Lola is really coming along with not reacting on her walks. Which is not to say she’s a perfect angel, but she’s come a long, long way. I think using the clicker has helped a lot. It clearly told what behavior she was being rewarded for.

What also worked was getting in front of her. She would be so distracted by the dogs in people’s yard that she just couldn’t even hear me. So I discovered if I got in front of her, had her stop, and then walked backwards while she walked, she had something to focus on. Now, usually, I no longer have to walk backwards. Except for her nemesis, the yard with the large chained dogs who sound like they want to eat her.

Still, she is now able to mostly walk past the barking, running chihuahua by our mailbox without lunging at it (and without me walking backwards in front of her). This is huge.

However, she still can’t tolerate dogs that come up to her while she’s on leash, for the most part. A nice, calm lab came up to her this morning, and she was back to running around and growling. I think the next step is to try going back to our hike and bike trail, where there are a lot of dogs, and work on her there. There’s always another step!

I also recently read How to Keep Your Dog Calm When the Doorbell Rings. This is something we have worked on, but nothing so far has really worked, although they have been getting better and I was actually able to let the Fedex man in with a large package one day while they were out loose.

I had a hard time shaping them to move backward, altho we had some small success with it. What really helped for me was to put a mat down a little way from the door.

Now, we had worked before on having them go to their “place” (a raised bed near the door). Since then we’ve bought new furniture and rearranged our living room, and there was no place for their “place”! The mat is working nicely, though. I think one of the reasons this is working is because we’re adding the cue “just a minute”. Or maybe we’ve just done enough training that they’re a little calmer.

Today, someone came to the door & rang the doorbell. I was able to get them to their mat pretty quickly, and while they tried to inch up a couple of times, they didn’t run out the door and they went back to the mat easily. The woman at the door was very impressed at how they well they listened.

I have to be careful, though, because I sometimes say “just a minute to them” when they’re getting antsy, and I can just envision them tearing through the house at an inadvertent slip of the lips. I have to try and remember to use “wait” and “soon” more often.

They are not perfect little angels yet. Training doesn’t end when they’re finished with puppy kindergarten, or when they’re one or two or three. It’s a lifelong process. And I have to keep reminding myself that they’re really pretty young still; less than two years old.

Technorati Tags: clicker, shaping, cue, Training, puppy kindergarten

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