Monday, February 10, 2014

It is important to teach your dog a new trick!

Thank you for stopping by! My last blog I had gone over how important it is to Socialize especially a service dog! And I also talked a little about how to approach a service dog or any other dog! Today I am going to talk about taking steps to training your dog to do cool things. And I will also be sharing a video of my service dog (in training) opening a refrigerator for me. 

First, I want to talk about how important it is to teach your dog new things! Just like people, dogs are always wanting to learn something new so it is up to us to teach them! As a trainer I see a huge difference daily of the difference in behavior a dog has that is able to do a lot of tricks for their human and enjoy doing them, than a dog that has nothing to do but lie around and maybe go for a walk once in a while when their human has time or is up to it! I'm going to tell you a little bit about these differences!

A dog without training

A dog without training tends to be more rambunctious and harder to control. You'll notice that they won't listen to their owner it's usually when they choose to and normally it's only for treats. They will tend to be more on the aggressive side with other dogs and possibly people. Dogs with no training will be a handful for the owner no doubt unless you just happen to get a naturally well behaved dog which is very rare!

A dog with training

A dog with training will be able to control their energy. The owner will be able to ask them to do something without bribing their dog with treats. You will notice they are more confident and friendlier with people and dogs. The owner can handle them with ease and worry free knowing that the dog will listen to them no matter what!

As a trainer, I tell people all the time how important it is to exercise your dog daily. There are a lot of benefits for you and your dog when they are exercised frequently a few of them are: 1. They will be able to pay attention to you better, you will be able to train easier after a good walk.  2. It stimulates their mind because they are constantly seeing and hearing new sights and sounds. 3. It helps build their confidence. When you have a tired dog you have a happy dog which means a happy owner and not only is your dog getting the exercise you end up happier because you are getting exercise as well! Taking your dog for daily walks also helps you build a strong relationship that will last a lifetime! 

There are a couple of ways to train your dog a new trick the first one is the luring method. This means taking a treat putting it to your dogs nose and using it to put your dog in a position you want such as sit or lay down. Once your dog is in the position you lured him/her into you can reward him/her with the treat and then do it again and again once they start doing the position easier you can start putting the name to it. If they can do it 10 out of 10 times then they know that command but it's important to practice it everyday with them otherwise they may forget after a while!

The next is capturing a method I like to use for tricks such as bow, speak, sit pretty and so on. For example: Bow, when I trained my dog Max to bow first I took something that he does naturally on a day to day bases (Stretching) every time he would stretch out I would praise him for that behavior and reward him. Then the next time and I would do it again it didn't take him but 5 min to figure out that him stretching was getting him rewarded so he started doing it without me asking him. So that was when I added the word bow to that motion. So now when I tell him to bow all he has to do it was he does everyday on his own and it's a fun command to show off to your friends and family! :) But remember he/she only gets a reward when they do it on command and not on their own!

Today I am posting a video of the beginning stages of Emery learning how to open a refrigerator door. And I have used both methods that I talked about above to teach her how to do this. So make sure you click on the link and check it out!

Well that is all for today. I hope you enjoy this blog and learned something new from it! If you have any questions about your fur babies or just need some advice your more then welcome to email me at ceceskoolk9@gmail.com and I will do my best to get back to you promptly to answer any questions you may have. Have a great day and I will see you next time.


CeCe's Kool K-9

Monday, January 13, 2014

Importance of socializing your puppy.

Another helpful blog entry from our guest blogger/dog trainer CeCe:

Hello everyone thank you for stopping by! I apologize for it being so long to write a blog but as you know I have been very busy! I have actually started school full time again so please bare with me! I hope you all had an amazing and safe Holiday! As you know I have been working with Emery with her basic obedience and working on training her to be my service dog as well! I would like to start by saying she has been doing amazingly well for a now 4 month old puppy! She can sit, stay, lay down, come (on command), heel, and walk nicely on a leash! I have also been socializing her at the dog park with other dogs and people!

First, socializing Emery is one of the most important things I can do for her! The reason why it so important to socialize during the growth and a maturing puppy is because it builds confidence to any situation that may happen preventing the puppy to become fearful of people, dogs, sounds, etc. When you have puppy that is fearful it can lead to fear aggression which is one of the most leading causes of dog bites.

Since I have been socializing Emery her confidence with people and other dogs have been fantastic. Since we have been socializing I have been bringing her with me into public places for practice. When I have her in public with me I have her stay at my heel and when I stop she has to do an automatic sit. She gets the opportunity to encounter people in motorized wheel chairs, shopping carts, and anything that is unusual to her day to day sights and gets her used to seeing these items so that she is not startled by them. When they pass by us I make sure I reward her for stopping and sitting to wait for them to pass by! I have found though that while it's great for her to be socialized with a service dog in training there is a time and a place! I have a lot of people in the stores that will stop and ask if they can pet her which is very difficult because I have to say no. But it's important for me to explain to them why they can't otherwise they just think your mean! So I am going to explain why (some) service dogs cannot be pet. When you see a service dog with a harness that says do not pet it's by no means because they are aggressive or that the handler just doesn't want their dog pet. It is because when you have a service dog they are working at the time they have a purpose and when people come up to pet or talk to the animal and can be very distracting and can possibly keep the dog from doing what they are meant to do. So If you happen to see a service dog make sure you ask first if you can pet because sometimes you may be able to pet them! Also, if you have children it is beneficial to explain to them that that is a service dog and they working so they shouldn't go up and pet them. I had a young daughter and her dad come up to me and ask if they could pet her and sadly I had to decline because Emery was already distracted. But the dad explained to her daughter why she was in the store and that she was working and the little girl seemed very interested so they asked me questions about her and I was happy to answer them! It was really a breath of fresh air because I have adults that just walk up and pet without asking first! But as Emery and I practice she gets better and better each and every day. She loves to be with me and never leaves my side except when we are at home but I am never out of her sight!

Today I am going share a video of when she was much younger when I working with her basic obedience. I am going to try to post more video's of her working as I can. But the main message of the day is Socialize your dog or puppy and if you every come upon a service dog make sure you ask about them first before you try and pet them and also educate your children about approaching strange dogs! Well that's it for today. Next blog I will be posting a video of Emery working in the store. So be sure to join in next time.


CeCe's Kool K-9

Rosehall Shepherds has been given permission by CeCe's Kool K-9 to post to their websites.