positive training

Training Confession: I’m Not Confident

I’m not confident.

With humans, that is.

Training a Great Pyrenees or other Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD) is not an easy task. You have to be confident. You have to be ready to be challenged.

I’m confident in my ability to handle an independent-minded Great Pyrenees.

I’m not confident in my ability to handle other people.

One of the biggest challenges many people face is ensuring their dog greets other people properly. The definition of “properly” varies from person to person, but it involves all paws on the floor. Because I have such big dogs, I prefer them to be in a sit or down when being greeted.

Mauja and Atka don’t jump on people, but they tend to be a bit wiggly since they’re still puppies. Not to mention Atka likes to lean on people – he could knock you over if you’re not prepared!

I know the most effective way to work on this skill. Ask the individual wanting to pet them to wait until both of my dogs are in a sit. Once they are seated and calm, the individual can pet them.

It is so easy, but I never do it.

Instead, as people approach Mauja and Atka with outstretched hands asking if they can pet them (as they are already petting them), I go with it. It isn’t the best decision. Not only does it reinforce the wigglebutts, it means I have to try to get the fluffies into a sit or down while they are being gawked over. This makes their training very inconsistent. Mauja and Atka don’t have a clear understanding of my expectations of them. Can they stand or do they have to sit when people approach them? They don’t know because I’m not confident enough to provide them with consistency.

Do you ask people to wait before interacting with your dog? Any recommendations on how to improve my confidence?

Positive Reinforcement Pet Training Week is hosted by Cascadian Nomads,Rubicon Days & Tenacious Little Terrier. This month we are sharing stories of our flaws as trainers. Like every month, any and all posts or comments about positive reinforcement pet training are welcome. The blog hop is open all week, so if you are a blogger, add a post and if you are a positive pet training enthusiast, hop around by clicking the thumbnails below, learn and share. Next months Positive Reinforcement Pet Training Week begins August 3rd and the theme is improving our pet training skills.

The Emergency Recall

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The Great Pyrenees is notorious for failing to come when called. Training a reliable recall is a never-ending struggle and most pyrs will never fully master the skill. Since the ability to come when called is an essential skill, I had to find a way to work around the pyr independence.

Enter the emergency recall.

The emergency recall is something that every dog can and should learn. It is especially essential for our free-willed breeds. Unexpected situations can happen and ensuring your dog comes immediately can prevent a horrible and potentially fatal situation.

Has your dog ever broken free from the leash and run after a car, dog, or other enticing object? Did you yell “come!” only for your dog to ignore your call? If so, the emergency recall could be extremely beneficial.

Not only is the emergency recall a great skill to learn, it is incredibly easy to teach. Just follow these simple steps:

First, you will need to come up with a command for your emergency recall. Make sure it is something you can easily remember, yet isn’t likely to be used in every day conversation. We use the word “pronto”.
Make sure you have plenty of high value treats in your hand – something your dog doesn’t get in usual training sessions. You want this treat to be extremely special! Perhaps some cooked chicken or lean hamburger meat.
Start off in an easy location (e.g. your house) and stand just a few feet away from your dog. Say the command, “pronto!”, in a high-pitched voice with happy, excited posture to entice your dog to come to you.
When you dog makes it to you, reward him/her with treats for 20-30 seconds. You want it to feel like your dog hit the jackpot!
After you’ve finished with the treats, let your dog go back to whatever he/she was doing. Typically, “come” is associated with fun ending (coming in from outside, leaving the park) so let the fun continue as it was.
Practice, practice, practice!

Once your dog has mastered the emergency recall in a quiet place, it’s time to start adding distance and distractions. Make sure you don’t push your dog too far as success when learning the emergency recall is very important.

It is important to avoid using the emergency recall in non-emergency situations. Repeat usage in every day situations (other than practice) will reduce the overall strength of the recall. You never know when the emergency recall will save your dog’s life, so be sure to keep it to true emergency situations.

If you have taught your dog the emergency recall, have you ever had to use it? If your dog doesn’t know the skill, do you think it would be beneficial for you?

Positive Training for Giant Breeds

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Having a giant breed leads to many unique challenges as a dog owner. Having a giant breed puppy is even more challenging. Did you know that giant breeds typically don’t mature until at least 3 years of age? There’s a saying that’s associated with Bernese Mountain Dogs, but many other giant breeds follow it as well.

Three years a young dog, three years a good dog, three years an old dog.

Mauja and Atka are still in the ‘young dog’ phase at two and one years of age, respectively. Looking at them, you wouldn’t assume they are still puppies as they each have triple digit weights. However they still have ‘puppy brain’, which small to medium sized dogs outgrow around the one year point.

Unfortunately, many people believe that because of a giant breed’s size, force is a necessary training component. I recently read on a positive dog training group that the trainer “had to use force on a 4 month old St. Bernard puppy because of his size”. Sigh. Have I told you about the time I was kicked out of a training class for not using a prong collar or choke chain on a 5 month old Atka? That’s a story for another day.

Most giant breeds are extremely sensitive dogs and this is absolutely true for Great Pyrenees. Atka has been with us since 8 weeks of age and had a wonderful start to life, but any quick movement or gesture toward his collar makes him cower. He’s just a very sensitive boy. Can you imagine how he would be if I had used a prong collar on him as a puppy?

Force-based training is never necessity and a dog’s size is certainly no exception.

Effective training is a partnership between you and your dog. Love, compassion, and a mutual understanding will go a long way.

We’re joining the Positive Pet Training Blog Hop hosted by Cascadian Nomads, Rubicon Days, and Tenacious Little Terrier.

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