Happy New Year! I’m not a big resolution maker. They always seem too grand… and too easy to break. I am, however, a huge goal setter. Every year, I set goals for all aspects of my life, including dog training goals. In honor of the new year and also because January is Train Your Dog month, I thought I’d publicly put them out there to get myself a little bit of accountability. So here goes! Oh, and if you have goals for your dogs, post them in the comments. I’d love to hear what everyone is going to accomplish in 2013!
Emmett:
- Pass our Pet Partners retest before it expires in June. Gulp.
- Teach a new trick or behavior each month. This is super important to me now that he’s around 9 years old because I want to make sure he stays mentally sharp!
Lucas:
- Recall! Lucas has a stellar recall… unless there’s something more fun or exciting or interesting than I am. Haha.
- Continue to work on him ignoring other dogs while on leash. We’ve made some progress over the last couple of years, but we still have a ways to go.
Cooper:
- Build his confidence through agility. I send in our class registration form today, and we start on Sunday!
- Improve his walking behavior: eliminate pulling and improve his focus especially when other dogs go by.
All:
- Less barking! 🙂
To me, those seem totally manageable if I break them down into individual, daily steps. I’m excited to see how far we come this year with some clear goals in mind!
What do you hope to accomplish with your dogs in 2013?
Thanks for this! I really have been slacking when it comes to working with Shiva. We used to always have a new behaviour on the go but now that she is so much nicer to live with, I’ve stopped working with her as much. Other things have taken precedence.
I love your goals to work with Emmett on a new thing each month. Maybe I need to commit to that this year with Shiva. Even if we don’t succeed at all of them, I think an actual training plan will help remind me to spend more time working on her mental skills.
That’s the exact same issue I have with Emmett… He’s so well behaved most of the time that he gets neglected when it comes to training. I’m trying to renew my commitment to working with each of them equally in 2013. Let me know what you work on with Shiva!!
By the way, you and Shiva were my inspiration for signing Cooper up for agility! 🙂
It’s so encouraging to know that others have tricky areas of training too! My rescue pup is around 8 months old now and we still have lots to work on – some basic obedience (drop it/leave it, ‘down’, and also recall when interested in something else!) and I hope to start her with some agility training in a few months as she loves to run and leap.
Having a specific plan is definitely the way to go though – it’s nice to see other people’s goals too. Thanks 🙂
We definitely have a handful of “tricky” areas! I hope to tackle at least a few this year. It sounds like you have a good plan for your pup. Let me know how it progresses!
Happy New Year Maggie and boys. Without appearing to be too boring, I have to say that your goals for Lucas and Cooper are the same goals I have for myself and Cash. He did extremely well in a training recall session, he didn’t waiver when he was called, he ran by squeaky toys, other dogs, treats on the floor and the volunteer kitty in the crate , (I was such a proud momma) but when it comes to responding when he is chasing a squirrel or bird or just having a good run in the yard, it’s still hit and miss. Not pulling and barking at other dogs while on leash is another one that we have to work on, as well as getting his focus back on me instead of whatever else has it. I didn’t consider agility for his confidence but maybe that would be something to look at if we could consistantly get his focus away from other dogs during classes. My other goal is really for myself, but will help make the other goals attainable, its to walk with Cash every single day, even in a snow storm and in -25, get out and walk. Practice makes perfect, well as much as possible with an 18 mths old dog. Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and successful year.
Happy New Year to you, too! Those sound like great goals. I may have to “borrow” your walking goal. That’s something that I’ve slacked on, especially in the cold weather. You’ve inspired me to add that to my list of goals for all! Let me know how your training goals progress!
Stumbled on your blog trying to come up with things to work on with Sophie this year and so happy I did! Looking forward to reading more about your pack 🙂
Thanks, Patty! Good luck coming up with new things to work on! There are endless possibilities!
Puppy resolutions! This is brilliant. I think we have a few goals with our pups this year – or need to! My little corgi needs to work on trat ettiquette, he started acting like a shark whenever he gets fed now :/
<3 katherineof corgis and cocktails
Thanks, Katherine! That’s a good goal to work on… Let me know how you decide to tackle it!
Great goals! Looking forward to reading about success!
Thanks! 🙂 Fingers crossed…
We have a lot we want to work on this year. 2012 was a bit of a mess for us and training fell to the wayside a bit. It shows, as Koly get more and more unruly everyday. It’s my hope that be getting back to training we can get him back in the good dog books!
Aww! I’m sure Kol will be back in the “good dog books” in no time! 🙂 That’s one of the great things about dogs: Even if you’ve had a messy year, they’re ready to start working again as soon as you are!
Good luck with the additional training. We are working on the less barking in our house too!
Thanks! Let me know if you hit on a good solution for the barking!
One thing I have done for the barking is using a clicker, so if Charlie watches someone going by the house and he isnt barking, click and praise! there has been some reduction, even if it is a very slow process.
My biggest goal is to reduce the excitment for Charlie when someone comes in the door! He scared someone away from the house and was so heartbroken by it today!
Hi Maggie and boys
I just wanted to give you a little update on our resolution to walk everyday….. We haven’t 🙁 but we are getting back into it. I wanted to share because Cash is a bit of a difficult dog to walk. I try to walk him when I think other people will not be out walking their dogs as the barking, pulling and constant corrections are counterproductive, walks are supposed to be fun right? Cash goes to obedience class once a week, it’s also the same place he goes to daycare, they had suggested a new harness, the brand doesn’t matter, what matters is where the leash clips to the harness, it clips in the front! Its made such a huge difference in just the 3 times we’ve used it. I really wish I had listened to them months ago. I have used a flat collar, a martingale, a regular car harness and a braided nylon collar (like for show dogs). The only thing I had not used was a halti type as I had been warned of some neck injuries and I didn’t trust I would be able to control Cash in the event he saw a squirrel or another dog and a pronged collar. I have seen a few different brands of harnesses that have a ring in the front for the leash, the one I have can also be attached to their regular collar for extra control but i haven’t had to do that. The clipping in the front of the harness stops the dog from pulling because when he pulls, it turns his body, it’s so simple but effective. I had to share because I’m so happy after our successful walk. Hope this suggestion helps anyone else who dreads the walk around the block due to pulling. Hope your resolutions are going well.
I’m so glad to hear that you’ve been having successful walks! That’s huge! And thanks for sharing your experiences with all the different tools… it’s so hard to know what will work (or not!). As for us, we’re doing ok, but not great. We’ve barely gotten out to walk. Agility went well, and I think I’m going to sign us up for the next round of classes. All around, there’s a lot more work to go!