In the second month of Kenzie's agility foundation training, I focused on shaping games: Shaping her to put her feet on things (great first shaping exercise). To put her front feet on a perch box. To swing her hips toward me while her front feet are on a perch box. To put all four feet on a platform. To slam down a wobble board. To put all four feet on the wobble board. I used a toy with training the wobble board, but I have to be careful because when I mark it, she tends to release herself. If she does, I just wait for her to get back on it (all four feet) and tip it, then I mark it, pause, then release and throw the toy. I also got her up to full speed this month on her circle work, with doing front crosses and tight 360 turns all around! If she starts to get ahead of me, I slow down and pat my side to remind her that she is supposed to be beside me, then I start a circle with her on the inside, where she has to be in the right position for it to work. I take her out and do circle work with her as often as possible in strange places. I do use her tennis ball for this, as I have found it be the easiest to work with. I give her primary reward tossed to where she is supposed to be (rewarding her for being in the correct position), then a secondary reward once she brings it back, tossing it far away...lots and lots of fun for her! I always have her on the 50' long lead when doing outside of our yard. She just drags it around, no biggie for her.
Here is a video of training Kenzie to swing her hips on a perch box.

For my beginning foundation training, I stuck with Moe Strenfel's methods most of the time. The first week: Tug, Look, Touch, Break (paws on stomach), Name Game, Side (start line position). Side took the longest, a good two weeks to get her to where she was doing it 90% of the time, with physical cue and verbal cue. I originally taught it by turning her head with the treat away from my body, which turned her rear end in to me, but I ended up re-teaching it using a clicker and shaping the behavior with a perch box (will go over that later).

We then moved to stay with break as a release to the toy in my hand, and started "waltzing", which turned into learning the front cross.

I started Kenzie's agility foundation training when I had had her for one month. The first 2 weeks was spent building the relationship/trust, before any real training could begin. Because had been a stray before she went to the shelter, then came to us, she was very distrustful of us while she was outside and "free" (not on leash, but in our fenced in yard). But she was very loving when inside. So she was put "on the leash" while outside, so that she would stay in her "pet dog" mindset, rather than the "stray dog" mindset she would default to if not on-lead outside. She stayed "on the leash" while outside (always supervised) for a good 2 months. She started getting better after around 2 weeks, but then she started fence fighting, so that was the main reason for keeping her on it for the remaining 6 weeks. Now if she looks like she is about to fence fight, I can call her off by redirecting her to a toy (four months later). I was also teaching her that there are rules to toy play: you bring it all the way to me for me to throw it again. You do not bark at me to get me to throw it, if you do, I walk away. We also introduced a rope/squeaker toy, and she learned how to tug lightly (it took her a good month to really start tugging, but only after I threw it a few times. It took her 3.5 months to go for the toy in my hand straight off the bat). I was also teaching her that being in the house was a good thing: when you come inside, I will always have a toy ready to throw for you! (this was also the first step in a really great recall). I also realized that she was too scared/timid to take treats out of my hand, and that she had no idea of the premise: "If I do what she wants, I get the treat." So I started hand feeding her her food (not looking at her), and this seemed to make a big difference in her willingness to take treats from me.

In the third week, since she already knew sit, that was what I started her on when it came to earning the treats. This worked in upping her confidence, so we also started working on shadow heeling: 
started Kenzie's agility foundation training when I had had her for 3wks. The 2 weeks was building the relationship/trust: she had been a stray before she went to the shelter, then came to us, so she was very distrustful of us while she was outside and "free" (not on leash, but in our fenced in yard). But she was very loving when inside. So she was put "on the leash" while outside, so that she would stay in her "pet dog" mindset, rather than the "stray dog" mindset she would default to if not on-lead outside. She stayed "on the leash" while outside (always supervised) for a good 2 months. She started getting better after around 2 weeks, but then she started fence fighting, so that was the main reason for keeping her on it for the remaining 6 weeks. Now if she looks like she is about to fence fight, I can call her off by redirecting her to a toy (four months later). I was also teaching her that there are rules to toy play: you bring it all the way to me for me to throw it again. You do not bark at me to get me to throw it, if you do, I walk away. We also introduced a rope/squeaker toy, and she learned how to tug lightly (it took her a good month to really start tugging, but only after I threw it a few times. It took her 3.5 months to go for the toy in my hand straight off the bat). I was also teaching her that being in the house was a good thing: when you come inside, I will always have a toy ready to throw for you! (this was also the first step in a really great recall). I also realized that she was too scared/timid to take treats out of my hand, and that she had no idea of the premise: "If I do what she wants, I get the treat." So I started hand feeding her her food (not looking at her), and this seemed to make a big difference in her willingess to take treats from me. She already knew sit, so that was what I started her on with the treats, upping her confidence. In the third week I started working on shadow heeling: 


She also learned down and standthis week. The following week we continued to work on shadow heeling, as well as how to put sit, down, stand together for one treat. She found this very fun, and it really helped increase her confidence. By the time we had had her a month, she was actually looking forward to training time, and was even able to perform in front of people. This was when I decided it was time to start the agility foundation training!

 

She also learned down and stand this week. The following week we continued to work on shadow heeling, as well as how to put sit, down, stand together for one treat. She found this very fun, and it really helped increase her confidence. By the time we had had her a month, she was actually looking forward to training time, and was even able to perform in front of people. This was when I decided it was time to start the agility foundation training!

We had a bit of a set back yesterday; I left Kenzie outside with Riley for a few hours, and she actually reverted back to her previous way of living: disconnected to her owners, not a part of their lives, and living outdoors.

Here’s the story:
It was a beautiful Monday, and when I went home for lunch to let the dogs out to play, I decide to let them stay outside for the rest of the afternoon while I finished up work for the day. I went back to check on them a few times, as this had been the first time Kenzie had been left outside unattended while we were not home. When I came home a couple hrs later, they were still there, happy as larks. But when I went inside, Kenzie did not want to come along, she wanted to stay outside. I thought that it just had to do with it being a beautiful day, so I did not make a big deal out of it, I just her stay outside. Well, we all ended up spending the rest of the afternoon outside, enjoying the pretty weather. When it was starting to get dark, I called all of the dogs in. Kenzie came, because I used her actual recall (I made sure to reward her well for this), but then she lay down right in front of the door with her back to the rest of us (and the house). It was very clear from her body language that she did not want to be in here; she wanted to be outside. I knew that she did not need to go to the bathroom, so we pulled a toy out and played with her to get her out of the mud room and with the rest of us, but once we stopped playing, she again lay down with her back to us. At this point I just thought that she wanted to be outside, and that was all. Once it was time to train/hand feed her, I realized that something was wrong. When we went into the quiet room for feeding, instead of her being ready to work for her evening meal as always, she lay down with her back to me and would NOT give me eye contact. So I just hand fed her, making sure I turned by body away from her (passive body language) to try to help her relax and not feel threatened. Once she was done eating, I started petting her, then moved to massaging her ears/face (which she loves). I then paused and invited her to cuddle up to me, which she did (still not giving eye contact). I continued to massage her head/ears, then moved to the back, and finally the chest/neck area. During this time I would pause, wait for her to nudge me, then start up again, telling her she is a good girl. Once I thought that she was relaxed, I got up and moved back into the living room with everyone else. I then invited her to come up onto my lap for more massage, which she accepted (still no eye contact). Here I massaged her for a few minutes and then stopped, she nudged me as before, but I did not resume until she actually looked into my eyes to say her usual “hey, why did you stop?”. Then I resumed massaging her. From this point on, she gave me steady, soft, “loving” eye contact for the rest of the massage. She stayed connected for the rest of the evening, and even this morning she stayed connected all the way up until I left for work.

                    

What did I learn through this? Even though she wanted to be outside, it was not good for her, because it caused her to go back into the mindset of her former life: I live outside, not connected to my people. Even though she had been living inside with us for four months, it only took a few hours for her to revert to the mindset she had viewed for the majority of her life.

It also demonstrated to me how important it is to get voluntary soft eye contact from your dog. Hard eye contact does not count (i.e. if you have a toy or treat and you wait for eye contact). Also, often if you say their name, because it is related to doing something exciting (going outside, getting dinner, getting a treat, etc), that will also result in hard eye contact. In my experience, soft eye contact is only offered when the dog trusts you. And the more the dog trusts you, and the stronger the bond, the more frequent the soft eye contact will be.

 

 

After day 6 I got the flu, but fortunately my wonderful husband stepped up to the plate and took her to the dog park to throw the ball for her once a day for the remaining 4 days. On day 11 I took her to the pet store to see if there was a change in her behavior... and there was! Whereas before this challenge, when we saw a dog, she always barked or growled at it, but then was able to be redirected, this time she did not react verbally at all! She was very interested in the other dogs, but she did not growl or bark!!!

I have found that our new dog Kenzie is quite dog reactive. This means that she has a strong reaction when she sees other dogs, and in my opinion, it is not a favorable one. She usually gets very stiff, her tail goes straight up, and she barks ferociously. Without any of my secret weapons, she ignores me completely, and I have to pretty much drag her away from the dog to get her to calm down. Now, what about these secret weapons, you may be asking: well, if we are far enough from the dog, and the dog was not barking at her, I found that she would pay attention to either her tennis ball, or a squeaker toy. She would also work for very high value treats once she got past the initial entrance of the dog.

I decided to use these secret weapons to my advantage, and every time she looked at another dog (whether she locked eyes on him or not) I would squeak the toy and/or toss her the tennis ball. I did this in the different pet stores around town a couple times a week for three weeks. While there was improvement, there were so few dogs in the store while we were there, it was more distraction training than reactivity training. Also, we were going to be moving 45 minutes from town soon, and I knew that it was going to be much harder to get her out multiple times a week, so I wanted to take full advantage of the 10 days we still had living in town. So I decided to try taking her to the dog park, were there were more likely to be other dogs, but staying as far from the actual fenced in area with the dogs as possible. This was the ticket to success! She was able to pay attention to me if we were really far from the dogs, and so I would just throw the tennis ball over and over, and squeaking the little toy if she started to focus in on the the dogs on the other side of the field. I found her threshold of attention, where if she went any closer, she would have a hard time staying focused on me and the ball, so we just stayed right within it, so that she was able to be successful. 

I decided to challenge myself with a 10 day challenge: get Kenzie out and around other dogs every single day for 10 days straight. This is how it has gone so far:

Day one:
Dog Park, whining and focusing on dogs in dog park if she got 200ft from fence. 

Day two: 
Pet Store, saw 2 dogs, the first dog she barked at and got all stiff, but recovered when I squeaked the toy. We continued to work in the store for about 30 minutes and then saw another. She got stiff but I squeaked the toy soon enough for her not to bark.

Day three:
Dog park, was able to focus up to 200ft from fence. Did not want to go within 150ft of the fence to get the ball. Up to this point, it felt like there had been no progress.

Day four:
Dog park, was able to focus up to 50ft from the fence, and willingly went up to the fence and touched noses with another dog through the fence, without getting defensive or nervous! This was a breakthrough; obvious improvement.

Day five:


Day six:
Dog park, she was able to focus up to 100ft, but that was because there was a dog whining at the fence at her. She did not bark or get defensive, she just had a hard time focusing. There was another dog in the same field as us, his owner was also throwing the ball for him. We stayed pretty far from them, but she at no point got tense or growly, which is wonderful. She even tried a couple of times to go play ball with them, which was great. I want her to want to, even though I'm not going to let her at this point.

We have had Max for a Month now, and he has come quite a way. In regards to house training/ spraying in the house:
At two weeks max had stopped sniffing to mark as we walked through the house, so we gave him a little more space, walking more slowly, letting him off of his bed, while still on the leash in the house. He sprayed the couch that night. So back onto the bed he went for another week. At week two he got a little more space again, and that night he marked a bed post. Now keep in mind that each time he marked he was on the leash, attached to us, and got caught in the act, with immediate consequences ("NO!" and then quickly put in his crate). Each time he marked he did not need to go to the bathroom, he had just gone outside and urinated for a good amount of time. So he had an accident at week 2 and 3. At week 4 he was given more space again, it has been 3 days, and he has not sprayed yet. There have been a couple close calls, but with a quick "NO!" and pulling him away from what he was going to mark, he did not actually mark. While it sounds crazy to give him more space again, there have been other turning points to keep in mind.

Listening, calming down while in the house:
Week 2 Week 3 was the turning point where he was suddenly much less work. He would settle in his bed, not jump up on you, sit to be petted, calmly sit on your lap. He was still not very obedient. 
Week 4 he turned the corner to being much more obedient. He also just seems much more calm all around. He does not get aggressive at the other dogs when they play now. He still attacks them for what seems like no reason. They are probably too close to him in his opinion, even though they are not paying attention to him. He is also still very possessive of affection.  

Max has been here for a week and a half, and we have definitely turned a corner!

Max has learned to go potty as soon as he goes outside, and to run and play while out there, rather than just run around marking. He is still on leash or on his line while outside, but he has learned that fun things happen on it, so he likes it.

Using the line has also helped in teaching Max to be more tolerant. He is learning not to bark every time he does not get what he wants. At first I thought that Max was barking just to bark, but then I thought that it could be a form of separation anxiety. So I did the usual leave come back, leave, come back, leave, come back, leave, come back. I found that I had to do it in a circular motion, at first not stopping at all, and then slowly pausing at the apex of the circle furthest from him, and also making the circle slightly bigger each time. If he barked, I would just freeze, with my back to him, until he stopped barking for a full 3 seconds. Then I could walk back to him, not saying anything. The same rule of not making too big a deal of goings and comings still very important.

I paired this training with positive focused training in the crate. We put the crate in the office, and the first step was to leave the door shut. We ignored the barking, and only opened the door to say hello and give pets/ let him out when he was being quiet. If he started barking, he would NOT get that door to open. I would wait for at least 3 full seconds of silence, then I would go in and calmly let him out, say hello, etc. This is called working for extinction. This made quite a difference, then we moved to step two, which was to leave the door open, and then close it if he starts barking. Doing this, paired with the separation training outside has made all of the difference.

Max has also learned that he must earn affection. This and treats have helped him learn all kinds of stuff, like: sit, stay, bed, back, quiet, drop it, get it, and this smart little man is now learning leave-it.

We have now moved into the next phase of his training: he is in the house with us most of the time, on leash, connected to one of us, but he must behave and learn to be more passive when it comes to the other dogs if he is going to get to stay out. If he barks or growls or is nasty in any way, straight into the crate he goes, with the door shut. Now I do not like using the crate as a punishment, but since I cannot leave him outside or in a room unattended, I really do not have a choice at this point. He must learn that if he wants to stay with the people he loves, he must follow our rules: no nastiness. We are working on affection guarding right now, then we will move on to treats, then finally, toy guarding. I think that one will be the most challenging for him.

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