Sunday, November 23, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Don't miss these videos of Marcy
The video immediately below (in the next post) has been viewed over 100 times but I can see that many of you are missing the other videos of Marcy.
Please scroll WAAAAAAAAAY down, and you'll find lots of additional videos. They are so cute! She is adorable!
Please scroll WAAAAAAAAAY down, and you'll find lots of additional videos. They are so cute! She is adorable!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Marcy learning to "down"
Today Marcy is building her basic obedience using clicker training. The click tells her "what you did when I made that noise was really good, and now you'll get a treat for it". The timing of the click is important because it signals to her exactly what behavior earned the treat. I use my tongue to click, I usually don't have a clicker in my hand (though she does understand both the tongue-click and the clicker device).
The way we do this is to "get" the behavior we want through shaping it, and by using the timing of click and treat carefully, we get her to understand that "if you sit and look at me, I will click and treat". Once she understands that, then we add a verbal word to it "sit". Once we have enough repetitions for her to have the word association (usually a minimum of 50, and more like 100), then we start only rewarding when we have ASKED for the behavior, not just when she offers it. And then we fade out the frequent food rewards. We are not through that entire process here, this is just the beginning. But I wanted you to understand the longer term path.
Get it? View this video, and then SCROLL DOWN FURTHER FOR MORE VIDEOS!!
A common question is, "Why wait to add the verbal cue?" The reason we wait is a good one. We want her to associate the cue "sit" with the right behavior. If we use the cue in the early teaching stage (as was traditionally done in most dog training classes), she may be hearing the word "sit" when in fact she is standing up and moving around and is not in the sit position at all. It's important to "glue" the word sit to the actual correct behavior. "Sit" means sit, not "wiggle your butt around while I position you in a way that can get you ready to sit". Not "we're going to go through this little dance while I try to position you into a sit". See the difference?
This is why we start our clicker training process with a "new" dog by first teaching them what the click means-- that what she was doing at the moment of my click earned the reward. There is a short process for that I'm not describing here, it's called "loading the clicker". Once they understand that, then we catch the dog performing the desired behavior (or something close to the desired behavior, that we can shape INTO the desired behavior). So most dogs will sit on their own at some point. Our job is to catch that in the moment it happens, click, and treat. Aha! After that happens a few times, they're offering you the "sit" over and over.
Usually, we like to have short, 2-3 minute training sessions 5-6 times a day, and we like to work on just one behavior in each one. We'll do "sit" for a few minutes, and later we'll do "down". This allows the dog to know which behavior we're working on, because they'll start offering you ALL Their behaviors if you try to work on them in the same session without some clear "breaking point" from one behavior to another. This is more of a problem in dogs that are new to clicker training-- once they are "clicker savvy" they move more quickly with everything. But you will see in this video that because we started working on "down", later when I try to show you how well she sits she also melts into a down because she thinks that's what I'm asking her to work on. You'll also notice that she is reluctant to stop the training session. This is great, it means she's having fun.
Marcy is available through Rover Rescue, at
www.roverrescue.com. Please help her find a great home and donate to support our efforts.
The way we do this is to "get" the behavior we want through shaping it, and by using the timing of click and treat carefully, we get her to understand that "if you sit and look at me, I will click and treat". Once she understands that, then we add a verbal word to it "sit". Once we have enough repetitions for her to have the word association (usually a minimum of 50, and more like 100), then we start only rewarding when we have ASKED for the behavior, not just when she offers it. And then we fade out the frequent food rewards. We are not through that entire process here, this is just the beginning. But I wanted you to understand the longer term path.
Get it? View this video, and then SCROLL DOWN FURTHER FOR MORE VIDEOS!!
A common question is, "Why wait to add the verbal cue?" The reason we wait is a good one. We want her to associate the cue "sit" with the right behavior. If we use the cue in the early teaching stage (as was traditionally done in most dog training classes), she may be hearing the word "sit" when in fact she is standing up and moving around and is not in the sit position at all. It's important to "glue" the word sit to the actual correct behavior. "Sit" means sit, not "wiggle your butt around while I position you in a way that can get you ready to sit". Not "we're going to go through this little dance while I try to position you into a sit". See the difference?
This is why we start our clicker training process with a "new" dog by first teaching them what the click means-- that what she was doing at the moment of my click earned the reward. There is a short process for that I'm not describing here, it's called "loading the clicker". Once they understand that, then we catch the dog performing the desired behavior (or something close to the desired behavior, that we can shape INTO the desired behavior). So most dogs will sit on their own at some point. Our job is to catch that in the moment it happens, click, and treat. Aha! After that happens a few times, they're offering you the "sit" over and over.
Usually, we like to have short, 2-3 minute training sessions 5-6 times a day, and we like to work on just one behavior in each one. We'll do "sit" for a few minutes, and later we'll do "down". This allows the dog to know which behavior we're working on, because they'll start offering you ALL Their behaviors if you try to work on them in the same session without some clear "breaking point" from one behavior to another. This is more of a problem in dogs that are new to clicker training-- once they are "clicker savvy" they move more quickly with everything. But you will see in this video that because we started working on "down", later when I try to show you how well she sits she also melts into a down because she thinks that's what I'm asking her to work on. You'll also notice that she is reluctant to stop the training session. This is great, it means she's having fun.
Marcy is available through Rover Rescue, at
www.roverrescue.com. Please help her find a great home and donate to support our efforts.
Monday, November 3, 2008
She's a genius!
Marcy is catching on to clicker training beautifully, and quickly learned that if she sits and looks me in the face (giving me her full attention) it makes me click and give her a treat.
I decided to teach her "down". So tonight I leashed her to the piano and sat 4 feet away, and waited. She was puzzled. She sat and stared at me, and I did not respond. Hmmmm. Not knowing what else to do, she lay down. I immediately clicked and tossed a treat to her about a foot away (causing her to stand up to get it). She caught on immediately, and started offering me the "down" again and again, getting a click and treat each time. After about 12 successful repetitions, I started putting the word to it, saying "down" AS she was doing it.
We did this for about 4 minutes, and quit. 2 hours later, we did it again in a different room, with me sitting nearby, standing up, on her left side, on her right side, in front of her, etc.-- changing my body position relative to hers. No problem. She gets it.
She's a very quick learner, and is loving this positive method of training.
Marcy is available through Rover Rescue, at
www.roverrescue.com. Please help her find a great home and donate to support our efforts.
I decided to teach her "down". So tonight I leashed her to the piano and sat 4 feet away, and waited. She was puzzled. She sat and stared at me, and I did not respond. Hmmmm. Not knowing what else to do, she lay down. I immediately clicked and tossed a treat to her about a foot away (causing her to stand up to get it). She caught on immediately, and started offering me the "down" again and again, getting a click and treat each time. After about 12 successful repetitions, I started putting the word to it, saying "down" AS she was doing it.
We did this for about 4 minutes, and quit. 2 hours later, we did it again in a different room, with me sitting nearby, standing up, on her left side, on her right side, in front of her, etc.-- changing my body position relative to hers. No problem. She gets it.
She's a very quick learner, and is loving this positive method of training.
Marcy is available through Rover Rescue, at
www.roverrescue.com. Please help her find a great home and donate to support our efforts.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Are you Marcy's "ideal adopter"?
Marcy's ideal new home has the following characteristics:
- Is willing to appreciate that special enthusiasm, energy and curiosity that comes with a puppy (and is willing to provide the appropriate levels of supervision and crating that come with that).
- Is not going to leave Marcy alone for more than 3 hours a day. If Marcy has another dog in the home, this would not be an issue. But she'd be miserable being totally alone more than 3 hours a day.
- If there are children in the home, they are over 5 years old. This is because (1) puppies and younger children often play like two puppies, which results in the child getting nipped, (2) if Marcy jumped up on a toddler, the toddler could fall down and be upset. An upset toddler results in an upset parent. Children under five are not a good idea with a puppy.
- Has a household where leaving doors open (allowing dogs to run outside without permission) is not a factor. If there are multiple kids coming and going, doors will inevitably be left open, and this dog may well get out and become lost.
- Is willing to continue her crate training. Crate training is for more than just housetraining-- having a crate-trained dog allows you to take your dog with on vacation, and is essential in the event of a serious disaster like an earthquate, fire, etc.
- Would be open to continuing her obedience training, preferably using a class and instructor that uses positive reinforcement methods (clicker training!). This dog does not ever need a choke chain or a prong collar.
If you fit this profile and would like to meet Marcy, we'd like to hear from you! If you know someone else who fits this profile who is interested in having a dog, please, tell them about Marcy! Thank you!
Marcy is available through Rover Rescue, at
www.roverrescue.com. Please help her find a great home and donate to support our efforts.
- Is willing to appreciate that special enthusiasm, energy and curiosity that comes with a puppy (and is willing to provide the appropriate levels of supervision and crating that come with that).
- Is not going to leave Marcy alone for more than 3 hours a day. If Marcy has another dog in the home, this would not be an issue. But she'd be miserable being totally alone more than 3 hours a day.
- If there are children in the home, they are over 5 years old. This is because (1) puppies and younger children often play like two puppies, which results in the child getting nipped, (2) if Marcy jumped up on a toddler, the toddler could fall down and be upset. An upset toddler results in an upset parent. Children under five are not a good idea with a puppy.
- Has a household where leaving doors open (allowing dogs to run outside without permission) is not a factor. If there are multiple kids coming and going, doors will inevitably be left open, and this dog may well get out and become lost.
- Is willing to continue her crate training. Crate training is for more than just housetraining-- having a crate-trained dog allows you to take your dog with on vacation, and is essential in the event of a serious disaster like an earthquate, fire, etc.
- Would be open to continuing her obedience training, preferably using a class and instructor that uses positive reinforcement methods (clicker training!). This dog does not ever need a choke chain or a prong collar.
If you fit this profile and would like to meet Marcy, we'd like to hear from you! If you know someone else who fits this profile who is interested in having a dog, please, tell them about Marcy! Thank you!
Marcy is available through Rover Rescue, at
www.roverrescue.com. Please help her find a great home and donate to support our efforts.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Marcy is available through Rover Rescue, at
www.roverrescue.com. Please help her find a great home and donate to support our efforts.
Check out Marcy's photo album!
www.roverrescue.com. Please help her find a great home and donate to support our efforts.
Check out Marcy's photo album!
 |
| Marcy photos |
Videos of Marcy
Marcy is available through Rover Rescue, at
www.roverrescue.com. Please help her find a great home and donate to support our efforts.
Her first evening "home":
First morning after her first night: Notice how she doesn't seem overly traumatized at being in a new place-- she's a bright, confident little dog.
Her 3rd day-- settling in beautifully, and showing her bright personality.
Marcy snuggling on the sofa-- she is very affectionate, and loves body contact.
She's full of puppy energy in the morning, and wants to play with everyone. We, on the other hand, need our coffee!
Here's a bit more info about Glen of Imaal Terriers:
www.roverrescue.com. Please help her find a great home and donate to support our efforts.
Her first evening "home":
First morning after her first night: Notice how she doesn't seem overly traumatized at being in a new place-- she's a bright, confident little dog.
Her 3rd day-- settling in beautifully, and showing her bright personality.
Marcy snuggling on the sofa-- she is very affectionate, and loves body contact.
She's full of puppy energy in the morning, and wants to play with everyone. We, on the other hand, need our coffee!
Here's a bit more info about Glen of Imaal Terriers:
Details about Marcy
xxx We have fostered Marcy for about a week now, and here's what we can tell you....
Weight: 17.5 lbs on 10/26
Height: 11 inches at the shoulder
I believe she is a purebred Glen of Imaal Terrier, though this is not really possible to confirm.
She is a puppy. She is eager and quick to learn, and is food-motivated (which makes it easy!). I advocate the "clicker training" method of dog training, and she is responding beautifully to this.
Adjectives that would describe her personality would be:
Curious, happy, cheerful, affectionate, playful, sociable, confident, funny, intelligent, responsive, communicative.
She gets along well with other dogs (we have 3 other dogs in the household). The first 2 days, she would be a bit possessive of me-- if I were holding her, she'd lunge and snarl/growl at my dog who came up to me, saying "get back!". I corrected this and she no longer does it (largely because I think she feels comfortable with the group now). She is not the least bit possessive of her food or toys, and plays tug of war with my other dogs. I am able to take her toy away from her and throw it for her. She plays and romps with my other dogs (we've got lots of video).
Her health seems excellent. We have enjoyed her so much that if we didn't already have 3 dogs, we'd definately be keeping her ourselves. I'm available to whomever adopts her, if they have questions about training, and we'd even consider boarding her if her new owners need to leave town (assuming it's convenient with our schedule, etc). She's delightful, and we love her. You will, too!
Housetraining: The first 24 hours, we had 3 accidents-- 2 in the house on the carpet, and one outside by the door on the carpet we use there as a door mat. So she likes carpet. Since then we really tightened up our supervision and took her out twice as often, and we have not had any more accidents. She is not yet housetrained-- we are just being super proactive about getting her out and not letting her be unsupervised.
We take her out:
-immediately upon waking in the morning, and about every 20 min after that until she's pee'd and pooped twice. (she gets breakfast in there, too)
- after she's had a major romp and run session with my other dogs
- after eating breakfast or dinner
- about every 20 min., unless she is crated.
Crate training is essential for success with Marcy! She is crated for a bit in the morning while we get ready for work. She is crated in the evening off and on while we watch TV, etc (we take her out for potty breaks and let her play a bit, and then put her back in). We are trying to teach her that the crate is a happy place, and it does not mean isolation from the group. So her crate is in the TV room with us. She sleeps in it at night. She has a soft bed in there, plus a little blanket she can push around (and she does!) and a kong toy stuffed with a piece of "Natural Balance" semi-soft food.
Marcy is available through Rover Rescue, at
www.roverrescue.com. Please help her find a great home and donate to support our efforts.
Weight: 17.5 lbs on 10/26
Height: 11 inches at the shoulder
I believe she is a purebred Glen of Imaal Terrier, though this is not really possible to confirm.
She is a puppy. She is eager and quick to learn, and is food-motivated (which makes it easy!). I advocate the "clicker training" method of dog training, and she is responding beautifully to this.
Adjectives that would describe her personality would be:
Curious, happy, cheerful, affectionate, playful, sociable, confident, funny, intelligent, responsive, communicative.
She gets along well with other dogs (we have 3 other dogs in the household). The first 2 days, she would be a bit possessive of me-- if I were holding her, she'd lunge and snarl/growl at my dog who came up to me, saying "get back!". I corrected this and she no longer does it (largely because I think she feels comfortable with the group now). She is not the least bit possessive of her food or toys, and plays tug of war with my other dogs. I am able to take her toy away from her and throw it for her. She plays and romps with my other dogs (we've got lots of video).
Her health seems excellent. We have enjoyed her so much that if we didn't already have 3 dogs, we'd definately be keeping her ourselves. I'm available to whomever adopts her, if they have questions about training, and we'd even consider boarding her if her new owners need to leave town (assuming it's convenient with our schedule, etc). She's delightful, and we love her. You will, too!
Housetraining: The first 24 hours, we had 3 accidents-- 2 in the house on the carpet, and one outside by the door on the carpet we use there as a door mat. So she likes carpet. Since then we really tightened up our supervision and took her out twice as often, and we have not had any more accidents. She is not yet housetrained-- we are just being super proactive about getting her out and not letting her be unsupervised.
We take her out:
-immediately upon waking in the morning, and about every 20 min after that until she's pee'd and pooped twice. (she gets breakfast in there, too)
- after she's had a major romp and run session with my other dogs
- after eating breakfast or dinner
- about every 20 min., unless she is crated.
Crate training is essential for success with Marcy! She is crated for a bit in the morning while we get ready for work. She is crated in the evening off and on while we watch TV, etc (we take her out for potty breaks and let her play a bit, and then put her back in). We are trying to teach her that the crate is a happy place, and it does not mean isolation from the group. So her crate is in the TV room with us. She sleeps in it at night. She has a soft bed in there, plus a little blanket she can push around (and she does!) and a kong toy stuffed with a piece of "Natural Balance" semi-soft food.
Marcy is available through Rover Rescue, at
www.roverrescue.com. Please help her find a great home and donate to support our efforts.
Timeline
Timeline:
September: Marcy was picked up as a stray at the Carson Animal Shelter. She was held for a few days to give her owners a chance to get her, and during that time she caught "kennel cough", a very contagious infection that is rampant in shelters. She was tagged to be euthanized because it takes about 2 weeks to recover from it, and they could not put her up for adoption with it. Cathy Rubin of Rover Rescue stepped in and worked with the shelter to rescue Marcy, and paid to have her boarded while she recovered from the kennel cough. Marcy was described as a "terrier mix" at the shelter, but upon further examination I believe she is a Glen of Imaal Terrier, an Irish dog that was added to the AKC's list of dog breeds in 2005.
October: On October 4th, Marcy was spayed. She was cared for by Foster Mom #1, and recovered beautifully from her surgery. Not realizing how young Marcy is, her foster mom had some difficulty with her housetraining. Her stitches were removed on Oct. 22nd and that same day she was transfered to Foster Mom #2 (me) because I have a dog training background and could work on her housetraining and socialize her with other dogs.
Marcy's doing great. For details on her, see the other posts.
Marcy is available through Rover Rescue, at
www.roverrescue.com. Please help her find a great home and donate to support our efforts.
September: Marcy was picked up as a stray at the Carson Animal Shelter. She was held for a few days to give her owners a chance to get her, and during that time she caught "kennel cough", a very contagious infection that is rampant in shelters. She was tagged to be euthanized because it takes about 2 weeks to recover from it, and they could not put her up for adoption with it. Cathy Rubin of Rover Rescue stepped in and worked with the shelter to rescue Marcy, and paid to have her boarded while she recovered from the kennel cough. Marcy was described as a "terrier mix" at the shelter, but upon further examination I believe she is a Glen of Imaal Terrier, an Irish dog that was added to the AKC's list of dog breeds in 2005.
October: On October 4th, Marcy was spayed. She was cared for by Foster Mom #1, and recovered beautifully from her surgery. Not realizing how young Marcy is, her foster mom had some difficulty with her housetraining. Her stitches were removed on Oct. 22nd and that same day she was transfered to Foster Mom #2 (me) because I have a dog training background and could work on her housetraining and socialize her with other dogs.
Marcy's doing great. For details on her, see the other posts.
Marcy is available through Rover Rescue, at
www.roverrescue.com. Please help her find a great home and donate to support our efforts.
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