Given the amount of stuff I've had to get off Grey's fur this last few weeks an article by Kathy Sdao jumped out at me while I was looking through her site last week. It's nothing that I shouldn't really ought to have been doing or that other people haven't said to me. But sometimes it takes a prod to remind you to do the more boring things. But actually these things aren't boring, they can literally save you a load of stress for you and your dog. You need to be able to do things when you need to do them.
Kathy's approach comes from training zoo animals to assist in their general everyday care. Given Grey's problems with his teeth and his hairy muzzle that acts like a magnet to spikey sticky buds, it's a good idea to work on these things every day. She recommends leaving out nail clippers etc so that you are reminded to integrate them into your daily training sessions every single day. Jean Donaldson refers to a similar protocol in her excellent book called 'Mine!' on guarding (body, location, food etc).
Grey had become increasingly nervous the last few weeks around his muzzle because of the seed issue. I had a few incidents where I'd tried to take him somewhere where there aren't the bloody things and still he found them. I worked a few days of getting him to look at the nail scissors and work up to him targetting them with his nose. Got him used to the sound of them opening and closing. Eventually he was better around them. In the meantime I stopped pushing on the issue and left him covered in the stuff while they dried up a bit and I could gently comb through.
Showing posts with label kathy sdao. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kathy sdao. Show all posts
Monday, 7 September 2009
Monday, 31 August 2009
Dispelling pack theory
Kathy Sdao lists reasons to dispell pack relationship between humans and domestic dogs. It's amazing how you see behaviour with different eyes if you let go of this belief. I've had people chastise their dogs for telling off Grey who perhaps has been too boistrous and rude in his body language, when in fact their dog was doing the right thing and reminding the youngster to calm down.
Similarly, that there is no point in carrying out rituals of humans eating first or going first through holes in square pieces of would i.e. doors. Sure it can be convienient to have the dog wait but not that it's going to take over the house if it goes through a space ahead of you. Are guide dogs for the blind over dominant? How many times a day do you put something in your mouth to eat when the dog doesn't? Or how about if you give the dog a bone or chew to eat and you don't? Personally I don't think Grey remembers he's just eaten. I could give him another meal and he'd just go. Oh wow! food! There are countless times he eats in the day and I don't and vice versa. I can teach him not to snatch, steal (working on this one), but in essence I think a more accurate description of him of a giant scavenger than would be despotic king of the castle.
Why put more important on ignoring your dog when you get up in the morning or come home? Aren't there loads of times during the day when you ignore your dog? Like now, I'm on the laptop. I'm on the laptop a lot throughout the day. Grey has learnt this a cue for not much happening in the foreseeable future. Might as well lie down and snooze while mum is staring at the square thing on the table as she tends to stay there for at least 20 mins. On the otherhand, if she snaps the lid shut and stands up, then this could be interesting. So why factor in set periods when you have to ignore the dog on top of a daily routine? What does he or you learn from this? When I went to a puppy class last year with puppies as little as 12 weeks. We were instructed to ignore the pups every day in the morning for 2 weeks. This was from a so called positive training class. I thought this bad during the bonding period with young pups.
Here's Kathy Sdao's article on the topic: http://www.kathysdao.com/articles/Forget_About_Being_Alpha_in_Your_Pack.html
It's very hard to find trainers who don't still have these outmoded beliefs at their core. For this reason, I've ended up training alone and with friends for the last year. I'm simply not going to have someone wrestle my dog to the ground when I can teach him a sit. Or to have me actively ignore him when I need to give him feedback.
Similarly, that there is no point in carrying out rituals of humans eating first or going first through holes in square pieces of would i.e. doors. Sure it can be convienient to have the dog wait but not that it's going to take over the house if it goes through a space ahead of you. Are guide dogs for the blind over dominant? How many times a day do you put something in your mouth to eat when the dog doesn't? Or how about if you give the dog a bone or chew to eat and you don't? Personally I don't think Grey remembers he's just eaten. I could give him another meal and he'd just go. Oh wow! food! There are countless times he eats in the day and I don't and vice versa. I can teach him not to snatch, steal (working on this one), but in essence I think a more accurate description of him of a giant scavenger than would be despotic king of the castle.
Why put more important on ignoring your dog when you get up in the morning or come home? Aren't there loads of times during the day when you ignore your dog? Like now, I'm on the laptop. I'm on the laptop a lot throughout the day. Grey has learnt this a cue for not much happening in the foreseeable future. Might as well lie down and snooze while mum is staring at the square thing on the table as she tends to stay there for at least 20 mins. On the otherhand, if she snaps the lid shut and stands up, then this could be interesting. So why factor in set periods when you have to ignore the dog on top of a daily routine? What does he or you learn from this? When I went to a puppy class last year with puppies as little as 12 weeks. We were instructed to ignore the pups every day in the morning for 2 weeks. This was from a so called positive training class. I thought this bad during the bonding period with young pups.
Here's Kathy Sdao's article on the topic: http://www.kathysdao.com/articles/Forget_About_Being_Alpha_in_Your_Pack.html
It's very hard to find trainers who don't still have these outmoded beliefs at their core. For this reason, I've ended up training alone and with friends for the last year. I'm simply not going to have someone wrestle my dog to the ground when I can teach him a sit. Or to have me actively ignore him when I need to give him feedback.
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