Monday, February 28, 2011
Week 2 Continued
As I was searching for more training blogs I came across the CTC Dog Blog and I found a couple of different things that I found useful. One thing that I found was the five commands that dogs need to know. Luckily Tye knows most of those and we are working on the "place" command. Another great resource on this blog is the 10 toxins that many dog owners do not know about. This is very important and is worth looking at. One that I found surprising was apples. I never knew that they were toxic to dogs and now I know.
Week 2 of NO MORE BEGGING
A week has passed since I started the NO MORE BEGGING training. I can say that this blog is really keeping me motivated to work on his quirky behaviors and it is working! I have to stress that it is a slow process and patience is the key when training a dog (especially a stubborn one). Overall, the week went smoothly for the most part. He is learning to stay on his bed and when we are done eating he knows that he gets a treat. He loves that part. During the first couple of days he would try to sneakily scoot off the bed and towards the food but he has learned now that stay means stay. I am happy to report that he has even started going on his bed the moment when we step foot into the kitchen. Whenever there is a promise of a treat he will do almost anything.
I am going to keep this training report for the next week or so and then I will introduce our next challenge. Let me know if you have any suggestions about his training or any questions that you would like me to answer.
I am going to keep this training report for the next week or so and then I will introduce our next challenge. Let me know if you have any suggestions about his training or any questions that you would like me to answer.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Week 1 of NO MORE BEGGING
So the training begins. I have to reverse 4 years of behaviors that I have been reinforcing and this is not going to be an easy task.
So one of Mr. Tye's major behavior flaws is begging. I take complete responsibility for this act because he has been fed scraps from the table from me, from my sister as well as my mom since the day we got him. I mean look at that face on that puppy, who could say no to that.
Well that is where we are going to start. I am going to take advice from Victoria on "It's Me or the Dog." I have to say this is one of my regular shows that I watch weekly (even daily) when I have enough time. One of her ideas of training is the idea of positive reinforcement and making sure that it is pleasurable for the dogs.
So I am going to work on "place" training. I am going to teach Tye to stay on his bed while we are eating. I will be using his bed that I would say is about 5 feet away from the eating area. He will be allowed to sit, stand, lay or whatever his heart desires as long as he stays on that bed. I will be using the "sit" and "stay" command while he is on his bed and I am conditioning him to learn the word "bed." I have read that some people like to use the word "place" but I like "bed" so that is what we are going with.
This is much more difficult than it sounds because I live in an apartment full of three college students, we eat at all different times, so Tye is on his bed quite a lot. Well good thing he loves his bed but not nearly as much as he loves his food. So this is the first thing that I will be working on consistently as the weeks go on and I will update on his progress.
So one of Mr. Tye's major behavior flaws is begging. I take complete responsibility for this act because he has been fed scraps from the table from me, from my sister as well as my mom since the day we got him. I mean look at that face on that puppy, who could say no to that.
Well that is where we are going to start. I am going to take advice from Victoria on "It's Me or the Dog." I have to say this is one of my regular shows that I watch weekly (even daily) when I have enough time. One of her ideas of training is the idea of positive reinforcement and making sure that it is pleasurable for the dogs.
So I am going to work on "place" training. I am going to teach Tye to stay on his bed while we are eating. I will be using his bed that I would say is about 5 feet away from the eating area. He will be allowed to sit, stand, lay or whatever his heart desires as long as he stays on that bed. I will be using the "sit" and "stay" command while he is on his bed and I am conditioning him to learn the word "bed." I have read that some people like to use the word "place" but I like "bed" so that is what we are going with.
This is much more difficult than it sounds because I live in an apartment full of three college students, we eat at all different times, so Tye is on his bed quite a lot. Well good thing he loves his bed but not nearly as much as he loves his food. So this is the first thing that I will be working on consistently as the weeks go on and I will update on his progress.
PLEK12-Links to training websites
So here is just a start of finding some blogs that I have subscribed to about dog training. I am using the tool Google Reader to follow and stay updated on these blogs. I hope you find these helpful in your training endeavors. There will be more to come in the next couple of days....until then enjoy.
Natural Dog Blog
This is a blog about the art of Natural dog training. It talks about tapping into the dog's natural instincts in order to help the dog solve problems. I especially love this idea because Mr. Tye has very strong prey drive. His little hound nose is always on the ground, trying to find anything (usually something to eat).
K-9 Solutions
This is a blog about communicating effectively with dogs. I have always tried to find new and effective ways of communicating with my own dogs and I have found this blog particularly helpful.
Natural Dog Blog
This is a blog about the art of Natural dog training. It talks about tapping into the dog's natural instincts in order to help the dog solve problems. I especially love this idea because Mr. Tye has very strong prey drive. His little hound nose is always on the ground, trying to find anything (usually something to eat).
K-9 Solutions
This is a blog about communicating effectively with dogs. I have always tried to find new and effective ways of communicating with my own dogs and I have found this blog particularly helpful.
Welcome
I thought I would start out with a little about myself and my best little buddy. Ever since I was young I have had an overwhelming passion for my canine companions. When I look at my furry friends, I see them as family rather than simply pets. This blog is going to focus on my newest obsession, my beagle Tye or you will also hear me refer to him as Mr. Tye. I have had him since he was 10 weeks old and he is currently almost 4. I have had close to 4 years of loving and obsessing about this little dog and I intend to continue on this blog.
Over the last 10 years or so I have been interested in the art of training dogs. I call it an art because there are so many interpretations to what a trained dog looks like. I believe that training your furry friend is a very important part of owning one of these wonderful animals (or should I say owning you). In high school my parents bought a new member of the family. This is my much loved Golden Retriever that currently resides with my mom. My interest in training really started with this wonderful dog and it continues today. I started out taking Roxy to a training academy in my home town and I intended to get her to the put of being able to show her. I think that was a little ambitious, she is a lot more stubborn than you would imagine. I went through many obedience courses and she still was unable to work in the field freely (I had to purchase a very long leash to train her in the open field). Long story short, I have a novice background in training and I intend to learn more and share it on this blog.
Even though I preach this I can honestly tell you that Tye is a bit overwhelming at times when it comes to his behavior. Throughout the blog I intend to entertain you with many Mr. Tye stories and behavior problems that I have enabled for so long. Over the past few years I have claimed to have many excuses, such as not enough time, that his behavior is funny and cute, and that he knows what he is doing and he makes that choice. Well enough with excuses, I am now taking the much needed time to work on his training (ironically I am in graduate school and I have less time than ever before). I am taking a class on Inquiry based learning and this blog is part of that. This class is giving me a much needed excuse to work on Mr. Tye's training.
So here we go, I will update you all on his progress, new techniques that I have learned and anything else that I find relevant to this topic. Enjoy learning with me and my little dog on this training adventure.
Over the last 10 years or so I have been interested in the art of training dogs. I call it an art because there are so many interpretations to what a trained dog looks like. I believe that training your furry friend is a very important part of owning one of these wonderful animals (or should I say owning you). In high school my parents bought a new member of the family. This is my much loved Golden Retriever that currently resides with my mom. My interest in training really started with this wonderful dog and it continues today. I started out taking Roxy to a training academy in my home town and I intended to get her to the put of being able to show her. I think that was a little ambitious, she is a lot more stubborn than you would imagine. I went through many obedience courses and she still was unable to work in the field freely (I had to purchase a very long leash to train her in the open field). Long story short, I have a novice background in training and I intend to learn more and share it on this blog.
Even though I preach this I can honestly tell you that Tye is a bit overwhelming at times when it comes to his behavior. Throughout the blog I intend to entertain you with many Mr. Tye stories and behavior problems that I have enabled for so long. Over the past few years I have claimed to have many excuses, such as not enough time, that his behavior is funny and cute, and that he knows what he is doing and he makes that choice. Well enough with excuses, I am now taking the much needed time to work on his training (ironically I am in graduate school and I have less time than ever before). I am taking a class on Inquiry based learning and this blog is part of that. This class is giving me a much needed excuse to work on Mr. Tye's training.
So here we go, I will update you all on his progress, new techniques that I have learned and anything else that I find relevant to this topic. Enjoy learning with me and my little dog on this training adventure.
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