Lead walking breakthrough

I'm still in shock after our walk round the square just now. Something really interesting and earth shattering for Grey's lead walking has just happened. I decided that seeing as I was going to give Grey his tea, that I would pop out onto the square with him and sit on a bench, watch the world go by and pay up for nice calmness. I thought it might be nice for him to see some things as long as it was calm seeing as he's a bit isolated at the moment still. So I grabbed his evening portion of kibble and went out on the flat collar and sat on a park bench in the shade. We never do this because we live here. We're usually always on the move walking.

I clicked and treated for a few minutes for being relaxed and then for looking at the other people in the park and back at me as long as he was calm. There were some other people in the park: a group of people 20 metres away with intermittent shouts and they had a staffie that they threw a ball for and then an old man came in with a long haired GSD that barked at us when it came in 15 metres away and Grey slightly whined but then managed to put attention back on to me and got to eat loads more of his tea. So things that usually would have him kangarooing on his lead. Then after a few minutes of calm rewards, I stood up and slowly in this relaxed mode took a pace and Grey just continued to be very focussed on me, gentle and calm! ! He was trotting about at my side with the lead in a huge loop down and was then allowed to sniff bits and I continued to click and treat with small handfuls of food. It even didn't go wrong when the stupid staffie owner chucked the ball near us and ran over with his dog to look for it. Grey did get a bit excited, but I was able to settle him down into a sit, a watch and a down and then we continued on our way.

I had to get L out of the house to watch me walking up and down the path as I have never in my days see him do this! Obviously this might have been a real fluke. But I wonder if I had short circuited the adrenaline surge by calming down outside? I have often tried to calm down inside before going out, but his energy has always been so high then it's hard to come down. So by calming for a minute or so before setting off I was able to get his attention.

If this never happens again, I will still be happy with the sheer joy of walking up and down outside my house with my gorgeous dog, Grey! A small glimpse of a possible future!

Little steps at a time

Yesterday I took a different approach to training. Even though I know I've read that people fall into the trap of moving too far too quickly when lead training goes. Somehow that doesn't sink in when you're concentrating on trying to get from A to B. Or trying to get it to work quicker so you can get from A to B. The brief glimpses of Grey walking by my side that I've had, have been so pleasant, I clung onto the thought of it thinking he could do it again. Just the next step if not this one. But that is what's called running before one can walk aka in training terms, lumping. Moving too big a step forward before the dog is ready and proofed, able to perform at a lower level. Grey can walk nicely in the house and round the back yard, but not on the street in front of my house or on walks.

One of the problems is where I live. I live on a hugely busy corner. It's one of the main pedestrian walks into town. On the direct route to the park where lots of dogs go. A main cross roads for cars cutting through the town. My house has raised steps and is right on the corner. When we come out the front door, Grey is confronted by busy traffic and people that have stopped to cross a confusing junction. The atmosphere is quite tense with people scrabbling to get their kids under control to make a dash for it across the road and cars revving to get their slot to cross.

Yesterday morning I went out in the sunshine for an offlead walk by Botany Bay. Grey had good interactions with other dogs. Brief hellos and move ons if a little bouncy. When we were down on the beach investigating a cave, out of nowhere bounded a young male vizsla. He was much leaner and ganglier than Grey a very different shape altogether. They had a short teenage romp together until the owner caught up.

On the way back to the car we did lead training on the quiet footpath. But Grey was never really settled into it. It seemed really endless the number of stops I had to make. He would go round the end of the lead like a compass and string. Over and over. But no matter, we continued this until we got back to the car.

In the afternoon I decided to leave the 6ft wide solid gate to the back yard open to the street. I then got Grey out and started walking him round the yard as I normally would have done with the gate closed. He was slightly distracted but not really. I was using the ham and cheese primula cheese in a tube as one thing I'd noticed is that he gets snatchy on the street and often treats fall to the floor which in turn raises the excitement of hunting for them. The cheese delivery helps save my fingers and also he's looking at my face when he's eating.

So we worked the backyard and slowly edged toward the open gate and the pavement. We managed to get out on the pavement and worked while cars, vans and people with prams and walking sticks passed. Everytime he drifted out of focus with me I would gently edge back into the yard. By the end of the short session we managed to walk up and down 20ft each side of the entrance at rush hour. Hopefully something to build on.

Later we ran through some 'up up' and 'off' training getting on and off the sofa. I was reminded to sort this out by a friend as part of dealing with his humping behaviour. We did about 100 reps. Can't believe I had forgotten to get this solid.

Behind the heel treat delivery during LLW

Neat little video on delivering treats during LLW.

It seems to work nicely in the house at least. It keeps him slightly behind. Not sure if it would work for us outside, as Grey is almost too excited for treats LLW outside. But, with bringing Ian Dunbar's pause and the count to 10 method from The Clicker Gun Dog, I did get a lot more focus and less yo-yo the last two days. I should try and get myself on video to track our progress.

Week two of puppy training class

Lots of training this week. Tuesday day we met up with K and worked through stuff on a 1-2-1. We were doing exercises on 'down' and 'wait'. He did really well, despite it being really windy.

Tuesday night we went to the puppy class. This week it was working on 'down' and more loose leash walking. They teach the 'down' without luring. Grey was pulled out to demonstrate the teaching of the down by asking him for a 'sit' not giving a treat and waiting to see what he did next. Grey knows 'down' and because he's been clicker trained since little, he quickly offered a 'down' on his own. It seems clicker trained dogs know to offer different behaviours because they're used to having to work out how to get the reward. He seems to have come along in leaps and bounds because 'down' was always very hit and miss with him. His leash walking was great too. Not that that translates to walking around town though. He had to be distracted loads through the class with treats in his toy box, and he did seem to be the only puppy who dry humped a few times. Hmm, hopefully this isn't going to be a thing of his.

This morning we had a bit of an unfortunate run in. We were in the park with a someone we've met before and his dog. Grey has met him a couple of times before. And while it's not been a big love in, things were ok. We were in the park for ages and had come to the end of the walk and out of nowhere the dog attacked Grey and had to be pulled off. Grey ran around yelping like I'd not seen him do before and he has a swollen and scratched eyelid. I feel terrible as I'd always aimed to shield him from really bad experinences while he's young and still learning. Not that I want him to ever have bad experiences, but I think that never ever is a bit of an impossibility. Hope that Grey's good nature can shine through and that he doesn't become nervous of other dogs. He's now sleeping and I'll keep an eye on his eye.