Tag Archive for: animal

Beginning Remote Position Changes

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This Video shows trainer Tyler Muto from K9 Connection Dog Training in Buffalo, NY  and his 8 month old Malinois puppy ‘Dante’ beginning an exercise for remote position changes (moving from sit-down-stand, at a distance.) Tyler is using a platform to help keep Dante from creeping forward as he learns how to do this.
The foundation for this work has been done using positive reinforcement and marker training. The prerequisites that the dog needs to know are: All of the individual positions, how to transition those while next to you (sit to down, down to stand etc.) and some variation of a ‘place’ command (keep all four feet on an object).  The word “no” or “nope” here is not being used as a correction, but rather as a way to communicate to the dog that he made a mistake and he has to try again.

Training Position Changes

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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.

Golden Retriever – Afraid of the Car

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This clip shows progressions in a behavior modification dog training program for fear based behavior. ‘Bob’ was terrified of the car, and despite all their efforts, his owners could not get him in without excessive force. During the training sessions, we used a ball to motivate the dog to overcome his fear. We also used an electronic training collar to help him stay focused through the fear. Many people think that electronic collars are always used negatively, and will create fear. However, as you can see, with proper guidance, the electronic collar can be a very positive tool, that works to help a dog overcome fear, and become happy and confident.
If you need help training your dog in or around the Buffalo, NY area then contact K-9 Connection at (716) 548-3642

Teach Your Dog To Pay Attention

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At K9 Connection Dog Training, one of the most important things that we teach our dogs is to pay attention to the handler. This is a crucial part of any successful training program, but what does attention really mean?

Attention can mean different things, or perhaps more appropriately, it can come in varying degrees. For instance: when I get home from work, one of the first things I do is check my email. Now imagine that one day as I am checking my email, my wife walks in and says “Tyler, the garbage really needs to go out.”

I turn to her and respond “Sure honey, I’ll take it out in one sec, just as soon as I’m done reading this message.”

So, in a sense, she got my attention, because I heard her, turned and looked at her, and responded. But most of my attention was still on my email which is why I sat and continued reading. If my mind were a pie chart, my wife maybe had 20% of my attention diverted to her and what she wanted me to do, and 80% was still on the email. I f she were somehow able to reverse that pie chart, and get 80% of my attention on her, then I would have gotten up and taken the garbage, because I would have had enough brain power left to focus on the email.

This is very often what is going on with our dogs when they don’t perform a known command. They’re not trying to be jerks, they are just distracted, and we are unable to redirect their attention adequately. This is usually when we start raising our voice or yanking on a leash. This of course does not solve the problem. Likewise, where most training programs fail, is a over-reliance treats. While treats can be effective as teaching tools to lure a dog into a new position, or reward appropriate behavior, all too often dog trainers and clients alike rely too much on the treat to attract and hold the dogs attention. What happens here is that the dog learns to pay attention to the treat, but never effectively learns to pay attention to the handler. Once the treats are removed from the picture, you are left with a dog who displays zero attention span, and who perhaps will perform a known command in the quiet of her own home where there is not anything more interesting, but soon as you change the environment, or introduce real distractions, it’s almost as if she’s not trained at all.

This is why we place so much importance on teaching attention. It is the overarching condition to all obedience. With clear understanding and proper attention, there’s no reason your dog should not perform a known command.

If you need help with your dog, contact K-9 Connection Dog Training at (716) 548-3642

Free Shaping The ‘Place’ Command

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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.

Training Aggressive Dogs

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This is a clip from this past winter of “Lola” a 5 year old aggressive Doberman. Lola’s owner was told that she either had to get rid of her dog, or move, due to the fact that Lola had attempted to attack several dogs in her building. Luckily, she contacted K-9 Connction Dog Training first. This video was shot durring her free evaluation,and this is the first time that we met the dog. It is our policy at K-9 Connection to always show the effectiveness of whatever training approach we reccommend, before the owner commits to anything. Needless to say, Lola’s owner signed up for training, and we are happy to tell you that only a few months later Lola is now an accepted member of her building! Thanks to Nancy, Lola’s owner, for all her hard work and commitment to her dog

Highlights From The All Creatures Animal Hospital Open House

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These are clips from the open house at the All Creatures Animal Hospital.  Doing public demonstrations like this right next to crowds of people and dogs is where people really get to see the benefit of our dog training programs. I always tell clients, dog training isn’t so much about what your dog knows, its about what your dog will actually do.  The unfortunate reality is that most dogs will only perform their known obedience commands when they are home and there is little distraction around. Thats where K-9 Connection comes in, we specialize in getting dogs off leash even around severe distraction. If you have a dog you need help with, just give us a call (716) 548-3642.

Puppy Training With K-9 Connection

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This is a quick video of my new Belgian Malinois puppy ‘Dante’ taken at 10 weeks. He has only been training for about 1 week but you can see that he has already learned quite a bit. Right now Dante and I do our obedience training exercises 3 times a day for about 10 minutes when he gets his meals. He pretty much works for every bit of food that he gets, only occasionally eating out of the bowl if there is some left over. I believe that this helps to instill a very strong work ethic in the dog at a young age.

Dante is being raised to be a working dog, so I am not too concerned with control right now. I just want to start imprinting the meanings of these basic commands. So far we are working on sit, down, stand, heel, and come with food for motivation. Dante has also already begun his Bite-work training with helper Marcus Hampton. We’ll get some video of that too and post it as soon as we can.

Live Demonstrations!

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Come see us at the All Creatures Animal Hospital open house, this Sunday July 19th from 1-4pm.

Dante

Dante

There will be free hot dogs, pet photography, a free raffle, a pet psychic, and we will be doing dog training demonstrations with our dogs all day including a puppy training demonstration with our newest addition ‘Dante’.

Come out and show your love.

For more info call:

K-9 Connection Dog Training (716) 548-3642

All Creatures Animal Hospital (716) 636-3600