Sherry Antonishen's blog

Crate Training = Freedom!!

Sherry Antonishen — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 01:47:05 +0000

Some people feel that crates are confining and unnecessarily restrictive to a dog. I believe that nothing could be farther from the truth. To me a crate trained dog will be better trained and therefor eventually allowed more freedom. Dogs do what is reinforcing. In other words, they are curious creatures in constant search of treasures. In an untrained dog or a puppy this 'treasure hunting' is often annoying, dangerous or at the very least teaching him that roaming free and not listening will lead to an excellent cache (if your dog thinks stealing shoes or socks is fun - he is a treasure hunter!)

Imagine the dog that is not crate trained and instead left to roam a room where the owner is working at a computer. Sure there are 15 new toys for him to play with, but he will gravitate to all new things, especially those they should not have; electrical cords, pens, remote controls are just a few excellent items waiting to be discovered. Even a well puppy-proofed room can hide an awesome reward in the worst possible place (think your new pair of prescription eye glasses on a side table). In addition, every time you have to get up and take something away from your dog, you are adding value to his game because you are giving him attention.

Now imagine a world where your dog or puppy loved his crate. I am not talking about tolerating the crate.. I am talking “love” the crate. This is a trained behaviour that you can do! In that world, you would have the keys to a very powerful tool. When your puppy is out of the crate, you are actively training by rewarding behaviour you want and re-directing unwanted behaviour quickly before it becomes a habit. Play is done with you, not alone, and all reinforcement comes from you not the environment. Can you feel your dog’s love to work for you growing? Because it will.

You lay out the treasure map! Sitting politely, settling on a mat, relieving himself outside all lead to awesome reinforcement. And it all comes from you. In this case your dogs motivation to work for you is through the roof! And chewing on the remote control is not even a consideration.

But you cannot do that all day long. After a good walk, a crate is a safe place to go, as long as you have properly trained them to love their crate! Puppies can spend several happy hours a day in their crate if they are getting adequate exercise and training time!

When you can't be actively involved in shaping your puppies behaviour he could be resting in a crate, working on a food puzzle in a crate, or if you are a good multi-tasker, you could be reinforcing your dog for choosing to go lie in the crate with the door open. I was able to crate train my dog to choose a crate over all other settling places.

Putting your dog or puppy outside is really not the answer to a dog that is not crate trained… Now you have a dog that is learning to have fun outside without you. When they are in the house you spend a lot of time taking things away and managing the things he is getting into. In other words you are a fun-wrecker. Then you put him outside and he can literally do what ever he wants. This is not how you want to lead your puppy into the world and generally these dogs end up spending less and less time in the house with their family where they would love to be.

A properly crate trained dog puts you in charge of everything your dog wants and makes training easy. And a well trained dog is welcome almost anywhere and ironically needs to be crated very little. And if they are crate trained, they are also more comfortable in a vet hospital stay and allowed to fly, stay in hotels, and attend certain events such as agility classes and longer workshop where crate training is a requirement. If you want your dog to love the crate.

Check out our next workshop… Tuesday January 20th at 8pm. Register online athttps://smartdogtraining.dogbizpro.com/Public/Registration/Index.aspx?tab=classes.

What is good play?

Sherry Antonishen — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 22:40:30 +0000

When watching two dogs interact, we're often asked, "Is that okay?" Dogs can play rough. They grab each other, growl, roll around on the ground... So what is good dog play?

Good play is mutual. Both dogs are engaged and interested in interacting.

Good play is about loose, relaxed, floppy bodies. Play movements should be inefficient and floppy, like a puppy.

Good play is about taking turns. If one dog is on top, that dog should back off after a few seconds and not simply pin the other dog under their body.

Good play is short and has natural pauses. These pauses may only be for a second or two, but they calm the play down. The dogs may shake off, and may give a play bow or some other signal, and then the play is on again.

Less desirable, and possibly dangerous, is play that continues to escalate in intensity until one or all of the dogs get overwhelmed. This tends to lead to rude or fearful behaviours such as biting too hard, using excessive force, or snapping at the other dog to get some space.

Also less desirable is one dog always coming out on top; one dog consistently pinning the other dog; one dog engaging in a pushy manner while the other dog is trying to move away; or one dog chasing another into a corner or under a table, bench, or under people's legs.

Behaviours that are considered rude include drawn-out bum sniffing, body slamming, excessive barking, and excessive mouthing of another dog.

Just as not all people you meet will be friends, not all dogs are good playmates either. Most dogs are less interested in play as they get older, and usually don't want to be bothered by pesky younger dogs. In addition, different breeds have different play styles that don't always match.

When looking for dog play, seek out dogs who are a good match for your own; if the dog(s) aren't a good match, just move on - go for a walk, or better yet, get out a toy and play with your dog yourself!

- Roberta Press, CPDT-KA, Smart Dog Training

A Round Pink Sheep and Urban Dog Enrichment

Sherry Antonishen — Thu, 30 May 2013 20:48:43 +0000

My dog is in a down, facing me, about five or six feet away. Waiting. She is patient, but her ears are forward, her body poised, ready for action. Her intent brown eyes alternate between my own and the large pink exercise ball that sits between us.

I give her the command. “Push!”

Her body surges forward. Her head dips and, like a billiards master, she connects with the ball. Low and strong, controlled. The ball shoots towards me and I exclaim “Yes!”. Deliver a piece of chicken. Her tail wags briefly, high and fast, and she takes a quick step backwards, watching me closely. She’s ready to go again, ready to deliver this round, pink sheep to me, her shepherd.

Urban Dog Enrichment.

Three simple words, with a sometimes not-so-simple implication.

100 years ago our furry companions were more than just pets. They were workers. They cleared vermin, retrieved game, corralled sheep. Leashes were virtually non-existent. Dogs patrolled their farms or wandered their neighborhoods, coming home for dinner and maybe a dry place to sleep.

With the shift of dogs to inside animals - city animals, house pets - comes lots of benefits. Better health care for our dogs, better diets, longer lives. We all have a reason for keeping a dog as a pet, whether it’s companionship, a warm body to snuggle, a walking companion, or just a tail that’s always ready to wag when we get home after a long day. Dogs are fantastic at meeting our needs.

But what about our dog’s needs? They’ve gained a lot with our modern society. But what have they lost as part of this migration to city dwellings?

Dogs are intelligent beings. Almost all of them were bred to work. To solve problems. Some were bred to work independently, others to work closely with humans. Surely we can do more for these intelligent, beautiful creatures, for our “best friends”, than simply feeding them, walking them twice a day and throwing that same tennis ball over and over and over again? Can’t we?

Absolutely. So back to those three words. Urban Dog Enrichment.

There are all sorts of fun things that we can do with our dogs to enrich their lives. Here in Victoria we can participate in sports such as Agility, Flyball, Rally Obedience, Canine Freestyle, Nose Work and Search-and-Rescue style tracking.

And recently, a new sport has come to town.

The sport is called “Treibball”. Aka “Urban Herding”, aka “Big Ball Herding”. This sport comes from Europe and is starting to gain traction here in North America. Why? Because there are dozens of breeds and mixed breeds of herding dogs in our city, and very few sheep or cattle.

My dog Cobi is a Victoria Adoptables rescue dog. She’s five years old, at best guess a mix of border collie, shepherd and husky. She’s gleefully sloppy on agility equipment, enjoys training and performing tricks, but her true love is chasing. Herding. The city tells me that I can’t keep sheep in my back yard, and why would I want to, really? But I can keep an exercise ball.

So when our head trainer Sherry came back from a workshop with the skills to teach this new sport, this thing called “treibball”, this herding for city dogs, I was pumped. Sign us up!

First some skills. Cobi, and the other dogs in her class, needed to learn how to touch, and then push an object.

They needed to learn how to go around something, and how to go lie down on a mat at a distance from their handlers.

They also needed to learn how to back up. This is to help the dog get into position, but if you already do a sport like agility or freestyle you’ll know that most dogs have no idea what their back end is doing. It simply follows them around like a little caboose.

To teach a dog to be mindful of their rear end is an interesting and, I’ve found, rewarding task. Now that Cobi knows how to back up she uses it in all sorts of scenarios, such as backing out of that “cougar hole” at Mt. Doug, or getting out of the way when I’m carrying the laundry down the stairs. It’s a useful skill, truly.

And then we got to put it all together.

So now when I get out our big pink ball her eyes immediately widen. Her head comes forward, she rushes for her mat. She loves the word “Push!”. It means “go shove that crazy ball, girl!” It means food. It means praise. And most of all, it means a job. It means building a connection with me, her owner, her handler, her person. It means accepting and embracing my leadership. It means a fun game, a tired brain, and a happy dog.

It’s all about those three words – Urban Dog Enrichment.

- Roberta Press, Trainer, SmartDog Training

Treibball – what the heck is it anyways?

Sherry’s dog Simon practicing Treibball in the snow. (“Snowball”?)

Want more info? Want to give it a try?

www.smartdogtraining.ca

What are you getting your dog for Christmas?

Sherry Antonishen — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:03:44 +0000

What are you getting your dog for Christmas this year? Does your dog already has everything?

Here are some of our favourite gift ideas from the folks at SmartDog.

Food Toys and Puzzles

Need a distraction for your dog this holiday season? Have a dog who needs a little extra brain work? Need something for your dog to do inside on a wet west coast day? Here are our top picks in food toys and puzzles for your dog.

Tricky Treat Ball

http://www.omegapaw.com/products/tricky-treat-ball.html

My dog Cobi loves this one. Contrary to its name, I don’t put treats in it. Instead I fill it up with her kibble at dinner time and she spends fifteen or twenty minutes rolling it around our house. If she thinks it’s empty a little too soon she’ll pick it up and toss it at my feet – “More please!”

This gift for your dog is available at many pet stores around town. Try A Pet’s Life on the corner of Fort and Foul Bay.

Tug a Jug

http://www.premier.com/View.aspx?page=dogs/products/behavior/busybuddy/tugajug/description

This is another food dispensing toy for your dog; you may have seen us use these if you’ve ever had a class with us. The dog learns to work at the rope to get the food out. This is a hard-to-find item, available only online or from our SmartDog store (drop us an [email protected]">email if you’re interested).

Nina Ottoson’s Interactive Dog Puzzles

These come in various shapes and styles and are rated from easy to hard. Most are configurable so once your dog has figured out how to work the toy you can place treats or food in different places and make a new puzzle each time. Note that your dog may need some help getting started so they don’t get frustrated.

http://www.nina-ottosson.com/

Find these at many pet stores around town. Try Bosley’s on Shelbourne.

Reinforcement Toys

The Frizzer

These are tough, aeronautical dog Frisbees that not only fly well and stand up to a good game of tug, but they also hold treats! The Canadian Dog Agility team uses them and so do we. These are custom-made for SmartDog and come in two sizes and all sorts of fun colours.

Sherry’s dog Simon gives this one four paws up!

Frizzers are available through our SmartDog store – inquire via [email protected]">email if you’re interested.

Pro Ball Go-Frrr

The slingshot action fetch ball - this thing flies. Not only does my dog love chasing it, but she also grabs the end in her mouth and shakes it like crazy. She loves how it bounces around and flaps the sides of her face and neck. Just don’t leave your dog alone with it – they’ll easily chew through it in a matter of minutes.

Please note that these are best for dogs over 20” in height as shorter dogs may get their legs tangled.

Find this one at pet stores and vet offices around town.

http://www.proballinc.com/

The Furminator

Got a lot of fur flying around the house? I was shocked at the amount of hair this professional grooming tool removed from my dog and cats – the picture below is not an exaggeration. And my animals actually don’t mind being brushed with it either.

http://www.furminator.com/

Find it at most pet stores.

Dog Classes

What more could your dog want than to spend time with you learning something new? Training and the bond it forms is a gift that will last a lifetime.

This winter we’re offering puppy and adult dog obedience classes (sit, down, stay, come, no biting, no jumping up, etc.), second level classes (reliable recall, go to your mat, and more), agility fundamentals, a tricks class, and more! Our schedule for the New Year will be up soon, so check out our website for more details.

http://www.smartdogtraining.ca/

Whatever you get for your dog this Christmas, even if it's just love, affection and a full food bowl, we wish you a happy holiday season!

- Roberta & the Smart Dog team

What makes a good leader?

Sherry Antonishen — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 05:03:03 +0000

In her last blog post, Sherry highlighted one leadership style that some people take with their dogs - and that some people take with other people! She explored why that leadership style may not produce the results we’re looking for as a dog owner.

But how can we provide good leadership to our canine companions?

We’ve all been in a position of following a leader at some point in our lives – an employer, a parent, a music instructor, a sports coach, a teacher in school, etc.

When I think of a good leader, I think of someone who:

- Has reasonable expectations

- Provides clarity and consistency around those rules and expectations

- Tells me what TO do, not just what NOT to do

- Exercises kindness and compassion

- Supports me and advocates for me

- Motivates and challenges me to do my best

- Takes ownership of their half of the relationship

These are all things that I value in a human leader. But it’s not a stretch at all to apply each of these points to our relationships with our dogs.

It’s important to create clear and consistent rules for our pets, and to provide clarity in our commands and expectations. We need to show our dog what he should do, rather than just correcting him for the things he shouldn’t do. If your dog is jumping up on you when you come home, you might be inclined to push him off of you, or to yell and say “no”. This might be reinforcing your dog and making him want to jump even more – this kind of excitement can be fun for some dogs!

If you would rather your dog doesn’t jump up on you, you need to ignore the jumping and instead give him attention when he finally sits and behave politely. If you and your family members are consistent about this, it won’t take long to form the good habit to form. Then you as a leader will have a dog that knows exactly what to do, and you won’t have to raise your voice or say “no”!

Kindness and compassion isn’t about spoiling a pet, but rather about trying to understand how she may feel or react to a situation. For example rather than punishing your dog for growling, instead try to determine what she’s afraid of and help her either overcome or avoid that fearful situation. This is support and advocacy.

Finally, (and this is sometimes my biggest struggle!), it’s important to own up to our half of the relationship when things go wrong. This also means that we get half the credit when things go right!

What are some of the things you value in a good leader? How could you put those to play in your relationship with your canine companion?

Roberta, Trainer, SmartDog Training

Leadership- The secret ingredient!

Sherry Antonishen — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 02:25:45 +0000

How to be a good leader to your dog is perhaps the most asked question by dog owners. Trainers, of course want to answer this question. The most popular and simple answer is to be the alpha, that is some version of authoritarian style leadership. The “do what I say or else” approach.

With softer dogs that comply readily this might seem easy. With harder dogs this can lead to a battle of wills and the leader ends up using physical force and corrections. Physically ‘correcting’ a dog in big measures is abusive, in very small measures it can still stress the dog out. And even small corrections are mostly unnecessary.

Imagine if every time you did something wrong at work someone stuffed a finger into your backside or jerked your sleeve. Most people would find this at least annoying and not very informative about what to do next time. A lot of people working under an authoritarian model over time become de-motivated and a bit stressed.

Minus the finger poking, this is an actual leadership style. People studied under this style do less because they want to make fewer mistakes. The same holds true for dogs. Authoritarian models are not currently recommended in organizations that want to be successful nor do I think they are for people and their furry companions.

Permissive leadership is another style which at its most basic level allows people, kids or dogs to do what they will. At times this might be appropriate, but obviously requires a lot of teaching and skill transfer... And still there may be times when leaders need to take control and their followers do not get to do what they want; it’s not practical to be entirely permissive.

So you’ve probably guessed that the answer lies somewhere in the middle. But what might the secret ingredient to a good leader be?

Oddly enough it was an incident in a lunch time line-up at a take-out restaurant that really got me thinking about this question. One young employee was trying to help a newer employee sort out a problem with the cash register/computer. The supervisor came along and said that the computer problem should be stored for later as all the customers didn’t have time to wait. This was certainly true for me. The supervisor was frustrated and pulled the newer employee off to the side and proceeded to tell her all the things she was doing wrong. “You don’t leave people lining up at lunch. You don’t take away another staff from their task. You don’t hold up the kitchen.” Then she sent the employee off to do dishes in the back. To me this leadership attempt was so obviously flawed, and yet we often make these exact leadership mistakes with our dogs.

Most of you reading this will probably see several ways that the incident could be improved. The employee obviously needed more training on the computer. If she knew how to fix the problem I am sure she would have done so. Secondly, her choices on what to prioritize were not trained. One could argue that this doesn’t have to be trained, but at many points in human development, choice making is a trained skill. The supervisor could train the skills required to make good business decisions fairly easily. At its most basic level the employee was set up to do a task, failed, and then was punished with public embarrassment and dish duty.

We innocently do this to our dogs all the time!

It is sadly pretty easy to execute insufficient training, and then get frustrated when the behaviours we want aren’t forthcoming. In the moment it appears to be the dog’s fault, and then we punish as though the dog should know better.

Just because a dog can do a recall in the hallway or the backyard, doesn’t mean they will be able to recall off of big distractions in the dog park. But it looks like they should. A good recall must be trained through a systematically more complex list of challenges. No one would expect a person learning how to play an instrument to jump into a symphony with only 8 weeks of training, and yet it does seem like we expect that from our dogs.

If you watch the good competitors at a national agility trial, they never believe for a second that it’s the dogs fault exclusively. If the dog made a mistake, they assess how they can help the dog to get it right. An earlier cue, or perhaps more training. The good handlers never get mad. They always look for way to improve the training.

Being a good leader means providing appropriate training for the tasks required. It means accepting responsibility for when the training is insufficient. Sometimes it may mean taking a role of authority, sometimes it does mean letting the dog figure it out for themselves. Often it is a fine balance with the heart of the matter revolving around proper preparation and setting our furry little followers up for success because they really understand the task at hand.

In an upcoming blog we will discuss the qualities that make a good leader!

The Rescue Files

Sherry Antonishen — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 23:06:15 +0000

Congratulations on the great new site Victoria Adoptables! We look forward to all the great blogs!

We thought this would be a great place to pay tribute to some rescue cases that we find inspiring.

Our opening file is from the early days of my own rescue, Dixie.

Dixie came to Canada as a refugee. Her persecution would have been the death penealty, but Mosaic Rescue saw hope in this little dog and we are so delighted they did!

Her file was as long as the ascent to Mt. Everest. Two incarcerations in Little Rock Arkansas, both before the age of 6 months. Several foster homes and a couple of Forever Homes that “didn’t work out”.

I was introduced to Dixie with pictures from a friend. She knew of a dog that needed a good home. One with perhaps a trainer in it. Resistance was futile...“You want me, I am the cutest thing. Nobody but you will really be able to understand me."

Dixie is the kind of Terrier Cross that looks like she could make a grown man cry and laugh in the same moment - and her looks didn’t lie. In her day, she could shred a hard cover copy of Harr Potter in the time it would take a trainer to refill a beverage. It didn't take long for our household to be smitten! Sure there were issues to work on, but overtime Dixie started to reciprocate the smitten factor. I think it was the way we worked that helped her trust us.

Unfortunately one day while we were in Vancouver she got scared and ran off from the person caring for her. It was more than 3 miles by the way the crow flies from our home. She had never been in this land. Deep Oak Bay. It was near Christmas time and we dropped everything and raced for the 9pm Ferry. We finally made it to the "scene of the crime". We saw racoons, crazy drivers, and drunken Christmas Carolers but no Dixie. Eventually we returned home but were determined to go back in a few hours (pre dawn) and look again. Lying in bed unable to sleep, the most amazing sound erupted from the driveway. A Dixie bark! When we came out of the house she was extatic but exhausted. She had to cross so many busy streets and travel miles of unfamiliar terrain to make it back to her familiar street! After water and food she was too tired to jump on the bed so we lifted her up she fell into a deep sleep. Rescue dogs know a good home when they have found it.

Smart Dog Training would like to thank all the amazing Victoria homes that rescue dogs through Victoria Adoptables. We offer a 10% discount of a class or a private training session.

Check out our website for class descriptions and times.

http://www.smartdogtraining.ca/services-htm