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| The Begonia behind Jack's head landed on him today when he bumped it one to many times. |
Max, who is uncertain about the new dog in our training mix, is starting to invite Jack to play, but in his typical German Shepherd manner, which is loud and a bit intimidating. Jack is starting to understand the language and is not showing as much intimidation when Max does butt bumps and starts German Shepherd speak with him, but he's still giving clear and polite avoidance language, which means Jack and Max are not ready to actually start playing together. This means both of them are still banging drums and putting on displays to determine how they'll deal with each other - I suspect it'll take another 2 to 4 weeks before the wrinkles in their communication and position determination is settled.
Until then, I have a lot to teach Jack. He came to us with so much already known. He's got the softest mouth I have ever felt in a dog and a he's very people oriented. He walks like a dream on the leash already and once we established I wouldn't permit him to use my house for an outhouse, he's proven to be house trained. We were told he's crate trained, though I have not tested that until he and I got a bit of communication established. He has remarkable body language with other dogs and is very tolerant of even the rudest dog who presses into his space. He doesn't raid the garbage or destroy my property - after we made a quick agreement that my furniture was not chew toys. He is a remarkable dog who simply doesn't have a lot of his basic skills, such as Sit, Down and Stay on command.
Jack does has some understanding of Leave It, but not Zen. What is the difference? Sue Ailsby describes Zen as the foundation to civilization and I have to agree. Zen teaches the dog patience, not just to leave items alone, but overall patience when dealing with life's frustrations. If Jack wants outside, he must first sit and wait for me to open the door and give him permission. If he wants a treat he must first wait for me to get it and then hand it to him without him stealing it from my hands. If he wants any reward he must be polite and wait for the reward to happen. It takes the ADHD property out of the dog. An open door is not an invitation to race out of, nor is food in a person's hand an open invitation to snag and run with. With patience the dog has time to think and decide if taking the food or rushing the door is worth it.
Jack is learning manners, which is what Zen is. He's learning to be a part of the family and corporate with all of us. Yesterday I mentioned I was rewarding Jack for behaviors I wanted when working with Emma. These behaviors were sitting back and not trying to take Emma's kibble from my hands or her mouth when I was training her. It was sitting back and watching me work with her and not try to take the pencil out of my hand or try to engage in the same activity at the same time uninvited.
What Jack doesn't have is a good Mat behavior. I am working on Go To Mat with him, but it's a slow process impeded by a group of dogs who see mats as a reward giving machine in my home. The moment the mat comes out Max, Attitude and Emma all migrate to it because that is where treats happen. Jack has no chance of getting there and working solo with the mat unless I turn my house into a mat factory with dogs planted throughout the house - and even then, Attitude believes correctly the mat closest to me is the one paying the most and parks herself there.
I have faced this before with Emma when all my adult dogs moved into steal her food when I was first training her. A friend had suggested using Go To Mat to work on Max and the others to keep them away from her and to teach her Mat now to teach her to stay away from them when working with them. It's a delicate balancing game at times, but I had the tools to do it.
I have kept one tool in the background for now. Max, who was my biggest issue with Emma in the beginning, was parked on a mat in various distances from me and I used the Manners Minder to produce a high rate of re-enforcement on the mat while she and I worked. I slowly decreased the amount of rewards when his mat behavior became very strong and would toss a treat or a handful of treats (his kibble) to him as I worked. At first it was one for every treat she got and then every other treat and slowly I worked to random treats to Max and kept working Emma.
I did much the same with her. I delivered her treats in only one area by me, to my left or right as appropriate, and would give one per treat Max got and then every other and finally worked to random. I generally put a mat in the designated spot, but not always. I didn't want the mat to be a crutch in this crucial part of Zen training.
The Zen in this case was "other dog working Zen" and Emma quickly got it without much fuss on my part - but by then she also had completed Level 1 Zen completely. Jack is just working on Level 1: Step 2 Zen and today finally was able to get up to 5 seconds. I am seeing more of the results overall, but it hasn't sunk into his brain yet that what I am teaching with his food can relate to his life.
So, with Jack I am not planting mats just yet, like I didn't with Emma, but instead I am rewarding Step 1 of Zen in relation to the other dogs. When his nose moves away he gets a treat and when he sits and watches (Step 2) he gets a treat and when he backs away and lays down he gets a treat. In short order we'll have "nearby, but not trying to take" Zen with Jack and I can add the mat and work him to "over there and wait while I work" Zen with the other dogs.
In the meantime, I play the treat game with them. I sit the dogs around me and I say their name and give them the treat. I start left to right and work until each dog gets the idea they'll get their reward in due time and then reverse it once they got the understanding of left to right. Once they can do both directions with just watching I then do it again left to right, but one dog in. So if the dogs are sitting from left to right, Max, Emma, Jack, Attitude, Dieter I will start with Emma and work to Max. Then the next round with Jack and work to Emma and so forth. I repeat that going right to left, starting with Attitude and working to Dieter and so forth. In time they not only learn their name, but that each dog will get a treat in due time and how to wait for their turn.
All of this takes about 2 to 4 weeks total to build and re-enforce, but it does teach the dogs to wait for their turn and respect that I, as their leader, can be fair and consistent when doling out rewards in the house.
I have to also remember to not re-enforce the behaviors I don't want. I don't want Jack poking his nose into the other dog's training, thus rewarding that with attention, affection or food will re-enforce the behavior. If I wanted Jack to stay near his mat, but not get to me I could setup a tether with a mat near it and only reward him when he was on the mat. To do this, I have to keep a bit of my attention on him and whenever he is on the mat toss him a treat, but ignore when he leaves the mat and not pay attention to him by speaking to him or cuing him back to the mat. Only when he's on the mat does he receive my attention and reward.
Same goes for a crate. I have a soft crate I can setup and I could put Jack into it and only toss him treats into the crate when he is laying quiet and watching patiently. If he is fussing or circling in his crate I simply ignore the behavior and only reward him being quiet and watching me.
Dogs are opportunists and will only do what pays. If expending a lot of energy to get out of the crate doesn't get the desired result, my attention and a food reward, but being quiet and watching does, then they'll do what pays, which happens to be what I want. I just need to be consistent in my leadership and pay handsomely in the beginning and then fade the rewards as the dog better understands what works. If 1 out of 10 times I crate the dog and give them a reward for quiet behavior, the dog will continue to offer the behavior because it is still paying off. I can't go to 1 in 10 though until the dog has a rich history of payment for the behavior and I have faded in a proper manner the rewards to the point of 1 in 10.
I have faded Max to 1 in 8 at this point and he offers the mat behavior, with or without the mat, because it will pay eventually if he's patient enough. Emma is at the same point. It's a matter of getting Jack there and again we'll have harmony when training individual dogs.
Today's Lessons:
Zen
Jack is working on Level 1: Step 2 Zen. In this step Jack is asked to wait for up to 5 seconds before the click after I presenting the Zen hand. Jack is starting to get the idea that he is being rewarded for not touching my hand and waiting for me to click. He is offering more often to not touch my hand and either look at the floor or away. On occasion he looks at me, but for the most part, he looks at the floor or away.
Today we worked up to 5 seconds several times and Jack was able to keep his nose away. I had some problem with him sliding on my slick floors and laying down, which took his nose too far away from me. Once he's laid down, Jack is rarely inclined to get up again without my really riling him up and getting him excited.
So, to solve the sliding problem, I left the other dogs in the house and took Jack to the front porch and worked with him. Once there he was able to really focus on and understand the concept. I will work Jack on this step for another day and then test him to see if he's ready for the next step.
Sit
Jack is working on Level 1: Step 1 Sit. In this step Jack is asked to sit on a hand cue only off lead. I have been working him in the living room and kitchen and facing the front door. Right now he doesn't understand the hand cue well enough to do it at any distance from me, but he is starting to sit more often than not when cued. What I have found is Jack understands the verbal cue better than the hand cue. Now that he knows his name, if I say his name and get his attention and say "Sit" he'll do so.
I decided to work outside with him on Sit in the front yard. Jack, who could sit and pay attention on the front porch, couldn't fully pay attention in the front yard. Part of that is my neighbor has been playing his music loud enough today to make it possible to hear the words, rattle my windows and dishes and drive me to distraction. Jack is trying to figure out where the deep bass beat is coming from and was not focused on me.
I will continue to work this step until Jack is sitting with a hand cue 95% of the time.
Observations
Jack has become very comfortable in my home and quickly adjusts to his new Mom leaving him with me. He settles into the house routine without much issue and is a quiet and polite boy most of the time. He is house trained, but just needed a reminder that he needed to remain so in my home when stressed.
He's starting to understand Max's overtures for play and though he's not willing to join just yet, he's not acting like it bothers him as much anymore. I still see him turn his head in avoidance when Max puts his face close to Jack or he barks or grumbles at him, but Jack is no longer getting up when Max circles him and tries to butt bump him or nose nudge him. He is also no longer trying to crawl into my lap and hide from Max when Max plays with Emma or tries to play with him. Jack is starting to understand Max is not trying to be mean, but simply has poor play body language.
I can see he's figuring out that he is making me click and treat him and the possibilities are endless once he fully has this concept. He's a smart and willing student and I enjoy working with him.
What I love most about Jack is his very calm and very balanced personality. When ruffled he does recover well and he rarely gets ruffled. Tonight, while his Mom and were chatting and I was telling her the funnies I faced today with him (such as leading him by a stuffed toy I didn't want him to have to his food dish and then trading him for a treat, but he never let go of the stuffed toy until we walked from the living room to the kitchen to make the trade - so it was like leading a horse with a lead rope!) he and Emma were playing bitey face at Ronda's feet when the one event I knew would happen happened.
I have two large Begonia's in large pots by that window and when they play there he sticks his butt into the plant and doesn't really notice he's pushing it around. This results in his pushing on the stand for one of the Begonias and I saw that one day he'd push that plant over. Sure enough, tonight the whole thing crashed on top of him and Emma and he stood, scrabbling with his claws and slick feet and couldn't get purchase to escape the evil falling plant (which stands about 5 foot tall) and got his butt stuck in the cast iron stand before he finally was freed by Ronda. He managed, after almost 40 seconds of feet scrabbling in a blur, to gain purchase and was gone from the spot the plant had dropped. A moment later, even after that horrible scare, he returned to poke his nose at the plant and explore it. That is the type of recovery I love seeing.
Max, who rarely has that type of scare, generally moves to anything that drops to put his nose on it and Jack is starting to show that same "what made that horrible noise" reaction that Max has. Even Emma, after a rapid fire retreat, returned to explore when she saw both Max and Jack checking it out and my "I knew that would happen" reaction.
Tomorrow I am hoping to have a quieter neighbor (he managed to get himself into some trouble and was removed by police) and thus be able to work with Jack more outside alone to improve his understanding of Sit and Zen.
Level 1
| Zen | Target | Come | Sit | Down | |
| Step | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
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