gets restless, and then she gets rough when playing or worse, she gets curious and starts doing taste -tests that are not good for her tummy.

Our other cousin Mr B told us about his girlfriend’s amazing mongrel dog who could flop and play dead every time the human goes “Bang!” That sounds pretty cool, and it’s something fun to do besides trying to get Donna to ‘walk with me’, and the other obedience behaviours that we normally train in our tiny apartment.

So here goes…

Go to your bed > Down > Stay
Come > BANG!
Wait for dog to sprawl completely on the floor
Wait for dog to keep completely still
Good Job dead dog! > treat

As you can see, we are not very good at it yet. Donna tends to go into a down position and look at me. And then I keep thumping the floor before she remembers oh yes, fall to the side. And then she’s so happy anticipating the reward (yay! kibble!), her tail keeps wagging. Harlow, how can a dead dog be wagging it’s tail?? So it takes some time before she is totally still but she’s getting it, because then she gets the treat. Still, Good Job dead dog!! :D

Perhaps if we practise more, she start flopping faster.

Meanwhile, here are some Youtube dogs that are masters at this with their unique takes on the trick:

Forbidden… but allowed on a case-by-case basis

By weliveinaflat

On June 6, 2013

In Training

She vexed me today. We came home to find the dog was doing a little interior rearrangement of her own. A vase of roses toppled, the water spilled on the floor and laid stagnant about and under the TV console. That must have surprised and made her nervous. As I scolded and cleaned, I could find traces of saliva dripped in various corners of the living room and corridor.

“Bad girl. Bad. Bad.” went my almost monotone voice. I don’t scream at her but the human still needed to let out some frustration. And since I was cleaning anyway, my frustration went ahead to wipe the white TV console more thoroughly than normal and of course the floor behind and under it. “Bad. Bad.”

I was at the doctor this morning and tired. So I left her alone after I cleaned up to get my own rest. Perhaps an hour later, I heard strange noises that I thought could be her woofing a little in her sleep. Came out of the room to find her in the toilet puking on the newspapers and pee pad.

The two thoughts – worry and “thank god this dog is smart enough to go do it in the toilet” – occurred simultaneously.

“Good. Good girl!” I petted her gently and clapped, half hoping to lighten the mood so she doesn’t feel so awful and half hoping the praise will cement in her brain that ALL future episodes of puking should happen here. “Good job. Good girl.”

That was before I saw the two more puddles of vomit on her bed and another before her bed. She probably did not have the time to head for the toilet so she threw up all her breakfast, and guess what, bits of dried flowers and rose leaf there. I had mistaken her food tasting and self-intoxication session for interior redesign. = =!!!

She was to vomit 8 times in total. The last time, she set on the pee pad and she struggled a bit, her muzzle pinched looking before she threw up mostly white phlegm-looking liquid. Then it was almost as if she was exhausted, she shook off my petting hand and walked away from me to settled down on her own on the floor.

Her bed, grossly soaked and packed with soggy kibble, canned food, barley and the incriminating dried floral arrangement, was packed and dumped in the garbage. So now my sick dog is one bed short. THIS is the reason my friends why a dog should have at least TWO cheap beds and not one ridiculously over-priced bed from the pet shop. I feel so affirmed. Haha! :P

It started to thunder and rain. So today, for the comfort and ease of my poor sick dog, the forbidden study is not forbidden. (I hold my breath that she does not puke again in the study!)

The scenario is pretty similar to the last time she tried to intoxicate herself with a hydrangea leaf, except that that was one quarter of an extremely toxic leaf. So now on top of instituting the forbidden balcony, Mr P will have to consider more carefully when he buys flowers for his wife in future.

But no, that is not why she is behind bars in this picture. Haha :P

LIFE… as it happened.

Theoretically, Donna should be a forbidden subject since mongrels are not HDB-approved by default. You could seek approval but it is subject to approval on a case-by-case basis. And in the case where the dog is not approved, you need to rehome the dog. – –

On the micro-level, our household operates with similar methodology. Donna knows what’s forbidden about the house – the sofa, the kitchen, the rooms – unless we explicitly lets her on or in them. Barricades, like the child gate we’ve installed, are so effective in communicating boundaries.

I like to think our household governance is more compassionate than…. bureaucracy. Most people would have that preference.

Humans are not so easily deterred by rules and regulations. Our eyes seek out the holes and the cracks that sneaks us a peek into what lies behind the barricade. Sure we read the sign-posted “No Entry” disclaimers. But even before the developer was ready to hand over the keys, some more enterprising future neighbours of ours had already sneaked into the development to take pictures and videos of the corridors and the unlocked units.

The Sign Says… doesn’t mean people and dogs will follow.

Interesting isn’t it, how things forbidden present the most desirable adventures to humans and dogs alike.

That’s the answer to why that dog was behind bars in the forbidden kitchen in the first picture. She sneaked in, but unlike our human neighbours, she couldn’t sneak out again. :P

Reference
– when to take a vomiting dog to a vet
– ASPCA dog care – vomiting

The first trick I successfully taught Donna was by a fluke

By weliveinaflat

On May 9, 2013

In Training

Well technically I didn’t set out to teach Donna the high-five. It was when we just brought her home and I knew nuts about dog training. We were in the park downstairs. Donna was sitting on one of the steps in the fitness corner.

We were practising “shake a paw”. And on the spur of the moment, I took her paw and placed it up against my palm and said “high-five”.

She looked at me, her head slanted at an angle the way dogs do when they are puzzled. Then I held up my palm and said “High-five!” The world shushed as everything paused. Time literally stopped as wheels turned in the dog’s head. Then it happened. Her paw tapped lightly against my palm. The world started to turn again.

That was the one and only time she learnt something in less than 3 minutes (estimated).

I wish it happens more often :P

Donna – will high-five for food.

The daily prompt is celebrating successes today.

Doggy parkour – Urban agility challenge for dogs

By weliveinaflat

On May 8, 2013

In Training

Furkids living in urban cities do not have the luxury of their own backyard to romp around in. Nope, they have to fit themselves into the tinier by the day public housing flats or condominium apartments that their friendbeasts bring them home to. We are kind of lucky to have gotten a flat in a development that comes with a small fairly enclosed rooftop garden above the multi-storey carpark. This is where we train our sit and stay and put to use the public installations into an urban obstacle course for Donna.

We never take our hands off Donna’s leash anywhere else but here. This is an area that is fairly secluded, almost zero traffic so we can be sure that nothing happens to spook our dog and lead to a flight and lost dog incident. Donna would not have been able to get any good at sit and stay outside of home if we didn’t have this convenient place downstairs to train between 1 to 2 sessions a day. But if anyone were to ask me, I would say never ever take your hand of the dog’s leash. A risk is still a risk no matter how small but I digress.

So anyway, coming away from the digression of what a bad friendbeast I am, Donna really hasn’t caught on to the concept of sit and stay on urban obstacles yet. What she does downstairs is really just motion that she goes through everyday that she has internalised very well. Take her out of that setting and you’ll find the human on the obstacle, not the dog! :P

Still we try now and then when the mood strikes. Sometimes it makes for a good photograph, like the day the dog put her little paws politely on the root of a big tree.

For a lark, we tried a little doggy parkour on some huge landscape rocks in the park, nothing as incredible as TreT wahahaha!

When you have one hand on the leash and in the other hand your camera phone, the only orientation that you can ever easily take is from above down. Luckily for me the “exertion” of clambering up some fake landscape rocks was too much for Donna, especially since we have already been out for an hour already. She had to lie down and rest. “Stay” is pretty handy with a tired dog. Ho ho ho~

What we see from above, is different from what she sees from below.

Say hello to Donna and her photoshop clone Donna-02. Ho ho ho~

Urban Agility is a method of exercising your dog using public structural components and park furniture. Training with your dog to sit, trot along or jump over obstacles found in the urban environment helps with improving the dog’s agility and providing positive mental stimulation for the dog. When trained positively, the dog should gain greater confidence with navigating these obstacles. Conversely, a bad experience such as suffering a fall can possibly take away a dog’s confidence and engender fear.

We typically do simple trotting along low wide walls or sit and stays, things that are safe to do with a dog on a leash. I’m not sure if the mental stimulation does tire out our dog but I did read that some people use this as a method to tire out their dogs more, especially when they are time-strapped and unable to take their dogs for longer walks. I like that it helps kill the boredom of just walking along sometimes.

When having fun with dog on an urban walk, it’s also good to remember:
– Urban dog etiquette
– Only attempt what is safe for your dog’s health, size, fitness and confidence level
– Always pay close attention to what your dog is telling you, some dogs may not be comfortable with certain platforms that they perceive as unstable.
– Reward your dog and make it fun.

Sources:
– seizetheleash.com
– how to turn a dog walk into a dog challenge via life in the dog lane
– how to fully exercise your dog with shorter walks

Well-trained vs Well-behaved

By weliveinaflat

On May 4, 2013

In Training

"Hey Donna..."
"Yah?"
"You know you're supposed to be depressed?"
"Really?"
"Yah, really."
"Oh"
"So you can't look like this anymore."

"I can't?"
"No, you can't. Sorry."
"So.... can I  look like this?"

"No, that's the you sniffing at something look."
"Er, or maybe I should look like this?"

"That's not depressed. That's you waiting for something to happen."
"How about this?"

"That's you feeling sleepy and too lazy to do anything... "
"This is too hard."

"Hey, that's kind of close to looking depressed I guess."

So I saw this discussion thread on a forum the other day and my simple mind went, well isn’t it a matter of the dog either being intrinsically well-behaved because of its individual personality or a dog being well-behaved because it was well trained to be well-behaved? Regardless of which, the end result is the same — a well behaved dog.

Of course, a dog could be a part-time well-behaved dog. Donna for instance is wonderful when we are at home, but when we are not, there the dog goes on the forbidden sofa, there goes the household plastic goods, there goes the lemongrass teabags hung to keep lizards away, there goes whatever looks like a toy to her. Thank goodness that does not happen too often and through time, we learnt what we need to keep out of reach.

Some dogs behave well at home but get so distracted they behave as they will outside, regardless of their owner’s wishes. Some dogs behave themselves outside but their owners will tell you what holy terrors they become at home. Some dogs probably are well-behaved, except that their owners and the dogs don’t see eye to eye on what being well-behaved really means. Some owners don’t even need their dogs to be well-behaved. These dogs could do no wrong then right?

That one little thing about Donna is, she is generally well-behaved once she knows the rules and expectations. Disaster almost always only happen when routines get broken such as when we fall sick and don’t take her for longer walks or as regular walks/loo breaks. But sometimes people don’t really see that good behaviour. Somehow, people think that it is normal for dogs to be noisy, to bark, to pull on the leash, to do all sorts of doggy things. And when they visit and see Donna sitting and staying on her bed quietly, they ask what is wrong with the dog? Is the dog depressed? Why is she so quiet? And when they pull too hard on the leash and Donna obediently stops and sit, they ask why is the dog so lazy and keep sitting down?

Even when Mr P explains that Donna’s behaviour is a result of training and not because she is depressed, some people still find it hard to reconcile that there is nothing wrong with the dog. We spent a lot of time bonding and working with the dog, gaining its trust and from there helping it learn to be a well-behaved dog that will not frighten friends and strangers who are scared of dogs. Unfortunately this effort and Donna’s good behaviour sometimes are overlooked because people already have preconceptions of how a dog should behave and being well-behaved is just not a part of it.

Nothing in life is free

By weliveinaflat

On April 1, 2013

In Training

… so why is this line of treats here?

Am I suppose to “leave it”?

She is looking at me, shit, what do I do? Maybe I should pretend I am not interested.

That’s it! I’m not interested.

NOT Interested.

Yah right, by the time I return after leaving the room, the treats are gone!

Donna has a natural suspicion of new things that I want her to use or eat. Probably as a side effect of us trying so hard to get her off the sofa. But it was only fair that if we take the sofa from her, we give her something comfy back in return. This set of photos was from probably a month or more back. I was only trying to get her to like the pillow, honest! : D

Happy April Fool’s!

Invisible barrier training to keep your dog off the road

By weliveinaflat

On March 28, 2013

In Training

The dog park is too far away on foot to bring Donna to, unless Mr P is available to drive us there. I did walk Donna there before, but she ended up totally tired and laid down to rest every time I stopped walking on the way home.

But actually there are at least a couple of big grass patches in our vicinity that I can bring her to to just run free for a bit. That is, if I can successfully train her on invisible barriers to keep her safe, since she can sometimes be so easily spooked.

But first I need a long line.

P/s: Wish I had seen this video when we were getting Donna to respect the no dog zones in our house!

How we created “no dog” zones at home

By weliveinaflat

On March 27, 2013

In Training

When Donna first came home, she was followed us everywhere like a little busybody. But Mr P and I already agreed that she would not have access to all the rooms. So the Donna zone covered only the balcony (when someone is at home), the living room, the kitchen and the common corridor along all the rooms. The kitchen was barred only after Donna ran in and peed on the kitchen rug once too many times. We secured it with a child gate. All the other room doors were also closed all the time.

Of course, at the start Donna still wanted to follow us everywhere. When we entered the bedroom and shut the door, she would be outside snorting loudly demanding to come in. Sometimes we can hear scratches and bumps and wonder exactly what was she doing outside.

We sometimes work in the study for long stretches of time, so we leave the door open. But, the minute she sticks one paw in, it was one of us saying “Out!” and getting up and backing her out the door. There are times we had to do this repeatedly when she thought it was a great game to run in and out, in and out until we got tired of getting up to shoo her out. And when no one responds to her antics, she will get bold and clatter all the way in, reminding us that we need to be consistent ourselves if we want her to abide by the rules. We treat her when she backs out by herself. But mostly we treat her if she stays outside by the door, without coming in.

And when she lies quietly or falls asleep on the floor outside, I go “Yes! Dead dog! Good job!” and treat her again. Actually I was hoping that the “dead dog” will stick in her subconsciousness as time goes by :P But all it accomplished, really, was a laze-about dog that loitered in the corridor waiting for treats xD

Sometimes, she’d curl up on her pillow for a nap. Because yes, the pillow is another treat zone since I was trying to help her to love the pillow.

And after a while, Donna stopped insisting to enter any of the rooms. She would stop outside even if we left the door open when we went in.

Donna can usually be found with her entire body just piak on the floor dozing off, unlike her adopted young cousin Doudou who falls asleep in all sorts of adorable contortions half on and half off furniture. So I was surprised and amused to find her in a new sleeping position when I got up from my study desk yesterday for a break.

Although, how comfortable can a door frame pillow be for a dog’s head is beyond me.

She was obviously too comfortable or lazy enough to just follow me with her eyes as I walked around snapping pictures :P

Today, Donna has piak herself outside the kitchen instead because I ran out of treats in the study a few days ago. That dog is not stupid at all.

P/s: We are not dog trainers and most of what we do is trial and error and may not be the best for your dog. A lot of times, we may also do what is most effective for us at that point in time but it may not be best practice. However, we will never harm our dog.

I’d like to think that Donna is already a good canine citizen

By weliveinaflat

On March 26, 2013

In Training

As individuals, we probably have different ideas of what responsible dog ownership encompasses.

Even organisations have to take specific view points due to their roles in the community. Hence the HDB’s Code of Responsible behaviour from Project Adore, which basically lists 8 line items on what nuisance behaviours your mongrel dog should not engage in (see Appendix A). So yes, in order for the dogs to be accepted in the public housing community, owners need to ensure the dogs behave themselves from month one (by means of enrolling in a basic obedience course) and not give cause for complaint (subject to fines). Conversely, you can also say that it is not so much about the dogs themselves but more making sure the owners know what are the rules and limitations outside of their house in their community and to work with the dogs to fit in.

Project Adore, by the way, is supposed to be a one year pilot project to selectively re-home only medium-size mongrel dogs in public housing. Currently our Housing Development Board does not allow residents of HDB flats to keep mongrels as pets. The same dogs may be allowed in private condominiums and other private residences.

It seems there is a specific term for this sort of legislation in the US – BSL

Breed-specific legislation (BSL) is a law that bans OR restricts certain types of dogs based on their appearance, usually because they are perceived as “dangerous” breeds or types of dogs.

There are currently 42 HDB-approved breeds listed on the HDB website. They are small dogs which are “generally more manageable“.

In comparison, the American Kennel Club’s CGC Responsible Dog Owner’s Pledge is perhaps more holistic in defining the word “responsible” – covering in addition, aspects pertaining to the dog’s health, safety and quality of life. But then again, that’s because this is a totally different organisation with a different purpose in the community.

In any case, the evaluation objectives of the 8-week obedience course at the Singapore Kennel Club is similar to the AKC.

I’d like to think Donna is already a good canine citizen, but at this point, she will probably fail from Test 2 onwards, which requires that she be petted on the head and groomed by a stranger. :( She is shy about that. After Test 3, she should do well, until Test8 because she will want to approach the other dog. No question about it. How she’ll do for Test 9 and 10 is really up in the air.

So yes, the dear girl will probably fail, but unofficially, I think we should think of her as a good canine citizen. She is able to sit and stay and also walk by my heel during our walks to the park which include passing through crowded bus-stops, narrow paths, road crossings, etc. She rarely eliminates on concrete areas which are public use anymore. She doesn’t bark at home, even if we’re not in the house. Our next door neighbour was so surprised to hear we have a dog because she never heard any barking. For the record, Donna stopped barking loudly after we told her to be quiet the first time. She still runs to the door when she hears strangers (not the neighbours but strangers) and she sort of, goes woof woof under her breath. It’s kind of hilarious :P

Oh yah, even her poop seems to smell less after we changed her food :P Surely that should seal the deal ; )