Oooh you should see Shamas' face right now! He's never stolen from a plate, the whole time he's been here.....until now. I left a bite of cheese sandwich on the plate on the couch, and went to grab an ice pack for one of the kids...took maybe 15 seconds. came back, and the crust is gone, Shamas looks guilty. I just looked at him and said "go lay down..I am SO disappointed in you...go lay down" He slunk off to his crate and is peeking round the door at me...not at all encouraged by the lack of smile, and persistant frown in his direction. I guess cheese left alone was more than he could manage to leave alone
Picked up sme Tuna, to add to his water bowl. And a grain free fod because he's showing allergies. They get worse if the kids feed him pizza, so I'm assuming it's food based. I know he's got intolerances, becausee the last food I tried to switch him to caused messy reactions in his gut. Going to mention that to the vet. He never has issues if I feed him turkey, chicken or fresh vegetables. I started a thread looking for input on a new harness. He walks best with a front clip on his leash, but the only harness I have with that is the Easywalk, which never did fit him and gave him blisters https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/one-last-harness-i-hope-which-one-to-buy.23872/ I'm trying to decide between Ruffwear, which I just discovered I can get at my local mountain equipment co-op...and Perfect Fit(I'm nervous that it'll sit too close behind his arms, as harnesses tend to do on him)
Shamas stole my backpack today. I had treats in the side. Looks like I'm hanging that up from now on. Once a food theif always a food theif? But he did manage not to touch the ones I left on the table to test him.....I'd told him "leave it" in the morning and walked away. and he didnt steal the bone broth lined up temptingly on the freezer to cool ether, so i'm encouraged lol...instead he followed me around looking sad because I'd not given it yet.
We did Leave It excercises with Chicken on a plate last night. He did really well for about 1/2 hour. then I turned my back to stir supper and had forgottent o pick it up and it was gone lol. My bad. Today Shamas crossed a main road that he's previously been too afraid to approach ....Though I may have tricked him? we went for a walk down a path along the tracks, and I knew that it crossed the road, but didn't really think much, except decide to see what happened when we got there. When we got there, shamas turned to pull home, but didn't look overly stressed...so I let the light turn and said "come on, let's go" and ran him across. We walked about 2 blocks, and when he saw the next main road he turned for hom and made it clear he was going no further. So I took a route that put us parallel to the roads as much as possible, until we had a crosswalk, and took him home. Aside from the pulling, he didn't seem overly stressed....Tail wasn't tucked and face wasn't pinched. Back feet weren't doing the weird duck turn that he used to do when he panic-dragged me. Once he got onto his street, the lead was slack, and he acted like nothing happened. I'd say he did really well.
It sounds like he's doing really well! I don't know if I've mentioned to you before, but I play pressure games with Willow when there's something she's nervous about approaching. This is where you put the pressure on (approach the scary thing) and take the pressure off (get further away from the scary thing). It's best to do this before the dog starts to worry, so you may need to do it at a distance where you don't think it could possibly be associated with the scary thing - in your case, the main road. So you have two values of treats, one high value, one lower value. You toss the low value treat away from the scary thing, mark for your dog looking back at you (and, therefore, in the direction of the scary thing) and toss the high value treat towards the scary thing. Repeat. As I said, working at a distance where the dog isn't bothered by the scary thing at all. But you're basically teaching him there's good stuff in that direction, but he can also go back, where there's still good stuff, just not as amazing as the other way. You gradually work closer (potentially over many sessions, that depends on your dog), keeping an eye on him for signs of worry and, as soon as that happens, go back a pace or two. It depends a lot on Shamas' personality, but Willow (who isn't very demonstrative in general) absolutely loves it when I make a fuss of her when she's brave. So when she's done something - anything - that I consider brave for her, I make a big deal out of it. "Oh my gosh, you are SO BRAVE! Look at what you just did! What a clever girl!!!". Completely OTT, but it seems to make a big difference. To anthropomorphise quite unashamedly, you can almost see her puffing out her chest and saying "I AM brave, aren't I?"
That sounds like a great game to play with Shamas! I'll make up some chicken for him, and bring some kibble. I'm definitely going to have to decide on which harness I'm buyng, because after using the Halti at the park today, Shamas was blowing from his nose. It must be irritating him. My shoulder's healed, so I don't NEED it anymore. Best put it away and get a front clip harness instead. I'm stuck between the Ruffwear and the Perfect Fit...but given the apparent urgency of the matter, I think I'll take him to the MEC store and have them fit him for a Ruffwear. Perfect Fit could take a month to arrive from UK.....I've been clipping the lead to the front of his Y harness, and that's not BAD...but I'm sure it's probably not comfortable, as the clip's probably rubbing his collarbone I'd love to get in some more training time, but the weather's so hot that we're all wilting by noon. Could use that rain they keep threatening on the weather network We went to a food festival with my dad and his dogs today..that went well. I love doing new places witht he Pack- Toby and Chloe are so laid back that Shamas doesn't think to be scared- he just takes their lead. So what would otherwise be a high-stress environment is instead only a high-stimulation environment I lost my roll of bags, but I have others at home, and if that's ALL I lost, I figure I'm not bad off. Shamas jumped on the stage...4 feet high. How high is safe for him to jump DOWN from??? We wouldnt let him come down on his own, because I'm always afraid of a bad landing. Is it fair to say that if he can jump up he can jump down? I think I might be a paranoid dog owner but vet bills terrify me
Ugh! MEC said I could bring Shamas over and theyd bring out the harness and we could fit him to one. I was really chuffed, thinking I could get him a Ruffwear harness,and not have to buy it blind. So we went out there yesterday, and they wanted me to pay $5 for a membership, then buy the harness upfront before I could try it on him. If it didn't fit, they'd do a return, and I would buy the second one, to try it on. What a Hassle! I can just order off Amazon and save the membership fee if That's the way I have to do it. On the plus side, Petsmart JUST started carrying KURGO harnesses yesterday I was about to try him in one, when he saw a big fluffy dog and got a bit reactive..then 3 dogs barked at the same time, and we were overstimulated. As my youngest(also reactive) child was holding him at the time, I took the lead, sent her outside with dad, and took a few moments to get Shamas' attention on me, and get him ignoring all other dogs again. By the time we approached the front of the store, the only dog that he paid attention to was the big husky that invited him to play.
Today we start a new phase of training- learning that we don't own the street, and people are allowed to walk down it. I'm using the Easy walk harness, until i can grab the Kurgo one. wee relax out front, with me sitting on the steps, and Shamas lounging on the lawn...and any time he tenses up, or barks, I'm running him through a series of exercises to get his attention on me. Since he never did get the hang of "look at me", I use direction changes, and "tricks" to keep him focused on me until he's calm and focused. It worked really well at 2m this morning, when I couldn't sleep so I stepped out for some air. Shamas saw...something...probably a skunk or raccoon and barked, so I stood up and called him to the lawn, then changed his direction a dozen times, had him sit, lay down, told im he was a good boy, and generally gave him a realson to pay attention to me and not what was over there....each time he looked in the direction of whatever-it-was, we did a few more things, until he wasn't interested anymore. This is something we've been doing inside with the cats, because he's not been able to learn to ignore the younger cats...so every time he makes a move towards the younger two, I call him and keep him busy until he calms down and stops panting. He just gos from 0-60 before I have a chance to react...so teaching him to ignore them has been a challenge. Even rewarding him for looking at them, then me....without a solid "look at me" command, it's challenging. I would have thought I'd be able to get that one down...seemed simple enough....not far off the way I have him sit(I hold a finger in the air)...he just doesn't get it so I musn't be doing it right. I can't seem to get "touch" either.....he just paws my hand thinking I'm asking for his paw.
Start off putting your open hand out just to the side of his muzzle, as soon as he so much as twitches in that direction (which he will, to look), mark and reward. Build towards a more pronounced look and then the touch.
what I did with Lucius was I put a treat in my hand and balled it in a fist. He gave up on giving me his paw for it and used his nose to push on my hand. I gave him the treat as a reward and repeated, he now knows touch!
That wouldn’t work if you teach “no mugging”, which is one of the first things I do with all of mine. Something in a closed hand means it’s not yours - you get rewarded for not touching the hand If you want to lure instead of shape the nose touch, you can rub something smelly on your open palm to encourage the nose touch which you can then capture.
The balled fist was used in the tutorial video I found...but I use a hand facing up to ask for Shake Paw, which was why he kept giving me his paw. Treat folded in my palm, and two fingers pointing just to the side of his face seems to do the trick- he's touching now and it's easy to release the reward If he paws at me, I simply move the hand out of the way, and put it back at waits level until he touches. "Sit" is a single finger, held at my face level(or a finger snap above my head if on the walk), and "Down" is my finger pointed to the floor at my feet...so he's accustomed to my finger as a lure....I just sort of did it instinctively lol Half the time I don't even offer the verbal command, I simply snap my fingers and use the hand sign; he's more receptive to snap+visual cues than verbal commands anyway. It's like if I say the command, it's a suggestion, but if I snap it, he'll hop to lol
Oh, I got Shamas his new harness today. After much searching, we found Kurgo Journey Harness in the Outdoors section of Petsmart...they literally just started carrying them. I'm very glad, because we had SO much trouble fitting him. It took 45 minutes of fiddling, and we finally went with the Medium,and knowing that he'll grow out of it if he puts on much more weight....but the large seems too bulky...like it would fit a NORMAL sized Lab, or a retreiver....not my skinny boy who can pass his harnesses down to a 45lb field setter! tis was why I didn't want to order one online. I love that the hardware is ALL metal-like seatbelt metal.It will take a few days to perfect the fit, but so far I'm happy
That’s not unusual; dogs in general are far more visual than we are. Most of the time when we give verbal cues they actually get the cue from our bodies; there’s a whole load of proofing that needs to go into ensuring what we think is the cue is actually what the dog is responding to, especially if a behaviour is taught using a lure in the early stages. As for the “shake paw”, it’s something I went out of my way to specifically not teach! Then I came home one day this winter and my wonderful dog sitter showed me she had taught all three to give their paw. I nearly spat the dummy right there and then. This godawful behaviour that I never wanted them to learn, and in the space of three hours suddenly entered their repertoire of things they offer. I know it’s irrational but I really dislike it as a behaviour! Several months of not rewarding it later and Squidge offered it today when she was trying hard to get a prawn head. Why is it the things you don’t want them to learn stick so quickly?
I can see why you wouldn't want to teach Shake paw...it's the dog's go-to when begging eyes dont work. Or if he feels ignored. or if he just doesn't understand the new thing i'm trying to teach him and wants the treat in my hand. It was one of the first things I taught, to make the kids happy..and I think I'll skip it with future dogs....
Hmmm...Shamas seems to have gotten his signals mixed. When he pulls, I stop, and he sits-thus releiving the pressure on the lead, so I move forward again. He immediately pulls again. I believe he thinks that sitting is what gains him the right to move forward, not relieving the pressure on the lead. I figured this out after about 45 minutes of stop-starting.....it's only a 15 minute walk and we were ony halfway home . Normally I'd have been frustrated, but my daughter had already gotten annoyed and abandoned me to my training lol...so I could "waste" as much time as I needed. For the last couple of blocks, I stopped, but resumed the walk before he had a chance to plant his bum on the sidewalk. Maybe he'll get the idea, and just relieve pressure. I had him on the rear clip of the harness, as it's not well fitted yet, and I didn't want it shifting too much-but he always pulls much worse on the rear of a harness. Thats why I picked this one- front and rear clips. I still need a few adjustments on the girth straps before it's a good snug fit. I don't dare adjust the neck anymore, as I'd not get it over his head if I adjust that anymore. And the clip currently sits right at the bump on his chest..which I believe is where a front clip is meant to be for optimal effectiveness.
Why not try using your voice to encourage him back to your side so you’re communicating what you want rather than him having to guess?
I find that really effective when he falls behind, or on a front clip( I use "come on back")...but when he's pulling from a back clip, he's intent on one thing---dragging me home It's been like this since we got him. I can get him to walk out, with minimal trouble, and some encouragement...but as soon as his nose turns home, he's like one of those movie police hounds after a fugitive...low to the ground, dragging me down the street. My daughter had put him on the back clip on the way out of the house, and I didn't have a break in pulling that was long enough to let me move him-so we trained instead. Not so bad when he was 55lbs....currently, at 75, it's somewhat manageable, though I am forced to lean back and crouch to stop him(be cause I'd prefer not to yank the lead) But when he fills out, starts to close on 100lbs...Yeesh! he'll be walking me! I want to get this one dealt with before he's heavy enough to take control of the walk.
Coco is the opposite to Shamas - he will pull (as in put some tension on his lead - he's really just walking faster than me) on the way out, but is more relaxed/slower on the way back. I've always used the "stop" method, but for many months now I have introduced a "back" cue, which brings him back along side me, he walks backwards. I might give him something else to do then before moving on like "touch" or "sit" or "spin" any little trick, or I might just move on. Whatever I am doing works sort of. Coco is much much better than he was. And he is better with me than OH who has a bizarre method which involves him pulling enough on the lead to stop Coco, while he catches him up. This is NOT working and it annoys me if I'm walking behind them, as this fist-clutching-a-lead keeps extending back toward me, making ME stop! OH just wants to get from A to B with no effort or fun. But I digress, OH training is a whole different ball-game.
