5 Of Our Training Goals For the Fall
I suck at keeping goals, but when I write them down, well that’s another story. As soon as I let someone else know what I’m planning it gives me extra motivation to actually stick with it.
Our Fall Training Goals
Here’s the training goals I’d like to work on next, and since it’s in writing I’ll be sticking to them. We’ll see how it goes, and check our progress in another couple months.
Outdoor Stay
Laika can stay indoors just fine, but outside? That’s another story. Some call it selective hearing, I just know that she doesn’t listen out there. It’s all just “squirrel!” and play time to her. I’ve worked so much on her recall that I’ve ignored stay out there. I’d like to move more of our nose work outside and getting a nice stay out in the yard will be the first step.
Goal: I want Laika to “stay” while I hide stuff in the yard for her to find.
Car Manners
Laika has OK car manners for the most part, but driving by other dogs can still set her off. From what I can tell it seems to be out of frustration, and maybe a bit of stress. I’ll be working on it some more, besides being a real hazard it’s quite embarrassing when everyone stops to see what the heck all that barking is about as you drive by.
Goal: We’re going to put an end to Laika’s drive by barkings.
More Desensitization With the Dremel
I love using a dremel over nail clippers, but Laika’s still not completely convinced. She will tolerate it, but she’s still far from comfortable. With many carrots and sugar snap peas in hand I’ll be working on getting her more relaxed around it.
Goal: Have Laika remain calm as I use the dremel on full speed.
Remember to Praise “Normal” Behaviors
I miss a lot of opportunities to tell Laika she’s doing a good job when she’s pretty much doing as expected. When she calmly watches deer through the window, or when she calmly settles down at my feet I’ll remember to tell her she’s being good. I’m trying to remind myself not to take these behaviors for granted, they’re still deserving of a “good job.”
Goal: Remember to thank Laika for being a good girl more often.
Train Myself to Take Better Indoor Photos
I look at my camera and want to scream. I don’t know what half the damn buttons do, but it’s about time I figure it out. I see everyone taking awesome photos inside and I’m a bit jealous – all mine look like they’re from the late 1970’s. (with glowing eyes and all)
Goal: Read the manual and learn to take clear photos indoors.
Reminder to self: Tell Laika she’s good when she’s good, even if I didn’t ask for the behavior.
What Are Your Fall Training Goals?
What are your fall plans with your dog? Do you have any training goals in mind? Does putting them in writing make them easier to stick to?
Welcome to the Positive Pet Training Blog Hop hosted by Cascadian Nomads, Tenacious Little Terrier and Rubicon Days. Please share your responsible pet owner positive pet training tips by linking a blog post or leaving a comment below. Any positive reinforcement training posts or comments are also always welcome.
I need to take better indoor photos too. I feel like we’re always working on reactivity and recall and SA. I’m also trying to get him accustomed to his car carrier. Thanks for joining the hop!
These are awesome Fall goals! I tend to do the same thing about goals. If I don’t tell anyone what they are then I don’t need to stick with them! LOL! Same with New Year’s resolutions!
Indoor photos are so hard! My apartment is dark, SO dark. When you see my indoor photos, know that we went and bought extra lamps and there’s around 12 lights bulbs pointed at them. All of my indoor photos are staged because if I didn’t do it that way my photos would look like crap. As it is, I had the camera on the wrong settings and totally messed up a shoot the other day and I have to redo it. When I do photoshoots, I have to move everything and I mean everything around in my bedroom and set up all the lights, etc. It’s a total pita. Add in shiny bags for product reviews and welcome to my hell! No joke. The other day I spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how to get the glare off the bag (turning lights on and off, flashing it with the on camera flash, etc.) and I still had some! LOL 😀
Great goals! I need to desensitive my guys to the Dremel. They are not fans of nail clipping.
The Calming Cap has worked wonders on Leo in the car. The other day I took it off while we were parked and forgot to put it back on. I was so startled by how loudly he barked when we passed a cyclist.
I like these goals – good luck to you 🙂 Shiner is also not good at listening to me outdoors. Especially when I need to take photos of her. She’d much rather run off and sniff stuff. As for the photos, mine were not always good and it’s taken me quite some time to get better with it. I just have to find the “sweet spots” for light, open the curtains or the door and try to make sure there aren’t a million kids toys in the shot. Lol…
I like the reminder to praise normal behaviors. I’ll have to start doing that as well.
I would like our dogs to stop reacting strongly towards cyclists (is that the Blue Heeler?), I’d like Zoey to take treats nicely (she’s getting there), and I’d like Scout to bring his Puller rings back to us.
Ha! I suck at goal keeping too! My goal was to have my daughters room painted by the end of summer. Now the goal is to have it done by Christmas!
Your goals sounds great though! Best of luck! If you learn the inside camera thing let me know!
Beautiful Laika! I would love to see more pictures of her, so I very much approve of that goal. I also love your goal to tell her how awesome she is more often! That’s so important to me, too.
Man, I hate training stay. Very boring. Good luck to you guys–if you’re looking for proofing ideas, Dr. Overall’s Relaxation Protocol also works as a stay exercise.
Ruby and Boca are working on their stays as well, mainly for photos! Ruby especially needs work on sit-stay because she likes to drop into a down pretty quickly. Laika is so beautiful, I would be praising her all the time for being pretty 🙂
Thanks so much for joining the hop!