Dog Community

Posted : 2/4/2007 10:05:06 AM

Seeing is believing. I am currently attending obedience with 40 other dogs. One instructor, one assistant. For each of the lessons in the session, the instructor uses a participant#%92s dog to demo the lesson. As he demos he compensates for the dog#%92s personality/mood. Oh, today Spot is timid. Oh, today Rover is not food driven. Oh, today Snoopy is distracted. I like how he uses the word “today” to encourage us that tomorrow will different. He demos the session with the dog in front of him and also describes the lesson in a normal situation.

Also, at the beginning of the class, the instructor has us go through a massage technique on our dogs to get them relax and calm and the people go through a breathing exercise to get us in the right mindset. Really sets the tone for the next hour and half.

Xebby

Posted : 2/4/2007 10:06:22 AM

One thing I was really happy that the trainer taught us was the "Poisen proofing" command. It was a way to train the dog not to eat random junk laying around. It's very similar to "leave it" but it's more of "do not touch that". Teach the dog that any food on the floor is bad to eat and the only food the dog is allowed to eat are the treat from the hand or food bowl. If you drop a treat you are not allowed to pick it up and give it to the dog, once anything touches the ground it becomes "poisen".

Xebby

Posted : 2/4/2007 10:13:49 AM

Oh anouther thing I was happy about the group was we where taught "rattle snake proofing" or teaching our dogs not to mess with rattle snakes. Around here we have rattle snakes and it's really common for dogs to get bit. The trainer does a special lession once a week for anyone who wants to attend to "rattle snake proof" a dog. She teaches us in group how to do this and then we can bring our dog back to the Rattle Snake sessions anytime. She uses plastic and live bull snakes. She basicaly teaches the dogs that the snakes are scary and to stay away.

TinaK

Posted : 2/4/2007 12:44:50 PM

One of the things I've learned was the WATCH ME command - I have never thought about teaching it... It's as important as SIT and STAY. Not sure why a lot of training books skip through it!

lisa baker

Posted : 2/4/2007 1:05:48 PM

ORIGINAL: TinaK

One of the things I've learned was the WATCH ME command - I have never thought about teaching it... It's as important as SIT and STAY. Not sure why a lot of training books skip through it!

Coincidently and possibly related, when the training instructor used a particpant's dog for a demo, I asked why during the demo the dog did not CHECK IN with the owner and his response was WATCH ME but the dog did CHECK IN during owner recall, where it counted the most.

Chuffy

Posted : 2/4/2007 1:08:50 PM

If you drop a treat you are not allowed to pick it up and give it to the dog

Oh dear that wouldn't work in our house..... I love having fourlegged hoovers!

She basicaly teaches the dogs that the snakes are scary and to stay away

Sorry to be nosey... but how did they do this? We don't have rattlesnakes here, but I'm sure that there's still stuff that it would be useful if we could teach our dogs "Do Not Touch Ever!! Highly Dangerous!!!!!!!"

mrv

Posted : 2/4/2007 7:17:29 PM

thanks for the feedback... I appreciate your time.

mudpuppy

Posted : 2/5/2007 10:09:45 AM

I don't know-- the only reason I've ever taken a group class was to "proof" the dog on behaviors he already knew. I have, however, observed "light bulb" moments in other class attendees-- one lady was practically in tears of joy after being shown the "under the leg" method and finally, after months of futile effort, getting her dog to do a Down.
The best class I ever attended was a no-dogs class where we took turns shaping other attendees to do things using a clicker. Playing the role of the dog was eye-opening.

esteban ley

Posted : 2/5/2007 10:46:09 AM

It would have to be the very first OB class I ever took a dog to, the first 10-15 minutes were always spent "socializing", we would weave and do figure 8s around dog/owner pairs. I guess you could also call it proffing of some sort, just that only heeling was involved. The result was a dog that could not care less about other dogs, I kind of miss that.

spiritdogs

Posted : 2/5/2007 6:13:12 PM

ORIGINAL: Chuffy

Loose lead walking and focus on me in the presence of distractions (ie other dogs). Built up to a point where everyone got a "down" and one person walked their dog on a loose lead among them.... The "downed" dogs learned to hold the down and the one walking about learned to focus on his owner and ignore the dogs around him..... Then someone else got a go at being the "walker". It was great for the control we learned and for what it taught me about needing to be interesting to the dog to keep him motivated and keep his focus away from the distractions and on me.... and we had occasions where being able to do that was really practical and came in handy..... that was one useful exercise.

I use this one in my classes, but with a twist. Some dogs are "leash walking" dogs, some are in a "down stay" and the rest "go play" with no collars or leads on. The handlers must keep the go play dogs from bothering the other two types by using their voices, treats, toys, whatever. And the others must keep their dogs' attention on them.

What is the best thing you ever learned in a group class?