Wasatch Canine Camp Newsletter

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 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!

Today I had Doc, the 5-year-old Standard Poodle, for day training again.  This was his third day working with me and my dogs.  He is a unsocial, nervous dog when he is around other dogs, so we are trying to teach him how to trust and communicate with other dogs, and we’re helping to boost his self esteem.  The first video below is of his first meeting with my dogs today.  I put him on the treadmill to keep him moving, so that he wouldn’t sit in a corner and shut down.  This first interaction with my dogs was definitely hard for him.  He kept his tail low the majority of the time, and even snapped at Sasha for sniffing his face.  He does get a little better at the end of the clip.

This second video is of Doc and Crush socializing with my dogs.  Doc does a lot better in this video.  He has his tail up most of the time, is willing to let other dogs sniff him, and even sniffs other dogs himself.  I really liked seeing this progress with him, considering how nervous he was in the first video.  Crush does really well with him in this video, too.  When I first introduced them there was a lot of growling and barking, mostly because they were meeting through kennels.  There was lots of barrier frustration between them.  Once they were able to be out and off leash with each other they did a lot better.

This third video is of Crush working on the electric dog training collar today.  She is doing a lot better, and is even able to work off leash more frequently.  The last time I had her off leash was the first day I had her here.  Every day since then she has been testing her limits a lot more, so I had to stick her back on a long line.  Today I could tell she was starting to understand where she needed to be, and what she needed to do when she felt stimulation on the collar.  I’m really pleased with her progress so far.  The main things she is struggling with right now is the “down” command, barrier frustration, and eating comfortably around my dogs.  She has no trust towards other dogs, and so she isn’t comfortable eating when they’re around, but she will get better.

Today is Crush’s fourth day here with me for my Boot Camp training program.  She is just now starting to be comfortable here (she was a little shy and unsure the first few days), and so I am starting to see a lot of her real personality.  The first video I showed you of her on the collar she did awesome, and I think it was because she was so unsure about where she was and what to do, that she just stuck by my side and did everything I told her.  Now that she is a lot more comfortable she is testing her limits a lot more now, which is what I want.  I want to see as much of her true self as possible, because that is why she is here, to learn how to control her excitable energy, and to learn to focus more.  This video below is of her third day on the collar (yesterday), and you can tell she isn’t as into it as with the first video, which is pretty normal for most boot camp dogs.  She still does pretty well in the video, but lingers to the end of the leash a lot more frequently.

Today was Crush’s second day here for the Boot Camp training program.  Today I worked with her a bit on the electric dog training collar, but mainly had her included in my Pack to Basics ™ socialization class.  She was really nervous for the first 5-10 minutes of class, but once she was comfortable, she actually started playing with other dogs.  I was really happy to see that, considering she is so shy.  The video below is of her, and other dogs, during the first 5 minutes of class.

This second video is of Crush’s first time on the treadmill.  You can tell she’s unsure about what to do on it for the first minute or so, but then she falls into line and walks really well on it.  She’s a really smart girl, and has figured just about everything out pretty quick here.  I am excited to continue working with her to mold her into a great dog.

Yesterday I got Crush, a year old Husky mix, in for Boot Camp training.  Today was her first full day here with me, and she is doing awesome so far.  She is here to work on dog behavior training (for basic manners),  dog obedience training, and off leash reliability using the electric dog training collar.  She does also have a bit of dog aggression when she is on leash, behind a fence, or in a kennel.  I call this barrier frustration.  The reason I believe she has the barrier frustration is because she’s insecure.  She doesn’t know how to properly communicate and interact with other dogs, and so she has low self esteem when she is around them.  This can cause barrier frustration, especially when she’s on leash, because she can’t run away from the dog if she needs to, so it makes her feel even more insecure causing her to react aggressively.

The first video below is of her socializing with my dogs for the first time.  She does fairly well, but you can definitely tell that she is unsure about them.  She sits down a lot and just tries to avoid them the whole time.  I do love that she is willing to allow them to sniff, and even sniffs them a time or two.  She will get better each day.

This second video is of her first time working on the electric dog training collar.  She does an awesome job considering she’s never been worked on the collar before.  During the first half of the video I have her on leash as I am teaching her to walk by my side and stay focused on me.  In the second half of the video I am able to take her off leash, because she is doing so well.  I have never been able to take a dog off leash during their first time working on the e-collar, so I am very pleased with her progress so far!  I have high hopes for this girl!  Please keep in mind, that during the video I am not giving her treats.  I am giving her dog food so that she has to work for the food she gets.  She is a working breed, and it’s really important that I help her feel like she has a job as much as possible.

Well, today is Minka’s last full day with me.  Tomorrow she will be going home to her owners as a more happy, calm, and balanced dog.  She still will need a lot of consistent training from her owner, to make sure that the training sticks and that she doesn’t try to go back the way she used to be.  Minka is such a good girl, I don’t think that would happen.  I’ve really enjoyed working with Minka the last month I’ve had her.  She’s a very sweet and intelligent dog, and has awesome potential.

The video below is of my husband and I working with Minka at the door.  She barks a few times, but overall I think she does very well.  I’m sure it would be a little more difficult for her if the person at the door was someone she didn’t know, but I think she knows well enough that she needs to stay that she will do awesome at home.  Enjoy the video, and sorry for the barking in the back ground, a dog I am boarding was being very loud because of the doorbell.

Today is Minka’s 23rd day here for my boot camp program, and she is just about ready to go home.  She is doing awesome here!  This week I am just touching up everything with her training to make sure she is prepared to go home and work with her owner.  The first video below is of her off leash on an entire walk around my neighborhood with Bullet (a dog I’m fostering) as a distraction.  Today was definitely hard for her on the walk, because Bullet just does his own thing (which I let him do as a distraction), and she just wanted to go off and play with him.  In the past I have used Sasha, which is very good role model for other dogs in training, and so Minka always did really well with her.  I knew I wanted to use a dog that would be harder for her to ignore to help teach her how to ignore dogs like him in the future.  The end of the walk was definitely where she did the best (at the end of the video I release her and let her run to my car on her own).

The second video of Minka is of me working with her and the blow dryer.  She is very nervous about the blow dryer and the vacuum, so I have been teaching her that there is nothing to be afraid of with either of them.  What I am trying to teach her in the video is that the blow dryer is a source of affection and treats.  If you notice, I will pet her with the blow dryer, and then when she is a little more relaxed, I will put the treat next to the blow dryer so that she is basically getting the treat from the blow dryer, creating a positive experience with it.

Here’s the off leash video of Minka, as promised.  She is let off leash the last half of the video.