Ponderings & Light Bulb Moments
Having spent the last week watching videos, hanging on Tom & Lauren's every word I have to say that it has really made me stop and use my brain for the purpose it was intended! It is so tempting, when starting a new course of some kind to go totally overboard, follow each lesson to a tee without really considering where you are at now and, more importantly, where your dog is at, or what you actually want for that matter!
It is also very tempting to fall into the trap of thinking you have to change absolutely everything about the way your dog behaves. For instance there are many people who, for very valid reasons, don't want their dogs to bark when someone comes to the door, or walks by the window. Perhaps they have a young baby, or are mindful of being a nuisance to their neighbors. One of my light bulb moments this week was the realization that I actually DO want my dog to bark at these things! As we live in the bush, and I am home alone from five in the morning until four in the afternoon my Boy barking could mean there's a bear or a moose in the yard or in the bush as the side of the house. My neighbors are actually happy to hear him bark too, and give them a heads up! So having previously worked on praising him for barking at these things and then asking for quiet (I've checked it out thank you Lucky Dog, and it's all good), I am not going to change that.
The other day we were out walking, doing a little bit of magic hand when Lucky stopped and stared into the bush at the side of us. I heard a rustling too! It turned out to be a small rabbit and, to his credit, Lucky just watched for a moment and then turned back to me and we carried on. Another little light bulb moment! I realized that when we are walking whilst I want focus, if he hears something in the bush then I am more than happy for him to break his concentration for a moment to alert me!
So my conclusions are that I will not be chucking the baby out with the bath water! Stuff that L.D. has learned already and suit me/us will remain unchanged, maybe even improved! Stuff that he does that might be considered an unwanted behaviour by others but work for us will be encouraged within certain criteria i.e. bark to alert us there is something about but quiet once the issue has been investigated.
Finally I am pleased to report that my brain appears to be firing on several cylinders now instead of just one and pennies are dropping all over the place ... like the fact that after a week of working on our attention noise "watch!" I found that he actually responded much better all on his own when, in one of those 'Oh for goodness sake' moments struck and I said "For heaven's sake Focus!" Ok that was actually four words ... but I also realized how much 'watch' could sound like "touch" which I was using for his nose touching my hand when he checked in from time to time. So, before we get too far along the training road I decided to change both ... so now we have Focus and Hand respectively!
It is also very tempting to fall into the trap of thinking you have to change absolutely everything about the way your dog behaves. For instance there are many people who, for very valid reasons, don't want their dogs to bark when someone comes to the door, or walks by the window. Perhaps they have a young baby, or are mindful of being a nuisance to their neighbors. One of my light bulb moments this week was the realization that I actually DO want my dog to bark at these things! As we live in the bush, and I am home alone from five in the morning until four in the afternoon my Boy barking could mean there's a bear or a moose in the yard or in the bush as the side of the house. My neighbors are actually happy to hear him bark too, and give them a heads up! So having previously worked on praising him for barking at these things and then asking for quiet (I've checked it out thank you Lucky Dog, and it's all good), I am not going to change that.
The other day we were out walking, doing a little bit of magic hand when Lucky stopped and stared into the bush at the side of us. I heard a rustling too! It turned out to be a small rabbit and, to his credit, Lucky just watched for a moment and then turned back to me and we carried on. Another little light bulb moment! I realized that when we are walking whilst I want focus, if he hears something in the bush then I am more than happy for him to break his concentration for a moment to alert me!
So my conclusions are that I will not be chucking the baby out with the bath water! Stuff that L.D. has learned already and suit me/us will remain unchanged, maybe even improved! Stuff that he does that might be considered an unwanted behaviour by others but work for us will be encouraged within certain criteria i.e. bark to alert us there is something about but quiet once the issue has been investigated.
Finally I am pleased to report that my brain appears to be firing on several cylinders now instead of just one and pennies are dropping all over the place ... like the fact that after a week of working on our attention noise "watch!" I found that he actually responded much better all on his own when, in one of those 'Oh for goodness sake' moments struck and I said "For heaven's sake Focus!" Ok that was actually four words ... but I also realized how much 'watch' could sound like "touch" which I was using for his nose touching my hand when he checked in from time to time. So, before we get too far along the training road I decided to change both ... so now we have Focus and Hand respectively!
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