Twin Cities Pet Expo 2012

This year I had the pleasure of helping out at a booth at the Twin Cities Pet Expo.  Midwest Animal Rescue Services, or MARS, is a foster-based rescue located in Brooklyn Park, MN.  Helping out at the booth and raising money for their organization was a great treat and a lot of fun.

I was able to help answer patrons questions about their dogs, dog training, and the many programs MARS offers.  It was a lot of fun enticing passers-by to donate a few bucks to their local shelter and be rewarded by getting to spin a wheel and win a prize.  Everybody wins.

I was very excited to be able to meet and talk to a young woman who had recently adopted a dog from MARS.  She expressed how pleased she had been with her entire MARS experience and how helpful taking the training class was in acclimating her new pet into her home.

The Pet Expo has many wonderful things to offer, including tons of information, things to buy for all your pets, and dog demonstrations.  Add it to your calendars for next year!

Sassy, Conclusion

After our first session I asked the family if they had reached a decision and HOORAY they decided to officially adopt her!

On my follow-up session we went over some of the same things concerning her jumping and nipping, especially towards the mom of the household.  Mom had to be instructed on to how to use better body language around Sassy and how to be calm and firm at the same time.  I discovered on my second visit just now little exercise Sassy was actually getting and conveyed to the t=family how very important it was for them to dramatically increase it.  They are looking into possibly adding agility to Sassy's routine in the near future.

I hope the family keeps up with the training and gets Sassy the exercise she needs.  If they do they will have a very wonderful dog for life!

Foster--Calvin, Conclusion

I must say, I really fell in love with Calvin.  If I owned my own house, I would have considered adopting him.

Calvin likes to greet people in a very boisterous way at the door, including jumping up on you the second you get through the door.  Calvin's foster mom also had 3 other dogs in the house.  To best help Calvin, it was important to work on an Auto-Sit at the door with all four dogs individually, then slowly adding them all together.  Calvin is an extremely fast learner.  I believe Calvin would make an excellent dog for the person who has the time to train and properly exercise him.  Calvin is also somewhat of an escape artist, so it is very important that he be both physically AND mentally challenged on a daily basis.  Calvin has made vast improvements in his behavior over the course of our training and I believe that as long as his foster (or hopefully future adoptive) parents continue to train and challenge him, he will become a fabulous dog.  He is a very sweet and loving dog, and I will truly miss getting to work with him.

Foster--Calvin, Day 2

On my return visit to Calvin's I was pleasantly surprised to see that his foster mom had been doing her homework.  She was walking Calvin every day, with some improvement, and playing structured games with him more at home to help get out his energy.  On the second visit we focused again on the jumping and nipping.

When dealing with any dog, but especially a very large one, it is important to remember how you carry yourself, what your body language is, and what that is saying to your dog.  Many times people become intimidated by their pet's unruly behavior, emotions like these will affect your training in a negative way.  Remember to say calm, but firm.  You are in charge, not your dog.  The key is to find what motivates your dog to do the things you ask of him.  For most dogs, and for Calvin, this is food.

Positive reinforcement training using treats is very fast and effective way of training your dog.  We worked on an "Auto-Sit" with Calvin while coming up to him to say hi, and at the door.  The more you can repeat these activities, the more chance your dog has to do the right thing and get rewarded for it, the more he will perform that behavior for you!

Foster--Sassy, Day 1

Sassy, Australian Shepard

The first day I worked with Sassy and her fosters was the day they had to decide if they were going to officially adopt her or not...the pressure was on.  We worked heavily on the nipping issues with the family and I taught them a proper tug-of-war game they could play with there to help curb her nipping.  Sassy is also a very bouncy pup that likes to jump.  We combined working with her jumping and nipping problems with several exercises in the house.  We then moved on to a game in the yard...Come when called.  She immediately picked up the Auto-Sit when playing Come when called in the yard, and the family was quite impressed.  They had seen a great improvement in her behavior while fostering and taking Basic Obedience classes.

Foster--Calvin, Day 1

I was very excited to get to work with Calvin, a Husky/ St. Bernard mix.  Having a very large (and tall) dog myself, I enjoy getting to work with bigger dogs that many people tend to somewhat fear, just based simply on their immense size.  I will admit, Calvin was definetly quite the hand-full.  Calvin was a very boisterous foster that liked to greet people by jumping on them.  Now I'm sure that I don't have to tell you that having a 100 pound+ dog jump on you is not exactly the greeting we are hoping for.

Calvin's foster mom and I worked on many things with Calvin, including some basic food lures and waiting for calm behavior.  Calvin is a big dog with LOTS of energy and needs plenty of exercise.  After working on some anti-jumping techniques, I took Calvin and his foster mom out for a walk.  It was a very, very slow walk.  I can see why he doesn't get walked at this point in time.  It took us probably close to a half hour to walk about 100 feet.  Calvin tries to pull you like a freight train.  Again, patients and consistency.

After our very tedious walk we tackled some fetch training in the back yard.  The foster mom had told me that Calvin was uninterested in fetch.  The key is finding a way to make it interesting.  For Calvin it was playing fetch with a rope toy and rewarding him with a little bit of tug-of-war when he brought it back.  Of course there should always be rules to teaching any game to a dog.  Amongst others, our rules included sitting and waiting calmly before throwing the toy again.

Foster--Chandler, Day 4

Unfortunately it is not always easy to match schedules with other people.  I was unable to walk Chandler for a few days, and it showed.  Although I had taken both of Chandler's foster parents on a walk with him (without my dogs of course) and showed them the proper techniques for keeping him from pulling on the leash, people do not always remember to follow instructions.

I say again, it is HARD WORK to properly train a dog.  If you are unable or unwilling to put in the time and effort it takes, you will not achieve the goals you set out too.

BE CONSISTENT!!!  Being consistent in dog training is one of the most important things.  Think about it...if it's ok to get on the couch when dad is home, but not when mom is home, you are not being consistent.  The dog will be confused and may get yelled at by mom because she was not aware dad let the dog on the couch.  This is a simple example, but holds true.

Foster--Chandler, Day 3

By the time our third walk with Chandler came around, I could see real improvement.  Chandler began walking very well on the leash today and rarely pulled.  When he did pull he stopped, backed up (to release the tension on the leash), and looked at me.  I was amazed.  This dog has come such a long way in a very short time.  It just really goes to show that if you put the work in, you can see the results almost immediately.

During this walk I added the "Wait" cue at street crossings.  Although we had always paused at these places in our previous walks, I waited until Chandler picked up the behavior before adding the cue.  When training any dog it is important not to try too much too fast.  This can confuse a dog and set back progress.

Foster--Chandler, Day 2

So I decided it would be best to try and take Chandler for some more leash training as soon as possible.  So they next day sounded perfect.

While training Chandler to Loose-Leash-Walk today I also added in a few extra cues.  One of these was, Watch Me.  During Loose Leash Training, once a dog picks up on the idea that he can't pull and continue walking forward, I like to up the anti a little and wait for the dog to not only stop and relax the tension in the leash, but also to look at me.  Teaching a dog the "Watch Me" or "Look" cue is one of the best commands to learn that will greatly benefit both you and your pet.  Dogs who are conscious of their owners and who look to their owners for permission and cues are much better behaved.  Plus, you can't train a dog that is not focused on you.

Foster--Chandler

A few days ago I met a neighbor of mine who is fostering a dog for MARS (Midwest Animal Rescue & Services).  I chatted with them for a bit and asked if they were in need of any help.  They expressed interested in having their foster leash trained.

So today while taking my own two dogs for a walk, I also got to take Chandler.  Chandler had met my dogs previously when I had first spoken to the neighbor, so there were no "doggy introductions."  We went to their house, picked up Chandler, and continued on our usual walk.

Although adding a dog to your pack who is not leash trained is anything but a usual walk.  When leash-training any dog it is always important to have patients.  To really train a dog properly can take a long time in the very beginning, and so it did with Chandler.