Wasatch Canine Camp Newsletter

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

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!

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.

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.

Today I had Rachel, a three-year-old Pit Bull, in for day drop off training.  She is a very sweet and submissive girl, but does have a few things she needs worked on.  She is a little unsocial around other dogs, and when they start to rough house she feels like she has to be the “fun police” and break them up.  Unfortunately, she doesn’t know how to be the fun police, and it usually ends up in a little scuffle.

She did awesome today and learned a lot.  I did a lot of socialization with her to help her feel more relaxed around the dogs.  I also worked on a lot of her obedience to build up her patience.  The first video below is of her first meeting with my dogs, and the second video is of me working on some obedience with her.

I have had Henry, the Poodle/Yorki mix, here for board and train for 11 days now, and he is doing awesome!  I have him here for the same reason Ted is here, aggressive dog training and dog behavior training using the electric dog training collar.  Henry is an extremely smart dog and is doing extremely well here.  He is already doing everything off leash, and learning very fast.  He does have a bite history, though, so I am working very hard to get him past this behavior.  Since he has shown no signs of his aggression here, yet, I have been working on getting his obedience perfected, so that when he does go home and the chance of another bite comes up, his owner will know exactly what to do.  I have high hopes for this guy, he really is doing so awesome.  I’ve been having many strangers work with him, and he is doing very well with them, with no signs of aggression.  He has just about a week left here before he goes home, and I hope he will continue to do just as well as he has been.

Ted has been doing awesome the past few days that he has been here for board and train.  He originally came to me for aggressive dog training and dog behavior training using the electric dog training collar.  He has been doing awesome on the collar, and does just about everything off leash now.  This week I have been doing a lot of work with him around more strangers, little kids, and dogs.  I have been taking him on many Petsmart trips to help him really learn to relax around new people, and he has been doing extremely well.  Yesterday he was calm the whole time we were in Petsmart and was very polite to every person/dog/and child that walked by.  Of course, I always work with him wearing the muzzle around strangers.  He will need to wear the muzzle around strangers for quite a few months, with dogs that have a bite history, you still have to be extremely cautious about every situation, but that doesn’t mean he can’t learn to get past all of his behaviors and become an awesome dog.  He will be going home Friday and I definitely think he is more than ready to go home and live a happy and balanced life.

The video below is of last Saturday’s Pack to Basics ™ afternoon class. Ted, the aggressive Red Heeler, and Henry the aggressive Poodle/Yorki mix were included in this class for the first time. They both did awesome! Henry just kept to himself and was very polite. Ted was started off on muzzle and then about half way through I took the muzzle off and he still did awesome! There were a few times where Ted felt like he had to address overly hyper dogs with aggression, but he was easily snapped out of it and moved on. Enjoy!

Today I picked up a new board and train.  He is a 4-year-old Yorki/Poodle mix named Henry.  Henry has what I like to call classic “little dog syndrome.”  He is an excessive barker, is aggressive towards strangers, likes to guard couches, his owner, etc, and is of course, extremely insecure.  Many little dogs in America are like this, because they are the ones spoiled the most.  This causes extreme insecurity in them, which most of the time is also connected to aggression.  I picked him early this evening and so far he is doing awesome here!  He is pretty nervous and just keeps to himself, but I like that trait in him.  It’s so much easier to work with nervous/aggressive dogs, than prideful/dominant dogs.  The nervous ones are a lot more likely to submit faster and are more willing to move on faster.  I definitely still need to be careful and take it slow with this guy, because he does have a bite history.  I will be taking him with me to Pack to Basics ™ tomorrow and then starting him on his dog behavior training and aggressive dog training using the electric dog training collar on Sunday.

It’s been 14 days since I received Ted, the 3-year-old Red Heeler, in for board and train.  He is here with me for aggressive dog training and dog behavior training using the electric dog training collar.  He has been doing very well here.  He is responding very well to the collar, and having little to no aggressive out breaks.  Today was a tough day for him, though.  Most dogs I get in have a few days in the middle of the training where they really try to go back to how they used to be before they give in and relax.  Today was definitely one of those days.  He was being extremely aggressive in his crate, barking and lunging a lot.  He also snapped at me many times today.  He hasn’t done any of these things for about a week, so I know he’s definitely trying his last big effort to get things back to how they were.  He will soon figure out that nothing has changed, and he doesn’t get away with being aggressive towards me.  After this phase passes I will start doing a lot more intense training with him at places like Petsmart.  There I will work on his aggression towards strangers.  Wish him luck!

On Saturday I received a new dog for Board and Train.  He is a 3-year-old Red Heeler with major aggression problems.  His owners will be having a baby in June and really want to get his aggression under control before then.  As far as I know he has been this way most of his life.  He is extremely insecure and feels like he has to protect himself by being aggressive, but this guy is definitely not afraid to bite.  He has bitten his owner in the past, and has successfully bitten me once as well.  He is definitely not a dog that should be messed around with.  I have been taking things very slow with him, because with insecure dogs if you push them too hard, it can shut them down completely and you’ll have to start all over again.  So, basically all day Saturday, Sunday and Monday I just let him get used to being here and getting to know my dogs.  I’ve also taken him on quite a few pack runs with my dogs and I.  Today was the first day I actually started him on dog behavior training and aggressive dog training using the electric dog training collar.  He actually responded very well on the collar today, I was surprised.  His response to the collar was equivalent to a dog that had been working on the collar for about 4 or 5 days.  After today I am definitely seeing a silver lining for this guy, because he did so well.

I am taking him to the vet today, though.  His owners and I both think that he may have hypothyroidism.  Basically, it’s a non-life threatening disease that happens in a dog’s thyroid that makes them gain weight, effects their joints, can cause hair loss, causes aggression, and can cause major anxiety.  He has just about all of those symptoms except for hair loss.  This may be the cause of his aggression, and if he tests positive he will be put on a daily medication.  Honestly, I am hoping for this to be the case, because it will help him feel a lot better and I will be able to work with him a lot easier.  We will find out later in the week what the vet says when the results come back.

Yesterday I had Henry, a Boxer mix, and Bugsy, a German Shepherd puppy, in for day drop off training. Bugsy was here for socialization and to work more on his obedience. I have been working with him and his owner for a few weeks now, but Bugsy is really struggling on stay around distractions. He did pretty well. His focus level is definitely at puppy level, so it takes him about 5-10 minutes before his focus is even there so he can listen to you. Once you get his focus he is very happy to listen and learn. I worked with him about 2-3 times yesterday on leash work and his obedience. This should help out his owner quite a bit at home.

Henry was here, because lately he has been extremely protective over balls, food, toys, etc. His behavior is not just towards dogs, but any animal. He once bit a horses face because he was going for a carrot that was on the ground. He is never like this with humans, though, only other animals. I first worked on his possession aggression with Jake, and he could have cared less about the ball. Jake has a very confident personality, so I know that was why Henry didn’t want to mess around with him. I then decided to work with Rosco, my submissive Lab. Henry, of course, knew he could take advantage of Rosco and jumped on him the second Rosco got the ball. The nice thing about Henry is he is extremely sensitive, so it didn’t take much for me to snap him out of it, and calm him down. He only snapped at Rosco one other time before he realized he had to share. After that he was great the rest of the day, I was even able to get him to be out while all six other dogs (Jake, Sasha, Bugsy, Daddy, Rosco, and Harley) were playing fetch without any problems whatsoever.

Here is just a little video of all seven dogs socializing yesterday.

These are a few videos of Dana from February 28th. I was having a hard time putting them on my computer for a while, but they’re finally up and running. These were during one of the Pack to Basics ™ classes that Saturday.