Wasatch Canine Camp Newsletter

Today I had a puppy training session with a 6-month-old German Shepherd named Forrest.  Today we started working on stay with him around distractions.  He’s never worked around distractions before, and you can definitely see that in the video.  During the first half of the video, he gets up quite a bit and has to be corrected several times.  About halfway through the video he figures out what he needs to do, and stays put in his stay while Alan and Lilly are able to walk around him twice.

Today was Moose’s 18th day here with me for the Boot Camp training program.  He is doing awesome here!  He is here to work on obedience training, off leash reliability, manners, and dog behavior training using the electric dog training collar.  The first video below is of his 10th day here with me, and in that video you will see he is still on leash with the e-collar.  Usually at that point in the training, most dogs are already working off leash.  That is what he really struggled on the most.  Anytime I took him off leash, he would bolt to the nearest shade (even early in the morning, or late evening).  He is just so lazy and wants to be cool at all times.  It was almost like he couldn’t take any heat at all.  I kept working him, and pushing him to get off leash, and just about a couple days ago he figured it out.  It was almost like a light switch clicked on in his head and he finally figured out what he needed to do to work off leash.  Ever since then, he has been doing amazing!  I am really hoping that he can go home this weekend.

The second video below is of today’s training with him.  Today was his first day off leash with another dog as a distractions around.  I think he did great!  Before we started filming he did try to play with Daddy for about 30 seconds, but then he focused on the training and did great.  I’m so proud of this boy!

Today was Moose’s 6th day here for the Boot Camp program.  He is doing pretty well.  He is understanding the treadmill great, he’s getting along well with my dogs, doing great with potty training (not like that was an issue with him, like it was with his sister Zoe), and overall is learning quickly.  He is definitely acting a little shy towards me and my husband.  When I am working with him, he keeps his distance the majority of the time.  If I take him off leash at all, he runs to my car and lays down next to it, because he wants to get in it.  With my husband he just shy’s away from him and avoids him when he calls him.  I know Moose’s father very well, and how Moose is acting is a lot like his father.  Harley (Moose’s dad) is a very mellow and sweet guy, but he can be a little shy (not so much towards people or dogs, mostly towards new situations, noises, etc).  Moose definitely got a lot of Harley’s characteristics.  That doesn’t mean he can’t build confidence and get better, it’s just going to take some time.

Today I took Moose with me to Petsmart, so that I could do a bit of human socialization with him.  He did great!  He was curious about everyone and every dog there, was very polite, and listened very well when I gave him commands.  I liked seeing this confident side of him, that I don’t normally see when we’re at home.  I am hoping he will get better around me and my husband the more we use treats with him.

The video of him below is one my husband took yesterday of me working with him.  As you will see, he follows well, and obeys very well, but he isn’t into the training.  I am going to start working with treat rewards with him to build some interest in working with me, and also to help boost his self esteem.

Moose practicing the "place" command

On Saturday I got Moose, a 5-month-old German Shepherd, in for the boot camp training program.  Moose is Zoe’s brother, if you remember her.  Moose is here to learn some manners (he occasionally jumps on people and can be a little mouthy at times), how to ignore cats (he always wants to chase them and play with them), off leash reliability, and advanced obedience around distractions.  He is doing well so far.  Yesterday I taught him the treadmill for the first time, and it took him quite a while to get used to it and walk on it properly.  Now, he does awesome on the treadmill, which is the first video below.

Today was his first time working on the electric dog training collar (which is the second video below).  He did a pretty good job, considering it was his first time on the collar.  He did a lot better than Zoe did with her first time on the collar.  He definitely reacted very normal for any dog’s first time on the e-collar.  He kept his distance from me, and was at the end of the leash the majority of the time.  There were a few times that he would come and walk by my side, which is exactly what I want, but then he would wander off again.  He’ll definitely get better the more I work with him, until he gets to the point that he can work off leash by my side.  Be sure to keep checking back to see his progress!

These two videos are the last videos I took of Zoe before she went home last Saturday (sorry it has taken me so long to get these posted).  Zoe did so great here for the boot camp program!  The first video is of her first time working on the place command off leash with two dogs as a distraction, so she does mess up a few times.  The second video is of her walking off leash by my side.  She ended up doing so well with both of these training exercises by the time she went home.  I am so proud of her and her progress.  She was very willing to learn, and very fun to work with.  The only thing I just couldn’t get under control with her, was her potty training.  She is just such a difficult dog when it come to potty training.  She doesn’t care if she lays in her pee/poo, she doesn’t care how big or small her kennel is, it doesn’t help to feed her in her crate (so she gets the idea of ‘I eat here, not go to the bathroom here’), and it didn’t matter what type of feeding/water schedule I had her on.  Any time she was in her crate she would have an accident.  It was something I could never figure out with her (and neither could countless other trainers I spoke to about it).  Her owners understand and are willing to work with her until she does understand that her kennel is not where you go to the bathroom, which is good that they are very patient people!  Overall, I think Zoe did so awesome here, and she is definitely going to be missed!

Today was Zoe’s 14th day here with me, and she is doing great!  I have her here for the boot camp program so that she can learn obedience training, off-leash reliability, potty training, and dog behavior training using the electric dog training collar.  She is doing pretty good with just about everything except for potty training.  Her off leash reliability is coming along great, and so is her obedience training (see video below).  I am now teaching her the “place” command, and working on everything she knows with distractions.

For about a week and a half she hasn’t had any accidents in the house (remember, I have been having her out in the house with me, and going everywhere with me so that I can keep on top of her potty training), and so I have been slowly integrating the crate back into her schedule, and there is still not much of a change with the crate.  After just a few hours she will almost always have an accident in the crate (I know she can hold it, because she can go twice as long in the house without having any accidents).  There is just something about the crate that makes her think it is okay to pee in there.  I am hoping things will start clicking with her and that she will stop peeing in the crate soon.  I will keep you posted!

Today I had Beau, a 1-year-old Cocker Spaniel, in for day training.  He’s here to work on leash manners without a halti on.  The video below is of him on the treadmill for the second time.  I taught him the treadmill today to help boost his confidence a little bit, because I’ve notice he’s a little shy and nervous.  He still has a lot to learn about the treadmill, but he will definitely get better.  He is doing awesome with his leash work as well!

This video below is of Lucy, a German Shepherd I had here for day training.  I was teaching her how to walk nicely on a loose leash.  She did an awesome job, and was really fun to work with!  Don’t you think she could be Sasha’s twin, though?

Today is Zoe’s sixth day here for the Boot Camp training program.  She is a 4-month-old German Shepherd, and she is here for dog behavior training, obedience training, potty training, treadmill training, and off leash training using the electric dog training collar.  In my last post I wrote about how much she is struggling with potty training.  For the last 4 days I have had her on a very strict potty training schedule, and have kept her with me always, instead of putting her in a crate.  In the last four days she has only had one accident in the house, which is awesome compared to how awful she was doing in the crate!  She is also sleeping through the whole night without needing to get up in the middle of the night to go potty.  I am so pleased with her progress so far!  I am going to slowly integrate her back into her kennel, because once she goes back home, she will need to be in her kennel during the day while her owners are at work.

Below, are two videos of Zoe today.  One is of her on the treadmill, and the other one is of me working with her on the e-collar off leash.  She is learning so fast here.  I’m so happy to see her off leash on the color so quickly, considering how young she is.  She’s going to do so well here once she’s done!

On Saturday I got Zoe, a 4-month-old German Shepherd, in for Boot Camp.  She is here to work on potty training, manners, and dog obedience training using the electric dog training collar.  She is doing pretty great here, considering it’s only been a few days.  The main thing she is struggling on here is potty training.  She’s probably had about five accidents in her kennel in just two days.  She’s a pretty difficult puppy when it comes to potty training.  With most puppies I would put them on a very strict feeding/water schedule, make their crate just big enough for them to stand up and turn around, and take them out regularly.  Zoe is a little different, and this schedule doesn’t work well for her.  I am doing things a little differently with her to see if it helps her understand potty training better.  Basically I am keeping her in the house with me at all times.  She’s still on a strict feeding/water schedule, and I am still taking her out very frequently, but now that she is in the house with me and I can monitor her a lot closer, she is doing a lot better today.  She has only had one accident in the house today vs her 2 or 3 yesterday in the crate.  I am hoping this method will work a lot better with her, and that she will learn very quickly that she needs to go outside, instead of inside.

The video below is of her first time on the electric dog training collar.  She responded very normally for a puppy’s first time on the e-collar.  She was very distracted, and was at the end of the leash just about the whole time.  She will definitely get better the more she is here.  Keep checking back for more videos of her and her progress!

I have Daisy, a Shih Tzu mix, here for boarding this week.  She is a sweet girl, but is very shy around other dogs, and can be a little too submissive around certain people (which causes her to submissive urinate).  The first video is of her first night her, plus her first time on the treadmill.  The second video is from a few days ago during feeding time for the dogs.  You can definitely see an improvement in how trustworthy she is towards my dogs.

The video below, is Crush’s last video from my Boot Camp program.  I had her here for about 4 weeks, and she is now home with her owner.  I had to here to work on dog behavior training, dog obedience training, manners, and aggressive dog training using the electric dog training collar.  She did awesome while I had her here, and she learned a lot.  Her owner was very happy to see her again and says that she is doing very well at home.  Enjoy the video!

Yesterday I had a consultation with a 4-month-old Old English Sheepdog.  She was such a fun puppy to work with.  She is so sweet and mellow, and just wants to please.  Her owners are wanting to show her and maybe do some agility with her.  For now, we are just getting her started on basic obedience, manners, etc.  Yesterday was our first session together, so we started off with teaching her “sit, down, and stay”.  She does very well considering it is her first time learning those commands.  The one I think she will struggle with the most is the “down” command, but if her owners are consistent, they will have a lot of luck with her.  The video below is just a short video of her doing “sit, down, and stay”.