Category Archives: dog training

While Tango’s away …

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Fran on Friday

Booker

Booker

Tango is at the groomer’s for a much-needed haircut. So Booker and I are here at the shop by ourselves. That means that Booker gets uninterrupted training and play-time. He seems to enjoy the one-on-one time with me.

I’ll take more but shorter training breaks with him. So hopefully he’ll be very tired when we go home later! I know that Tango will be tired (after his initial crazy puppy zoomies when he gets back) when I bring him back to the shop later. I know that at first he and Booker will race around the ring like lunatics, like they haven’t seen each other in years!

There’s nothing better than having tired dogs in the evening. They’ll be sprawled out on the couch or the floor, and Hope and I can watch TV in peace. Or take a pre-bed nap with our sleepy dogs. Yes, I’ve reached the age when I fall asleep on the couch after dinner. The thing that makes me feel better is that on the evenings that I go out for dog training, I’m wide awake when I get home. And usually stay that way until I decide to hit the sack.

Am I Proud of My Dogs?

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Fran on Friday

0620_tngo_mail1You dog owners who are somewhat active on social media have probably seen posts by people who have been “tagged” to post a picture displaying their pride in being a dog owner. I was tagged today, and I had a hard time with my comments.

As most dog owners do, I have tons of pictures of my dogs and I post lots of pictures of them. Sitting, lying down, chewing on stuff, jumping, you name it. But how does my pride in being a dog owner enter into it?

Merriam-Webster’s simple definition of “pride”:

  • : a feeling that you respect yourself and deserve to be respected by other people

  • : a feeling that you are more important or better than other people

  • : a feeling of happiness that you get when you or someone you know does something good, difficult, etc.

The second definition doesn’t apply here – more important or better than others? I don’t think so. The first one – well, that goes without saying. So it comes down to the third definition. I do get a feeling of happiness when my dogs do things that are good or difficult.

I train my dogs so that they can be happy just “being.” With me, or in their crates, or at home with Hope when I’m not there. I want my dogs to be that independent, but still know that I’ll be there when they need something. I think that’s hard for some dogs.

I train my dogs to do what I tell them to do – both in the competition ring and outside of it. I think that might be easier than the hours we spend happily in each others’ company, just being.

I bring my dogs to work sometimes, and I’m lucky that I get to do that. Most of the time at work I don’t ask anything of them. Just to be. Or sometimes pose on a stupid mail table so I can take their picture (that’s Tango).

Taste Testers

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Fran on Friday

021916_booker_tangoWe’re picky about the treats we carry here at the shop, Golly Gear. We care about our dogs, and we care about our customers’ dogs. We also know that boring treats can kill a dog’s interest in training. Good treats are absolutely essential in obedience training. And, it hasn’t been as prevalent lately, but it seemed like for a while we were hearing about dogs dying from eating treats that came from China.

When we choose the treats we carry, we think about those things. Obviously, we want treats that our dogs will like. We want treats with good quality ingredients. We want to know where the treats were produced. And our dogs want to try them!

We’ve discovered single-ingredient treats! Organ meats that have been freeze-dried. Organ meats are full of nutrients, but they’re generally too rich for a steady diet. As a treat, though, they’re perfect, especially when they’re a size that is appropriate for our little dogs. So far, we’ve got sliced turkey hearts and clean tripe. The great thing about the tripe treats is that they’re not stinky!

Did I mention that our dogs are eager to try the new treats? So far they definitely approve!

Not on the agility course, dude!

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Fran on Friday

booker_play_bow_041616I’ve written about Booker’s training. My frustrations and successes, the endless hours of training and classes (well, it seems like endless hours!). Yet I know that no matter how many hours I put into training, something will happen that I don’t expect. It’s inevitable. You can’t plan for everything. You can think about any contingency, but something will happen out of the clear blue sky.

Case in point: Booker playing keep-away at the end of a run. Really? He’s 3 years old. I know he loves me and likes to be with me. Yet at the end of a run, Booker won’t let me grab him and put his leash on. We’ve trained so that he knows he’s not going to get treats until his leash is on, so I don’t understand it. Does he want to run more agility? Does he like the attention?

I tried to train him to play with his leash, but then he won’t leave it alone when I take it off of him. (You can’t run agility with the dog on a leash.) So I’m trying to train him to jump up on me on command. It works for my Tango – but he’s much lighter than Booker is. Hopefully we’ll figure it out. It’s a work in progress.