Yesterday, Venom attended his first ever conformation class!! I taught my 12:00 class and then Yvonne (my friend, assistant trainer, playgroup supervisor) came and taught the 12:30 class so Venom could have a try. During the 12:00 class I had Venom hang out in his crate while I taught so he could learn to be crated even when I am interacting/working with other dogs. He did great, with minimal whining. It is important to prepare our dogs for the things that they will be expected to do in their lives while they are puppies. Venom will be a show dog, a field dog, a demo dog and a nosework dog. He will need to learn to cope with being crated while I work. This is a great way to get him started. He also came out and was held by a few people who came to watch other dogs in the class. He was so good and I was really proud of him!
After the first class, Yvonne arrived to teach the second class. Venom had never been on leash before and I put a small, black Resco lead on him with a simple loop. He came with me and got clicked and treated often for walking (well, running crazily) with me! I didn't care how he moved, the only criteria was moving which he did wonderfully. It is important with puppies to train in baby steps, only asking for the smallest piece of the finished behavior so that they can get it right and get reinforced. If I asked Venom to move correctly, at the right speed and in the right position the first time, he couldn't possibly have been successful and would have gotten very frustrated with me and show training in general. So, I only ask for baby steps at first to ensure success for the dog and strong final behaviors. I (stupidly) did not videotape it, but will try to next time! His table and floor stacking was very good too.
He visited briefly with some of the dogs in class including Beckham, an English Cocker Spaniel and Teddy and Bouncer, both miniature longhair Dachshunds and he did great with everyone!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Plugging along!
Venom has been home for 10 days and he is doing great!! As I mentioned before he has an outside pen and an inside pen. We put him out potty in his outside pen and he generally goes pretty quickly if he has to go. He has used the potty pad in his pen inside a few times, but doesn't have accidents in the house. He may have gone in the house one time early on, but that's it.
He is doing well on his stacking training. I can hand stack him and then give him a treat. Sometimes he moves a foot, but I just gently replace it and then reward him. He is also learning to sit, lie down and come here.
He sleeps through the night every night. He plays with the other dogs great. I really couldn't be happier with him.
Today, I gave him his first vaccine. I wanted to give it in the morning in case he had a reaction of some kind and I had to take him to the vet, so I had to do it alone. I put a pile of high value treats on the couch and gave it to him while he was eating. He didn't even flinch! So, things are going great!
He is doing well on his stacking training. I can hand stack him and then give him a treat. Sometimes he moves a foot, but I just gently replace it and then reward him. He is also learning to sit, lie down and come here.
He sleeps through the night every night. He plays with the other dogs great. I really couldn't be happier with him.
Today, I gave him his first vaccine. I wanted to give it in the morning in case he had a reaction of some kind and I had to take him to the vet, so I had to do it alone. I put a pile of high value treats on the couch and gave it to him while he was eating. He didn't even flinch! So, things are going great!
Friday, June 17, 2011
First Outside Scentwork, Siblings and Grandma
I am late on writing this blog, so this actually happened a few days ago. I laid a heavy rabbit scent line in my front yard on the grass. I used 5 rocks about 3 feet apart and sprayed rabbit scent in straight lines from rock to rock. I put Venom at the beginning of the line and let him follow it. He did very well and actually followed the line. He did get distracted a few times but came back quickly. Soon, I will have to start this work on a long line as I will want to be able to keep him on the line. When he got to the end, I pulled out a scented rabbit pelt and played with him with it. He LOVES playing with the pelt (or "killing the bunny" as I call it) and this game at the end seems to really get him going. He turned 8 weeks old today!
Last night I had to teach two classes so I brought Venom to the kennel where I was teaching to spend a few hours with his brother and sisters. It was very interesting in that he seemed a little bit overwhelmed at first. I think it may be because he has been playing with my adult dogs who are very careful and gentle with him. His brother and sisters were not so gentle!
Today, he spent some time this morning playing with his great great Grandma Ivy who is 14 years old and lives here too. She is very good with puppies and played carefully and kindly with him. He seemed to have a wonderful time!
Ribbon and Jenny love him and he seems to really enjoy playing with him. It is really interesting and super cool to watch.
Last night I had to teach two classes so I brought Venom to the kennel where I was teaching to spend a few hours with his brother and sisters. It was very interesting in that he seemed a little bit overwhelmed at first. I think it may be because he has been playing with my adult dogs who are very careful and gentle with him. His brother and sisters were not so gentle!
Today, he spent some time this morning playing with his great great Grandma Ivy who is 14 years old and lives here too. She is very good with puppies and played carefully and kindly with him. He seemed to have a wonderful time!
Ribbon and Jenny love him and he seems to really enjoy playing with him. It is really interesting and super cool to watch.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
First All Nighter
Venom went into his crate and right to sleep last night with no whining at all. Then, he slept through the night for the first time never having to go out at all! Yay! It is amazing at how powerful it is to just ignore that initial whining in the crate.
Yesterday, he went to meet Manny, our other little neighbor on the other side and he did great!
Venom is still learning to use different toys and chewies. In the mornings, while I sit on the couch and drink my coffee, I put him on the couch with a bunch of his toys and I play with them with him. He is learning to chew on nylabones and play with his little stuffed toys by my sitting next to him and interacting with him with them.
I have several other dogs and some are considerably bigger than Venom so while I do allow him play time with the other dogs they are closely supervised and his playmates are carefully chosen. Ribbon, my 6 year old standard longhair Dachshund does great with him. She does get excited, but plays pretty carefully. Jenny, my 1 year old Basset/Eskie mix also really loves playing with Venom and does well with him. Winnie, my 11 year old longhair Dachshund plays with him a little bit, but mostly just likes to see him and lick him. Ivy, my 14 year old standard smooth Dachshund doesn't play with him but does great with him. Having had two litters herself she is incredible with puppies. She lets him climb on her but will gently reprimand him when she wants him off. Dickens, my 2 year old Cavalier, is very interesting to watch with him. He likes him on the ground, but on the couch, I can see that Dickens doesn't want the puppy to come near. Most people would not notice this subtle body language, because it is very subtle, and he doesn't do anything, but when he watches him, he is slightly tense, he is not loose and welcoming. For this reason, I do not allow Venom to walk up to or climb on Dickens while Dickens is on the couch. It is up to me to set all of the dogs up to have good experiences with Venom but also to make sure that their comfort levels are protected and that I watch closely and listen when they are telling me that they aren't comfortable with something.
Yesterday, he went to meet Manny, our other little neighbor on the other side and he did great!
Venom is still learning to use different toys and chewies. In the mornings, while I sit on the couch and drink my coffee, I put him on the couch with a bunch of his toys and I play with them with him. He is learning to chew on nylabones and play with his little stuffed toys by my sitting next to him and interacting with him with them.
I have several other dogs and some are considerably bigger than Venom so while I do allow him play time with the other dogs they are closely supervised and his playmates are carefully chosen. Ribbon, my 6 year old standard longhair Dachshund does great with him. She does get excited, but plays pretty carefully. Jenny, my 1 year old Basset/Eskie mix also really loves playing with Venom and does well with him. Winnie, my 11 year old longhair Dachshund plays with him a little bit, but mostly just likes to see him and lick him. Ivy, my 14 year old standard smooth Dachshund doesn't play with him but does great with him. Having had two litters herself she is incredible with puppies. She lets him climb on her but will gently reprimand him when she wants him off. Dickens, my 2 year old Cavalier, is very interesting to watch with him. He likes him on the ground, but on the couch, I can see that Dickens doesn't want the puppy to come near. Most people would not notice this subtle body language, because it is very subtle, and he doesn't do anything, but when he watches him, he is slightly tense, he is not loose and welcoming. For this reason, I do not allow Venom to walk up to or climb on Dickens while Dickens is on the couch. It is up to me to set all of the dogs up to have good experiences with Venom but also to make sure that their comfort levels are protected and that I watch closely and listen when they are telling me that they aren't comfortable with something.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Excellent night!
Last night was night three for Venom and he did not cry at all when put to bed in his crate! Yay! Success! He is pottied just before bed, then given a few Little Star treats in his crate when I put him in. He did cry twice in the middle of the night and peed immediately both times I took him out. Then, when I put him back in the second time, he cried for a few minutes before going to sleep.
This morning, we had a little training session and worked on a couple of stands, a couple of sits, and a few downs. We also did a little bit of fetch, but he lost interested in the small puppy toy I was using and grabbed a big, floppy dinosaur toy that doesn't have any stuffing and began to drag and kill shake it. Nice! I love it!
Every time he comes running to me on his own, I say "Here!" while he is on his way and then give him a food reward when he gets to me. When I am interacting, I always have treats (either tiny soft treats or kong stuffin) right there next to me so that I can reward anything I really like.
He is doing well on his mouthing. He is a puppy so of course he mouths, but I just remove my hands and ignore him for about 30 seconds. Yesterday, Rick, my husband (who Venom really belongs to) was playing with him and I heard him say "Ouch!" and then he put Venom away. I asked what happened and he said that Venom bit his nose and it hurt. I asked how he could get to his nose and that if he didn't allow him near his nose it wouldn't get bitten. He replied with, "but he's so cute" which means that he is putting him up to his nose because he wants him by his face. I told him that he can make that behavior go away by not allowing access to his face and nose and just keep him on his lap. These are things we need to think about. If having your nose right there is an antecedent (cause) for a behavior you don't like (nose biting) then it only makes sense to remove the antecedent (nose) and the behavior will disappear. Make sense?
This morning, we had a little training session and worked on a couple of stands, a couple of sits, and a few downs. We also did a little bit of fetch, but he lost interested in the small puppy toy I was using and grabbed a big, floppy dinosaur toy that doesn't have any stuffing and began to drag and kill shake it. Nice! I love it!
Every time he comes running to me on his own, I say "Here!" while he is on his way and then give him a food reward when he gets to me. When I am interacting, I always have treats (either tiny soft treats or kong stuffin) right there next to me so that I can reward anything I really like.
He is doing well on his mouthing. He is a puppy so of course he mouths, but I just remove my hands and ignore him for about 30 seconds. Yesterday, Rick, my husband (who Venom really belongs to) was playing with him and I heard him say "Ouch!" and then he put Venom away. I asked what happened and he said that Venom bit his nose and it hurt. I asked how he could get to his nose and that if he didn't allow him near his nose it wouldn't get bitten. He replied with, "but he's so cute" which means that he is putting him up to his nose because he wants him by his face. I told him that he can make that behavior go away by not allowing access to his face and nose and just keep him on his lap. These are things we need to think about. If having your nose right there is an antecedent (cause) for a behavior you don't like (nose biting) then it only makes sense to remove the antecedent (nose) and the behavior will disappear. Make sense?
Monday, June 13, 2011
Training Begins!
Whether we like it or not, every single moment we spend with our dogs is a training situation. They are always learning. Just because we don't have a clicker in our hand or a treat bag on does not mean they are not learning! They are always learning, so even before I start formal training, I am teaching them something. It is important to think about what those "non training' moments are teaching our dogs.
One of the first things I wanted to teach Venom is how to be calm and quiet and entertain himself. He has an expen in our living room that has a bed, his toys, his water and a pee pad. He is in his pen whenever we cannot supervise him. By making sure that he is confined in his own area with stuff to do, he stays out of trouble. Here is his pen area.
The pee pad is mainly for when I am not home, when I am home, I am taking him out often so he doesn't need the pee pad and has actually used it only a few times. When I take him outside I place him in another exercise pen that is sitting on my patio outside, until he goes. After he goes I tell him good boy and give him some kong stuffin off of my finger. He spends time both in his inside and outside pens.
As you can see he has several chew toys, but he wasn't sure what to do with them, so we had a little chew toy session on the couch so he could begin to learn what they are for and how to use them.
Venom is already doing great with this and can lie in his pen quietly and chew on chewies or toys.
I also wanted to teach Venom right away that being calm and quiet gets him what he wants. When he is whining in the pen or jumping on the sides we ignore him. When he stops vocalizing and sits down I pick him up. Initially, I only required that he be quiet and I have built it up to being quiet and sitting. He sleeps in a crate and night and is taken out potty just before bed. When he goes in his crate, I give him a few small Little Star treats then close the door. Both nights he has cried/barked/whined for about ten minutes before falling asleep. He sleeps for a few hours and then wakes up and barks. I immediately get up and take him outside and put him in his outside pen and tell him to go potty. He goes immediately and then goes back into his crate and goes right back to sleep. Last night, he went out once then went back to sleep. A couple of hours later he cried again so I took him out. He peed immediately so I brought him back in and put him back in the crate. He started to cry again so I immediately took him back out thinking he had to poop and I brought him in too soon which proved to be true. He pooped immediately and then slept through the morning.
Last night I started clicker training with Venom. I just started to charge the clicker by clicking the clicker and then letting him lick kong stuffin off of my finger. I repeated this several times. I also started working on stacking him but gently stacking him (which I have been doing since he was 3 weeks old) and then giving him a bite of food. He doesn't need the food in his mouth to stack him so I don't give it to him until he is stacked which is teaching him to be stacked comfortably without food in his mouth. I also started a new method where I put kong stuffin on my index finger and then hold my hand like a gun with my thumb in front of his neck and my finger sticking out so he is looking at it (like I will do when he is trained to cue him to stand in a show stack) just for a moment and then say "yes" and let him eat it. This is the beginning of training him to stand and watch my finger. It's a brand new idea, so we'll see how it goes!
Today Venom also had his first play date with the neighbor kids Geneva, Serena and Malcolm. Before bringing Venom out I talked to the kids and explained the rules and how we would handle the meeting. They were told they could not run, scream or pick Venom up but that they could pet him carefully. I brought out the kong stuffin and put some on all of their tiny fingers and we allowed Venom to go up to them and eat the kong stuffin off. He would have had no problem going up to them anyway, without the food, but I want him to REALLY love people including kids not just tolerate or accept them so I am using food to condition a good feeling about kids.
Venom did great and the kids did great. He did startle at a loud truck going by (but quickly recovered), but just to be safe, we are going to start truck desensitization training later this week!
He is also discovering and being reinforced for other cool things like:
How to climb the steps up to the couch:
How to retrieve:
How to tug:
One of the first things I wanted to teach Venom is how to be calm and quiet and entertain himself. He has an expen in our living room that has a bed, his toys, his water and a pee pad. He is in his pen whenever we cannot supervise him. By making sure that he is confined in his own area with stuff to do, he stays out of trouble. Here is his pen area.
The pee pad is mainly for when I am not home, when I am home, I am taking him out often so he doesn't need the pee pad and has actually used it only a few times. When I take him outside I place him in another exercise pen that is sitting on my patio outside, until he goes. After he goes I tell him good boy and give him some kong stuffin off of my finger. He spends time both in his inside and outside pens.
As you can see he has several chew toys, but he wasn't sure what to do with them, so we had a little chew toy session on the couch so he could begin to learn what they are for and how to use them.
Venom is already doing great with this and can lie in his pen quietly and chew on chewies or toys.
I also wanted to teach Venom right away that being calm and quiet gets him what he wants. When he is whining in the pen or jumping on the sides we ignore him. When he stops vocalizing and sits down I pick him up. Initially, I only required that he be quiet and I have built it up to being quiet and sitting. He sleeps in a crate and night and is taken out potty just before bed. When he goes in his crate, I give him a few small Little Star treats then close the door. Both nights he has cried/barked/whined for about ten minutes before falling asleep. He sleeps for a few hours and then wakes up and barks. I immediately get up and take him outside and put him in his outside pen and tell him to go potty. He goes immediately and then goes back into his crate and goes right back to sleep. Last night, he went out once then went back to sleep. A couple of hours later he cried again so I took him out. He peed immediately so I brought him back in and put him back in the crate. He started to cry again so I immediately took him back out thinking he had to poop and I brought him in too soon which proved to be true. He pooped immediately and then slept through the morning.
Last night I started clicker training with Venom. I just started to charge the clicker by clicking the clicker and then letting him lick kong stuffin off of my finger. I repeated this several times. I also started working on stacking him but gently stacking him (which I have been doing since he was 3 weeks old) and then giving him a bite of food. He doesn't need the food in his mouth to stack him so I don't give it to him until he is stacked which is teaching him to be stacked comfortably without food in his mouth. I also started a new method where I put kong stuffin on my index finger and then hold my hand like a gun with my thumb in front of his neck and my finger sticking out so he is looking at it (like I will do when he is trained to cue him to stand in a show stack) just for a moment and then say "yes" and let him eat it. This is the beginning of training him to stand and watch my finger. It's a brand new idea, so we'll see how it goes!
Today Venom also had his first play date with the neighbor kids Geneva, Serena and Malcolm. Before bringing Venom out I talked to the kids and explained the rules and how we would handle the meeting. They were told they could not run, scream or pick Venom up but that they could pet him carefully. I brought out the kong stuffin and put some on all of their tiny fingers and we allowed Venom to go up to them and eat the kong stuffin off. He would have had no problem going up to them anyway, without the food, but I want him to REALLY love people including kids not just tolerate or accept them so I am using food to condition a good feeling about kids.
Venom did great and the kids did great. He did startle at a loud truck going by (but quickly recovered), but just to be safe, we are going to start truck desensitization training later this week!
He is also discovering and being reinforced for other cool things like:
How to climb the steps up to the couch:
Venom is home!
Two days ago I brought home Venom, our new standard smooth Dachshund puppy. He is the great great grandson of our 14 year old Dachshund, Ivy. I showed his mother Neena, who needs just 5 single points to finish her championship. His sire is Casey, a dog that I love and whose father I co bred with my friend Sharon Carr from Carrdox Dachshunds.
Venom came from a litter of 6 puppies which consisted of Venom, one other smooth boy, two smooth girls and two longhair girls. I knew we would be getting a male, but I had to choose between the two. I chose Venom because 1) his sweet personality and high sociability, 2) his field potential and 3) his structure.
I will be sharing my training process of Venom and the steps I go through to try to help become a happy, confident, outgoing dog that is a killer in the field.
Venom came from a litter of 6 puppies which consisted of Venom, one other smooth boy, two smooth girls and two longhair girls. I knew we would be getting a male, but I had to choose between the two. I chose Venom because 1) his sweet personality and high sociability, 2) his field potential and 3) his structure.
I will be sharing my training process of Venom and the steps I go through to try to help become a happy, confident, outgoing dog that is a killer in the field.
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