*peeks around door*
Hi, my name is Hedgie and I am the anti-trainer. It's time to engage Newman's brain (and mine too). I would appreciate any advice you can give me.
So, Newman has a couple of issues. He doesn't like his feet touched. He doesn't know how to heel (because I never taught him because I never thought it was important) and it can be an issue walking down the sidewalk when there are lots of people around; Newman assumes he has the right-of-way. He's totally deaf now, and can "sit" and "down" on hand signals but that's it. I still have to do a lot of fussing to his ear and that can be painful and so he is a little bit head-shy (is that the right phrase?). He is also sooo dramatic and so everything I do has to be slow and calm, moreso now that he's deaf. If you drop something on the floor 6 feet away he screams. If you toss a magazine onto the bed near him he screams. Etc etc etc. The submissive peeing is gone (thank the heavens) but he will still roll over and show me his belly and give me the whale-eye when he really doesn't want me to do something to him. On the plus side he *is* treat-motivated and he doesn't bite.
What I would like to eventually be able to do:
Walk with him at heel position at least when necessary (hand signal?).
Teach him to "shake" or at the very least wave a paw, something to handle his feet.
Engage his mind with some other sort of trick(s).
Build some confidence for both of us.
??? What else should a 10 year old dog know?
I haven't broken this up into steps and behaviors because I am honestly unsure where to begin. The leash issue might be a good one to start with, I suppose, and I would like to teach him something easy in the beginning, perhaps a 5 minute session every night before bed. Enormous thanks to all of you for slogging through this.
Hi, my name is Hedgie and I am the anti-trainer. It's time to engage Newman's brain (and mine too). I would appreciate any advice you can give me.
So, Newman has a couple of issues. He doesn't like his feet touched. He doesn't know how to heel (because I never taught him because I never thought it was important) and it can be an issue walking down the sidewalk when there are lots of people around; Newman assumes he has the right-of-way. He's totally deaf now, and can "sit" and "down" on hand signals but that's it. I still have to do a lot of fussing to his ear and that can be painful and so he is a little bit head-shy (is that the right phrase?). He is also sooo dramatic and so everything I do has to be slow and calm, moreso now that he's deaf. If you drop something on the floor 6 feet away he screams. If you toss a magazine onto the bed near him he screams. Etc etc etc. The submissive peeing is gone (thank the heavens) but he will still roll over and show me his belly and give me the whale-eye when he really doesn't want me to do something to him. On the plus side he *is* treat-motivated and he doesn't bite.
What I would like to eventually be able to do:
Walk with him at heel position at least when necessary (hand signal?).
Teach him to "shake" or at the very least wave a paw, something to handle his feet.
Engage his mind with some other sort of trick(s).
Build some confidence for both of us.
??? What else should a 10 year old dog know?
I haven't broken this up into steps and behaviors because I am honestly unsure where to begin. The leash issue might be a good one to start with, I suppose, and I would like to teach him something easy in the beginning, perhaps a 5 minute session every night before bed. Enormous thanks to all of you for slogging through this.
Treats in heel position are always a good thing, and to make
it easier on your back you could try the spoon method (someone posted about it in Dog Sports I think). You wouldn't want to do that exactly as shown -
they're teaching a heads up competition heel. But I often us PB or cream cheese on the end of a spoon and hold it parallel with my leg so the dog can lick
the spoon and be in a nice close position. Hint: Spoon in the hand of the side you want your dog on, leash held in the other hand so it comes across your
body. i.e. You want Newman to stay on your left put the spoon in your left hand and let it hang naturally at your side so the end of the spoon is somewhere
near your left knee. Have the leash going across the front of your body, holding it in your right hand. Be sure to gather up the slack, no need to give him
the whole 6 ft. I usually give the dog about 3ft. at most. Then get him licking the spoon and off you slowly go. Go slow at first, some dogs have
walking/licking issues... You know, like me - can't walk & chew gum at the same time!
). With Newman's nose you should be able to keep his attention with those... without completely bending yourself over. I've done this with
Sparkie in our competition obedience class and we can get a few steps of legitimate, attentive heeling when we're "on". Sparkie is a little
concerned with the spoon so this is what we've done.
)
