October « 2010 « Lessons From and For 4 Legs

A Park It, Mat Work Triumph

By katie, on October 29th, 2010%

It’s late and I’m tired. . . but triumphant!

Mat work with Magnus has really barely started, but tonight he made his first real life application. Let me lay the stage.

It has been a long, but good day. It’s time for bed and mehusandy is snoozing away.

But not my mutts! They, of course, have their typical night time zoomies. And the zoomies in this house are not quiet.

I have two choices: put them to bed and hope they settle in quick and quiet, or whip out their mats and see if they can settle.

I love their mats. Cute and square, Maizeys’ orange with pink squares and Magnus’ green with blue squares. I have visions of them parked on their cute mats, ears flowing and tails softly wagging while the breeze ruffles their hair and sends the scent of new grass through the air. . .

Okay, that’s taking it a little far, but seriously mat work is invaluable.

So as I set out to do my dishes I put one mat behind me to the left and one behind me to the right. Maizey immediately parks it, she loves this game. Magnus’ version of mat work up till now has been to get on Maizeys’ mat with her.

But not tonight! Tonight he CHOSE his mat! Well okay, it did take one lure the first time to get him there, but after that he CHOSE wisely! Repeatedly! While I loaded the dish washer, walked around the kitchen and changed the laundry, he CHOSE his mat! By the end he also CHOSE to lay down and stay on his mat for an estimated two whole minutes!

Imagine! What a smart boy!

And my Maizeymaymay? She stayed in her park it for the whole time! Well, she broke twice when my treat throwing aim was off and the treats landed just out of reach, but each time she CHOSE to immediately return to her perfect park it.

Imagine! What a smart girl!

So the 4legged lesson? I love it when my pups make good choices, I love training and there really is nothing small about small triumphs!

. . . Tomorrow, puppy class. Sigh. I’m glad Magnus isn’t nervous, cause I sure am!

How To Prepare For Puppy Class

By katie, on October 28th, 2010%

So after all of your wonderful encouragement I enrolled Magnus in Puppy Prep.

This class seems to meet all of my requirements for a puppy class.

The list was:

All positive based instruction preferably using the clicker.
Strictly supervised play time, with dogs that were similar size to him.
Small class size, not more than eight dogs.
An environment that I was comfortable and could learn in.
Instructors with experience in spotting fear issues (Both mine and his.)
Instructors that would not take issue with my training a skill using my method, not theirs.

How Puppy Prep Measures up
The Calling All Dog’s program claims to be “the first (and only) positive reinforcement dog training facility” in the area. Though the puppy class is not specifically a clicker class the instructor, Nicole, does not mind if I use the clicker. I felt her reasoning, that most people in our area are not familiar with positive methods and are intimidated by a clicker, was fairly accurate to what I too have observed.

The class is 8 dogs under 18 weeks. Four are small dogs and one is a Cavalier, which I admit, I am excited about. Each class has an instructor and an assistant.

At play time the small dogs are put in a sturdy x-pen with the bigger dogs separate. (The x-pen at Maizey’s class was so close to falling over that it was as much of a danger to her as the other dogs were.) However, at the class I observed there was a very mild, beautiful Husky they allowed in briefly to play with the small dogs. Each group of dogs has their own instructor during play time so it was closely supervised.

My Concerns
Of course being me I still have concerns. The main one being, ME. (Insert my own eyes rolling here.) I am such an introvert, I don’t like crowds and to me the 8-16 people that will be there is a crowd. One reason I joined the puppy class was for my “socialization”. I know that to help Maizey I need to be more relaxed myself, and I think the puppy class environment, where I already know much of the info, may give me that opportunity.

Another concern is the fact that they have already done two of the six classes offered. Based on knowing me and meeting Magnus last week, the instructor isnt’ worried about us knowing the info. And I have the option to make up the classes in November when the next class starts. She felt joining late was the better option since over 50% of the dogs in that class are much larger than Magnus and we would both would worry about him playing with them.

Preparations and Conclusions
Now I am left with the next couple days to prepare. Treats, and I am sure a new treat bag are absolutely critical to have! (Insert mehusbandy’s eyes rolling here.) Practice of the skills Magnus knows and his vaccination record is also on the to do list.

But once again I beg the benefit of your expertise! What do you do to be prepared for puppy’s first class? I read a lot of your agility blogs and you talk about calming ring nerves, well I think I need to calm my class nerves! Any suggestions for that?

I know you all have much experience to share and I look forward to hearing it!

The Issue of Puppy Class

By katie, on October 24th, 2010%

I know I have mentioned before that I feel puppy class was one cause of many of Maizey’s reactive issues. And since I think I can teach the basic puppy class skills at home I thought I could focus on socialization enough that I wasn’t going to take Magnus to a puppy class.

I really feel like dog classes should be about training humans to train dogs. So while I can think of masses of things that a class could teach me, I am not so sure puppy class is the one that I have the most to learn from.

Much of puppy class is about socialization and play time is part of that. But I am terrified of play time now, it did Maizey so much damage. So depending on what puppies were in the class there is a chance I would not even let him do the play time part. Plus I do feel I am giving him enough play time with other dogs that play time is not that critical.

Unfortunately as much as none of us wants it to be a consideration funds are an issue. I have only so many dollars to spend on the dogs and I want them to go to the best purpose possible.

So with all that in mind I thought my mind was made up. But then I read about Henry’s first puppy class and it got me thinking. Am I depriving Magnus of a valuable learning experience?

There is no doubt in my mind Henry is getting the possible education at home. Better than my pups get by a long ways! But the lessons Henry learned at his first puppy class are some that I am not sure I am providing Magnus.

There is such value in a dog learning HOW to learn in that busy environment. Is there ways I can provide this at home? Maybe. I can do more formal learning on our socialization outings. But is that enough?

And so the questions continue!

What about you? Did you do a puppy class? What benefits did you feel it provided for your 4legged puppy? What benefit did you find for yourself as handler? What would you recommend in looking for a new puppy class? Are you pro puppy class or do you feel you can provide similar lessons at home? If you do, how?

Please lend me the value of your experience so I can quit feeling indecisive! (Oh ya and if not for me then please do so for Magnus, he is already handlercapped as it is!)