Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 68

Preparing for the Trek Home To find out, I had to get him home. We had only five days before we’d be back in snowy Maine, so here’s what we did to prepare him for the trek. Started crate training We were planning on 8 hours of crate time (it wound up being 12) for his flight home. So we bought an airline-approved crate, took it apart, and tucked the bottom half into a corner of our rental cottage. I’ve had several dogs arrive at my boarding and training program with crate aversion, and that problem can be a big contributor to many other behavioral problems. So I’ve had experience successfully crate training wary dogs quickly before, but Charlie’s natural inclination to hide while eating also helped us. We put all his meals in the half-crate and ignored him while he ate. We played with his first toy (he loved that ball) by throwing it into the crate. Over the course of about three days, we added the crate top, and then the door, but left it open. We started closing the door for a few seconds now and again while he was eating. On our last day in Puerto Rico, I waited till he wasn’t watching, and then put his meal inside the crate and partially closed the crate door. Charlie found the setup, and pawed to get into his crate. Score! By the time we went to the airport, Charlie seemed to look forward to his time in the crate. © Albert PresgrAves Conditioned the clicker People still ask if he speaks Spanish or English, but he spoke neither. To make sure he understood something, I began conditioning a reinforcement marker signal. Generally, I click with my tongue and then deliver food. Later, I was told that in Puerto Rico, people tongue-click to scare feral dogs away. Fortunately, I didn’t know that at the time. Parasite die-off was making him sick, and so much else was going on, it seemed normal that he wasn’t getting visibly excited about a click. “Click before food” is our habit anyway, so we just did it and didn’t worry about it. This shows Charlie and me (taken recently). The others [FanTai, Amelia] are images of my youngest students just as they begin to play with hand targeting. Hand targeting is a fast way to build the bond between a handler and a dog. It’s also a very easy game to help develop handler skill in giving a reinforcement marker. Recognized the emotional effect of food access Even as thin as he was, taking food from my hand made Charlie nervous. He preferred to eat in private. Luring has always seemed too much like teasing to me anyway, but with a hungry, intelligent dog that generally just grabs the crust and runs, it became even more obvious that luring could be perceived as force, via a threat to withhold food. I didn’t want to use food to trick or confuse Charlie into doing something he didn’t intend or want to do. Charlie was recovering from starvation. My observations of his emotional and physical reactions to food made me determined to avoid luring Charlie with food as much as possible. So we presented food only when we immediately intended to give it to him. Also, anytime we were eating, we made sure he was eating too. We did what we could to help Charlie feel safe when he was eating. This took a lot of pressure off Charlie, and his evident food anxiety. and to build his social confidence, it made sense to reinforce a hand target. Hand targeting is a foundation behavior that I learned from trainer Leslie Whitney quite a few years ago. A long-time agility competitor, she taught agility in Maine for over a decade, and now does “Gear Up” seminars around the country. Today I still think hand targeting is one of the most valuable behaviors I train. A great way to build skills and experience with using the marker signal, it also makes daily handling far less forceful. Tugging Charlie around could too easily punish his emerging trust in us. So, I marked and reinforced every happy accident when Charlie moved his nose vaguely in the direction of my palm, clicking and treating each nose-to-hand behavior till all the treats were gone. Charlie became more confident while he collected food reinforcement and information by following my hand around. Taught a hand target Charlie was very friendly, happily accepting touch and giving kisses, but he shied away from any sort of physical restraint. We only had a few days to classically condition him to accept a collar and leash, and physical guidance. We paired each presentation with a click and food, and kept introductions to the equipment brief and low pressure. At first, he seemed more relaxed with a long leash. But even on a long leash, the least tug on his new collar, and he practically turned himself inside out and slipped out of it. As a safer and less intimidating way of guiding him around, 68 Charlie in the San Juan airport. One image includes my husband, Albert, our daughter Echo, and our Spanish exchange student Claudia. It was nerve-wracking and upsetting when we had to leave Charlie alone for that long flight, but we didn’t have any choice. Clean Run | February 09

Clean Run Magazine - February 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - February 2009

Clean Run Magazine - February 2009
Contents
Editorializing: Observations, Anecdotes, Opinions and a Silly Little Thing Called Bias
Tip of the Month
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Agility…
Backyard Dogs
Trainer’s Forum
Being an Agility Instructor: It’s Not Just About Dog Training
Foundation Fundamentals: Step Up to Success
Can You Handle It?
When Pigs Fly: Teaching the Rear Cross, Part 1
My Favorite Course
Timing of Front Crosses, Part 3: Proofing Front-cross Cues and Improving Timing
Canine Health Care: FAQs
Tricks for Agility: Play Music and Beg
Skill of the Month
Vision in Dogs, Part 2: Vision Abnormalities
Handling Your Dog in Awesome Style, Part 11: More Common Sequences
Agility Organization Update
Changing Consequences: From Caution to Trust
Does Your Dog Have All the Basic Skills Needed for a Successful Agility Career?
Power Paws: Frame Fun
K9 Kudos: Cures for Canines
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Clean Run Magazine - February 2009
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 2
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Contents
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 4
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Editorializing: Observations, Anecdotes, Opinions and a Silly Little Thing Called Bias
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Tip of the Month
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Agility…
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Backyard Dogs
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 9
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 10
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Trainer’s Forum
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 12
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 13
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 14
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Being an Agility Instructor: It’s Not Just About Dog Training
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 16
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 17
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Foundation Fundamentals: Step Up to Success
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 19
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 20
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 21
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 22
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Can You Handle It?
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 24
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 25
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - When Pigs Fly: Teaching the Rear Cross, Part 1
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 27
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 28
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 29
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 30
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 31
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 32
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - My Favorite Course
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 34
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Timing of Front Crosses, Part 3: Proofing Front-cross Cues and Improving Timing
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 36
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 37
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 38
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Canine Health Care: FAQs
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 40
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Tricks for Agility: Play Music and Beg
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 42
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Skill of the Month
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 44
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 45
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 46
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Vision in Dogs, Part 2: Vision Abnormalities
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 48
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 49
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 50
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 51
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 52
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Handling Your Dog in Awesome Style, Part 11: More Common Sequences
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 54
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 55
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 56
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 57
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 58
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 59
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 60
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 61
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 62
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 63
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Agility Organization Update
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 65
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 66
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Changing Consequences: From Caution to Trust
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 68
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 69
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Does Your Dog Have All the Basic Skills Needed for a Successful Agility Career?
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 71
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 72
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 73
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - Power Paws: Frame Fun
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 75
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 76
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 77
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - K9 Kudos: Cures for Canines
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 79
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 80
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 81
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 82
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 83
Clean Run Magazine - February 2009 - 84
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