Both the boys are developing really nice recalls. I love the recall because, if done right, it can be such a fun and exciting thing for the dogs to do. That makes it a very nice tool to use to help out with reactivity, distraction, etc. If you are walking your dog on leash and there is something ahead of you that will either distract your dog or cause your dog to react...
Say their name and "come" and back away really quickly. This is a fun and exciting way for dogs to interact with you which can help get them out of a bad situation but also help to change their association with something that causes to be fearful.
Once you are ways away from the distraction, you can then work on attention. Practicing this a lot in non-stressful situations helps to make this tool sharp and ready to use when needed.
Because while Kiko accepts new dogs very well, Poni is still reacting to new dogs he meets (although he is much easier to redirect and the barking is at a lower intensity and duration).
Kiko participated in Puppy Playgroup today and had a great time! He met new friends and played really well with everyone (and did great recalls out of play!). Poni sat this one out. He's met a lot of new dogs this week so we don't want to flood him. Sometimes people think that saturating a dog in the thing that makes him fearful will help but it tends to backfire on people. He's doing really well with slow introductions and now he seems very comfortable around my labs (even playing tug with Sinbad today).
The boys, as they are affectionately called, are doing really well together. I've made sure, though, to work with each puppy alone and also given them separate play times in addition to their together time. Neither one seems attached in an unhealthy way which is great! That can be a big problem with puppies raised together who never spend time apart.
Poni knows how to beat the stress with a little bit of play. I've even noticed when he's stressed about a new dog behind a barrier, he'll bark, I'll interrupt him and he'll go grab a toy and run around. Nice way of coping!
Kiko just plain loves to play. If only he could figure out how to get this ball in his mouth, all would be right with the world.
Kiko's making progress on his downs. He's doing them much faster and we've weaned off of the lure. He's a busy little guy so sometimes it's hard for him to pull it all together but it doesn't take very many repititions before he gets in down (so to speak).
Oh, and Poni too. He loves learning and enjoys practicing his downs. And besides, look how cute he is...
Both dogs have figured out checking in pays off. It's ok if they are just after treats right now. A big part of what we are doing is conditioning them to like the behavior. It won't be long before they will still love to check in with you even when you are not giving treats. It's really handy to have a reactive dog who is pretty keyed into his people. Much better than a reactive dog who is more keyed into the dogs around him.
I almost forgot to mention, Kiko got lots of really good socialization in today with kids during the Puppy Playgroup. Once again, he's happy to greet the world.
It makes a guy thirsty...
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