Dog Training

picture found at http://cutedogpix.com/beautiful-white-chihuahua-baby/

A love hate relationship...

When my chihuahua was a puppy:
 We didn't know what was good or bad for him...

We went to the store to buy food and supplies for him... at the store everyone wanted to pet the little white chihuahua.. A trainer from the store walked by and told us that he must be trained and the sooner the better.  Honestly, we didnt know that having him train with adult dogs was a BAD idea.

 GOOD HINT: puppies should be train with other puppies and not with adult dogs. Also toy dogs should be train only with toy dog breeds as they are to little in size.

We agreed to the puppy being trained by the dog trainer from in the Pet store... the adult toy dogs would do their thing and my puppy would just whimper. Every time we went to the dog training class he would vomit and have diarrhea because he develop a nervous stomach.  He graduated from the class because we showed up every week. In my opinion my chihuahua graduated from class because the trainer couldn't show that she tricked us to join the Store Class as he was to darn young.

I believe that his fear to be with other dogs was helped by being in the class.

How to avoid doing the same errors we did with our Chihuahua.

Socialization: while he is young take him to lots of different places as pet stores and let EVERYONE PET HIM. The more socialization the better.

   DO: invite friends over to meet your new addition to your family.  

   Dont invite lots of people at one time as you cant monitor who is playing with him.  here is why i say this.  My Family invited friends over for Barbeque both families that came had children (ages ranging from 6 to 15). We didn't worry about my Chihuahua as he was sweetest little puppy. People would ask for him and would hug him and take him with them. After a while we heard him whimper the new sound got our attention. we rushed to the backyard and there he was with 2 boys that were playing catch the chihuahua. One wouldn't be able to catch him and they would drop him down the floor.. Oh poor baby.. how many times had they drop him on purpose! that anger all of us and I exploited and lets say his parents are not our friends any more!!!

http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_SocializationPup.php

Remember:  The more new sounds he hears the better. Why? so he is not afraid of firecrackers, ambulances, police cars, horns... etc...

Training your dog

for more signs to teach your dog:
http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/pets-animals/89857-deaf-dalmation-given-new-lease-life-after-learning-sign-language.html

Barking: show treat and put it close to his nose.  He will stop barking as dogs cant smell and bark at the same time. Dont scream at them to shut up. Praise when dog is silent. it takes time, just wait until he focus on the treat.. he will get it to be silent when you say "calm"

Touch Command: say "Touch" wait until the dog touches your hand with his nose.

Yes Command: (this command lets your dog your approval). start by saying the word "Yes" and give him a treat. The word "yes" is the same thing as using a clicker with your dog, every time he does something right, you say yes or click the clicker.

Finish Command: (relase word so dog know that the training is finish)

Sit Command: hand command and raise your hand slightly above your dog head.
      step 1: When your dog sits, say "YES" and give treat.
                 While walking say sit in every corner and wait for him to sit and give treat. 
                 Say Sit before you feed him, wait until you put his bowl down and then wait until you say "yes" or "eat" so he knows that you are giving him permission to eat. 
                Say sit before you or someone else is going to pet him.

     step 2: When dog is in a sit command a few min use the release command as Finish or Go or Done to let him know that he can move any where he wants.

                Say sit before greeting at front door: Ask dog to sit, then pet dog.

Hint: when dog stands up, you stop petting and go away.

Loose Leash Walking: No Treats for walking as walking is the treat.
      step 1:  Dog must stand nice next to you. (dont scream at him to follow you). When he pulls just stop and wait for the dog to return next to you so you can keep walking.

      step 2: Say "dog name, lets go" and take a step.

[Lie] Down Command: Help dog to relax when you have guest.
      step 1: Lower your hand slowly toward the floor. When the dog is down, say "Yes" and treat. Later, when he has learn the down command wait a few seconds and then treat.. remember we want to stop treating when he is on the down command.

      step 2: When your dog is down wait a few seconds and use the release word "finish" to let him know that he can go and do whatever he wants.

Take it/Leave it: (this is good when playing ball so he takes the ball and leaves the ball when he returns)

      step 1:  open hand, show treat, and then say "leave it".
      step 2:  show the other hand where the other treat is at and say "take it".

I personally hate that he eats from the outside floor... It took my family and me a few tries but he learn to not pick up/eat anything from the floor and he only takes treats from our hands.

Drop it Command: (this is a good as when he has something he shouldn't have in his mouth you can say leave it so he has to give it to you with no problem). LIFE SAVER..

      step 1: offer toy and say "take it", play a few minutes.

                 stop playing and wait until dog to release toy, say "Yes" and give treat.

      step 2: Now that you know when dog will drop toy when you stop playing with him you will add the drop it command.  Say the word "Drop It" stop playing and wait, when he drops the toy, say "yes" and give treat.

Watch Me or Look at me Command: first say "watch me" and put your 2 fingers close to your eye and wait until they see you.  Remember the treat is between both fingers.. the first few times pass your hand slowly close to his nose so he can smell the yummy treat and that will get them to follow your hand up to your face.
Name of dog: only use their name when you need to call them as "baby, come". Dont use their name when screaming at them as this will get them to not care for their name and ignore it.

 TO TEACH YOUR DOG TO WALK ON A TREADMILL PLEASE READ "THAT DARN WEATHER" ON MY BLOG

all dogs can learn as http://arbroath.blogspot.com/2009/01/deaf-puppy-learns-sign-language.html

Shark Steamer

Bad: Shark Lift Away Professional Steam Pocket Mop - Model S3901

• Purchased the Steam at Sams...   
• The steamer didn't work.
• Use pured water.
• Used it on cleaning the grease from the stove.  After thirty minutes the professional steamer didn't clean anything.   
• We put dish detergent on the top part of the stove and the steam would just make it warm enough to help us clean it.
• The steam mop didnt work for cleaning the tile floors.  Tried cleaning the wood floors and nothing. It did nothing. 

Good: Shark Steam Mop - Gray/Purple 

• Purchased the steam at Sears
• worked great on the wood floor.  
• Always use purified water.  
• It would dirty the pad really fast and that is no problem because you can buy more pads. Change the pads every few times during the cleaning of the rooms.
• Cleaning the Bathroom floor is really good.  Put the steam mop on top of the dirty area and a few seconds. The dirt goes away. 

*I am going to do a comment but please if you do this do it at your own risk.  To make your wood shine just spray wood finish on the floor and really fast pass the steam mop and you will see how shiny it looks.  It will not leave streaks and no sticky floors. Just a little advice try it on a small area where no one can see it and learn to do it...not a lot of people do it and get it right. 

That Darn Weather!

 

That darn weather.. I cant go out and walk my dog.

  I wish I didn't use the weather as an excuse not to walk my dog but sadly I do.  I usually say its too cold or too hot to walk my FAT chihuahua.  Well, No more excuses.  I remember when he was a puppy, he would walk on the treadmill with no problems.  It took me a few weeks to teach him that it was fun to walk on the treadmill but in the end he did learn to do it. 

  As he got older he stop caring for the treadmill.. Why you may ask? Because I stop getting him on it.
When I tried to get him to use it again, he would not walk or move his paws (feet) while the treadmill was running. I was under the idea that if you get a dog on top of the treadmill it would be ok and he would walk as he did previews years ago. However, that was not the case.

 I tried to reteach him that walking on the treadmill was fun but he is "BIG BONE" and I get tired of holding him on the treadmill. YEP! I did have to carry him during the "walk" on the treadmill and its awkward! I gave up and stop retraining him to use the treadmill.
  While talking to a dog trainer, He said that I had to start from scratch to retrain him to love the treadmill again.  He said first have it turn off ... etc... I couldn't believe, what I was doing before was getting my Chihuhua more scrared of the treadmill.. (that's what the trainer said).
  Then the idea came, why not play on top of the treadmill while it was turned off.  I would place his favorite toy on top of the treadmill. At first he would bark at the treadmill facing the toy. Then he would put his paw on top of the treadmill and pick up his toy and run off as fast as possible.  I would do this a few times a day.  I remember when he was a puppy we would put a few treats on the treadmill and we wanted to do that now that he was older but when we would put the treats, he would just bark and my other dog the shih-tzu would just get up on the treadmill and eat the treats and wag her happy tail. She would even stand there like "hey more treats... come on" :)

  The Shih-tzu was never trained to get on the treadmill.  We never took the time to show her step by step how to get up. One would say, well she saw the other dog walking on the treadmill and she learn from him but that was not the case.  My sister just turn it on and started walking on it, when we saw the shih-tzu walking behind her on the treadmill.  My sister did her 30 minute walk and her shih-tzu walked with her.  When the machine was turned off, the shih-tzu just looked up and made a face like thats it? now what what? no more?? My sister hugged her and gave her lots of praise.  A few days later, I wanted to show my parents what happened a few days before with the shih-tzu and she didn't walk at all. She would just get off the machine.  My sister got up and turned it on and started walking and the shih-tzu got up with her.  We couldn't believe it. She only walks on the treadmill with my SISTER. So now they are walking buddies :) While my sister is walking on the treadmill and the shih-tzu wants to get on or off she does.

  Returning to the Chihuahua: About eight months ago, I found out that he was ok with walking on the treadmill but only if I would sit next to him and he can feel my hands touching his body.  He walks slowly on the treadmill and I am ok with that. I'm in no rush to get him to run on the treadmill.
  When he walks on the treadmill I hold his body so he doesn't wobble.  He gets a good workout by walking and I get a nice workout as I dont need weight lifting exercise after as he is my 10+ weight lol. 

  Here we go More Excuses,... I went out of town for six months and he stop walking.  
Now... I walk him 20 minutes a day. My goal is to get him to walk 30 minutes a day.

I started slow on the first few days...

his walking progress:
Week 1:speed 1.0 and walked 1/4 of a mile

Week 2: speed 1.5 and walked 2/4 of a mile 

Week 3:speed 1.5 and walked 3/4 of a mile

Week 4:speed 1.5 and walked 4/4 of a mile

How to get a dog to walk on the treadmill?

• Have the treadmill lowered and turned off. Ignore the treadmill, it can take a week until you see the dog smell it.   
• You can hug him or play fetch near to the treadmill.
• Every time your dog touches the treadmill give him/her a treat (turned off). He/she doesn't have to be on top of the treadmill to get a treat.
• Give treats to your dog when he/she stays on the treadmill for a few minutes (the treadmill must be turned off!!) Many give him/her a command "Race" so the dog associates the word to the treadmill and that is a good thing and that he/she gets treats.
• Associate positive feelings with the treadmill in order to remove the fear. Once the dog has overcome his/her fear, then you can turn it on.  

A week or so has passed and its time to turn on the treadmill

•  DONT FORCE THE DOG TO GET ON THE TREADMILL. AND BY NO MEANS, DO NOT TURN ON THE TREADMILL TO FULL BLAST...KEEP IT ON LOW (as low as your treadmill can go).
• The dog may show fear when the treadmill is turned on. You must wait until the dog is calmed around the treadmill being turned on, this make take a week or so. Try giving him/her hugs next to the treadmill. You can also play with him/her fetch.  Associate the treadmill being turned on and the noise with positive feelings for the dog.
• When you see that he/she is not fearful then we can go to the next step.
  Give a treat when the dog is close to the treadmill that is turned on. Lets use the command of Touch to touch the treadmill that is turn on and remember to treat the dog when he/she does it.  (dog doesn't need to get up.. that will be the next step after touching the turn on treadmill).
• A week has passed ... use the command of UP so he/she gets up to the treadmill.  He/she will do it and get off really fast, thats ok.. DONT SCREAM AT HIM/HER OR PICK HIM/HER UP AND PUT HIM/HER UP TO THE TREADMILL.. THAT WILL KILL ALL YOUR HARD WORK AND YOU WILL START ALL OVER.

I saw that my dog would get up when I commanded up and jumped off .  So I would say "UP" and Immediately say "down" so he would get a treat and I praise him to show that it was a positive experience as he did 'good'. 

• When he/she stops jumping off the treadmill, then give him a treat on the treadmill. Many Dogs will keep walking while he/she waits for the treat.
• When the dog walks on the treadmill give lots of praise. Say "GOOD JOB".  Just a word of advice this takes months.. but dont give up.. you will see a positive outcome to your hard work.
• THE FIRST TIME HE/SHE WALKS ON ITS OWN.. GIVE HIM/HER THE COMMAND THAT LETS HIM KNOW THAT ITS TIME TO GO TO THE TREADMILL.. "RUN" "TREADMILL" OR "RACE".. dont over do it.. the first time he/she can walk for 5 minutes and stop.. praise and give him/her a treat and give him a command to get off which is "off" or "Finished"

  1. word of advice, never leave your dog unattended.
  2. also never have your dog on a leash tied to the treadmill or loose leash on the treadmill. why? well, the treadmill can eat the leash and choke your dog. If you have the dog tied to the treadmill he/she fall and he/she can choke.

  Use a dog harness when walking your dog on a treadmill.
  

  

  
  REMEMBER, IF YOUR STRESSED YOUR DOG CAN SENSE IT AND THEY WILL BE STRESSED.. HAVE FUN!! JUST REMEMBER SAFETY FIRST!
  
  
  

LEFT HANDED

When teaching a person that is left handed by a right handed person it is much simpler than teaching a right handed person.

•  If you have a child that is lefty dont be scared to teach them. Just remember they are your mirror image. Show them what you are doing in-front of them and they will learn it.  They will learn much faster. I am just saying that its just simpler to teach a left hander because you dont have to go behind them to teach them.
  here are some examples,
  
• • Teaching them to play the guitar the right handed instructor just has to face the left handed person as if it was their own mirror/reflection.
• • Teaching them how to write
    This is much simpler than you may think just Sit next to them, hold their hand and write as normal, look how easy it is... its just your hand on top of his/her and you will be sitting on your own chair and he/she will be sitting on its own chair.  however, teaching a right handed by a right-handed person the teacher must be standing behing the child holding the pencil and having their head tilted so they can see the page and not the HEAD of the child. Also, they must be pushing the child foward with their body because they need to reach the right-hand of the child. WARNING DONT Sit in-front of a lefty and teach them to write because you are just causing them to learn to write wrongly as the picture shows... writing wrong will cause them to have joint problems in their hands in the future.

FRONT SIDE vs BACK SIDE

• for knitting and crochet, both will crochet front side of a project if each does their own project however, when they unite to do 1 project as doing a scarf you will see the difference.
  how?
  Knit: right handers: knit, purl, knit and when a left hander takes over the project they must purl, knit, purl or will do the backside to the front side.
  

 

• for crochet the right-handed: crochets from right to left however, left handers: crochet from left to right. When doing a project on their own they both will crochet front side, however, when a left hander takes over a right handers crochet project they must crochet in the back of the hole instead of the front. why? if they dont do this then the project will be backwards. (picture will be put in the future to show)
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