Mika's BACK! ;))
Mika doggie is BACK! :D She is her old inquisitive self, and we're back on our walking schedule, too! She is eating her two meals a day eagerly (rice, kibble, tablespoon of canned dog food mixed in warm water with her meds). They have her a different antibiotic that I had to pick up yesterday, saying our regular vet said the one they had given her intravenously didn't work as well. So, she gets that in peanut butter, which she dearly loves! :P
Last night I was reading the chapter in Suzanne Clothier's book, Bones Would Rain from the Sky: Deepening Our Relationships With Dogs re working with dogs who pull (other than training them for the Iditarod, BWAHAHAHA! -- hmmmm...maybe Mika has the makings of a sled doglet? LOL!). Web site: http://www.flyingdogpress.com/
Anyhow, I decided to start working on this with Mika again. It's the one thing that makes our walks less enjoyable than they should be. Her intense pulling. :(( So...I put some broken up Trader Joe's doggie snacks in my shirt pocket, and off we went this morning! Every time she was pulling too hard, I turned in the opposite direction, and when she turned, looked at me, and caught up to me, I gave her a little treat. We made slow progress for quite awhile. Then she started "getting it!" A good thing, as I was fast running out of treats (I need to bring a few more next time)! :P Actually, it worked out, though, because she is trained to praise, also, so she works for the "good girl" sign and pet-pets, too. By the end of our walk, I just had to lightly tug on the leash when she started pulling too hard, and she'd slow down a bit! Fewer major corrections, with me completely turning around and going the other direction. We also worked on her sit at curbs before crossing streets, and in heel position while crossing a street or passing other people, etc. She responded with a gentle tug on the leash and walked in heel position. She made that connection as well! WOO! HOO! ;)) She seemed happy doing it this way. She's so intelligent, too, that half choking her by snapping the chain didn't ever really get through, but this other method, Clothier's, gave her respect and taught her that we were in this TOGETHER! KEWL! We "danced" together, as Clothier says.
Now, I entertain no silly notion that this is all the training needed, today, though. LOL! :D We'll need to practice and reinforce, but I am encouraged that Mika picked up on something I haven't been able to get through to her before! We're on our way to cleaning up a bad habit of hers, and a bad habit of mine, letting her do it, so we can enjoy our outings. :P We'll have to work in different venues, on trails, on streets with lots of people, etc., as well as our neighborhood jaunts. So she understands and we can do it anywhere.
WOO! HOO!
Last night I was reading the chapter in Suzanne Clothier's book, Bones Would Rain from the Sky: Deepening Our Relationships With Dogs re working with dogs who pull (other than training them for the Iditarod, BWAHAHAHA! -- hmmmm...maybe Mika has the makings of a sled doglet? LOL!). Web site: http://www.flyingdogpress.com/
Anyhow, I decided to start working on this with Mika again. It's the one thing that makes our walks less enjoyable than they should be. Her intense pulling. :(( So...I put some broken up Trader Joe's doggie snacks in my shirt pocket, and off we went this morning! Every time she was pulling too hard, I turned in the opposite direction, and when she turned, looked at me, and caught up to me, I gave her a little treat. We made slow progress for quite awhile. Then she started "getting it!" A good thing, as I was fast running out of treats (I need to bring a few more next time)! :P Actually, it worked out, though, because she is trained to praise, also, so she works for the "good girl" sign and pet-pets, too. By the end of our walk, I just had to lightly tug on the leash when she started pulling too hard, and she'd slow down a bit! Fewer major corrections, with me completely turning around and going the other direction. We also worked on her sit at curbs before crossing streets, and in heel position while crossing a street or passing other people, etc. She responded with a gentle tug on the leash and walked in heel position. She made that connection as well! WOO! HOO! ;)) She seemed happy doing it this way. She's so intelligent, too, that half choking her by snapping the chain didn't ever really get through, but this other method, Clothier's, gave her respect and taught her that we were in this TOGETHER! KEWL! We "danced" together, as Clothier says.
Now, I entertain no silly notion that this is all the training needed, today, though. LOL! :D We'll need to practice and reinforce, but I am encouraged that Mika picked up on something I haven't been able to get through to her before! We're on our way to cleaning up a bad habit of hers, and a bad habit of mine, letting her do it, so we can enjoy our outings. :P We'll have to work in different venues, on trails, on streets with lots of people, etc., as well as our neighborhood jaunts. So she understands and we can do it anywhere.
WOO! HOO!