Yesterday, Cooper took his first ever one-on-one class with a fab trainer. It was a make-up class from a Click-a-Trick session we missed, and it was awesome to see him flourish with that individual attention… awesome enough that I signed up for four more one-on-ones!

I'm cute AND smart!

We train a lot. Constantly, sort of. When we’re out on walks, lounging around the house, working, whatever, we’re always reinforcing manners and trying to teach new concepts. I strive to spend a few minutes with each dog and the clicker every evening. It’s tough to squeeze it in to busy schedules, of course, and so sometimes I let it go or rush through it to “get it over with” on busy nights. We struggle with setbacks, and we occasionally rush the boys on cues and end up having to backtrack, too.

But despite the time frustrations and the mistakes, every second is worth it. Here are 5 reasons why I love dog training:

1. That A-HA! moment they experience when they figure out what you want. You can see the joy on their faces.
2. Tricks! How fun to have a dog who can close doors, spin in circles, weave between your legs, and so on?! It’s hilarious!
3. The increments. It would be phenomenal to be able to say, “Lucas, look. Stop aggressing at other dogs. We won’t let you get hurt. There’s nothing to be scared of. Walk nicely, ‘k?” But, by building up a training regimen, we’ve been able to watch him grow, step-by-step. It’s incredibly rewarding to watch them build up from a basic foundation.
4. Bonding. Working out a new trick or cue together is such a great way to bond. Even though it can be difficult to find the time to train, I love those bonding opportunities with each of my guys.
5. Impressing friends and family! Yes, this is a purely superficial reason, but aren’t all those compliments great?? I love showing off their tricks to just about anyone who’s willing to watch. After all that hard work, it’s fun to perform!

What about you? Why do you love dog training?

A week ago today, Cooper and I left Indy for our trip to BlogPaws. I tried to prepare him as much as possible, but honestly… I had no idea what to expect from him. It was his first real trip away from home and away from Emmett and Lucas. It was his first time going to doggy day care, staying in a hotel, and meeting that many people and pets all at once.

For the most part, he blew me away!

Some of the highlights:

He met Big Ant from Rescue Ink! I was super excited, and Cooper behaved impeccably. Big Ant was impressed that the little guy made the whole trip without getting car sick. I was happy about that, too!

I was too excited to get out my camera, so this photo credit belongs to ThisOneWildLife.com! Thank you!

He aced doggy day care! The pet sitter told me that Cooper was the official greeter, running to the door to welcome every new dog. He played with Max and Remy (couldn’t get a pic! They were running too fast!)

He played with Oliver.

He played with his new best friend in the whole world, Stella. This pic was the best I could do because those two would not pause their wrestling or running for even one second!

He met Ernie. How handsome is this guy?!

And he even got to hang out with Carol Bryant and Dexter! Lucky boy!

Cooper didn’t get to meet Finnegan, but I did!! What a sweet, wonderful boy!

And every night, after meeting and greeting, Cooper went back to the hotel room to do this:

Or this:

While he excelled at day care and did an amazing job wandering around the hotel with me greeting new and old friends, there are a few things we need to work on. I’m really happy we had this experience, though, because in our day-to-day I may not have discovered some of his… quirks.

Cooper does not like to be surprised. Not. One. Bit.

The few times he had trouble, it happened when someone came around a corner and he wasn’t expecting it. He put his fur up, tucked his tail, and barked his little head off. In a few instances, it took the person giving him treats to calm him down. A couple times, though, I ended up having to walk him away because he got too freaked out to settle down enough to take food. I felt really bad because everyone had the best intentions, but it was just too much for him. On top of that, he is super typical in that he dislikes an unfamiliar person coming at him with an outstretched hand reaching for his head. I’m used to going everywhere with Emmett who will let a perfect stranger come up and use his face as a pillow, so I did a bad job managing a few greetings… but Cooper let me know. Loudly.

So we need to practice his reactions with the element of surprise (any ideas on how to stage this???), and I want to start building up a super happy positive association with allowing strangers to pat him. This was only a very small percentage of his encounters, but I don’t want that small amount to spiral into a negative association with bumping into people in unexpected places.

That being said, Cooper amazed me. I asked so much of him over the course of five days. We drove about 1,200 miles, he met dozens and dozens of people, he played with a whole bunch of new dogs in an unfamiliar place, and he did it with a whole lot of smiles!

Good boy, Cooper!

I definitely need training resources! Look who I busted on the couch AGAIN this morning!

Today, we’re switching our cable, internet, and phone service provider. The tech is supposed to be here soon (I mean, the huge window of time they give starts soon), and I’m a little terrified that something is going to go wrong. Sigh. But we’ll be disconnected for a big part of the day. And, of course, we’re waiting for the vet to call with some results from Cooper’s blood test.

However, as soon as everything is back up and running, I plan on spending a lot more time exploring two new dog training discoveries:

• First, Dogmantics Dog Training has a collection of super helpful clicker training videos. There are a bunch that are useful (like dealing with barking and loose leash walking) and a bunch that are just plain fun (tricks!).
• Second, someone on Facebook suggested I check out Dr. Sophia Yin who has a behavior-related blog called The Art and Science of Animal Behavior. I haven’t spent much time on the site, but it looks like there are posts, videos, and suggested resources. I’m looking forward to poking around on there.

Any other great training sites or blogs you frequent? What are your favorite online resources for dog training advice and info?

Lucas always tries to understand what I'm saying!

I chatter to Emmett and Lucas all day long. A lot of what I say to them has created an odd set of routines. For instance, they tend to follow me around the house. So when I’m in the office and I say “I’m going to refill my coffee,” they know I’ll be coming right back, so they don’t follow me.

Other things have really specific meaning to them – Want to go for a walk? Are you hungry? Let’s go see Cady! (meaning, play with the darling dog next door). They have really specific reactions to each of those things. At “walk,” Lucas runs and sits at the front door. At “hungry,” Emmett runs and sits in front of his bowl. And at “Cady,” they both run to the backdoor and start dancing with excitement.

But recently I realized that they respond more consistently to nonverbal cues. Like hand signals with training, dogs seem to respond to visual directions… even ones you don’t try to teach them!

For example, when I pull my navy blue running shoes out of the closet, Lucas dashes to the front door just as reliably as when I say “walk.” He has learned that these sneakers – not my black ones, not the yard work ones, THESE ones – mean we’re going for a walk.

Likewise, they’ve learned that when I pick up the single key to our mailbox, they know that they’re not getting a car ride, they’re not going for a walk, I’m not leaving… I’m getting the mail. So as soon as I pick up that one single key on its Colts football key chain, they dash to the front window to watch me walk to and from the mailbox.

Those are just two small examples of our nonverbal conversation. It goes on throughout the day with all the different cues that they’ve learned – this happens, then I get to do this! I know a lot of it is routine, but it takes some pretty deep intelligence to really get the cause and effect associated with certain actions.

What nonverbal cues does your dog respond to? Do you find that your dog does better with verbal or nonverbal communication?

Have you heard of this? It’s sometimes called the Hungarian Clicker Method. Yesterday, I received a YouTube link from someone in our therapy dog group. The video blew me away for both its cuteness and the incredible tricks the dogs performed.

Absolutely amazing! (Sorry about the song, though… shudder…) I had never heard of the Mirror Method, so I did a little googling and found an article done by the Animal Training Examiner. In her article and the additional videos included with her post, the basic method boils down to establishing a leadership role, teaching your dog clearly and concisely with only positive (they use the clicker) methods, and, lastly, allow your dog to be a dog!

That last part is what really fascinated me. The method encourages owners to allow their dogs to swim, run off-leash in the woods, even do bite training – whatever behaviors are instinctive for your particular dog. The concept behind that is that it will make for very happy dogs. Very happy dogs who are strongly bonded to their owners can be taught to do amazing things. I think they prove it in the video above!

Have you heard of this method or ever seen it in action? I’m going to look into it further, but was wondering if anyone had first-hand experience!

Lucas and cousin-dog Turk out for a walk

When we lived in DC, Emmett and Lucas had very busy social lives. They went to the park for 45 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes in the evening. We took them to Petsmart or to friends’ houses for puppy play dates on the weekends. They went to a doggy birthday party with all their park friends. On nice nights, they would romp on our building’s (fully fenced in!) roof deck with other dogs from our building. Dog owners sought each other out for social activities, group walks, and park meet-ups. Every single day, Emmett and Lucas met and interacted with lots of dogs. In fact, I think that’s what helped Lucas overcome many of his dog-related issues. At some point he realized, Wow! Dogs are FUN!

When we moved to Indiana, the comment we received from absolutely everyone was, “The dogs will be so happy to finally have a yard!”

And they are, of course. Sort of.

When I walk the boys around my neighborhood, they get barked at. A lot. There’s the boxer who yelps from over his blue picket fence. There’s the collie-something who rushes his chain-link fence, snarling and snapping. Then there are the dogs behind electric fences, and the dogs who rush out from half-open garage doors to yip and yap as the boys pass by. These poor dogs sound miserable. And, sadly, I only see the same few dogs get walked consistently. (I’m not really a Gladys Kravitz. I just work from home in an office with a window!)

Now we have to really strive to arrange dog interactions. And, unfortunately, I think Lucas is starting to digress a little. Even though we take him to Petsmart and arrange play dates, he’s doing pretty poorly at greeting unfamiliar dogs again. So we just need to step it up, find more opportunities, or create them!

But it makes me wonder about all those people who were so excited that the boys would finally have a yard… In the city, at least in our neighborhood, dog owners strove to arrange interactions and socialization for their dogs. In the suburbs, at least in our neighborhood, most of the dogs we encounter are barking at us from behind a fence.

So is the yard really all that great? Could it be? Are city dogs happier than suburban dogs?

Can you believe it’s almost May? I don’t know where this year has gone, though I’m so happy to finally have the windows in our house open. It was time to bring in a little fresh air!

You know that old saying (I think it was supposed to be about children): Give ‘em an inch, they take a mile. Well, that applies fully to Emmett and Lucas. Take the door training, for instance. We established a “place” for them to sit while I opened the door to allow our guest in, instead of them rushing our guest, wiggling and pushing and vying for his or her attention. It was working really well. The doorbell would ring, I’d direct them to their place, give the “wait” command, let the guest in, then release them.

But then I gave them that inch. A couple people came by who they knew really well or who had dogs with them… and I didn’t send them to their place. I let them jostle each other out of the way to be closest to the incoming guest. And then they took their mile. All of a sudden they’ve “forgotten” that they need to wait in their place until the guest enters.

My bad.

So for the month of May my primary training goal is to resurrect the door training with repetition and consistency and lots of yummy rewards.

Also, I read this awesome article by Dog Spelled Forward on loose-leash walking, which I think is something that can always be reinforced, so I’m adding that to my list of May training goals!

And, lastly, Emmett and I have been volunteering with a group of young kids at a local mental health facility. The kids were absolutely appalled that Emmett didn’t know how to play dead (“Even if you say ‘bang’ he won’t do it?” one of the kids asked, eyes big and round). So, to appease the kiddos, I’m going to teach Emmett to play dead this month.

What about you? Do you structure your training in any way (goals, schedules, etc.)? How do you determine what to work on and when? And what are you working on?

Currently, Lucas is one tired dog:

And so is Emmett:

I love when the boys are this tired because I can get so much work done, but this level of exhaustion is nearly impossible to achieve with two fun-loving, energetic dogs. But since Thursday, we’ve kept them incredibly busy. So here are my fool-proof 10 ways to tire out your dog! (Click on the images to enlarge.)

1. Have a friend over! Scout came over to play with the boys on Thursday. Just adding a new playmate into the mix keeps them busy all day.

2. On a nice day, break out the hose. It’s sort of like a brand-new toy.

3. Of course, if your dog isn’t fond of water, there’s always rolling around in the dirt.

4. Once the backyard loses its luster, head out for a hike. All the sights and smells keep them captivated and busy!

5. Long days playing outside are perfect for doggy ice cream, too.

6. Invite some more friends over like Cady and Bella.

7. Start a game of tug-o-war! It’s not easy to get three dogs into the game, but someone can serve as the ref.

8. Or just keep wrestling.

9. It’s important to stay hydrated! And drinking water as a group seems like a fun activity.

10. But sometimes it’s just nice to sit with a friend and watch the birds.

And that is how you get two very tired pups!

What did you do this weekend?

Last week, Emmett worked as a therapy dog at a city-sponsored expo on volunteering, a children’s program at a residential hospital, and as a reading partner at the public library. By the time we got to the library on Saturday, he was wiped out and spend his “shift” dozing with his head in the kids’ laps.

He did a phenomenal job at each event, though, and I am constantly amazed and proud of his behavior. When we arrived at the hospital, we sat in the lobby while we waited to be let into the rec room with the kids. A woman sat eating a snack and watching Oprah on the small hospital TV. She kept glancing over at me and Emmett as I ran through some attentiveness drills with him. The receptionist paged the counselors we were meeting, “The therapy dog is here.”

The woman looked over and smiled. “Oh, so he’s a therapy dog!” she exclaimed.

“He sure is,” I said. “This is Emmett.”

“He’s very sweet,” she said as he wagged his tail with his big soft eyes. “But does he know he’s a therapy dog?”

I paused. No one ever asked me that before, and I’ve been asked just about every other Emmett-related question under the sun. “Honestly,” I said, “I think he just thinks that I take him places to get patted.”

Later, I thought about the question a little bit more: What Emmett thinks of his therapy work? Sometimes, especially with kids, he’s super energetic and wants to run from child to child to get hugs and scratches. But other times, like at the hospital last week, he responds to a situation in a way that I could never train. A young girl sat in the hallway crying. She was speaking with a counselor, but she was clearly very upset. The counselor called over to us, “Can we say hi to your dog?”

I walked Emmett over, thinking he’d rush up, tail wagging, and smoosh himself into the people like he so often does. Instead, Emmett walked slowly up to the girl, gave her a very small sniff, then he laid down right in front of her, head on her knees. The girl smiled and gushed, and her tears dried up as she rubbed Emmett. He gazed at her so calmly and thumped his tail lightly against the floor. My heart swelled with pride.

I could never teach Emmett to behave like that, especially in such specific situations. But somehow he always tones down his exuberance in the appropriate environments or patients. But what about those situations tips him off?

What do you think? Do dogs in general (or therapy dogs, specifically) know how to react in specific situations? How do they know?

As I wrote earlier in the week, we’re having some trouble with self-rewarding behaviors. With Emmett it’s the counter-surfing, and we’re working out the technology to do a little Skype-scare with him. In the meantime, we have a similar, but totally different, situation with Lucas.

As far as Lucas is concerned, nothing bad has happened to our little family since he’s been on guard. Maybe it’s his shepherd genetics or maybe it’s his high-anxiety nature, but Lucas patrols the house like it is his sole responsibility in life to keep us safe. Which is fine. Except when it’s not.

Like when he barks at every single person, biker, dog, stroller, or frolicking child that is within his eye line. Especially when he does this while I’m on a conference call.

But in his little head, nothing bad has ever happened because his ferocious barking scares them all (who???) away. Which is why this is incredibly difficult to correct. I’ve been brainstorming a training plan to combat this behavior, but there are a couple challenges: First, every wall in our entire house has at least one window. It was one of the things so appealing about the house, of course, but now it allows Lucas unfettered views of the street in every direction. Blinds didn’t work (he made himself a little peephole by breaking a couple of them) and curtains didn’t work because he just noses them out of the way. Second, while desensitizing him would be ideal, it’s nearly impossible to disallow him to bark, like when we’re not home.

I don’t want him to start ignoring “come,” so I’ve been training a really specific whistle as an alternate recall. They get a very yummy treat every single time we whistle those exact notes. Every single time. I haven’t busted it out when he’s been barking yet because I don’t want to lose its effectiveness, so step 1 is to continue training the whistle with increased distractions.

Step 2 is to start using that whistle whenever I see someone approach the house first as a distraction mechanism, with the yummy treat, of course.

And then step 3 is to use the whistle while he’s barking at something.

That plan doesn’t stop the barking, though. It just calls him away from it. But it’s a start.

Maybe next month, once calling him away from barking becomes reliable, I will start working on desensitizing him (keeping him on leash in the office is one idea, sitting with him on the balcony and clicking and treating is another).

Have you faced this behavior before? Any better ideas or suggestions on how to put an end to this self-rewarding behavior?