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Building Body Confidence in Your Dog

Lily Lily's a pretty agile girl. She jumps into the wheelbarrow when we're working in the yard. Jumps in when it's moving. And loves to stand and shift her balance trying not to fall. 

She delights in riding in the little trailer behind the lawn tractor, too. If it's moving and unsteady, she wants to be involved in it. Maybe this summer we'll get her on a wake board or water skis.  

In the meantime, I've found a great tool that helps Lily build her muscles, challenge her balance, and gain body confidence. I call it The Egg.  It's an exercise ball that's well, egg-shaped!

When introducing Lily to The Egg, I used really tasty treats and made sure The Egg was super secure. The last thing I wanted was her first experience with The Egg to be a bad one. 

Below you'll see the video I made of her first Egg experience (eggsperience?). I kept the session short, fun, and easy. Even super-confident, eager-to-try-anything-Lily thought The Egg was a little weird, but she quickly got the hang of it. She was able to get onto The Egg in two different ways: from the floor and from the couch. 

I'm looking forward to working with her more with The Egg. Once she gets the hang of it, I think the sky's the limit as to how far we can go with The Egg. Stay tuned and I'll bring you more from The Egg and give you some ideas on things you can do with The Egg and your own dog!

Get Your Dog To Notice You!

Does your dog dash out the door, pulling you along behind. 

If you dropped the leash, would your dog even notice?

Does your dog pay more attention to the distractions outside than you?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you're not alone! This is one of the most common complaints I hear from owners. Their dog doesn't even know they exist once the dog is outside. Thankfully, there's an easy remedy to this situation. 

You'll need:

  • a clicker
  • delish treats
  • 6' leash (no retractable leashes!)
  • regular buckle collar (no prong or choke collars!)

Leash your dog, put your treats in a fanny pack and have your clicker ready. Open the door, step outside and wait for your dog to look at you. Don't move any further than just outside the door. As soon as your dog looks in your direction, click and give him the treat. You may have to reach and put the treat in his mouth if he's really distracted. Then just wait some more. Click every time your dog looks in your direction. If you're using super high-value treats, your dog will start looking at you more often than he's looking at his environment. 

Here's a video of my four dogs so you can get a feel for what this exercise looks like and how to do it. Each piece is only about two minutes long.

On His Best Behavior

Talos at Summit Awards Spam Lite. 

That's what I took with me this morning to the Frederick Chamber's Summit Award breakfast. Talos and I were there to accept the At Your Service award for Smart Dog University. 

It was diced into tiny pieces and it was my super-duper high value reinforcer for Talos to reward a job well done. He earned quite a few pieces this morning. 

We walked into a full room – over 100 attendees were there for breakfast and the awards. Talos noticed the bacon wafting through the air while we were still in the parking lot! The room was packed and to navigate through the sea of people, Talos had to follow closely behind me as I cut a path through the room. 

He's a big dog – he stands taller than the standard table top – so everyone's breakfast was at the perfect viewing, smelling, and eating height for this hungry Great Dane. He passed every plate he saw, not even stopping to get a better view (or smell). I took him through the buffet line and he politely kept his muzzle clear of the blueberry pancakes, crispy hot bacon, scrambled eggs, and oven roasted potatoes.

Upon returning to our seat, I cued "your mat" which means lay down on your mat and be a good, quiet boy. The picture above, taken by crazy-talented Mary Kate McKenna, is proof that he earned his Spam Lite this morning by doing everything I asked. 

Talos and Laurie - Summit Award  He sat patiently through the meeting. You'd have thought he'd been training for years as composed as he was when we were introduced and received our award. He was more pulled together than I was! 

Then the other recipients came up to receive their awards and carefully stepped around Talos and his tail. Talos never batted an eye. As if he was born to accept awards and attend ceremonies. What a dog. 

Finally, the ceremony came to a close, and it was picture taking time.  He got to have some fun after the formal ceremony was over and really enjoyed the social aspect of the event. 

If he's anything, it's a social butterfly. Never one to turn down a scratch under the chin or a belly rub, Talos is always up for whatever attention will come his way. 

A quick thanks to everyone who came up to say hello to Talos – every function he attends with me is a learning experience for him. You're not just saying hello, you're helping him learn. 

Here's a little bit of the morning on video:

Targeting – Your Secret Weapon

Sometimes the solution to a dog's behavior problem can be as easy as teaching the dog a brand new behavior, then asking for that behavior right before your dog starts the old, problematic behavior. We teach targeting in Canine Building Blocks group courses because it's a nice, simple solution to many behavior problems. 

What is targeting? Targeting is simply teaching the dog to touch his body (most often his nose) to a specific target (your hand, for example). 

Because it's so simple, many people miss the importance of this behavior. 

I hear this a lot:

"My dog lunges at other dogs, what do I care if my dog touches my hand?!" or "My dog pulls me off my feet, how can targeting stop that?!"or "My dog barks his head off when he sees another dog – targeting's not going to help me."

Targeting can do all that. And more. Targeting is a powerful tool. Here's what it looks like. (Lily's good at targeting, it's one of her favorite things.) After you watch the short video, scroll down to read how I use it with Lily, who's reactive when she sees other dogs. 

When I take Lily to the vet, we're likely to run into other dogs. If I don't give Lily something to do, she'll lunge, bark, and jump at any other dog at the vet office. She's not aggressive, but it looks like she is. To prevent her from displaying those lovely manners <ahem>, I simply give her something else to focus on — me!

We run through the touch game, as seen above, complete with clicks and very high value treats (think: steak). She's happy to engage with me and I'm preventing her from practicing the very ugly and inappropriate behavior of reacting to other dogs. 

Even if your dog is super-duper friendly, not all dogs (or people) want a dog coming up to them. Use targeting to keep your pal involved with you, not with someone else or their dog. 

Sleep, Sleep, Sleep!

You know how I'm always talking about how to find the most reinforcing thing for your dog? I've discovered the "magical" reinforcer for Talos.

Sleep.

Exquisite

You've not seen anything like this. Pedigree (the dog food company) filmed a commercial using a camera that records 1000 frames a second. 

A thousand frames a second! 

Watch the expressions of these dogs. Watch their lips. Their eyes. Their toenails. 

It's exquisite.

I wish I had that camera because I'd love to see Talos' ridiculously long lips flapping in the breeze as he runs…

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What People Are Saying

Smart Dog U really helped me deal with my first puppy and help me grow her (Etta) into a sweet little girl. Without that training from SDU this would have been a tough journey.

Ingrid Copeland

We did in-home training and group classes which helped us welcome Ember into our family. Her understanding of both dogs and busy families made the training easy and guilt-free.

Beth Schillaci

Thank goodness I discovered Smart Dog University! Laurie’s methods quickly made me realize that I was the one in need of training. The end result: A well behaved pup (Kasey) who is a true companion!

Matt Church

Laurie is someone Your Dog’s Friend depends on for good information on dog behavior and training presented in an engaging, understandable way. She has done free workshops for us; we have used her articles in our newsletter; and she is a trainer whom I can refer people to with total confidence.

Debra Ekman, Your Dog’s Friend

Laurie is a very knowledgeable and experienced trainer. She does a wonderful job with both the dog and owner. She is easily approachable and genuinely wants to make sure you and your dog are getting the most out of her classes.

Suzie Brown
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