Zluta's education
Zluta has been with me for a bit less than 42 hours. She's a fast learner!
Emma came over on the first night-Saturday-and demonstrated clicker training (though she used the whistle she uses at the zoo). I decided to use chirps because that's also hands-free like her whistle and doesn't require me to buy anything. Also I can't lose my chirp, or if I did, I'd have bigger problems!
So here is where Zluta is as of this morning:
"Zluta, come" is natural and I haven't been teaching it yet, but I will soon so she'll come even when distracted or excited.
"Zluta, sit" arrived spontaneously-she offered me a sit when I was working with her on not jumping and I started rewarding it and labelling it with its own command because dang, don't refuse a gift your dog gives you. I won't be initiating it as a command until she seems to have it down, though.
"Drop it" has also arrived spontaneously because of the natural puppy association for shoes and clothes. I've been caught with no treats but I have offered her other things to play with and that has gone so well that the last time I said "Drop it" she dropped before I threw the toy (in this case a windfall apple because it was at hand).
Also, at first she was afraid of my stairs and Zack's front steps and now she is no longer. She runs up and down all the time. This means I can exercise her by throwing toys down the stairs!
She understands that it is highly desirable to pee and poop in the spot by the compost heap but she does not understand that it's highly desirable not to pee in the house as well, so we're going outside every forty-five minutes or so. Except that just this minute she went outside on her own, so I'm going to trust her and see what happens.
I'm reading and re-reading articles about bark training but I'm still sort of baffled about how these instructions translate into real life. I'm getting there, though. Another thing she'll need special training for is jumping up-she loves standing on her hind legs so I figure to give her a
chance to show that off with a special trick, and that will make it easier to teach her not to do it otherwise. I'm also desensitizing her feet, ears, etc, to gentle touches, to make her visits to the vet easier for her.
She has destroyed her first thing already: it was one of her own toys, though.
Yesterday I left her with Keith so I could walk downtown and see a movie. That went well. Keith and Zack both adore her.She's still not sleeping or eating as much as I understand she ought to, but it's been less than two full days, so we'll see what happens in the future.
We can't start socializing her with other dogs yet because she has a little cough.
Emma came over on the first night-Saturday-and demonstrated clicker training (though she used the whistle she uses at the zoo). I decided to use chirps because that's also hands-free like her whistle and doesn't require me to buy anything. Also I can't lose my chirp, or if I did, I'd have bigger problems!
So here is where Zluta is as of this morning:
"Zluta, come" is natural and I haven't been teaching it yet, but I will soon so she'll come even when distracted or excited.
"Zluta, sit" arrived spontaneously-she offered me a sit when I was working with her on not jumping and I started rewarding it and labelling it with its own command because dang, don't refuse a gift your dog gives you. I won't be initiating it as a command until she seems to have it down, though.
"Drop it" has also arrived spontaneously because of the natural puppy association for shoes and clothes. I've been caught with no treats but I have offered her other things to play with and that has gone so well that the last time I said "Drop it" she dropped before I threw the toy (in this case a windfall apple because it was at hand).
Also, at first she was afraid of my stairs and Zack's front steps and now she is no longer. She runs up and down all the time. This means I can exercise her by throwing toys down the stairs!
She understands that it is highly desirable to pee and poop in the spot by the compost heap but she does not understand that it's highly desirable not to pee in the house as well, so we're going outside every forty-five minutes or so. Except that just this minute she went outside on her own, so I'm going to trust her and see what happens.
I'm reading and re-reading articles about bark training but I'm still sort of baffled about how these instructions translate into real life. I'm getting there, though. Another thing she'll need special training for is jumping up-she loves standing on her hind legs so I figure to give her a
chance to show that off with a special trick, and that will make it easier to teach her not to do it otherwise. I'm also desensitizing her feet, ears, etc, to gentle touches, to make her visits to the vet easier for her.
She has destroyed her first thing already: it was one of her own toys, though.
Yesterday I left her with Keith so I could walk downtown and see a movie. That went well. Keith and Zack both adore her.She's still not sleeping or eating as much as I understand she ought to, but it's been less than two full days, so we'll see what happens in the future.
We can't start socializing her with other dogs yet because she has a little cough.