Poni is clearly showing a greater comfort level with my dogs. No more barking when he is surprised by them. The wide berths around them are getting smaller and smaller. All in all, very little barking today.
Until we tried to meet a new dog. This was a much slower process than it was with my dogs so we changed up some of our routine. We did a lot of introductions with barriers in place so there was an element of security for Poni (and for the other dog because it can be startling when a dog is barking so much). Who knows why this introduction was more difficult for him. It may be that this dog looked different than any other dog. Dogs don't generalize well so just because they have met one dog, it doesn't mean they are going to get along with the next dog. There might have been a chemistry between them that just didn't mesh. And that's fine. It's ok if there are certain dogs they just don't like just so long as they have more tools in their toolbelt to handle it when they are frightened or uncomfortable.
And just because Poni's introduction to the new dog didn't go as smoothly, he had many other successes today. He played with Thistle today!!! Lots of praise for him while he was playing appropriately with her.
Don't look now, Poni, but that's another dog that you are sharing a bed with. We'll happily take those successes as they are huge for Poni.
Kiko was hoping we would spend more time on the dog beds. He was really tuckered out today. You can rest some, Kiko, but we have a lot of work to do.
We worked on down. I'm luring Kiko into a down and waiting for his elbows to be down and his rear on the ground before I say "yes" and give him the treat. We started to work towards transitioning off the lure to just a hand signal.
The nice thing about using a marker word like "yes" is that you can capture cute behavior and put it on cue. I didn't notice that Kiko had winked just as I was taking the picture but had I noticed, I could have marked that behavior with "yes" and given him a treat. After getting him to repeat it several times I could start adding a cue for it like "wink." Kiko is a very enthusiastic boy and LOVES his treats. He'll be fun to teach cute little tricks too, especially when he has developed a little more self-control.
Both boys are learning to wait at doorways. I teach this by using my body to block them as they try to cross the treshold. Dogs respond really well to body movements and areas of space. It doesn't take force to keep them on one side but merely leaning in towards them and blocking with my body.
Poni has his sit down pat and he's starting to figure out to sit automatically for greetings, doorways, etc. He does well with downs with a hand signal so now we are working with him to respond to a verbal cue.
Just like this, right Kiko?
Poni still prefers to be close to people.
And, although he will snuggle a little bit, Kiko really wants to play with the dogs. Instead he'll just use my knee so he can get closer to kiss Thistle.
Of course, all he has to do it bat his big georgous eye lashes at you and he will melt anyone's heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment