Bad day at the dog park :(

[Duke]

My sympathy for your ordeal at the park. Duke is a wild crazy walker always in a normal collar. I have to use a head collar on him for walks. He hates it with a passion, but that is the only way I can possibly walk him. At least my walk is enjoyable . . . I hope Daisy doesn't adopt his bad habit. I can walk her with a normal collar and she's doing great (so far with fingers crossed). I'm not yet ready for the outdoor dog park. More socializing at an indoor park is necessary and then maybe I'll try the outdoor park. BTW, were you at the Hines Drive park? Did you read that a pack (4) of coyote have been seen in the area? :eek: One of them got a labradoodle, it lived but had many injuries.

[Tayda_Lenny]

Wow! I had heard about the coyotes, but I had not heard it had gotten hold of anyones pets! So sad! We were at Mill Pond Park in Saline… I didn't know Hines Drive had a fenced in area. I think it would be about the same distance from me. The Saline one is about a 20 minute drive away.

Well, some progress already! I have a balcony that the dogs like to hang out on and just get fresh air and watch traffic/people. They never come in quickly when I call them off the balcony, and actually now that I think of it, Lenny normally does not come in on his own when I call him... I usually have to go out there and give him a little nudge to get him in. so for the last 2 hours or so, the neighbors have been playing with their dog outside and my dogs have been watching intently from the balcony. I've been calling them to me from inside periodically, sometimes calling them in twice in 5 minutes, and then not again for 20 minutes and they get a treat when they come to me. And already some progress - he will actually abandon watching the dogs/people to come to me for a treat now. Tayda comes much more willingly than Lenny, so I've actually just been holding Tayda on my lap and doing the exersize with Lenny by himself. I don't want to think he is learning, when really, he is just following what she is doing...

so i'm sitting here at the computer with a handful of treats next to me and every so often i'm calling him.. he comes, and i give him a treat and some praise, and he goes away again If i hear a bird or something go by, I'll call him, sometimes he comes, sometimes he doesn't, but it seems to be working!!

Thanks for the support!

[Duke]

It's great that Lenny is trying to be a good boy with the training! When you must have Lenny's attention, bring extra-special "high value" treats. Once, I had some extra corned beef. That kept Duke by my side the whole walk. Another is hot dogs. There is a post here somewhere to cut them up in pea size bits and dry them in the oven. I'm no expert here, but for sure I know these types of treats really work.

Keep up the good work Lenny - make mom & dad proud!

[vstripe]

Tayda/Lenny
I have been going to the dog park for years now (about 4ish times a week) with my boyfriend and our dog Garrett. For us it has been positive part of his training being around so many different breeds, people, and kids. Maybe it would help to ease into it. I know people that start by going to the park during slow hours so there are not to many dogs early a.m. and such. If your dog park has two sides I personally started off when I first started by going to the small dog side. Then we worked our way up to the big dog side where the dogs seem to be more ruff when playing. I also noticed some people start going to the dog park for a while with a muzzle on their dogs then as they show that they are calm and dont have ill feelings towards the other dogs they take it off. Of course all this depends on the dog and all. A few loops around the park when you first get there might be a good idea too.
I hear you on that comment about how extremely excited they get when they first arrive my dogs back hair is up and everything. He bounces around the car like a ping pong ball (its kinda annoying). Its weird because the second he gets in the gate he's calm. Although He's and old pro at dog park etiquette now it did take some time. For example he had to learn to play gently with the small dogs there was a time he would scare them even though he thought he was being nice.
Also i would like to add I dont know if you have many options in your area but where I live the dog parks can be quite different. Talk to people as you will find many have done some dog park hoping and they will let you know the good and bad they have noticed at other parks. Some are better than others, there is one that I go to that is pretty much regulars and we all know each other and are familiar with our dogs play styles. Here in my area we have a good handful of basenji's that go up to the park and it melts my heart when I see them all playing together its a wonderful sight.
Good luck to you.

[tanza]

I think that one of the things that happened is the he was so out of control before ever getting to the area.. that there was no way that he was going to be calmed down….
I stay away from dog parks... for me they are an invitation for disaster.....

[Lenora]

I agree with you Pat that dog parks are an invitation for disaster. Abbey got attacked and chewed up by a dog a few weeks ago and now she doesn't want to go back to dog park. We had worked so hard on controlling aggression towards other dogs and then that awful thing happened. Most of the owners stand around in little groups talking to each other and no one pays attention to what their dogs are doing. We've got several nondog parks within walking distance of home so we can have our own adventures. We live in a condo without a fence so we go to the fenced playground at the park (she has to potty first) and she can run all she wants. Going to the dog park to socialize isn't top priority for us because she already has dog friends in the neighborhood she plays with.

[lvoss]

@Lenora:

Most of the owners stand around in little groups talking to each other and no one pays attention to what their dogs are doing.

This is one of the biggest problems with dog parks. I do take my dogs to play groups and group walks with members of my obedience class. The number 1 rule of these is that everyone must keep moving and keep an eye on their dog. When everyone is moving and the dogs have to keep track of where their owner is, it really seems to diffuse a lot of problems. The dog's energy is being spent moving between the dogs and their owner as they walk. The dog park we have in Davis is large enough to walk around and keep the dogs moving but most owners do not so I have been sticking with the organized walks where I know the dogs and that the owners will follow the rules because if they don't they won't be invited back.

[Tayda_Lenny]

I was just surfing youtube for basenji videos and i found this one that has a link to the basenjivideos.com that was mentioned earlier in this thread and thought i'd post it for y'all to see!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOKDREGAkwo

[Quercus]

@Tayda_Lenny:

I was just surfing youtube for basenji videos and i found this one that has a link to the basenjivideos.com that was mentioned earlier in this thread and thought i'd post it for y'all to see!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOKDREGAkwo

cute video! Ours ring a bell to go out also! We have sleigh bells, though. It is super easy to teach them to do it. And once one knows the trick, the others learn from the first one.

[luzmery928]

I have a question regarding the attention exercise. Forst let me congratulate you Tayda on working with your dog and getting some positive response. My B dosen't seem to pay much attention when I call him unless it's what he wants so I was hoping to start to work on that as you have done. Do you show your B his treats when you call him to get his attention or does he get his treats when he comes just for calling him? Also can I use a word like "face" to work on the training so he looks at me?

[hdterry]

Wow…what great adivse...I haven't taken Jojo to a dog park yet and the biggest reason is what is being discussed here...I am afraid she will fight or be agressive...I have only had her for three months and she is 11 yr (adopted from BRAT) so I don't know her "history" that well. I am learning from this thread...

[lvoss]

I work on attention as an extension of Name Response. I start by calling the dog's name if it moves to look at me, I click and treat. If they do not make any move toward you or look at you then wait 10 seconds before saying their name again. As they consistently respond to their name start raising the bar for the click so not just looking at you but must be moving towards you to earn the click. Pretty quickly you get a dog that is sitting in front of you and looking at you waiting for you then you can start to click for eye contact.

I reward attention frequently. When I am in class and the instructor is giving instructions I am rewarding my dog for Attention. When we are waiting our turn in agility I reward Attention. The more you reward it the more it is offered. My basenjis have better Attention than the border collie in our agility class because I have worked on it so much.

[luzmery928]

Can I do click training and have a private trainier at the same time teaching different things? Can I also learn the click method on my own?

[lvoss]

Yes, you can use clicker training while using other training methods. The purpose of the clicker is to mark good behavior. If you do not want to use a clicker you can use "good dog" but a click since it is a short sound gives the dog a more precise idea of what it is doing right. What method is your trainer using?

You can learn clicker training on your own. Name response is the first thing that I work with my dogs on using the clicker. My instructor does not have the dogs warm up to the clicker instead we just start by saying their name and when they start to look over click and offer the treat. Within 10 clicks or so they realize a click means a treat is coming.

In agility, I sometimes find I am not coordinated enough to deal with the clicker, the treat, and the footwork required so I may just use a "good dog" but they know a treat is coming.

[cleopatra]

@lvoss:

Yes, you can use clicker training while using other training methods. The purpose of the clicker is to mark good behavior. If you do not want to use a clicker you can use "good dog" but a click since it is a short sound gives the dog a more precise idea of what it is doing right. What method is your trainer using?

We had our first puppy kindergarten class last Thursday and the instructor introduced the clicker but said if we used it we had to have it with us ALL the time so I opted to use the word 'Yes' to mark her good behavior instead. It works well, but you are saying I could use both the clicker and the word 'yes' to mark her good behavior without difficulty? I like the clicker idea so i would like to use it as well if both will work.

[Quercus]

Yes, you can use both. Once your dog understands the clicker, start pairing the click and the word together "click, yes" treat.

I always use a clicker when shaping/training a new behavior. But use the word "yes" or "good" when asking for behaviors that the dogs already know. The click is nice for teaching new behaviors becase it is so clear, and the timing is precise. In my case, my dogs know we are learning something new when the clicker comes out,so they are more attentive.

[lvoss]

My experience is pretty much the same as Andrea's. I use the clicker when training new behaviors or polishing a behavior. I use "good" when we are actually out and about and I ask for a behavior they already know.

[cleopatra]

Fantastic! We have class tomorrow night and I will get a clicker and start working with it. She is so smart and fun to train. Thanks

[luzmery928]

Great, thanks for the clicker advise. I think I will look For the clicker at the pet store this weekend. I'm thinking of using it also at agility class since this weekend while we waiting for our turn he was just EVERYWHERE. I should also take him for a long run beforehand to tire him out and get some focus out of him. The trainer uses treats to train but I like the idea of the clicker also for grabbing his attention.

[Barklessdog]

This is why I dont go_

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3YihpHn4Wg