It's been a busy, busy week with the children, their families, and the staff of Lake Elementary and Walbridge schools in Lake Township, Ohio. We have spent their first few days of school with them with our dogs helping to ease the transition into a new school year after a devastating tornado in June destroyed their high school and affected many, many lives. It has been a humbling and blessed experience. I don't have any photos yet, but will post some as soon as I can. If you are interested in knowing more about this wonderful ministry of dogs and comfort and unconditional love, please go to the teams' national website at www.faceofcrisis.org.
Today is the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop!!! Please visit these great pet blogs soon -- enjoy this last weekend of August!!!
We spent last weekend in Philadelphia with three other K9 Chaplain/Comfort Dog teams supporting the wonderful people at the Parents of Murdered Children National Conference. It was a wonderful weekend spending time with old friends and making lots of new friends. When the conference was over, we were able to check out a few of Philadelphia's hotspots with our youngest daughter and the dogs. We hope to go back soon, bring our oldest daughter, and spend a little more time enjoying the history and the sights.
Marley and Husker hard at work!
L to R: K9 Chaplains/Comfort Dogs Marley, Daisy, Husker, and Connor
Daisy, Kendra, Husker and Ken running "Rocky's Steps" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Kendra didn't even know who Rocky was! We'll be borrowing the movie from the library soon.
Waiting with the dogs for my turn to go see the Liberty Bell.
Ken, Kendra, and Husker outside the house where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.
It's the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop -- enjoy these fabulous blogs!
I get many calls from people telling me their dog is "stubborn" and won't do what he is told or "stupid" and can't learn anything. Nothing could be further from the truth!!! This is a relatively simple issue -- the lines of communication are crossed, disconnected or otherwise compromised and the dog has no idea what you are asking him to do!
So how to "fix" this? Find a positive reinforcement clicker trainer or a good clicker training book, dvd, or video online. Introduce your dog to the wonderful world of "you do something, I click, you get a yummy treat." To get you started today, get your clicker, get some fabulous, I-will-do-anything-for-you treats, and your dog (if your dog is confused or has never experienced this, he might try to walk away from you; put a collar/leash on him so he can stay with you and see how wonderful training is!!). Click, give your dog a treat. That's all. Nothing else. Don't ask him to do anything except eat the treat you are giving him. Click, treat. Click, treat. Do this about 10-12 times. Send your dog off to be a dog! Do this several times throughout the day. Click, treat. Click, treat. This is "warming up" or "charging" the clicker. This exercise first teaches our dogs about the clicker and as we continue to do it, reminds our dogs about the clicker. (I still "warm up" the clicker pretty regularly with my dogs -- they love it! It's easy, it's fun, and they love the treats. It's a good reminder to both of you of the power of the clicker.)
Wow! You have just become really clear and concise to your dog. Is he starting to sit, to down, to give you lots of eye contact? Now you can use this little noisemaker and some treats to communicate with your dog!
The next thing I would click and treat is eye attention or focus. When your dog looks you in the eye (or for some dogs at/near your face -- some dogs do not like to make direct eye contact, but they are still focused on you -- click and treat that), click and treat. No words are needed -- the clicker and the treats communicate for you. If your dog is fixated on the hand with the treats, bring that hand up to your nose, when your dog looks at you, click and treat. Do this a few times and then wait for your dog to look at you -- be patient, it will happen! Ta-da! Your dog has just learned that the treat comes from the hand, but looking at your face causes that hand to open and share the treat!
Happy clicking!!!
In this first video clip, Husker, a clicker-savvy dog, is enjoying a routine clicker charging session.
In this second video clip, Izzy, a dog new to clickers is responding well to the clicker. Even when she gets stressed and stops to scratch, she returns to giving eye contact for the click and treat.
It's the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop -- enjoy these great pet blogs!
We love dogs, training dogs, and helping people to train their dogs. Using positive reinforcement clicker training, we are companions with our family and our dogs on this journey through life. Check out our website at www.buchelesk9service.com.
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