"Training" Blaze

Teaching Blaze to leash walk has presented many challenges for me and has been completely different than training Chance.  Being that she was one of our pups that was returned abused, I find that working with her, I am extremely sensitive to this fact.   I find myself flowing with a sense of guilt about what has happened to her and find I am easy on her in our training.  While I don't let things slide, pulling for example, but I finding myself compromising training so that we can just walk.

I have never forgotten those days when she came back home.  I will never be able to shake those images and feelings from my mind, nor the guilt I still feel about letting her go.  While she has come along way since those first days, I have always had an extra soft spot for her, regardless of how much she may aggravate me when she is in hyper drive.  I suppose that this sensitivity to her could be seen as letting her get her way, but I found that I was asking too much of myself to expect to "train" her like I did with Chance and realized if I can't do it, I can't expect her to.  So I had to let go and let us find our way together.  We have been too far out of sync with each other when it comes to our walks that we needed to find a simple answer that works for both of us.   

So we are learning to walk together with a few basic training steps.  Any other advancements will come in time.  I have went far too long not being able to walk her at all and so this is an actual relief.  While I am still a little uncomfortable using the no pull head halter, (another part of my guilt) it is letting us walk together and have that bonding time we have been missing without the added frustration.  It took several months of working with her for me to I realized that not only did she need to learn in her own way but I still have my own guilt to settle within me.

This revelation has been a blessing in disguise.  I can not tell you how nervous I have been trying to leash train her, finding it so hard to relax and be comfortable with her.  I have been so frustrated before walking Blaze as we have done a lot of head butting in past, but as I take these simple steps of walking, we are beginning to come together to a higher level of respect and understanding between us.  Blaze is helping me by letting me follow her lead and in return she is following mine.  Simple trust for the joy of a walk.  

Amazing Chance

Can you beat that smile??

Chance amazed me again.  I took him for a ride with me while I ran some errands and en route I thought, I'll take him to the park for a reward for being such a good boy.  We haven't been to the park since I started leash training him and I wondered how contextual this experience would be for him.  I was simply WOWed!

When I gave him the OK to get out of the car, he about pulled my arm off while I tried to shut the door.  He was rather excited and it took me a couple of minutes getting him to sit/stay long enough so I could close and lock the doors.  I walked him around the drive first, for a little reminder of loose leash walking.  I decided to skip the trails as we walked around the baseball fields.  I was stunned.  He did fantastic!  Then when we came to the back entrance of trails, I let him lead the way and again I was blown over.  I decided to jog with him the rest of the way through the trails so he could pick up the pace as he was doing so well.  Even with all the new smells and the intensity of them, he only pulled a couple of times that we had to stop and regroup, it was simply amazing!

I had really expected this experience to throw him off guard.  I thought he would be overly excited and completely detached from me.  I was so overwhelmed when he listened to me and we took our practice walks up and down the park driveway.  I thought I would be lucky if I could get him to walk the park road without any problems.  I thought for sure he would lunge and drag me everywhere with all the woodland creature smells.  I thought there was no way possible to be in a completely different environment and have any good success.  He has such a history of being in new places and literally dragging me all over the place.   I had no doubt that he would give me a hard time about being trained at the park when there were more interesting things than me there. That's what I get for thinking!  I was dead wrong and that was so cool!  I love the lesson he taught me.  I was prepared for the worst and he gave me his best, can't ask for anything better than that!!       

Chance Keeps Moving On Up!

Chance is getting so good at loose leash training that I'm able to let my mind wander on our walks without being pulled.  It is becoming more a natural experience for the two of us, walking together.  It feels great.  While we still have a ways to go on many things, I love having a foundation to fall back on.

I am working on solidifying his turn commands, Gee (right) and Haw (left).  This will help when he starts pulling the bike again before sled season starts.  I have been giving him the commands and then making the turns.  Now I am letting him make the decision.  I give the command and wait for him to turn his nose in the right direction, reward while turning in the direction.  He did fantastic our last walk.  He hesitates for a moment but has been spot on every time.      

My next challenge with Chance is to have Daddy walk with us.  In order to do that I've started working with  Chance on our pace speeds.  I am a quick walker and have learned to minimize pulling by speed walking with a dog, while Daddy is a more relaxed walker.  So I've started training him on following the different paces I set.  So far, so good.  Once I have to a point I am comfortable with Chance, I will have Daddy walk with us. This will probably test Chance on many different levels because our walk will be in a completely different context with Daddy there.  Daddy lets Chance walk and pull anyway he wants, so it ought to be interesting to say the least.  :)

For our last update you can read Chance's Walking Update 

Chance Walking Update

I have been a little lacking on my updates with Chance and his leash training, because up until recently I haven't been walking him as much.  We started picking up again at the beginning of the month.  I have been focusing on loose leash walking as he has the heel position down fairly well.  I've been correcting his tugs on the leash with a quick tug back and for the most part that has been enough.  If he begins to pull or his drive starts to kick in, I stop and wait for him to look at me before continuing.  It has worked out well.

Our last walk we had three great successes.  He always picks up speed when we reach the end of the driveway ready to cross the road.  This time he walked in a perfect heel position when we crossed and that was how our walk started.  That's when I knew this was going to be a great walk.

Second was when we started down a new road that he hasn't been on since he has been in training.  I had to reinforce his pull a few times, no little tugs were going to slow him down as he kept picking up speed.  So I had to put on the brakes several times, but again the reinforcements were working.

Our third triumph was when we happened to be stopped and a couple houses down a raccoon crossed the road.  This was the first time I've run into any wildlife on my walks with Chance and this little critter scooting across the road, was our first challenge for a dog a with a strong prey drive.  Once the raccoon was on the other side of road, Chance made one move to go after it.  I stood my ground, told him, "NO," and he sat back down.  Chance went back and forth between following the scent and turning to talk to me about his situation as if he wasn't sure I understood what was going on.  We must have stayed in that same spot for five minutes or more, as he continued to smell and talk to me.  When his body language began to calm, we headed towards the spot where the raccoon passed.  I wanted to gauge his reaction and see how he would handle as we got closer to the crossing.  When we hit the scent he went began to pull and whine.  So I made him sit, thinking that was enough for our training today and we turned around and headed home.

 I was so proud of him for all three of these accomplishments, but the raccoon was the real test and I think he did fantastic.  I was utterly amazed that he actually sat when we first saw the creature, but was even more blown away when he kept seated, checking the scent and talking to me.  He only made that one move and never tried again.  I wish I had the whole thing on tape.  It was so funny and cute and so very mature of him that I wish I could show everyone how well behaved he was.  Even before that incident, I was thinking how much fun it has been training him and how much we have both grown together because of it.  As we now have a strong foundation and are beginning to build from there.  I'd say we are at a beginner- intermediate level now and it is so comforting to know that it can be done.  I have been thinking about Blaze next.  She will really put me to the test, but I've been building some confidence now and I am beginning to see the possibilities even with her.  I have been so afraid that after Chance being so easy to train, that there is no way to train Blaze.  What I am realizing even more than before is that is a learning process.  I am going to screw up and make mistakes, but that it doesn't mean the entire process is a mistake.  That I don't have to throw in the towel just because things didn't go as planned and that best I can do is try, try again.  For the first time in my life, I think that is pretty cool!!

Read about our last update and progress at We Are Still Walking!      

We Are Still Walking!

I started last December to work with Chance on pulling while leash walking.  Chance is trained to pull sleds and bikes and thinks pulling on a leash is the same thing.  While it was comical and I got a good laugh out of it, being jerked and pulled on a regular basis was no fun.  So I began by walking him around the yard in a heel position.  Taught him to walk out of the gate, not shoot out of it, until we reached the end of the driveway, then the road.  I kept him in the heel position, teaching him turns and constantly changing directions.  Stopping each time he pulls and waiting for him to sit and make eye contact before continuing.  I only let him on a loose leash every so often along the way to stop and sniff.  This where I left you last and we were having great success.

I wanted to incorporate loose leash walking, but was waiting for the opportunity.  The other day, I tested it out on him with great success.  The dog that used to yank me left and right and drag me around, was staying within his end of the leash!  It was a miracle!  So I went back and forth throughout our last couple of walks between the heel position and loose leash walking.  He did fantastic!  There were still small pulls and tugs, but nothing compared to our pre-training walks.  Chance is also teaching me grave amounts of patience.  When he pulls I stop and wait for him to sit and make eye contact.  Not just a quick wavier, but a connection, this tells me he is ready for my instruction.  The scents he is after may have total control of his brain and it takes him a few minutes for him to come back into focus.  And I found, I have time.  I'm not going anywhere without him, so I've been giving him that time to readjust and that we aren't moving in any direction until he's fully engaged with me.  This is quite a revelation for me as walking has always been about getting from point A to B.  I also have accepted that turning around and changing directions is also part of our walks.  No matter how much the neighbors laugh at me.  This acceptance has made our entire walking experience much more relaxed and enjoyable.  I am loving it.

On our walk tonight, I stepped up the challenge a little more by walking in a heel position through a wooded trail.  I had tried this earlier in training and it was something Chance wasn't up to yet.  Today he flew through it with flying colors.  He was spectacular.  This whole experience have given me a sense of freedom with walking Chance.  I have been testing him, but he is also testing me.  It is the longest I have went with any sense of consistency.  He knows what to expect and understands what I am asking of him, because I asking the same thing every time.  What a difference!  I am seeing improvement with both of us and there is a real feeling of accomplishment.  My husband's way of walking Chance doesn't seem to having any effect on his walking with me.  BONUS!!

I thought for sure the last time I tried and failed at these attempts of walking Chance, that was it.  I was never going to try again.  I was doomed trying to keep my arm in one piece every time I walked him.  I think sometimes it is all about timing.  I have found this in many areas with my dogs about training that I have tried over and over.  Sometimes the timing just isn't right, whether it be for them and for me, but when you finally click together is one of the best feelings in the world!  Now that Chance is such a great walking companion, I don't want to even think about walking the other five who are all in desperate need of the same training.  LOL  I can't even imagine all the challenges that are awaiting me for the next few years...except that some day it will all be worth it!