20 Months: Training - November 25th - 27th, 2013

It's Yer Choice by Susan Garrett

Monday

Jack enjoys his crate to relax in.

I have talked extensively about Emma's excitability and Malcolm's, but Jack has it too.  He doesn't have it the same way as Emma or Malcolm, but he has it enough that it makes his learning curve more concave than bell shaped.  When I started a new training program to install an off switch in Emma and Malcolm I decided Jack needed it also.

I spoke with Marge Rogers about Emma and how to work with her.  She told me of Susan Garrett's It's Yer Choice program and I realized I did something like it by instinct, but not in such a clear way as Susan Garrett does.  I do give the dogs choices and reward the ones I like, but this program gives the dog a greater chance at succeeding and learning what choices pay.

I started the protocol with Jack on Monday.  It starts with using food in a closed hand much like you do with Zen.  It's the element of Zen Jack just doesn't quite get and needed badly.  He's food stupid and I need to convince him the food is secondary to the game I am asking him to join.  Until I can, he can't contain himself enough to not move from a learning calm and focused dog to a bouncy, excited dog who can't learn.

Max loves balls and Jack is hoarding
the ball Max had been playing with.

The lesson went well with Jack, just like it did with Malcolm and Emma.  Jack quickly got the idea that pulling his nose away made me pop my hand open, but would rush in to get the food out of my hand and it'd close.  We must of spent 2 minutes on just getting me to share the food.  Once he figured it out he was willing to put both distance and stillness into his efforts by laying down with his tail beating a tattoo on my floor.

I would move and make him stand and he'd reset and have to work out the problem again.  In short order he figured out standing or sitting got me to continue and making eye contact got him treats faster than just pulling his nose away.  We played this game three times during the day and again when Ronda arrived to pick him up.

Staring contest on.

The fantastic part of this training was Jack was simply happy.  He was up and tall with his head up and tail up and a soft mouth.  He wasn't looking like I just put his favorite blanky in the weekly wash anymore.  He was still too excitable when greeting Ronda so I made a mental note to improve his chances at making the right choices the next night by tethering him until he could be calm greeting her.

After showing Ronda how to play the new game with him and instructing how often to do it nightly we realized he'd disappeared.  We found him in the big crate with half of a stuffed whale.  He has a habit of wrestling with Emma and Malcolm and setting the whole house off with high energy when Ronda arrives and then going somewhere and ripping up a stuffed toy.  Mental note: Pick up the damned stuffed toys just before pick up time!

It wasn't until after he left that I realized I couldn't find the tail of the whale.  I figured he swallowed it, but since it was a small stuffie I figured it would pass through.

Tuesday

Impulse Control for Dogs

Jack won.

When Ronda dropped Jack off she gave me a packet of soiled paper towels and told me it was the whale's tail.  Jack had thrown it up during the night at about 3:30 AM.  I told her I realized he'd swallowed it like a string of spaghetti the night before, but thought it would pass through.  Apparently it wasn't Jack's intention to poop out a whale tail.

My Mom arrived at 8 AM to take me to a food drive to pick up supplies for the house.  To learn more about how the morning went, read Malcolm's blog for this week.  I gave the dogs three outside play times before Mom and I left.  I still crate Jack when I leave and was happy with how calmly he entered the crate and settled in for my return.  I heard no howling or protests when I left.

When I returned I heard no howling or protests and Jack is exiting the crate on the excited side of calm.  I will engage him in crate games after I work Emma on them for her trip to Seattle.

Jack was relaxed, but sad in this photo.

I worked It's Yer Choice with Jack using a toy.  I found a stuffless stuffie to attach to a slip lead and put them together to create a lure toy.  I enticed Jack to play tug with it and worked on It's Yer Choice with the toy like you see in the video.  He loved it.

Once again I saw lovely body language all day.  Happy, calm relaxed dogs 99% of the day.  Jack was smiling all most all day, no matter what he was doing and his body was upright, his head tall and his tail up.  It was wonderful to see.

When Ronda arrived I had him tethered along with Malcolm, Emma and Max.  We worked It's Yer Choice for transferring him to her.  If he pawed her, got too excited or nibbled her fingers I would penalty walk him back and then do a two step/sit-eye contact to get him back to her.  It took 3 or 4 attempts, but he greeted her in a very calm manner.  I kept him on lead and while I was telling her how his day went and waited for him to completely calm down I looked over at a calm, happy dog.  I pointed that out and Ronda said it was a huge change in his body language.

I am loving this program.  It is making the days go so much better and the house is back in balance.  Emma and Jack are happy and confident and I am truly enjoying all of them again.  I look forward to my long weekend, but I am so happy we've added a new tool in my toolbox to help my soft dogs feel safe and confident in my home!

Wednesday

What living by rewarding calm looks like.

I had been playing with him and
Jack was happy, but worried about
the new puppy.

It has been a fantastic week all around.  Jack has been so happy and so relaxed and so different than the Last Rose of Summer that he's been for a long time.  Ronda and I talked about that when she picked him up.  He's calmer and happier, not only in my home but hers also.  We agreed it was because he was getting a clearer definition of what behavior we wanted and rewarding when he made the right choice and were not micro managing him when he got a bit out of control with his excitement or desire to be close.  Jack simply doesn't do well with micro management and giving him a choice and setting him up for success with the choices he can make has truly improved his overall well being emotionally.

I actually didn't work him formally on anything today.  I worked on rewarding him with praise, play or treats whenever he made a good choice.  I was 3/4ths through the day when I realized I hadn't raised my voice at the dogs for anything and only said Hey or Stop gently when I needed them to stop something specific (like Malcolm putting his feet on the cabinets or one of the dogs trying to rush out the door when I was taking only one out at that moment).  I had not once said "Get off that Dachshund" all week!  What a huge change!

We played outside both Tuesday and Wednesday.  I really wanted to manage their energy levels more so they could be more successful at not wrestling in the house.  Jack truly loved that too.  He enjoyed playing fetch with Max and I and loved that I threw a ball for both him and Max each.  He enjoyed Catch Me If You Can and wrestling and tag in the yard with Malcolm and Emma and truly enjoyed being told when he'd chosen correctly throughout his play times.

I had to watch him closely in regards to long skinny stuffed toys.  I have a stuffless skunk that Emma and Jack split into two pieces in two seconds when they played their first game of tug with it during the summer.  I pulled it out for Malcolm and Emma to play some tug-a-dog with and even Jack if he felt like it.  I pulled out both pieces - the body and the tail.  Jack has something about tails.  On Tuesday I turned to check on Malcolm for half a second while Jack was playing toss the tail and when I turned back I saw the last of the tail going down his gullet and a second  later he vomited it back out as he choked on it.  I promptly took it from him and put it up.

Happy dog play.

I left Malcolm and Emma playing with the other half and kept Jack more occupied with games with me after that to keep him from eating another stuffed toys whole.  We had not incidents of him trying to suck a stuffed toy down whole again, but I did warn Ronda he is not ever to be left unattended with dish clothes or stuffed toys he can swallow.

I did have to crate Jack for a brief period when Wayne and I went for dog food.  I left Max and took Emma (more in her blog) and when I went to crate Jack he tried to avoid going into the crate.  I gently guided him to it, but he was trying to tell me his choice was to stay out.  Tough luck Mr. El Destruco, you are not ready to be loose in the house for a run to the store!

Ronda arrived an hour earlier than I expected.  I had already picked up the stuffed toys because I didn't want Jack to eat them and I was tired and needed to just zone for a bit.  I tethered Malcolm to prevent a habit of jumping on people (more in his blog) and had Max and Jack sit while I let her in.  I took Jack's collar loosely in my hands and walked him slowly to his Mom - he jumped so he got a penalty walk and then we waited for him to sit and relax.  I told Ronda his default greeting would be a sit, since he can't jump if he is sitting.  We are half way to getting him up to sitting to greet her.  It took a few minutes (he gets very excited when she gets home) to get him to her in a calm way, but he managed it.

Jack wanted to play with Malcolm from
the beginning.  They are best buddies
now.

I was updating her on his day and discussing how the new training plan was making life here so much better for all concerned when we realized that Jack had not started a wrestling match with Malcolm, had not taken a toy to shred in his mouth (there was a ball he could have destroyed) and had put himself in his crate and calmly waited for Ronda to leash him up and take him home.  Ronda was highly impressed with his huge change from Monday!

Overall, this new training plan is making a blanket difference for both the dogs and myself and I am extremely happy with it.  I left this week energized because we made progress and I knew it was sticking and progressing at a rapid rate.  I am so glad I reached out to my contacts and asked for some advice - it sure made life better for all of us.


Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	2	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	3	4	2	1	Completed
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	1	Completed	2	5	1
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	1	4	Completed	1	4

Level 3

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	0	2	2	1	0
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	Completed	1	0	0
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Retrieve	Communication
Step	0	0	Completed	2	0

Level 4

	Zen	Come	Retrieve	Target	Relax
Step	0	0	5	0	0
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	Completed	0	0	0
	Handling	Communication
Step	Completed	0