Episode #132 Our Intermediate Training Program & Bonus Leash Walking Tips

BAXTER & Bella's Online Puppy School includes lessons on how to prepare for your puppy, the first week together, Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Training as well as fun tricks. Today Amy discusses the Intermediate Training Program and gives bonus leash walking tips too.

Transcript

An Inside Look at Our Intermediate Training Program & BONUS Leash Walking Tips

Hi everyone! Welcome to the podcast and thanks for listening. I hope you are doing well and finding ways to enjoy life with your dog. 

Today I want to talk about our Intermediate Training program. We often hear from clients, wow your program is very comprehensive! We agree! We cover everything from preparing for your puppy, that first week together, basic training, intermediate training, advanced training and tricks or things just for fun! We encourage members of our program to have a goal; what is the future career of your dog - and then train with that in mind. This helps us know what to teach our dog and what kinds of experiences to set up for them to find success with. We of course involve the dog in the final decision and recognize their interests and needs may change over time based on what our dog naturally loves to do! But having a goal is super helpful in the training process as it guides us forward. Some clients stop after Basic Training which is completely fine! They feel they have the tools necessary to live a good life at home with their dog. Others complete everything we offer and have working service dogs or volunteer in their communities with their therapy dogs. In between those levels is what we call Intermediate Training. 

I love teaching this course. Mainly because I really enjoy teenagers - both human and canine. They are a fun age group full of energy and ideas. 

In our Intermediate training, we progress what we learned in Basic. We continue to work on leash walking with a loose lead, walking through crowds or around others, accepting strangers and how to politely greet them, leaving items alone both on cue and implied, meaning the dog understands to leave certain things alone without being asked. We talk about resource guarding and how to both prevent and change it. This can be scary for many new dog owners who haven’t seen dogs protect things they find valuable to them. We help you through this and educate you on how to best handle situations and set your dog up for success so you are not afraid of your dog. 

We work on station or mat training, teaching the dog to go to a place on cue until released. This is a major focus of our Intermediate course as it has many practical applications, the doorbell ringing for example. Many dogs learn the doorbell means someone new is here - which can take dogs over threshold quickly either because they are so excited or they feel the need to protect their living space. So we work on giving them a job to do when the doorbell rings which does NOT involve rushing to the door and barking like crazy. 

We also talk about reactivity in dogs. This is the age when this may start to appear - you are out walking, your dog sees another dog and they decide to pull, lunge and or bark at the other dog. For many this feels embarrassing and deters them from wanting to walk their dog. We want you to enjoy life with your dog and live life to the fullest with them. So we help you understand why your dog may be doing this and teach you how you can motivate your dog to change their behavior in said circumstances. 

We talk about free shaping, life rewards and reinforcement schedules. We answer the question, will I have to carry food around with me forever? We check in on crate training, house training and how your dog does when alone. We discuss grooming and answer any questions related to nail trims, brushing, ear and teeth cleaning. We want to make sure overall you are feeling confident about living with your dog. You understand how a dog thinks, how to change behavior, how to motivate your dog, what they like and dislike and how to make the training part of everyday life. Make the training work for you. 

As a tip for this week, let’s dive a bit deeper into loose leash walking. First, make sure you do not follow a pulling dog. If your dog has developed a habit of pulling and they know you’ll follow, they will keep pulling because it is working for them. We play the stop and go game. Basically, when the leash goes tight, the brakes go on. When the leash is loose, we move. You can set your dog up for success with this by anticipating when they will reach the end and BEFORE they do, say, “LET’s GO” and change direction. Reward your dog as they follow you in a different direction, and notice how you are now in front of them and they are back by your side. 

In this phase of training, I highly recommend getting off of sidewalks for walking. Go to a park so you have wide open areas to move, change pace and direction. Dogs are more motivated by this compared to walking in a boring straight line. I love using a long line, a 10-15 foot lead and the space at parks allows me to do this - very hard to do on the sidewalk. When I first get to the park, because it is a new and exciting area with lots of smells my dog will likely want to check out, give them the first several minutes to acclimate. Many want to jump right into leash walking which is not what your dog wants to do and will likely create frustration between you and your dog. 

Once your dog has thoroughly smelled the area, see if you can get them to look at you. You’ll know your dog is ready when they look at you and will take food from you. If you can’t get their attention and they don’t care about food, it is NOT time to start walking, or any sort of training for that matter. If you know what has them so intrigued, you may create distance away from that until your dog can focus on you, and they are interested in rewards. Distance is your friend for sure. This is true for the reactivity we mentioned earlier. Move away until your dog can think clearly. Trying to train or teach them something when they are reacting is not effective. Creating that distance can get them back in a clear headspace where they are no longer reacting, but thinking. Then we can teach and train. 

You’ll often see me turning away, making U-turns, speeding up or slowing down as I work to set my dog up for success with loose leash walking. They learn as mentioned, when the leash is tight we don’t get anywhere. We must move as a team to get where they want to go. Brakes go on when the leash is tight, brakes go off when the leash is loose. Keeping those rules consistently leads to a nice loose leash walk. Turning in circles, turning away and rewarding your dog for walking next to you help them see the benefit of being by you. So fun! 

While I’d love to stay and chat longer, I’ve got to go. Baxter is ready for some play! I hope to see you in our Intermediate level courses soon! We love coaching families on how to train their own dogs from home! It’s what we do. 

Have a great week, and happy training!