Blackie in obedience

[Ritz459]

Well, as some of you know, I was going to do obedience with Blackie. (My 9yr old semi-dog aggresive dog.) Well, last week was our first lesson. He did wonderful. He listened to my commands very well, and didn't try to go after any of the dogs. (Except a HUGE brown Golden Retriever that was acting up. But that was my fault. I let him get to close to the dog.)
And I know he won't be the worst dog in the class because there is also a 9yr old JRT that hasn't been around other dogs in his whole intire life, nor has he had any obedience training. Poor owners of that dog......lol
Anyways, we worked on heel, and I think Blackie kinda has the concept now. Tonight is our next lesson and I'm hoping all will go well again. Wish me luck!

(P.S. And Blackie was put through torture because he couldn't mark on anything for 45min strait! lol Poor little puppy.....NOT. lol )

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

So glad all went soooo good the first lesson....awesome news! Good luck on the next lesson and we'll keep our paws crossed he loves it!

[sheltiepups]

awesome! Blackie is going to be a star

[Cassiepeia]

Thanks fantastic. I'm so glad it's going well.

Cass.

[Carrie]

Good goin' Blackie! Be sure and tell us how the next class goes. I bet he's going to get used to these other dogs and be great. Glad you're having fun.

[elegy]

sounds great! it's a ton of work managing a dog with aggression issues in a class. i get jealous sometimes of the owners who just get to stand there while their dogs chill. i have to pay attention and monitor luce every single second.

[FurryAngel33]

Glad its going well for you! Hope Your 2nd lesson rocks the Hous too!

[Ritz459]

Originally Posted by elegy

it's a ton of work managing a dog with aggression issues in a class. i get jealous sometimes of the owners who just get to stand there while their dogs chill. i have to pay attention and monitor luce every single second.

Man, no kidding....I have to be on my toes the whole intire time. It gets tiring having to be on red alert for other dogs and having my focus 100% on Blackie.

Ok, for an update.
Last nights lesson went pretty good. It took Blackie a while to settle down though. I think the lesson could have gone better, but then, I was stressed out a lot because I was stuck between two "problem dogs" almost the whole time.
The dog in front of me was the same HUGE Golden Retriever that Blackie tried to go after the first time we were there (and the girl who had him could barely control him) and then the dog behind me was a younger Lab who could hardly be controled by the kid that was handling him and the lab kept trying to come up to Blackie. I had to walk away from it a couple of times because it kept getting really close.
There was also an un-neutered HUGE (I mean, this thing was almost the size of a Great Dane) Labrador that Blackie hated. Luckly, it was on the opposite side of the room for the most part, so I didn't have to go near it. (Praise the lord.)
Anyways, for the most part Blackie did very well. He tried to go after a dog once (he didn't lunge, but did a 'strangled bark' and was standing up real big and started to go forward) but I popped him with the leash and told him no, and he stopped, and he got worked up when another dog tried to go after a dog, but he behaved pretty well the rest of the time. Toward the end he layed down and wanted me to scratch his belly. lol
So ya, that is how it went. (Sorry for such a long post.)

[flyndog]

You do have your work cut out for you in that class! What a lot of distractions for both of you. You didn't ask for my advice, but you know me, I'm going to give it to you anyway. You don't have to read it.l
I understand you are in a correction-based (traditional) training environment, but that is no excuse for dogs being allowed to stare at each other (that is very rude and any dog that does it is asking for a fight), behave badly, or show any more than passing interest in each other. For Blackie's sake and well as the other dogs there that are *problem causing* dogs, I would suggest you work very hard with keeping Blackie's attention focused on you instead of other dogs. This isn't that hard to do. It just takes reinforcement anytime he looks at you. You practice it just like any other command (without a leash correction, of course). In fact, IMO it's a heck of a lot more important to learn in the first class than "heel". You need him to focus on you, check-in with you for further information instead of making his own decisions about how to act around other dogs. Then, whenever he sees another dog, he will look up at you first instead of staring at another dog.
Having said all that, I'm glad to hear you and Blackie are on the obedience road! Have fun!
BTW, training is supposed to be fun, not stressful for you or the dog.
Kit

[Ritz459]

Originally Posted by flyndog

BTW, training is supposed to be fun, not stressful for you or the dog.
Kit

Yep, I know. But it will be stressful on Blackie untill he gets a bit more sociable. He kinda freaks out the first half of the lesson, but then he calms down toward the end.

Ok, question. I've tried to teach Blackie to look at me, but it isn't working very well. Every time a say his name and he looks at me (or he just looks at me) I praise the heck out of him and give him a treat. But I think he likes staring down the other dogs more than he likes the praise and treats from me. How can I solve this?

Oh, I forgot to say that yesterday at the lesson I think my heart stopped. lol That young yellow lab that was behind us took off (I think it saw somebody at the door....not sure though) and the boy that had him couldn't stop him so he was being pulled. Well this dog went about one foot away from Blackie. OMG, did my heart skip a couple of beats. lol Luckly, I had Blackie in a sit stay, so he didn't even move. I'm sooooooo glad Blackie has a good stay.

And don't worry Kit, I'll always welcome your advice!

[flyndog]

Originally Posted by Ritz459

Ok, question. I've tried to teach Blackie to look at me, but it isn't working very well. Every time a say his name and he looks at me (or he just looks at me) I praise the heck out of him and give him a treat. But I think he likes staring down the other dogs more than he likes the praise and treats from me. How can I solve this?

Of course he prefers to stare down other dogs! It's rewarding to him (and he hasn't been taught a better thing to do, yet). You have to learn to deliver a better payoff, a bigger reward than he gets from the other dog. For 5 minutes or so at home (a few times a day), work on nothing but having him look up at you. When he does, mark it with a Yes! and give him a treat. You don't have to name this behavior yet. Keep doing it. If you keep moving, maybe backing up in a circle, he has to keep paying attention to you. Keep moving, be animated, keep his attention and each time he looks at you, mark it and treat. You should be paying out dozens of treats in this 5 minute period. You are a virtual treat slot machine that pays off every time Blackie looks at you. Any behavior that is reinforced will keep happening. That's why this works. But remember to mark the behavior with a "reward marker", Yes! To Blackie, that will mean that when he hears that word, a treat is coming. Be sure to have a pocket full of really good treats. He only needs tiny bits of a treat for training. It will be easier for him to look at you when he's around the distraction of other dogs if you practice without them first. And if you have to, stand inbetween Blackie and the dog he's looking at so you block his view and keep getting him to look at you. Your goal is to *keep* him from staring. This will be more effective and work faster than a leash correction if you do your homework.

That is heart stopping! Sit stay is good thing to know! I'm glad you had already taught him that!

Originally Posted by Ritz459

And don't worry Kit, I'll always welcome your advice!

Oh, I'm glad!

[flyndog]

BTW, you have to have really good treats...chicken, liver, weenies, something that is very tasty and tempting to him. But just tiny bits. I use Pro-Treat freeze-dried liver. It's 100% liver with no additives or preservatives. I also use Bill Jac liver treats and Moist and Meaty, both of which have additives, preservatives and are like junk food for dogs. I'm afraid I'm not a health nut. You can use cooked chicken or nuked hot dogs, but those get nasty in your pocket. I'm too uncoordinated to hold a bag of chicken and a dog at the same time. I always have liver in my pocket! And it goes through the wash nicely, too.

[Ritz459]

Originally Posted by flyndog

BTW, you have to have really good treats...chicken, liver, weenies, something that is very tasty and tempting to him. But just tiny bits. I use Pro-Treat freeze-dried liver. It's 100% liver with no additives or preservatives. I also use Bill Jac liver treats and Moist and Meaty, both of which have additives, preservatives and are like junk food for dogs. I'm afraid I'm not a health nut. You can use cooked chicken or nuked hot dogs, but those get nasty in your pocket. I'm too uncoordinated to hold a bag of chicken and a dog at the same time. I always have liver in my pocket! And it goes through the wash nicely, too.

LOL Depending one when our next trip into Petsmart is, I could pick up some liver treats. If it won't be soon, then I'll just use hotdogs.
Thanks for the advice. I don't use the choke chain when I'm teaching the dogs something new anyway. I just use it to help renforce my commands when I know they know what I want them to do, but they aren't doing it.
So I guess Blackie is going to have some attention training to do! lol But how can I keep him from looking at the treats? I've tried to teach him to look at me somewhat, but he always looks for my hands unstead. And then if he is looking at me, and I go to get a treat, he starts staring at my hands. Is this bad, or is it ok for him to do that?

[gaddylovesdogs]

I use liver treats with Lucy like Kit suggested. Whenever she hears the plastic bag being opened, she rushes up and puts her paw on my leg...they're like magic! LOL

[ChiChi]

Originally Posted by Ritz459

(P.S. And Blackie was put through torture because he couldn't mark on anything for 45min strait! lol Poor little puppy.....NOT. lol )

LOL!!!! that is sooo funny!! but i am glad that he did okay!