I know from the past that this is a bad idea. I'm very good at spending too much time on blogs, and also very good at abandoning blogs when I can no longer afford that too much time.
Seeing as I have a teething puppy seeking to destroy my life right now, I have even less time than usual. However, I also love to read other peoples' training blogs, and I feel like I should contribute. I also would like to have some more detailed notes than my training log.
For now, I'll post briefly (BRIEFLY) every day or two. I won't keep session logs here or anything, that's what my tiny little notebook is for. I will note what we're working on and maybe post some pictures and videos.
This is Maximum Oxytocin, just registered today. At home we just call him Maxwell. Or Maximilian, if you're my grandmother. Or Maxolotl, if you're my mother. Or Gwendolyn, if you're my grandfather, bless his heart.
Max is a mix of a mix. His mom was some sort of longhaired terrier..... thing, 12 pounds and less than a year old when she had Max. He was the only shorthair in the litter, and seems to have had a great upbringing before I got him. (I'm in touch with his foster family, which are awesome people.) Since I got him, well, I've done my best. :P
He's super-terrierish, about 12 pounds at 18 weeks, and teething up a storm right now. His black and tan is fading rapidly, and all bets are on him being saddle patterned when he grows up. Boo hoo, I like his markings nowwwww. However, if he must go from mini-dobie to mini-shepherd, so be it, I'll forgive him.
He is all clicker-trained, all the time. We're doing Sue Ailsby's New Training Levels, and they're amazing. I'm throwing in a little of this and that as we go, but her order makes so, so, so much sense that I haven't had to alter much.
He just passed Level 1 today, which means that he knows Leave It (which is our party trick, it's very impressive in a little wiggly puppy), Target, Come, Sit, and Down, all to pretty basic levels. On most of them he's at least partway through the next level, and we have started (or passed!) some of the Level 2 behaviors already. Aside from the levels, he knows not to eat off of my plate, how to rest in my lap even at the dinner table, a passable chin target, and fetch. He also knows that the whole world is his friend, and that every dog is his best bud. As of a couple of days ago, he also knows that momma hens are not to be messed with.
In Level 2 he has passed Zen (leave it) and Come, and has made significant inroads on Focus (eye contact), Lazy Leash (loose leash walking), Target, Go to Mat, Crate, Relax, and Handling. Untouched so far in Level 2 are Sitstay, Downstay, Distance, Jump, Tricks and Communication. I haven't done my Homework, either, but that's not really a problem.
My current goal is to have Level 2 passed by Halloween. I hope to have it done by the end of September, but that might be a little optimistic. It's hard to tell with such a young pup- he learns in leaps and bounds. It took him around 3 weeks just to pass Level 1 Zen, and then he practically flew through Level 2 Zen with hardly any practice at all.
Once he passes Level 2, I'll take him in for his CGC (provided his Level 3 Lazy Leash is good enough, we're working ahead on that in the interests of sanity.) There's a Rally O trial in town on the 30th of November, and a little evil part of me thinks we could do it. A more perfectionist part of me wants to finish all 4 levels before we even think about trialing, and a third part of me just wants to teach him everything all at once.
Aaaand I just had to pause to take away his crate rug because he was eating one side of it. Sigh.
The current system, which seems to be working, is that I work on 3 behaviors a day, unless they go really quick, in which case I'll just pick something else at random. I choose tomorrow's three behaviors and note down what to test sometime the day before, which really make it a lot easier to keep moving. I've also found that working different behaviors every day seems to help Max, who tends to get hung up if we work too much on something. I had to take a week off from Down, and then he got it within a couple of days once we picked it back up.
Today we worked Sit 1, Down 1, and Target 1, but that only took breakfast, so we also worked Lazy Leash 2 (in a far too distracting environment, bad trainer) and Target 2, which went smashingly. I think we could have that passed in 2 days. I tested the last remaining steps of Sit and Down before the training session, and he passed just fine, so we're official!
Alright, that's probably enough of an info dump for today. I'll just leave it that my puppy is a monster, a genius, and a cuddler, and that I really, REALLY want a camcorder to record training sessions with. :(
Edit: forgot we worked chin target also today. And... I went and bought a $60 camcorder and $15 tripod off of Amazon. No, I shouldn't have, money is tight right now. But I'm not feeling so cheery today, and a little retail therapy was called for. Can't wait to see training videos!
Seeing as I have a teething puppy seeking to destroy my life right now, I have even less time than usual. However, I also love to read other peoples' training blogs, and I feel like I should contribute. I also would like to have some more detailed notes than my training log.
For now, I'll post briefly (BRIEFLY) every day or two. I won't keep session logs here or anything, that's what my tiny little notebook is for. I will note what we're working on and maybe post some pictures and videos.
This is Maximum Oxytocin, just registered today. At home we just call him Maxwell. Or Maximilian, if you're my grandmother. Or Maxolotl, if you're my mother. Or Gwendolyn, if you're my grandfather, bless his heart.
Max is a mix of a mix. His mom was some sort of longhaired terrier..... thing, 12 pounds and less than a year old when she had Max. He was the only shorthair in the litter, and seems to have had a great upbringing before I got him. (I'm in touch with his foster family, which are awesome people.) Since I got him, well, I've done my best. :P
He's super-terrierish, about 12 pounds at 18 weeks, and teething up a storm right now. His black and tan is fading rapidly, and all bets are on him being saddle patterned when he grows up. Boo hoo, I like his markings nowwwww. However, if he must go from mini-dobie to mini-shepherd, so be it, I'll forgive him.
He is all clicker-trained, all the time. We're doing Sue Ailsby's New Training Levels, and they're amazing. I'm throwing in a little of this and that as we go, but her order makes so, so, so much sense that I haven't had to alter much.
He just passed Level 1 today, which means that he knows Leave It (which is our party trick, it's very impressive in a little wiggly puppy), Target, Come, Sit, and Down, all to pretty basic levels. On most of them he's at least partway through the next level, and we have started (or passed!) some of the Level 2 behaviors already. Aside from the levels, he knows not to eat off of my plate, how to rest in my lap even at the dinner table, a passable chin target, and fetch. He also knows that the whole world is his friend, and that every dog is his best bud. As of a couple of days ago, he also knows that momma hens are not to be messed with.
In Level 2 he has passed Zen (leave it) and Come, and has made significant inroads on Focus (eye contact), Lazy Leash (loose leash walking), Target, Go to Mat, Crate, Relax, and Handling. Untouched so far in Level 2 are Sitstay, Downstay, Distance, Jump, Tricks and Communication. I haven't done my Homework, either, but that's not really a problem.
My current goal is to have Level 2 passed by Halloween. I hope to have it done by the end of September, but that might be a little optimistic. It's hard to tell with such a young pup- he learns in leaps and bounds. It took him around 3 weeks just to pass Level 1 Zen, and then he practically flew through Level 2 Zen with hardly any practice at all.
Once he passes Level 2, I'll take him in for his CGC (provided his Level 3 Lazy Leash is good enough, we're working ahead on that in the interests of sanity.) There's a Rally O trial in town on the 30th of November, and a little evil part of me thinks we could do it. A more perfectionist part of me wants to finish all 4 levels before we even think about trialing, and a third part of me just wants to teach him everything all at once.
Aaaand I just had to pause to take away his crate rug because he was eating one side of it. Sigh.
The current system, which seems to be working, is that I work on 3 behaviors a day, unless they go really quick, in which case I'll just pick something else at random. I choose tomorrow's three behaviors and note down what to test sometime the day before, which really make it a lot easier to keep moving. I've also found that working different behaviors every day seems to help Max, who tends to get hung up if we work too much on something. I had to take a week off from Down, and then he got it within a couple of days once we picked it back up.
Today we worked Sit 1, Down 1, and Target 1, but that only took breakfast, so we also worked Lazy Leash 2 (in a far too distracting environment, bad trainer) and Target 2, which went smashingly. I think we could have that passed in 2 days. I tested the last remaining steps of Sit and Down before the training session, and he passed just fine, so we're official!
Alright, that's probably enough of an info dump for today. I'll just leave it that my puppy is a monster, a genius, and a cuddler, and that I really, REALLY want a camcorder to record training sessions with. :(
Edit: forgot we worked chin target also today. And... I went and bought a $60 camcorder and $15 tripod off of Amazon. No, I shouldn't have, money is tight right now. But I'm not feeling so cheery today, and a little retail therapy was called for. Can't wait to see training videos!
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