Dropping and leaving!

[Noobs]

This morning Murphy and I had a lovely 1.5 hour walk and play to the park. We went to our local park and it was before 9am so it was still off leash hours. Rather than go an extra mile to the dog park, which is tiny and full of dirt anyway, we stayed at the main park and Murphy got to be on the long line. We stayed away from the main lawn where most of the off leash dogs hang out. Murphy and I ran around the grass with him chasing me or running circles around me. He only hit the end of the long line once - he got a little carried away when he got the zoomies - and otherwise we both had a great time exploring the corners of the park. A small off leash dog ran up to him and I tried to do my voice of doom "Noooo!" at it, but I couldn't get between them on time. Luckily Murphy just stopped, sniffed it, and its owner finally called the dog back. So that was a successful impromptu meeting.

At one point he found a pile of dog poo (ew!) and started eating it! I couldn't pull him away because he was on the long line so I had a few feet before I could really reel him in. Since I knew it was poo I sort of panicked and instead of "drop", what came out was "Ew, no! Ew, stop it!" He turned away from the pile but still had a piece in his mouth (ewwwww) but I said, "Murphyyyy...." sounding like a mom warning her child not to touch the expensive vase at the antique store. And he dropped it! I quickly moved away from the area and gave him a treat jackpot.

On our way home he found a chicken bone on the sidewalk and put his nose to it, started to open his mouth to pick it up. I couldn't think fast enough to say "leave it" and "Noooo...." came out. He left it! So I gave him a jackpot. Not two blocks later he found another chicken bone! People in my neighborhood are pigs! He picked it up and I said "Drop!" and he dropped it! Jackpot again!

I really thought training these impulse control games and teaching leave and drop at home wouldn't translate to real life when he finds super good stuff like bones or poop (guh, ew), but it turns out that it does work! I never leave the house without my bag of treats so I always have a reward ready for such incidents. Whew. He's now spent the last several hours since we got home lying on the bed...the couch...the floor...and back on the bed. Happy and worn out.

[maximoo]

Way to go Noobs & Murph!! Was that Astoria Pk you went to? Give your big boy a belly rub for me.

[Noobs]

Yup, Astoria Park! I forgot you were familiar with the area.

[Fundog]

Way to go, Murphy! Well done!

[maximoo]

Yep, used to jog & hang (& make out )there in the 80's. No such thing as a dog park back then. I took my black mutt there a few times. Are there any restrictions for the dogs?

[jacksdad]

woohooo murphy. way to go. oh and good job to you too noobs

[Noobs]

Thanks! With all his reactivity coming back a bit I try to celebrate all the tiny successes.

Maximoo the dog park isn't in Astoria park, it's a small lot near the park that a dog lover guy owns and lets people use. As for the regular park the off leash hours are 9pm-9am and the folks who bring their dogs there pretty much self-police to make sure owners keep their dogs undrr control.

[Sarah83]

I couldn't think fast enough to say "leave it" and "Noooo...." came out.

Haha, this is why "no" means "don't do whatever it is you're thinking of doing" here. It tends to come out instead of the real command coz I'm bloody hopeless Rupe goes to put his paws on the windowsill "noooo". Rupe goes to pick up my slipper instead of his toy "noooo". I'm terrible.

Glad he did well despite your command screw ups. And yeah, I think "eeewww! no! put it down!" would have been my sort of reaction to my dog eating poop

[leslie123]

Wow, so much stinky temptation and he managed to do great. Good for both of you! Why do dogs eat poop anyway? Does it mean anything like a diet deficiency or is just a dog thing?

[Noobs]

I don't know... Sometimes it tastes good. Sometimes if whatever dog it came from eats too fast, it tastes the same going out as it did going in... Ew.

Well today we had another successful 1.5 hour walk/play at the park. Any time he got too close to an area (a planter that people throw trash in) he wasn't supposed to, I would say "Off" and not only did he back off...he about-faced and ran toward me! He did this a lot at my "Off" command. I use it at home to get him off furniture, but when we're outside, "off" has come to mean "step away from that." I guess it translates to him. I even got him to stop staring at a squirrel and run toward me when I said "Close"!

I let him have the zoomies for a few minutes, running small circles around me. It was fine until he started grabbing for the leash for a game of tug, so I dropped the leash and crossed my arms and that did the trick! And no matter how fast he was running, if I bent my knees in a crouch and held up my hand like a stop sign, he stopped short and sat down! We had so much fun!

Every little bit of progress we make is an incredible leap in our training, and I'm so proud of him.