This past Sunday we did one of my favorite Sunday activities. We took Deuce and Rio for an early walk around downtown Santa Fe and then headed for breakfast.
Being an early riser, I see the benefit of hitting the town early on Sunday- when most folks want to take it easy. And we get to enjoy Santa Fe almost all to ourselves.
The dogs seemed to really enjoy these types of outings. Rio, in her excitement, needs to be reminded to stop acting like a bull in a China shop. She leaps off the car excited and proceeds to want to take in all smells at once.
Normally I have either both dogs on two separate leashes but attached in a way that I only have to hold one handle instead of two, but when John comes along we each have a dog to walk. This Sunday Deuce and John are taking the scene in stride and I am left behind wanting Rio to stop pulling on the leash - yep, still working on this with her.
Her pulling is worse when Deuce is ahead. I stick to my guns in between breaths, and reminding myself that I am here having a fun, relaxing time – even though I am working. :)
We walk around and Rio is minding me a bit more now that the novelty of sights and smells has decreased. Still I am not happy with all the work that requires keeping her walking as a team with me. So I get out of my Sunday mood and I begin to click her for the tiniest behavior that I want: Her eye catching mine, her turning of the head to see if I am still coming along, diminish of speed, loose leash, etc.
Before I know it, Rio is on board. Taking turns getting reinforced with a tidbit or walking forward to smell something interesting.
Having our dogs walk with us without pulling requires plenty of awareness, patience and a few tricks. I remind my clients that the goal is not of click/reinforce in between the dog pulling since this creates a yo-yo effect that is not helpful to teaching the dog not to pull and can be a slippery slope: Dog pulls, dog releases, dog pulls, dog releases and round and round we go.
Instead, what I aim for is to use a very high-rate of reinforcement by which I am continuously looking for behaviors that I want and I reinforce those. It is similar to having a fluid conversation (the click) with a dear friend as you are both walking.
With practice in many different locations, Rio learns that this way of walking is what I want from her. The more she gets to practice it, the more permanent the behavior of walking alongside me will become.
This is another reason why I love walking them early on Sunday morning. Due to the little activity I can turn a leisurely walk into a fun training walk.
After breakfast we head for a quick errand to Home Depot. It is getting a bit warm so John tells me that the dogs can come into Home Depot. Reealyyyy? I ask.
So off we go with the two dogs into Home Depot. Sure enough the guy at the entrance welcomes us with the dogs and someone else stops to let me go in first while I tell them that they should go in, as I don’t want Rio to pull on her leash. He nods and he enters the store.
Once inside both Deuce and Rio are having a blast! I am kind of at awe at how interested they are in this new environment. I wonder about the canine nose taking in the change of smells from grass and dog markings, to detergents and home-cleaning products. Deuce and Rio seemed to not only enjoy these different smells, but they are on a mission to greet every single shopper on site!
At the cashier's register, I take the opportunity to practice a down/stay while John is paying. Both dogs comply and remain expectant for a minute or so. We are done paying and we head out - everyone's happy.
As we head home I look in the rearview mirror and I take note of both Deuce and Rio who are a bit out of sight. They are both just resting and even perhaps thinking of those smells at Home Depot.
Being an early riser, I see the benefit of hitting the town early on Sunday- when most folks want to take it easy. And we get to enjoy Santa Fe almost all to ourselves.
The dogs seemed to really enjoy these types of outings. Rio, in her excitement, needs to be reminded to stop acting like a bull in a China shop. She leaps off the car excited and proceeds to want to take in all smells at once.
Normally I have either both dogs on two separate leashes but attached in a way that I only have to hold one handle instead of two, but when John comes along we each have a dog to walk. This Sunday Deuce and John are taking the scene in stride and I am left behind wanting Rio to stop pulling on the leash - yep, still working on this with her.
Her pulling is worse when Deuce is ahead. I stick to my guns in between breaths, and reminding myself that I am here having a fun, relaxing time – even though I am working. :)
We walk around and Rio is minding me a bit more now that the novelty of sights and smells has decreased. Still I am not happy with all the work that requires keeping her walking as a team with me. So I get out of my Sunday mood and I begin to click her for the tiniest behavior that I want: Her eye catching mine, her turning of the head to see if I am still coming along, diminish of speed, loose leash, etc.
Before I know it, Rio is on board. Taking turns getting reinforced with a tidbit or walking forward to smell something interesting.
Having our dogs walk with us without pulling requires plenty of awareness, patience and a few tricks. I remind my clients that the goal is not of click/reinforce in between the dog pulling since this creates a yo-yo effect that is not helpful to teaching the dog not to pull and can be a slippery slope: Dog pulls, dog releases, dog pulls, dog releases and round and round we go.
Instead, what I aim for is to use a very high-rate of reinforcement by which I am continuously looking for behaviors that I want and I reinforce those. It is similar to having a fluid conversation (the click) with a dear friend as you are both walking.
With practice in many different locations, Rio learns that this way of walking is what I want from her. The more she gets to practice it, the more permanent the behavior of walking alongside me will become.
This is another reason why I love walking them early on Sunday morning. Due to the little activity I can turn a leisurely walk into a fun training walk.
After breakfast we head for a quick errand to Home Depot. It is getting a bit warm so John tells me that the dogs can come into Home Depot. Reealyyyy? I ask.
So off we go with the two dogs into Home Depot. Sure enough the guy at the entrance welcomes us with the dogs and someone else stops to let me go in first while I tell them that they should go in, as I don’t want Rio to pull on her leash. He nods and he enters the store.
Once inside both Deuce and Rio are having a blast! I am kind of at awe at how interested they are in this new environment. I wonder about the canine nose taking in the change of smells from grass and dog markings, to detergents and home-cleaning products. Deuce and Rio seemed to not only enjoy these different smells, but they are on a mission to greet every single shopper on site!
At the cashier's register, I take the opportunity to practice a down/stay while John is paying. Both dogs comply and remain expectant for a minute or so. We are done paying and we head out - everyone's happy.
As we head home I look in the rearview mirror and I take note of both Deuce and Rio who are a bit out of sight. They are both just resting and even perhaps thinking of those smells at Home Depot.
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