Dante and Roscoe during their very first training session for the bark and hold exercise for protection. Neither of these dogs has ever done a bark and hold before.
We are using some new techniques here using place boards to teach the proper position off leash from the beginning to avoid the need for correction. We are still experimenting with these methods to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
This video shows 10 month old Bella learning to use self control by staying on a place, even with another dog in the room. With the help of K9 Connection lead dog trainer Josh Moran and his Pit Bull King, she is making excellent progress.
This is Bella’s third session of an obedience program at K9 Connection Dog Training.
One of our K9 Connection Dog Training Clients, Sarah Giansante, is seen here with her young dog ‘Munson.”
I was amazed when I found that Sarah, at 8 1/2 years old had taken over the responsibility of training the family dog.
Sarah has done an excellent job of giving consistent leadership and guidance to Munson, so he can develop into a well mannered family companion.
This is footage from the recent event we did at Bounce Magic on Niagara Falls Boulevard. Having a dog who listens in the face of real world distraction means you and you family can take them virtually anywhere with you. An environment like this with hundreds of screaming kids in costumes is about as tough as it gets.
This is a video clip showing Tyler Muto and ‘Gia” training position changes (heel, front, under.) This is a typical training session where a specific behavior is chosen and isolated for repetition. There are some minor variations thrown in to keep thing dog from anticipating too much which could cause problems down the line. These variations are important to keep the dog from thinking too much during training. When a dog thinks too much they stop listening to the handler. We always want to make sure that the dog is responding to the commands given, not just performing out of habit.
I did an evaluation for Keith Kelly from Z101 Radio and his 2 month old puggle Wanda this week, and I had an opportunity to show off my dog. Apparently, we left an impression. Click the link above to hear the clip.
Thanks Keith!
This is a short clip demonstrating how to do a training exercise called free shaping with markers. Free shaping means that you are progressively marking behaviors that are closer and closer to the end behavior that you are trying to achieve. We use marker training to do this, the most common form of marker training is clicker training, however, I prefer to use my voice. I use the word “yes” in a consistent, happy tone to mark the behaviors that I want. The mark, lets the dog know that a reward is coming, and thus allows us to precisely mark the behavior we want, even if it takes up to a few seconds to get the actual reward to the dog. The most important thing to remember with marker training, is that a reward ALWAYS has to follow the mark, even if you gave the mark accidentally. If you are not familiar with marker training, or if you want to learn more, please review Ed Frawley’s article on marker training your dog by Clicking Here.
In this video I am teaching Dante the ‘Place’ command, which means to have all four feet on an object. Dante has never done the ‘place’ command before nor has he ever done free shaping, so this is an entirely new concept to him. ‘Place’ is a very simple command to teach and for the dog to learn because there are not too many progressions to mark, and it is very black and white: Either you are on the place, or you are off. This is why I chose this exercise to introduce Dante to the game of free shaping, it is easy and fun. I will film more complex free shaping exercises in the future.
If you want, or need assistance training your dog, Contact K-9 Connection Dog Training at (716) 548-3642.
This is Dante at 15 weeks during his morning bitework session. This is his first time on a harness and tie back, and I am very pleased with his intensity, and commitment to the bite. I like to do his bitework first thing in the morning for a few reasons:
1) He is very intense in the morning, and is at his peak energy level.
2) He has not eaten yet. Remember, a dog always has more drive on an empty stomach.
3) The sun is not as hot, so he will not tire as quickly.
I keep these sessions very short (under five minutes), and I always make sure I leave him wanting more. Dante prefers a leather rag to jute or burlap, so I am using the leather bite rag from Elite K9 . I always follow the session with about five minutes of calm affection in his kennel run. I sit with him and calmly pet him while letting him know in a soft voice that he did a good job. I almost never give any affection before the workout. Finally, after he has calmed, I give him his breakfast (food is also a form of affection). It’s a great way to start the day!
King Ready For Class!
Many People, even some professional dog trainers, think that the Pit Bull is a very difficult breed. In my opinion, nothing can be further from the truth. Although they are a very strong dog, Pit Bulls are in general very loyal and have an incredible desire to please their human companions. All you need know is how to tap in to this desire and build on it. What this means is that if the training is done right, these can be amazingly fun dogs to work with.
Many Pit Bulls can also be very high drive dogs. Drive in dogs can be loosely translated as the dogs natural desire and commitment to do or achieve something. Since this breed was originally used to hunt rats, they can have a very strong prey drive. Prey drive is the same drive that motivates a dog to chase a ball, or to play tug, or to play with toys in general. Many working dogs such as German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Malinois, dobermans, and herding dogs such at Border Collies and Australian Shepherds will also have strong prey drive.
If your dog is equipped with this type of drive, it can be used as a very powerful training tool for achieving high levels of obedience. For this type of dog, prey drive will override food any day of the week. Therefore training with the dog’s drives can allow you to teach faster, and push the dog through higher levels of distraction. It also allows you to have a lot of fun with your dog during training, which means that training itself becomes rewarding, thus eliminating the need to constantly carry treats with you every where you go.
Below is a video of Josh Moran, one of our lead dog trainers here at K-9 Connection, and his dog King. King has great prey drive, so Josh often uses a toy to motivate him to perform. This video was shot at Delaware park here in Buffalo NY and shows Josh and King just loosely having some fun and working in some cool commands. Nothing too formal here, after all, isn’t that what dog training is all about – being able to take your dog anywhere and have fun!