Shaping in dog training – why do we do it?

What do you mean, shaping?  Let me try and explain.  Shaping is the term used to get the dog to do a desired behaviour simply by waiting until they do it and then rewarding it.  Sounds a bit odd, doesn’t it?  Normally when we want someone to do something for us, we ask them.  Please will you make me a cup of tea?  Then you reward them; thanks very much.  (It would be great if your dog could make you a cup of tea, wouldn’t it?)

But just as you can’t really get your dog to make you a cup of tea, you also can’t always explain to them what you want them to do.  Sometimes it is easier and more effective to wait for them to do something and then reward that.

Why use shaping in dog training?

As I’ve said, it’s useful when you can’t easily show the dog what you want them to do.  It’s also a powerful way of training, because the behaviour is initiated by the dog and so they are trying to work out what is required.  It means that they are already really engaged with the learning process.

This is one of the things that makes Border Collies so ‘easy’ to train.  With many dogs, they don’t particularly care what you want them to do.  They might want you to give them a treat, but working out why you might give it to them is just too much effort!  They would rather just wait until you get bored, give in and give it to them anyway.   However, with patience and persistence, you can achieve results.

Border Collies want to please.  They really care what you are asking for and will try and problem solve to get a result.  They are able to keep trying and working until they get it right.  Basically, they have a good ‘learning ethic’.

What can be taught?

I remember when I took Sunny to early obedience lessons and she was called to the front to demonstrate how to teach ‘go to bed’.  The instructor had a carpet square by his feet.  He fed Sunny some treats, to get her interested.  Then he looked at the square.  Sunny tried doing a sit.  Then she went into a down.  All the time looking at him to see if she could have a reward.  He waited.  Finally she touched the carpet square.  He said ‘yes!’ (the same as using a clicker) and rewarded.  Within a few minutes she was going and sitting on the square.

In other words, you can teach all sorts of things using shaping training.  I’ve just been looking back on Ounce’s early training which is very sweet.  What a clever puppy she is!  I talked about shaping in relation to her understanding of verbal commands only.  As I say in that post, I was always thinking about her doing agility in the long run.  I carried on using shaping in her First agility steps.

Now I am putting it all together.  She’s been making fantastic progress considering how little actual training she has had and we are well on the way.  Ounce is eligible to compete from 18 months, but fortunately by the time she is that old, in December, there won’t be many shows on until the following April.  This gives us a few more months’ training time, which I am happy to have.

Weave training

For me, the weaves are the hardest bit about doing agility.  Some people find the ‘contacts’ hard, making sure the dog touches the painted sections at the bottom of the A frame, dog walk and seesaw.  I find the weaves torture!  With my 4 dogs I have tried various different methods and all of them seem to take years and years to master.

The biggest problem is that the dog must always enter the weaves with the first pole on their left shoulder.  Try explaining that to your dog!  The next problem is spacing.  If your dog goes too fast they will ‘pop out’ – something Sunny would always do, missing out a few in the middle.

Often the dog is guided into and through the weaves by you walking beside them, encouraging them and helping them to stay in rhythm.  This makes it extra complicated, as you have to be able to match your pace to theirs and be exactly the right distance away from them.  These dogs usually go slowly and are not very good at weaving when you are on the left hand side of the weaves.

Your dog must also go right to the end of the 12 weaves, persisting until they are all done.  Luna is brilliant at doing 10 weaves and then looking up at you and saying ‘that’s enough isn’t it?’  Cheeky.  It is hard work for them to get it right.  Busy is nearly five years old and she has only just mastered the weaves consistently.  What you really want is a dog who will go off and do them while you go haring off somewhere else, ready for the next bit of the course.

Look at Busy doing it perfectly:

Ounce shaping weaves

Here we go then, this is our third go with Ounce.  We are only using two weave poles, so it seems completely random.  But this will soon build up…

Ask for help?

You are very welcome to CONTACT ME to ask for my advice.  I can help you with a variety of issues and problems around getting a dog and suggestions for tackling training issues.

Remember..

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Challenge – can I walk 8 Border Collies on my own?

Not only that – can I walk them on my own, off lead, for an hour?  It is certainly a challenge; especially on a Bank Holiday Monday!  I decided that it would be easier to do this in the woods than round the lake or up the river.  Less cyclists and runners (but possible horses!) and wider paths.  No roads nearby, so much safer I thought.

This weekend I have had 3 visiting dogs (plus one visiting cat) making 10 animals (not counting the snake) in our house.  Poor Chris!  I have had Bea, Luna’s daughter from her second litter here for just under a week.  Then the boys arrived – Blake and Charlie.

Blake is Luna’s brother (same dad, not bred by me).  Charlie is a very special boy.  He is Aura’s son, from her only litter.  He went to one family, who couldn’t cope with his exuberance in a busy household with young children.  Fortunately for him and me, Charlie was rescued by my friend, so now lives happily with her and her family.  He gets on well with Blake, is learning to do agility and has a lovely life.

How do you get 8 collies in a car?

Simple – one in the front, two in the back and five in the boot, of course!  They managed really well – it was only for five minutes.

The challenge of walking a pack

Whether you are walking 3 dogs or 8 the issues are the same.  You need to cope with different dogs having different interests and pace.  So you keep counting and keep checking you have everyone.  Where’s Charlie?  He’s found a muntjac of course!  I waited patiently for a few minutes.  Back he came, what a good boy.

When you are walking a number of dogs it is important to have plenty of treats.  You need to call them individually and reward them.  They also need to be able to interact well with each other.  I work on this by putting them into a line and doing individual, named recall training work.

Fortunately, this pack are really easy; partly because they are Border Collies and partly because they are related to one another.

Pecking order

One thing I have noticed over the years is that Border Collies in a family will tend to line up in age order, with the oldest closest to you and the youngest furthest away.  Of course it doesn’t always hold true, but it is an interesting dynamic.

The other thing that is interesting about walking Border Collie is just how snobby they are around other dogs.  They rarely choose to interact with other dogs, unless they are also BCs!  I always think it is intellectual snobbery on their part – they think that other dogs are not worth trying to talk to.  I do find that the boys are more sociable than the girls, which is why I recommend getting a boy if you only have one dog (can’t remember only having one dog :p)

Anyway, we had a ball up in the woods and now they are all dozing around my feet while I write.  Bliss!

Ask for help?

You are very welcome to CONTACT ME to ask for my advice.  I can help you with a variety of issues and problems around getting a dog and suggestions for tackling training issues.

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think.  If you want to know more, why not FOLLOW ME?  Then you will receive an email when there is a new post.

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Teenage dog – is this really a thing?

Ounce is now 14 months old and growing up.  But just like people, dogs go through a bit of a ‘teenage phase’.  Symptoms of this include:

• suddenly forgetting how to come when called
• getting a bit above themselves, with you and family dogs
• thinking everyone is their friend
• chewing things, having stopped chewing on the whole ages ago
• being over-boisterous

Sounds delightful, doesn’t it?  It’s a phase and they WILL grow out of it.  But annoying nonetheless.

Growing pains

Although Ounce had her first season some months ago, that does not mean she is a fully mature dog.  She is still growing and as a medium dog, won’t reach full size until she is around 18 months old.  Large breeds tend to take even longer.  This is not necessarily in height, but just in terms of filling out and ‘growing into herself’.  So she still looks a bit gangly.  And she still weighs only 14kgs, which is not much for a pedigree Border Collie.  Adults normally weigh around 17kgs for a bitch and 20kgs or more for a dog.

Settling down

The main issue, for me at any rate, is that she is a bit too lively and jumpy.  She is just too exuberant!  Bless her heart.  I’d hate to knock that out of her, but I can see that for visitors to our house, it’s a bit full on.  The temptation then is to shout at her, but really, she’s fine, it’s just her age.

The selective recall is another aspect of Ounce’s behaviour that is a bit annoying.  Of course no-one else would even notice a change, as she still comes back almost immediately, but I can tell that her mind is elsewhere.  I clearly remember Buzz going through this stage and being completely confused.  I thought “why is he no longer coming straight back, when he did last week?” Simply an age issue.  It will get sorted out.

Ride it out

Sadly, many dogs are re-homed at this point, when they are going through this teenage phase.  People think they have an adult dog, who has finished growing and developing and has no more to learn.  They feel that they’ve done their job with training and that this is what they are stuck with.  Wrong!

That is nearly the case, but not quite.  There’s more work to be done, to reinforce all the early training and make sure it is built on; keep on with the recall training.  But also, things will improve again and settle down, if you are prepared to wait it out.

I usually find that when a dog hits two years of age, they are more like the finished product.  That’s when they finally stop jumping around all the time and demanding endless play and fuss.  They will walk more calmly beside you.  They respond to you willingly and you probably don’t need treats on walks any more.

Be careful what you wish for

Two years old isn’t very old is it?  It’s not long to wait until their behaviour and temperament settles down.  But actually, it’s almost a sixth of an average dog’s life.  Before you know it they will be 4 (like Busy) or 6 (like Aura).  Then they will be properly middle-aged, 8 (like Luna) and then you blink again and they are 12 (like Sunny).  Then you’ll be worrying about their arthritis and how to manage it, worrying about other health issues and starting to take their age into account in the activities you do.

The life of a dog is very short.  Enjoy it all, even the teenager bits.

Ask for help?

You are very welcome to CONTACT ME to ask for my advice.  I can help you with a variety of issues and problems around getting a dog and suggestions for tackling training issues.  Go to the What Dog? page for more information on my service.

Please let me know if you have found this post helpful? More information about training a great recall can be found on the recall training post.

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think.  If you want to know more, why not FOLLOW ME?  Then you will receive an email when there is a new post.

NB: If you read my posts in an email, you may be missing out on the lovely pictures!  Please click through to my website to see the post in all its glory?

Poor paw: how can we care for a sick or injured dog?

Worst thing about owning a dog?  Without a doubt, it is when they are ill or injured.  Their pain is your pain and all you want to do is take it away.  I’m going through a bit of a spate of niggly health issues with the girls at the moment.  Mind you, having five dogs means the chances are high that someone will be sick or injured at some point.  Poor girls!

Ounce is now almost 14 months old and is due for her vaccination booster pretty soon.  I had noticed months ago that she was occasionally slightly lifting her back left leg when she was standing, particularly if she had her head down.  A friend who’s an animal physiotherapist suggested lifting her food slightly and that definitely helped.

Of course the first thing I had done when I noticed Ounce was doing this was to check her over really thoroughly.  There was no injury to her foot.  No cracks or tears in the pads, no damage between the toes.  I felt all up her leg for sore places and tenderness and couldn’t find anything.  At no point did she yelp or twitch away from me.  So I just felt that she had knocked it, causing it to be a bit sore and that this would improve over time.

When to go to the vet?

When you have an animal that has something ‘not quite right’, it is hard to know when to take the poor thing to the vet.  I do try to have some common sense about it though.  If you spend time around your animals, you notice pretty quickly when something is a bit off.  They might be off their food, or more lethargic than normal, or reluctant to go for a walk.  (Of course they might be all these things due to our current heatwave!)

I generally do try these days to hold off rushing to see the vet until I understand what is happening.  Dogs are often sick because they have eaten something that disagrees with them.  Or they might have an accident in the house because they drank too much water.  Equally, they might cut their pads, or bruise a leg, but this should clear up on its own.  It’s really a question of keeping an eye on them.

Poor Ounce – not yet better

Still, having monitored Ounce’s leg and felt that it was more or less fine, it then got much worse again this week.  She had been rushing around in the garden with the other dogs, especially her cousin Bea, who is visiting at the moment.  This has obviously aggravated the previous weakness and she started lifting the leg more and hopping along. Time for the vet!

I therefore took her in a couple of days ago.  The vet had a good look and a feel.  She didn’t say ‘ouch’ once, bless her.  We’re trying anti-inflammatories and rest for two weeks, then she will be examined by the orthopaedic specialist at our veterinary practice – MK Veterinary Group.

Investigations

I need to have her hips x-rayed to have her hip score done, if I am going to breed from her in future.  (See my post on Healthier dogs for more details about this process and why we do it.)  So I have decided to arrange this at the same time as Ounce is being seen by the specialist about her knee, so that the x-rays can be done of the knee at the same time, if necessary.

Unlike people, dogs needs to be give a general anaesthetic for most x-rays.  You just can’t keep them still enough otherwise!  Fortunately, because the procedure isn’t very long, nor is it invasive, the recovery time is pretty instantaneous.

Fingers crossed, Ounce with be fine, poor girlie.

Insurance

Just to reiterate what I have said elsewhere.  I don’t insure my dogs, because when you have five, it’s just not worth the money you have to spend on premiums.  Fortunately, they are generally pretty healthy, with trips to the vet’s being for routine matters that are not covered by insurance.  It would perhaps have been good if Luna had been insured before she was diagnosed with diabetes, but buying the meds online means it is not that expensive to maintain her health.

There is an argument for making health insurance compulsory.  This would ensure that animals were well cared for and people didn’t put off taking them because they couldn’t pay.  It would also stop people dumping their animals.  However, my feeling is that at present insurance is variable and expensive.

Ask for help?

You are very welcome to CONTACT ME to ask for my advice.  I can help you with a variety of issues and problems around getting a dog and suggestions for tackling training issues.  Go to the What Dog? page for more information on my service.

Please let me know if you have found this post helpful? More information about training a great recall can be found on the recall training post.

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think.  If you want to know more, why not FOLLOW ME?  Then you will receive an email when there is a new post.

NB: If you read my posts in an email, you may be missing out on the lovely pictures!  Please click through to my website to see the post in all its glory?

Charity: What is the best way to support a charity with your dog?

I am feeling guilty.  I had signed up to take part in the ‘Midnight Moo‘ tonight, walking 10 miles around MK city centre, starting at midnight.  This event is to raise money for the wonderful Willen Hospice.  I think hospices are great places and try to support my local one whenever I can.

However, I am not doing the walk tonight.  My reasons are:

• Why would I go for a walk without my 5 dogs?
• I don’t want to walk around the city streets when I could walk up and down the river, between our two beautiful lakes – Willen and Caldecotte?
• Why would I walk around during the middle of the night, when it’s dark?
• I have a dodgy knee, which gets painful when I walk

Why do we do things for charity?

Shame on me.  But it’s made me reflect on charitable endeavours and why we do these.  I love to support and donate to charity and  will donate for other people.  I will give money at coffee mornings.  It is great that people run marathons, jump out of planes, climb mountains and cycle huge distances, raising money for charity while they’re at it.

Which comes first, the desire to do something extreme or the desire to raise money?  Why do the two have to go together?  If you want to do something anyway, to push yourself, then surely it’s OK to just do it?  If you want people to donate money to a particular charity, can you ‘just ask’?

Maybe it’s better if you’ve had to sweat.  Perhaps if I made myself stay up all night that would make people think I deserved to receive donations for the charity?  Walking 10 miles is not that hard for me – I walk 3-4 miles every single day, plus all the running around I do at training.

What I do for charity

I volunteer: I have been a school governor for over 15 years, in 4 schools.  During this time I have spent hundreds of hours in meetings and committees, as well as going into school for many other activities.

I have also been a volunteer with Busy for the last three years.  We started off doing this through Pets as Therapy, but have recently changed charity, to Canine Concern.  I have been really impressed with the welcome I have had from this charity and the friendly ethos they have.

Canine Concern was formed in 1988 by Eve Waring, who had seen how important dog visits were to the elderly and lonely.  Eve believed in reaching out to people through their dogs.  She wanted to make the group friendly and supportive of each other as well as to the people, young and old, that we visited.  Canine Concern was, is and always will be the organisation that cares for people as well as dogs.

Busy’s work in schools

For the last three years Busy and I have been visiting our local junior school.  We spend two hours per week seeing four groups of children aged 7-11. Busy lies down in the middle of the group, or moves around so that everyone has a chance to pet her and engage with her.

We focus on conversation, developing social and listening skills, for children with a wide range of needs.  Some struggle to pay attention to others, or they may find it hard to sit still.  Many of the children are lacking in confidence and find the time spent with the dog incredibly rewarding.  The school have found the impact of Busy’s visits has been far reaching.  Oh and by the way, I taught Busy to read!

One of the less well recognised benefits of the visits is that the staff interact with her.  I see that teaching and support staff all light up when she arrives and if they can sneak in a cuddle, they do!  I think that having the dog in school is a great ‘stress buster’ for everyone and I know that the staff member I work with sees it as the highlight of her week!

New areas of work

My volunteering has recently expanded in two ways:  I am visiting my ‘governor’ school with Busy once a week.  And Luna has also been assessed as a therapy dog with Canine Concern.

I am also incredibly proud that Charlotte and Bea, Luna’s daughter, will also be starting to visit their local primary school, from September!  Bea will be excellent in schools; she has the same lovely temperament of both her parents.

I started to do assessments of volunteers and their dogs earlier this year and am proud to carry on with this with Canine Concern. I am also going to be taking on the role of Area Coordinator for the charity, helping to bring the volunteers together and provide them with support.

Please donate?

If you have enjoyed reading about the volunteering I do with Busy, why not get involved?  You can:

• Donate
• Volunteer
• Promote the charity to your family and friends

Thank you for your support.  Please CONTACT ME me if you would like to know more?

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think.  If you want to know more, why not FOLLOW ME?  Then you will receive an email when there is a new post.

Wishing my Sunny girl a happy birthday!

Sunny is my dog of a lifetime – she changed everything for me.  I have already talked about Life-changing dogs when it was Busy’s birthday in January.  Busy is a special girl who has enabled me to volunteer in schools, making a difference to lots of children’s (and adults’) lives.

Sunny is a different kind of dog.   My aunt described her recently as ‘fierce’ when looking at the calendar picture of her for this month.  She certainly has an intensity in her eyes when the ball is in her sight!  But she is not fierce.  She does have tremendous focus though and a willingness to learn.

A true Border Collie

Sunny has all the attributes you want in a Border Collie.  She is active and energetic, able to keep going for as long as it takes.  In fact she doesn’t know when to stop and would keep fetching a ball until she drops.  Sunny wants to do it – whatever ‘it’ is.  Play fetch, do agility, go out with the bikes, play with the other dogs…

She has the intelligence to figure it out and certainly knows how to work it.  People who don’t know her are immediately trained by her in the art of ball throwing.  She is full of character and won’t put up with any rubbish.

Sunny is not a cuddly dog; she will tolerate a cuddle on her terms.  She will come up onto the sofa occasionally, when it suits her and usually when she wants something.  I did not put her forward to be a therapy dog because she doesn’t particularly love children, unlike all the others.  She can snatch treats too.

A great mum

I decided to breed from Sunny before I met her – it was something I always fancied doing.  She had three litters – 22 puppies, over four years.  As a mum she was conscientious and diligent, but not especially loving.  They were perfectly cared for but not molly coddled.  All have grown into wonderful dogs.

An agility dog

It was also my intention to start agility before I got her and what a journey that has been!  As with most Border Collies, she is incredibly keen and very fast.  She really ‘gets it’ – tearing around so happily, although not always being prepared to pay attention to me!  I spent the first few years of my agility training desperately trying to keep up with her.  Bless her, she still absolutely loves it, when given the chance.

Another birthday, another year older

Although twelve is a ‘good age’ for a dog and she is certainly regarded as a ‘veteran’ in many ways, Sunny is far from old.  Having her family around her definitely keeps her young in spirit.  She shows no sign of slowing down on walks and is perfectly happy chasing after a ball, or running around with the others.

Sunny’s party trick – singing Happy Birthday, of course!

Ask for help?

You are very welcome to contact me to ask for my advice.  I can help you with a variety of issues and problems around getting a dog and suggestions for tackling training issues.  Go to the What Dog? page for more information on my new service.

Remember..

If you enjoy hearing about Ounce and her family and want more, why not FOLLOW ME?  Then you will receive an email when there is a new post.  Please CONTACT ME if you would like me to write about a specific topic?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think?

NB: If you read my posts in an email, you may be missing out on the lovely pictures!  Please click through to my website to see the post in all its glory?

A seaside outing – the puppy and me!

NB: If you read my posts in an email, you may be missing out on the lovely pictures!  Please click through to my website to see the post in all its glory?

Yesterday I took Ounce on a day trip to the seaside, to visit my sister and her family.  We had a wonderful time, including going onto a beach for the first time ever!  As you may know, Brighton has mainly pebbly beaches, but that didn’t bother Ounce.  In fact she thought it was a great game to play fetch the pebble!

Funny puppy.  She also loved playing with my niece, fetching stones for her to throw.  Ounce certainly did not like the sea though – much too noisy and scary!

Eating out

We went to a restaurant, where Ounce was made very welcome.  They made a great fuss of her and gave her some water.  I was really pleased with how well she settled down while we had our leisurely lunch.  I must admit that until fairly recently I didn’t really think you could take dogs into restaurants, only pubs.  Now I do it all the time! Thank you, Pizza Express for your hospitality.

Then it was back to my sister’s house, where again Ounce made herself at home.

Finally we were back in the car, for the long haul home, round the motorways – joy.  She settled down, perfectly happy in the car.

New seaside experiences

Overall, I am delighted with how well she coped; new place, seaside, restaurant, seeing lots of noise and bustle, travelling in the car and spending another day on her own.

I recently talked about routine for dogs being the key to a happy, well-adjusted dog.  However, I was thinking about the survey results and the fact that people take their dogs to training every week.  Training is about providing new, stimulating experiences for your dog and I believe this is just as valuable for them as it is for us.

Ask for help?

You are very welcome to contact me to ask for my advice.  I can help you with a variety of issues and problems around getting a dog and suggestions for tackling training issues.  Go to the What Dog? page for more information on my new service.

Remember..

If you enjoy hearing about Ounce and her family and want more, why not FOLLOW ME?  Then you will receive an email when there is a new post.  Please CONTACT ME if you would like me to write about a specific topic?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think?