First manners class!

Share your experience and tell us how using positive reinforcement training methods has changed yours and your dogs' lives.

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tinytwo
Posts: 241
Joined: Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:22 am
Location: Central California

First manners class!

Post by tinytwo »

After serious consideration, and observing a class, I decided to go ahead and enroll Harper in a basic manners class.
He did so well! :D He was a bit nervous. When we were all checking in, and waiting to begin, he did a lot of looking around, and he did pull towards, and growl at 2 small dogs, but I moved him a bit away, and he was fine.
When we were actually in the arena, he was able to keep his attention on me, and do what I asked him to do! I was pleasantly surprised, no, actually, I was thrilled! Every other time we've been that near to other dogs, it would take awhile to get his attention. Back 6 months ago, it would have been nearly impossible! But, we've been working, and he was doing so well! And, now, good behavior in class! :)
I know it's one step at a time, but I was so encouraged!
jacksdad
Posts: 4887
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:48 pm

Re: First manners class!

Post by jacksdad »

work is paying off :D .

now, don't take the rest of what I am about to say as just out to rain on your success...but it is stuff to keep in mind just in case.

IF you are pushing the "envelope" so to speak going to this class, your first day success has the real possibility of not being all it seems. Harper could have shutdown a bit . so pay very, very close attention to his body language. watch like a hawk for those stress signs. without being there I can't for sure say he did shutdown so this is just food for thought.

Things you can do to keep this a success.

be mindful of where in class you are.

Example, I signed Jack and my self up for a class felt he was ready, first class was great. he focused, did what I asked, couldn't have been happier with him. but I noticed there were some dogs and people in class that he couldn't 100% ignore. he had to keep an eye on them whenever I wasn't asking anything of him. second class I made a point of making sure we were not close to the dogs/people that made him nervous and or were distracting. right idea, bad execution. without thinking I put us so that we were in between the rest of the class and a fence. Jack could NOT focus the entire class. it was horrible. third class was better. but it took half the class to get him to settle down even though we now in a better spot. So be mindful of where are in class in relation to it's boundaries (walls, fences, chairs etc) and the other dogs. does he notice being "boxed in", does he have an easier time ignoring dog A but not dog B. stuff like that and do your best to not let these things impact him.

breaks. if your instructor is worth your money, then the instructor will get this. if your say working on sit. and the instructor says do 10 repetitions, you and Harper do say maybe 5 or 6 and end as soon as he does his best yet, then walk way from the group, give him some distance, maybe play a quick game he likes or just love him up etc. On our 4th class if we were working on something Jack already knew I would do 2 or 3 repetitions, then we would walk away from the class. and I would let him go sniff, or destroy a small stick or roll in the partial remains of the dead bird he found, anything to break it up and let him blow off some steam. he did his best that class. focused on me, didn't worry about the other dogs, we had a good position in relation to the class and what was behind us. I couldn't have been prouder. particularly since there was a second group of dogs on the field with us doing a treibball seminar. it's a herding game for dogs with giant rubber balls.

After class, go somewhere your dog can relax. I take my dog to one of the local high schools and he gets to run free off leash, chase squirrels, birds, sniff explorer etc. we hardly ever run into anyone else there and it helps him relax. we do this for about 30 minutes and head on home. if your not ready for off leash, 15 foot lead is a good compromise.

you know your dog best, so pick and choose what you think will apply if anything, but these are things I am trying to do for Jack because he can be fearful and/or just nervous round other dogs and unknown humans.
tinytwo
Posts: 241
Joined: Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:22 am
Location: Central California

Re: First manners class!

Post by tinytwo »

Thank you so much! I completely understand that some of his "good" behavior could have just been that he was too stressed, and shut down.
I will definitely think about where I position the two of us for the rest of the classes. That's a very good point.

Also, he already knew all of what we did in the first class. So, I did choose to add some breaks, and some cuddling. I mean, I still did what we were told to do, but he did it so quickly, that we just did our own thing until the others were ready. Although, I should back up and say he didn't know EVERYTHING, because this class does clicker training, and we haven't done that before, but he picked it up quickly....
One of the thing we were working on were "whiplash turns", me saying his name and him looking at me, click/treat. That was hard, because he didn't really ever look away from me. One thing we've worked on a lot PRIOR to the class was getting Harper's attention on me, instead of passing dogs, cats, people, etc. So, he was constantly staring at me! :)
Also, once he understood the sit, click/treat thing, (the hand signal was new) he rarely ever stood up! :) He after he sat, got the click and treat, he'd stay there. If I changed his position, he'd sit before I even gave the hand signal, like he was saying "Hey, I already know what you want, you don't have to tell me!"

Thanks for sharing your experience and wisdom! I will definitely pay attention to the other dogs and our position, as well as his body language, so he can hopefully have a positive second class too!
tinytwo
Posts: 241
Joined: Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:22 am
Location: Central California

Re: First manners class!

Post by tinytwo »

Second class was great, too! He does have a limit, though. He was great before class started, just looking and pulling a tiny bit, when the dogs were coming in. (I positioned us so we weren't right by the entrance, so he wouldn't be overwhelmed by everyone coming and going.)
And, he does have a limit. At the end of class, I can tell he's getting impatient, and wants to go! :)
But, I'm encouraged!
jacksdad
Posts: 4887
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:48 pm

Re: First manners class!

Post by jacksdad »

tinytwo wrote:Second class was great, too! He does have a limit, though.
good to hear the second class went good.

cluing into our dogs and noticing things like their emotional limits really make a huge difference. now the next trick is to start looking for the clues that they are nearing these limits and ending an activity before they reach them. still working on this my self.
tinytwo
Posts: 241
Joined: Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:22 am
Location: Central California

Re: First manners class!

Post by tinytwo »

Yes, even though the second class was great, I think the overall experience would have been better had I chose to leave just 2-3 minutes before it was actually over. That way, leaving class, and walking out could have been just as positive as the actual class was. The last couple of minutes, as well as when we were walking out, were a little challenging, because he was just done! He pulled a bit, and growled, so I just walked to the side of the path, and treated him for paying attention to me, and then, after the others were gone, we left.

We did have a really fun run around the field afterwards, and an extra cuddle session! :)
Thanks for your wisdom!
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