Some tricks that we have been working on. Just Dhali. The first video is from the beg. of last month and the last one is from a week or so ago. Look at how big he is now!!! I want to <squeeze> him he's so cute!
I have a bad habit of training WAY too long with him. Bad momma. He is just so willing to work for a long time and I lose track of the time. I never had that problem with Tibby! She would just walk away. Which I am learning, thank you Leslie McDevitt, isn't such a bad thing to do.
I took Dhali with me today when I got my hair cut in Hutchinson. He got to walk in a real downtown, with actually people walking around and lots of traffic. He liked it a lot. His favorite part was jumping (of course), but his 2nd favorite part was looking in all the windows.
Imagine the scene: You are sitting near the window in a very expensive restaurant. As you cut into your free range something with organic something and rustic something else - BAM! A tiny furry head pops up beside you! It was SO FUNNY. I laughed so hard.
Besides looking in the cafe and restaurant windows, he thought the 'lady' wearing the pink feathered dress should get up and come outside to play. Pink feathers! The only thing he didn't like was a display of pumpkins - scary pumpkins! So round and bumpy!
Dhali got to wait in the car on a noisy, busy road while I got my hair cut. And it was dark. Then he got to meet my hair stylist. He was a little surprised to be woken up and taken out to meet a stranger, but it was ok. Then we stopped at a gas station and he walked around, but did not potty. He jumped a lot though. Jump, jump, jump! So cute.
And I almost hit 3 deer and then got rear ended by a semi on the way home. Almost.
Now a video of Dhali cuteness and Tibby too. My Mom asked me not to teach Dhali this trick, but I taught it to him anyway. Tibby follows people around closing doors. It's great unless you want to get something out of the cupboard. Then Tibby is like, "Um, hell-o? I just closed that." Wham! "Now it's closed again. Well, you should have moved your hand faster! I was obviously closing the door - since it's my job and all."
Dhali working on his handstand/back up trick. I think he might actually get this trick! He's doing really, really well. We had a break through yesterday and he realized what I wanted when I said 'back'. He's quick, so I have to pay attention.
I wasn't very hopefully for Tibby to get this trick, but I think Dhali might get very soon! Tonight I tried moving next to him (instead of having him in front of me), but that was too confusing to him. So I tried having him back up from between my legs. He understood that a lot better. Little steps! But he is so rewarding to train! I love it! And he loves it too, so that makes it even more fun!
I took Dhali and Tibby to the beach at the cabin today. I was trying to find a calm day, so the waves wouldn't be big and loud. Tibby is scared of the lake/waves/wind/leaves. She came out for a while, but she wasn't having very much fun, so I let her wait inside while I played with Dhali. She did actually come down on to the beach, which is a big change for her. Before she wouldn't even some down the first step to the beach.
Dhali and I had a lot of fun playing. We learned a new trick too! Well, sort of. Dhali jumps and I catch him! And I even caught it on video! He did it a bunch more times, but I edited down the video, so it wouldn't be too long. There are also a lot of misses in the video LOL! Sorry Dal-baby.
"Mommy, is the water scary?"
"I'll just stay here for a while."
Instead of going yesterday when it was 80 degrees, I went to day when it was 50 degrees! It was cold!
Dhali likes to dig holes in the sand! And eat sand....we had a talk about that. Apparently sand doesn't agree with him, so he stopped doing it pretty quickly. Throwing up sand - ouch.
Sandy nose!
"Yum!"
He found this black walnut and thought it was his precious. And then I threw it in the water.....and I had to go get it.
Tibby and Dhali have very different styles. One isn't better than the other, but it's a lot easier to get excited when I'm training Dhali - just because he moves so much faster and is excited himself.
Dhali was a little bit distracted - he had to poop! I cut our training session short, because he was doing some toots! Went outside and yup he had to go LOL! How's that for some behind the video info? :)
This video is a few days old now, but on Monday Dhali learned how to skateboard! He's getting really good now. I just need to work on my treat delivery so he will stay on the skateboard and continue to push. He does stay on and will push for 3-4 feet, but stops when the treats fall on the floor! I'll have to get another video soon. Very cute!
The only reason I taught him this was due to my cold, so it was good for something! I was feeling really rotten and Dhali wanted to do something!!! (bark, bark, bark), so I got out the skateboard. I wasn't expecting anything, but first try I got a puppy riding a skateboard! Now Dhali is getting very clicker savy - yesterday we started front paws on a ball/balancing. He saw the ball, looked at me and plopped his paw on the ball - click! This morning he progressed to me not holding the ball still and him trying to balance on the ball with 2 feet.
This is so AMAZING!! These Tibetan Terriers are so smart - they are really like little people! Not like dogs at all! If you are looking for a few new tricks to train your dog or tricks for 2 dogs to do together - check this out!
Seriously so amazing. Ah, it gives me hope! If these dogs could be trained to do this then Tibby can totally learn agility.
I love how she gives them a treat every single time and how they know where their spot is. Also when she had the 2 rings the TT was like, "Hey! That's too high!" They are smart dogs and they don't work for free, but WOW can they work!
I LOVED the doggie congo line at the end. So cute!
We have been practicing this trick for a long time. Like as in we started it last year long time. Now we are getting it!
This is one of the assignments for our RC class with Silvia Trkman also. I'm still waiting to see what she says about it.
For a long time Tibby was sure she could never, ever get into a smaller box. The small one is the 4th box we have used. We started with a really big one, smaller one, smaller one and now smallest one! A couple days ago, when Tibby was trying to convince me that it was impossible for her to get in the small box, she started picking up the little box and carrying it around. Now why can't she do that with the basket that I want her to carry!?!? Ahhhhh someday or next year maybe.
I do like teaching little tricks. After the Jane Killion seminar I remembered how much I like training with a clicker. Tibby likes it, I like it and now that she will eat her kibble, I can train AND feed her her dinner or breakfast or lunch or snack.....
Tibby might not be the fastest or most desperate to please, but she isn't a dummy. Last night I was cutting up some vegetables in the kitchen. I had the door underneath the kitchen sink open, so I could throw the peelings away easily. My back was to the open cupboard door and I didn't even know Tibby was in the kitchen. I thought she was in her crate in the living room chewing on a bully stick. No. Tibby was watching me.
Bang! I heard the cupboard door slam shut behind me. I turned around to see Tibby sitting by the door waiting for her treat. She did it over and over again. If there was any door left open in the kitchen she closed it, without any direction from me. I was so surprised!
She may be a non-sporting dog, but that doesn't mean she isn't a working dog!
Tibby jumps up into the hammock when I'm rocking in it. She does it all the time, but I've never been able to catch her doing it. A few weeks ago I was picking up her toys and I threw her green tug into the hammock. The next thing I knew Tibby was in the hammock too! Then I had go get the camera and recreate it :-) She likes her toys. She has pretty good balance!
Things I learned this week – 1 don’t try to train if you are very tired, it doesn’t work. I felt frustrated, Tibby could tell and she wasn’t impressed. Went to bed early and the next day we had awesome progress and FUN!
2 Don’t push Tibby too fast. We haven’t finished the tricks, but we have made a lot of progress. We are still only going counterclockwise on perch and right paw over left for crossed paws."
What Silvia said: "Yeap, those are very important lessons! It’s really no hurry to finish the tricks, you can always do that later. The important part is creating the right attitude and the bond."
I was kind of hoping for a few more ideas from Silvia, but maybe next week. She was very busy this weekend with a seminar.
PuppyII lesson2
As you did so good with your first homework, you’re getting some more this time No worries if you don’t manage to do everything in 2 weeks, you can always come back to those tricks. Post wherever you end up, we learn the most through problems, so you want to post those too!
1. experiment with different toys and ways to play with your dog. Tape his favourite game to give some new ideas to other participants (and me!!!)
2. instead of a plate, find something a little higher this time to give them a better feeling of where to keep their front legs, click first for front feet on an object (should be easy, you want the same thing as on a plate) and then observe hind legs and click for ANY movement (even just a weight shift) and then shape from there to more&more steps around the object. I first click both directions and once I get a quarter of a circle, start clicking one direction only and reward with a head away from me in order to get a full circle. The final goal is full circle in both directions, with you static (don’t help the dog to circle with your movement!) – I think those that have my heeling video can already do that exercise, though
3. take the plate and hold it in different positions to see if the dog understands it’s the same thing even when you hold it higher, under angle, to his left/right etc. Try when he is standing, sitting and lying down. If you didn’t name touching an object with a paw, it’s time to do it now! Also, try to change objects for this exercise, sometimes also use a hand as a paw target. Once he can do all that, you’re ready for next two tricks we will get out of the paw touch:
- crossing paws: tell the puppy to down (or shape it if he doesn’t know it yet), then hold the plate (or, you can use another, smaller and more convenient object, like a plastic lid or a piece of paper) close to left paw and only reward touching it with left paw. Then hold it closer and closer to right paw, still only reward left paw touches, then hold it on right paw and eventually on the other side, jackpoting the touches of left paw on a right paw now in order to eventually get rid of a target.
- sit up: tell the puppy to sit (or shape it if he doesn’t know it yet), then put the plate (or just use the hand if he will recognize that as a target) low enough first that he can reach it with a paw, but then every next time, hold it a little higher – not that high that he would stand up, but high enough that the other leg leaves the ground a little bit too. Jackpot.
4. observe your puppy and try to find situations when he would back up – it usually happens when they’re moving out of your way – or sometimes when you’re working on ignoring the food in the hand. You can try to sit down on the floor with treats in your hand and click first step back with hind foot. Don’t wait for more than one as they usually sit down then. Click&reward the first one and reward by throwing a treat towards the dog. Rewarding at distance will help you add more&more steps and more&more distance from you. At one point, switch to rewarding with a toy, it’s easier to throw.
5. 2on2off – find an object big enough for the dog to go on with all 4 feet easily – maybe just put your first 4in object upside down? – Click for 2-3 legs on and then don’t click the fourth one, you don’t want any duration standing there! Only click again when the dog is leaving the object, try to catch him with 2 front feet on the ground and deliver the treat while he is still in this position. You want them go on an object and off immediately, stopping with front feet on the ground. Click&reward several times for a position, then say “go”/”o.k.”/”free”/whatever your release word will be and throw a treat away so that he needs to leave the position to get it. Do this enough times that the dog starts to expect the thrown treat after “go”, so that then you don’t need to throw it in advance, but only after he leaves the position on “go”. Do not help with body language that you want him to leave after “go” – if he doesn’t know it yet, go back to throwing a treat and progress more slowly.
Another note: I’ll be able to answer your questions this coming week with no problem, but then the week after I have seminars here, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep up. If not, we’ll just add another week to this class.
This is what I said: "We didn’t have space on the video for back up or our game. I will put it on the next one. I hope we did 2on2off right, because I am SUPER proud of how Tibby did with it. On the video it shows her very, very first time ever doing 2on2off. I think she did really well. I would like to eventually be at her side and have her offer 2on2off -- not right in front of her.
Beg is still being a stinker for us. I guess you will see in the video…..
Paw cross is moving along. I started doing left across right, because I got my left and right mixed up! oops!
Perch is fun! During our last session I started to only click for movement to the right, because Tibby was just going back and forth and never around.
*Love watching everyone’s videos!!! I learn so much from watching other people play with their dogs* This is a fun class!
LOL! I mean right paw across left! I got it mixed up again!"
Silvia said: "Wow, that’s really A LOT of a progress! She is really offering now! That straight into 2on2off was amazing (just make sure you use your release word every time you want her to leave – and you can click the leaving on “go” too!), you’re also almost there with paw crossing and the last sit ups were GREAT! Perch is going well too, she even offered a really nice pivot on your 2on2off plank (at 1:21)! She is definitely thinking now!"
Classmates said:
Kristin "Oh my goodness! That is awesome and Tibby is darling!"
Sara "Tibby is SO cute and I think her sits are getting straighter… good job!"
I said:"Wow we have learned a lot in this week. I’m obviously the weakest link on our team. Reading that article on the main page about playing with your dog helped me a lot. It’s amazing how easily I can forget why we are training -- to have fun!
So now I am trying to play, throw treats, hold treats in my hand. Tibby is giving me her attention now! And we are having fun.
Plate -- seems ok. I tried to use a cue for the one paw vs. two paw, but Tibby doesn’t get it get. More work needed.
Box/bowl -- work in progress. I tried to go too fast, so we are going back to the beginning. I cut down the sides of our boxes. I think that helped some, but this needs more work. She keeps walking through the smaller box. When I wait for her to offer 4 feet in she gets frustrated and offers other tricks away from the box.
Recalls -- we have been having a lot of fun with this! I didn’t think Tibby would ever choose to follow me if she had the choice. Well, she chose to follow me! In the video there is a loose dog running around in the park and Tibby doesn’t even care. And other dogs are her favorite thing.
Frog -- I don’t think Tibby gets this. She doesn’t know what I’m clicking for. What do you think? We tried it with the pillow, but that just confused Tibby.
Impulse control -- Work in progress. I tried it with Tibby’s favorite toy and steak. She eventually got it."
Silvia said:
"Well yes, she is definitely offering more action! That’s a great start! Those bowls for 4 in were somewhat too optimistic, I think it’s better to stick to that second box you had after the bowls some more, until she is really getting in with all 4 feet as soon as she sees it. It’s no hurry with this trick, we don’t need it for the next homework, so just take the time, use that box and then add something at the side, maybe rather a newspaper or something as the bottles, she didn’t seem to like those in her box
Same with frog: it is hard for the dogs to understand you might be clicking for hind legs if they weren’t clicked for hind legs before, so just take the time and let her figure it out: some other tricks for hind feet awareness that we’ll be working on in this class will help with it too. If you want to try on a pillow, you can tell her to lie down on a pillow, you don’t need to shape the down again if she knows it already – that will allow you to focus on frog legs instead.
For paw touches, it’s normal it takes some time for them to learn the verbal cues, but she is definitely offering the behaviors nicely, that’s the important thing! Recalls from a stay look great, try to slowly add difficulty by recalling also from sniffing etc. – not when it would be too difficult, first when you see she has nothing else to do, then also from more&more distractions."
I said:
"Yes I don’t think she likes the bottles. I thought of using newspaper, but she LOVES to tear up newspaper and cardboard. I might try a rolled up blanket.
Can’t wait for next week"
Training stuff. I have been teaching Tibby Beg. This trick has been hard! It took her 5 sessions to get it.
My notes:
3-25-11 1:30pm Crossed paws and beg for the first time.
~
3-25-11 12am crossed paws - better
beg -better
box - good
Tibby wasn't interested in working at all. She just wanted to play with Catty.
~
3-26-11 11:19am Beg and back up. Again Tibby wasn't interested.
~
3-26-11 1:45pm Bang it - Awesome!
Beg - Awesome!
Leg wrap around pole - good
Me running around with the purple toy in between click/treat.
Great attitude from Tibby!
~
3-26-11 11:40 pm
Beg- she's got it!
Wave - going back and forth between beg and wave. She knows the difference.
Peek-a-boo - great
right - great
left - needs work very hard for Tibby.
So, if you are still reading LOL! The online Silvia Trkman tricks/puppy class that we are taking starts on Monday. Yay! I'm so excited! I can't wait to see what our first assignment is like. I just hope we can keep up with everyone else.
Other things. We are taking a private lesson at On the Run on Thursday. I have also been looking forward to that for about a month. I hope it doesn't snow.
This is what Tibby looks like when I'm being a idiot and she can't figure out what I want. I think I need better cues! She was also tired - we had been training for a while. She still is cute!
Independent, curious, highly intelligent,clever, mischievous, precocious, strong-minded, playful. Collected from various sources:
1 -Stubbornness. Tibetan Terriers have an independent mind of their own and can be stubborn and manipulative. You must show them, through absolute consistency, that you mean what you say.
2-Suspiciousness or timidity when not socialized enough.
3-"Separation anxiety" (destructiveness and barking) when left alone too much.
4-Lively and playful at times, yet also calm and low-key.
5-Makes a good watchdog but is not aggressive with people.
6-Most are amiable with other animals, though perhaps a bit bossy.
7- The Tibetan Terrier is very stubborn in general and must be shown from Day One that you are in control.
8-An athletic and agile sure-footed climber, and a clever problem-solver who often uses his paws with great adeptness to open doors and hold toys.
9- 1/3 Dog + 1/3 Cat + 1/3 Teenager = 1 Tibetan Terrier
10-Tibetan Terriers are family-oriented: they love to play games and participate in activities with their people.
Patience and a sense of humor are musts for the people of a Tibetan Terrier.
Same with frog: it is hard for the dogs to understand you might be clicking for hind legs if they weren’t clicked for hind legs before, so just take the time and let her figure it out: some other tricks for hind feet awareness that we’ll be working on in this class will help with it too. If you want to try on a pillow, you can tell her to lie down on a pillow, you don’t need to shape the down again if she knows it already – that will allow you to focus on frog legs instead.
For paw touches, it’s normal it takes some time for them to learn the verbal cues, but she is definitely offering the behaviors nicely, that’s the important thing! Recalls from a stay look great, try to slowly add difficulty by recalling also from sniffing etc. – not when it would be too difficult, first when you see she has nothing else to do, then also from more&more distractions."
I said:
"Yes I don’t think she likes the bottles. I thought of using newspaper, but she LOVES to tear up newspaper and cardboard. I might try a rolled up blanket.
Can’t wait for next week"