Keeping a Crate Bound Dog Busy

Some one recently asked me to post what I did to keep Blue stimulated and happy in her cast for 12 to 16 weeks.

Blue, who will be 7 in October, was about 2 years old and very active. She blew a hock at agility practice.

I had to come up with a plan.

I looked at every idea that was sent to me and thought about what
I could train on a lead, in a crate, on a mat or in an exercise
pen. I picked something to work on for a couple of minutes every hour that I was at home and awake. And every potty break is a training session.

Mainly I used Sue Ailsby's training levels ( www.dragonflyllama.com then click on dogs and training levels) and Shirley's keepers (shirleychong.com) to guide me in building a training plan.

Feed all meals from Kong's, paper towel cores and brown paper bags. Keep the raw beef rib, necks and knuckle bones and macho/bully sticks. Move the dog from the crate, to an expen, to a tether. Have crates all over the house.

The Training Plan

-- Karen Overall's Relaxation Protocol (in a down instead of a sit.)
-- pick up (as in let me pick you up)
-- nose touch to target / object (naming objects or just pointing) with duration
-- nose touch to end stick with duration
-- nose touch to my hand with duration
-- paw touch to target / object (naming objects or just pointing) with duration
-- paw touch to stick with duration
-- paw touch to my hand with duration
-- follow target stick
-- follow my hand
-- Husbandry - accept any type of handling
-- LLW to potty and back
-- Leash manners
–- Leash on / Leach off
-- Shirley Chong's say please
-- Shirley Chong's conditioned relaxer
-- Shirley Chong's induced sleep
-- Shirley Chong's Retrieve
-- Shirley Chong's Recall redux
-- find Mine - Scent Discrimination
–- find this on - Scent Discrimination using essential oils
-- settle (lie down flat on side)
-- Take (shape a hold using wood, plastic, leather, metal)
-- Give (shape a give using wood, plastic, leather, metal)
-- Sit
-- Sit stay
-- Sit for exam
-- Down
-- Down stay
-- Down for handling
-- Zen
-- Go sniff
-- Sit at door
-- getting teeth brushed
-- Yes (same as click)
-- Thumb up (same as click)
-- collar grab
-- ruff grab
-- urinate on cue on a short lead on any surface
-- defecate on cue on a short lead on any surface
-- Use a specific place in the yard as an outdoor bathroom
-- quiet (no bark) on cue
-- Speak
-- whisper
-- Ready (look at me)
-- pronto (classically conditioned recall cue- come now and let me touch you)
-- eat (clean you bowl immediately or it will be removed.)
-- drink (take a couple of lick from what I offer you)
-- mat go and stay until called or release
-- crate enter and stay in crate until told to leave with door open
-- Sits to leave crate. Walks out and sits again. (WALKS out instead of bounding and spinning)
-- Look at cat then automatically look at me. (without barking)
-- Stand
-- Stand stay
-- Stand for exam
-- classically condition love of a head halter
-- classically condition love of a life jacket
-- classically condition love of a back pack
-- classically condition love of an elizabethan collar
-- classically condition love of a muzzle
-- classically condition love of nail grinder
-- classically condition attention to me when I sing twinkle twinkle little star
-- classically condition attention to me when I wear a black wrist band on my left wrist
-- auto watch me
-- Find it (treat dropped or hidden near the dog to teach her to sniff for it)
-- Name (look at me when I say your name)
-- Dogs (look at me when I say your dogs)
-- Ring Name (look at me when I say your ring name)
-- Auto Check In
-- Easy (slow down)
-- Wait
-- Build a motivating toy
-- Build a desire to tug (laying down and sitting?)
-- One meal a day spread in a scent box
-- scenting (from training levels)
-- Ring bell with nose
-- Ring bell with paw
-- Roll over
-- Lay on back with feet in air
-- Rub back on floor
-- Shake hands
-- other hand
-- Paw wack
-- Other paw wack
-- Both paw wack
-- High Five
-- other high five
-- Wave
-- other wave
-- give a back paw
-- give other back paw
-- Cover your eyes
-- stretch - captured when she leave crate
-- bow
-- U-turn (Turn 180 back towards me and touch my hand)
-- here (come up behind me and touch what ever hand is presented)
-- safe (sit behind me. it is okay to look out between my legs)
-- kiss
-- smile - captured (mouth slightly open, ears back, eyes soft)
-- sing (howl)
-- look (the way I point)
-- Right (dog's)
-- Left (dog's)
-- Shaping games
-- Bang (play dead)
-- Cross paws - The dog is laying down, with one paw crossed over the other
-- Chin (rest you chin in my hands so I can clean your tear ducts)
-- Pull on rope
-- Find/bring car keys
-- Push something with the nose
-- Sneeze
-- Stop / freeze on cue
-- stationary left heel
-- stationary right heel
-- Back Up
-- Teach names for toys (Get or touch a toy by name)
-- Put Away The Toys
-- sit go wild sit
-- Be a wolf Bare teeth
-- Cock your head to one side
-- Growl
-- Nod your head
-- Rub muzzle on floor
-- Shake your head
-- Wet - Shake yourself
-- Wag tail
-- Yawn
-- Look cute (ears up)
-- Balance treat on the nose
-- Toss up and catch a treat from nose

A Kiss

Notice Blue's soft ears.

Dog Training

What!?! On a dog training blog?

Using breakfast (kibble for training) I worked both dogs today:

Red worked on the fold back down.

Blue worked on go to mat as it was tooo cold to work on Loose Lead Walking outside. Ms. Blue pulls like a freight train.

XXXXXXX

Red will offer his relax down (turn around three times and flop down
flat on his side) or his regular down (fold over on left hip then
lower chest and chin to the ground) most often, even with a lure.

I started requesting a regular down and tossing the treats behind him
so he had to get up. Over and over again. When he got tired of
getting up from that position, he folded into a down. That was the
first time I clicked. So he did it again (with out my asking for a
down - which is a good thing I realize as I want to keep the regular
down. I tossed the treat to get him up and he offered it again. I just
clicked and tossed, clicked and tossed. We did about 15 reps with him
offering.

Silly me to see what he would do, I asked for a down. He sighed and
gave me his regular down. I treated him and freed him but did not
click. I had to toss a treat to get him on his feet again. I waited.
He offered the fold back down. I clicked and quit. When I get to the
naming point, I think I'll call it drop.

Blue's training involved sending her across the room to her mat. We
just did six reps at eight feet and quit. My goal is to be in the
kitchen out of sight and send the dogs to mats in the living room. I
had to put Blue outside while I worked with Red. She was not a happy
camper. Red was happy to be fed just for laying on his mat while I
worked with Blue.

Yesterday I worked both dogs at the same time on the mat as a magnet.

Girl and her dog

Dogs in Black and White

Additonal goals

Here are more goals for me.

I will run Red in some form of agility this year (and do the training to get there.)

I will teach Red a fold back down.

I will get Blue certified to take a tracking test (and do the training to get there.)

I will reduce my waist line so I can run Red in agility (and do the working out to get there.)

+++++++++++++++

Here is my workout plan.

Every other day I will do a 30-minute program of high-intensity interval training. I'll take one dog along each time I go.

The plan is to:
* walk for 10 minutes at a brisk pace
* jog for 4 minutes
* run hard for 1 minute
* jog for 4 minutes
* run hard for 1 minute
* walk for 10 minutes

What does not kill me will make me stronger. -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Maybe I'll start when the SNOW is gone. :-(

Dog training goals

My goals for Blue include basic social skills and team work.

I want her to sit, down and go to mat (and stay there) regardless of the distractions.

I want a rock solid come to front and either side, her to stay with me while working off lead, a supervised separation (so she'll allow a helper to hold her in agility class), and her to ignore other dogs even if they jog towards and then pass her with their handler.

I want to be able to leave her in a down stay while I walk the rally course.

I want Blue to be able to play with me and a toy anywhere.

I want Blue to be able to run with me (circle work) without herding me.

My goals for Red are fewer.

I want him to happily get into his car crate.

Ears

Photographing Dogs

I took a photo of the Blue-dog over the deck rails. (Tayja puts that ugly scarve on the poor dog every morning so Blue doesn't have to be "nekkid.")

Then I took the photo thurough the deck rails. It changes the mood of the photo and adds a layer of interest.

It is a still different and more interesting photo in my opinion when I zoomed in and turned the camera to vertical.

And now I just show one of Blue's eyes watching me.


Tech notes: All the photos were spot focused (in auto ) on Blue's right eye. My ISO was 100. Shutter speed was 1/250. My F-stop was f/4.0 on the ones through the fence and f/5.6 on the first one. I used a 70 to 200 mm zoom lens set at 120.0 mm on all (except the first photo). The eye photo was cropped out of a larger frame. I picked f/4 as my f-stop for through the rails because I wanted Blue's eye and muzzle to be sharp but I wanted just a hint of the deck rails. Blue was below and about five feet way from the rails. I used an ISO was 100 because I knew that I had plenty of light with the brightness reflecting off of the snow. The day is overcast which is a very pretty time to take photos out side.

Blue Working

Lynnda took video of me working Blue. She also provided the notes under the videos to explain what I was working on with Ms. Blue.

Here is Robin working to desensitize Blue, her GSD, to the small & medium two dogs lying quietly in the ring to the camera’s right. Robin is doing Look At That with Blue as well as moving to add more distance between Blue & the dogs.

Here is Robin working to desensitize Blue, her GSD, to the small & medium two dogs lying quietly in the ring to the camera’s right. Robin is doing Look At That with Blue as well as moving to add more distance between Blue & the dogs. Robin is probably giving Blue a bit too much leash; if the leash was shorter, Blue might have had more opportunities for reinforcment.

Here we are having Robin demonstrate the choose-to-heel exercise, clicking the dog the moment it drives towards heel position, with the handler to deliver the tidbit in heel position. Think Click for Action, Reward for Position -- as clicker master Bob Bailey often says.

These two Teaching Heeling videos are for Minnesota 4-H dog project leaders & trainers. The kids in 4-H have to pass an obedience test that emphasizes heeling [like most obedience competition] before they can do agility with the dog.

Robin or Blue have never done this exercise this way (and it is only the third time Blue has ever been to that building).

Waiting for dinner

More dog photos.

Red is waiting in his crate in the laundry room for dinner while Blue waits on her towel in the kitchen.

Mat

Red and Blue share a mat.

Blue in Motion!

fence running

Casey and Blue run the fence line without any barking.

A Study in Blue

Higher

Rawhide

A Study in Blue

Blue's Halloween

Blue was NOT an angel today. She started out pretty well. Every time the door bell rang, I sent the dogs to their mats and rained cat kibble on them. They sucked up the treats while I answered the door and passed out candy.

Red and Blue would bark a couple of times as they headed for their mats.

And then THIS came to the door.


Poor Blue lost her mind. Not even roast lamb would get her attention. All the hair was up on her back and she was using her "I mean business" bark.

So I asked the kid to wait a minute and put Blue in the kitchen out of sight of the door with a raw meaty bone. She calmed right down when she could not see the four foot tall monster at the door.



She didn't even bark later when the door bell rang to announce even more mini monsters. I know it was only because she could not see them.

Hunt for the Bunny