29 replies to this topic

[doberpagegirl]

Alley started advanced obedience class last night. I am pretty excited as this class should be more fun than the basic obedience. Last night we did figure eights. There are 3 other dogs in the class although one was not there last night. There is a German Shepard and a Pappillion. The little pappillion is named Merci and all her commands are in french. That was pretty cute, the little thing looked like a toy between Alley and the Shepard. Buddy starts class next Thursday with Joaquin. It's going to be a lot more work for Joaquin and Buddy than Alley and I, I think. Alley acts like a perfect little lady in class. She is getting really good at understanding there is a time we are working, and she needs to pay attention NOW. It's like she's a different dog when we are doing homework or at class. Because trust me when she is just roaming around the house she is Wild! For Buddy it will all be brand new, we just want him to build some confidence and get some socialization. So we will keep you updated on their progress.

[Kari]

I think you guys are wonderful !! You both have done so much for Alley & Buddy , they are very lucky to have such a great mom and dad . They sure have come a long way !!

[bumpster]

That is wonderful! Sarah, you and Joaquin are the greatest!! Keep us updated, we love stories about Buddy and Alley and all you've done for them!!

[Arda]

You sure are building great dogs. They are going to make you so proud. And you two make me very proud!

[Diana]

You and Alley will have lots of fun in the class and sounds like she really enjoys it. Makes you feel so good when you see the difference it makes for them. You two are doing a great job. Wishing Buddy and Joaquin a fun time in their class too.

[brownsmom]

Good luck in class! Are you still working with Maddie? She spoke highly of you when I asked how the dogs were.

[doberpagegirl]

Yes, Maddie is teaching both of our classes. She is awesome!! Without her I don't know what we would have done.

[Stacie]

Very cool! You two are awesome doberparents!

[Joaquin]

Well Buddy had his first obedience class last night. The class actually started a week before but the first week was just for the handlers. The first week's homework was to have him on a long 15 foot lead and with no eye contact or verbal interaction walk around between a few points 50 feet apart with Buddy getting "self corrected" as he strays too far from me. This is supposed to teach him that by no action from me, the best place to be while working is near me.

After a few days of that, we switch to distraction exercises setting up tasty distractions and working with buddy still on the long lead but with the slack tightened up so he is right next to me. We'd walk up to the distraction and make a quick turn in the opposite direction still with no verbal commands just praise for every time he ignored the distraction and made the turn smoothly with me. However when he wouldn't ignore it, the turning across my body used my legs as the source of the correction so he learns "if I don't turn with him, grief is coming".

He did well with both of these exercises the first week. Buddy has a milder personality and is already just fine standing or sitting next to you so he rarily got self corrected on the long lead work and most of the time almost walked in heal position even though he didn't know that is what he was doing. With the distraction work it didn't take him long to catch on. He really is intelligent as far as picking up on patterns, we just think(know) he had no interaction or instruction for so long in his life. He really seems to enjoy working once he understands the exercise. Obviously putting a big pan of spaghetti on the ground as well as some open peanut butter jars put him in a state of excitement and the first 4 or 5 times coming toward the distractions he couldn't help himself. But once he figured out that it was a trick and if he went for it instead of turning he would get a very unpleasant correction, and he, to my amazement, began to look up at me when we came to a distraction and he started to totally ignore the food on the ground. I couldn't believe it, he still eats like it's his last meal every time so I thought for sure he would have a hard time with this, but he fell right in line.

So then last night in class the first thing was to stand facing another dog and owner about 6 feet in front of you and each of you were going to be each other's "distraction". We would walk toward the other dog and then turn away just like with the food. Well after turning away from his favorite vice(food) Buddy had no problem with this and didn't fight one single turn. We then learned the heal position and place sitting after the heal. We would walk in circles healing and then stop from time to time place sitting the dogs. It took about 3 laps before Buddy started to anticipate the turns and he rarely strayed from my side.

Being around the other dogs we thought would be tough for him too since he is more timid than most dogs. However only when a collie in class lunged at him growling did Buddy ever growl and was quickly corrected never to do it again the whole class. Buddy was a gentleman the whole time mostly, once when someone was running with their dog past Buddy did he try to run too but I really think it was a playful thing because he made no noise and didn't fight once he reached the end of the leash. He did shake some from being nervous but that was expected, however once he fell into the routine of healing and place sitting he calmed right down and would even lay down during breaks.

Maddy is real big on praise and pounds it into your head that this is a confidence building class so Buddy gets lots of praise for doing things right so that helps a lot to calm him down. This week we will work everyday on healing with distractions and place sitting. Buddy will have to do 50 refusals of distractions while healing each day as well as 20 place sits. Seeing how he has naturally decided to heal and turn with me I don't think this will be a problem for him, however by next week we should be close to having him sit when I stop walking on a heal automatically without a verbal command and I think that might be the one that requires more work. Buddy really just got used to listening for commands and has really done good obeying, but to have him do it without a command will probably require work(go figure) but if he can learn to ignore a pan of spaghetti on the floor I think he can do it.

We are going Saturday to my mom's house to let her dobe Baby meet Buddy and Alley for the first time, so that should be interesting. Maddy says collars and leashes of course and to introduce them one at a time so Baby doesn't get overwhelmed. Apparently my mom thinks Baby never gets tired of playing and thinks she will tire Alley out but obviously she doesn't know Alley that well because we have yet to see her gas tank empty so that should be fun to see who gives up first. It will be good socialization for Buddy too. Lastly I talked to Maddy about cutting Buddy's nails. He has growled a couple of times when we goto cut his nails but Maddy says to treat this like any other unwanted behavior, DON'T TOLERATE IT! If they learn they can control you by growling, they will. So we are supposed to alpha shake him through any growling and continue to cut his nails and don't back down correcting him for every unwanted act. So that should be fun too(sarcasm). She did bring it to my attention that the corrections are what made him ignore the spaghetti so it seems that not getting corrected does matter to Buddy so hopefully he gives in to this as well.

Alright time to wrap this novel up, see ya for the next update.

Joaquin

[bumpster]

Wow you are really making progress with Buddy! Sounds like he is doing really well. Thank you for not giving up on him. You and Sarah are special Dober-people!!

[doberpagegirl]

Well here is Alley's update. We are starting to work off leash in class. Alley does really well at it. She's not a runner to start with, so that makes it easier. Last night the German Shepard took off and ran into the library. (Our class is in a school.) Luckily she is friendly and the kids in there were playing with her by the time the owner caught her. Made me twice as glad that Alley isn't a runner, lol. Not to brag, but Alley is so smart!! Even the first time I walked her at SCD she was looking up at me the whole time. She LOVES class. She gets a ton of praise during class, and she honestly gets an interested look on her face when we are working on something new. You can literally see her brain processing the new information. I love that. She is really a good dog and easy to train. I am very proud of my girl. The other dog that came this week is a blue dobe. His name is Mason. The poor little guy is all bald on his back and he has retinal atrophy (sp?) which is causing him to go blind. He is already really well trained and the lady said she wants to train him as much as possible before he loses his sight. He was a real sweetheart. Alley shows no interest in the other dogs really, but when Mason walks by she tries to go by him. It's funny, she seems to know he is a dobe. I'm sure she expects him to play like Buddy does, lol.

[Karen A]

Hey , we know a blue dobe named Mason. Ask where he came from next week.
You two (or should I say 4), are doing so well together! I applaud you for all the effort you have put into these doberkids I think we were really lucky when you applied with us to get a dog

[Joaquin]

Thanks guys for all your great comments but it's only by the support and advice from you guys that we are able to do so well. We also can't take credit without mentioning Maddy Berkobien who holds obedience classes at Swan Valley High School in Saginaw Michigan:

High School Phone # (989) 921-2401

She has really been all the difference in handling Buddy and Alley's adjustment to each other and giving us the confidence that we really could out-alpha these dogs into behaving how we want them to.

Which really brings us back to the person who both referred us to Maddy and who brought us together with these two, it really is a selfless job and if the gratitude of thousands of dogs who otherwise would have been destroyed isn't enough, Arda you have our life long gratitude and admiring respect. You do good in a big way.

I think you guys are wonderful !! You both have done so much for Alley & Buddy , they are very lucky to have such a great mom and dad . They sure have come a long way !!

That is wonderful! Sarah, you and Joaquin are the greatest!! Keep us updated, we love stories about Buddy and Alley and all you've done for them!!

You sure are building great dogs. They are going to make you so proud. And you two make me very proud!

You and Alley will have lots of fun in the class and sounds like she really enjoys it. Makes you feel so good when you see the difference it makes for them. You two are doing a great job. Wishing Buddy and Joaquin a fun time in their class too.

Good luck in class! Are you still working with Maddie? She spoke highly of you when I asked how the dogs were.

Very cool! You two are awesome doberparents!

Wow you are really making progress with Buddy! Sounds like he is doing really well. Thank you for not giving up on him. You and Sarah are special Dober-people!!

Hey , we know a blue dobe named Mason. Ask where he came from next week.
You two (or should I say 4), are doing so well together! I applaud you for all the effort you have put into these doberkids I think we were really lucky when you applied with us to get a dog

[Stacie]

I love reading your updates because I know they are always going to be good! The two of you have really gone above and beyond what some people would have for Alley and Buddy. I wish all adopters could be like you. I had a family who had spent lots of time prior to the adoptions return a dog 18 hours later saying he was too uncontrollable. He was a 10 month old boxer - need I say more - and he was a very good boy - just excitable in new situations. I hope the visit went well. I still do my intro's one at a time also - and then I take them all for a walk together before taking them into the house together. And I always keep the new guy on a leash for a day or so and when out in the yard until they all get used to one another!

[Annie Moon]

I'm enjoying reading the loving way you guys describe
Alley, and Buddy's training.
It sounds like you're enjoying it as much as the dogs are.
I'm impressed with all four of you.

How did the visit with Mom, and Baby go?

[doberpagegirl]

The visit went really well. We introduced them one at a time through the back yard fence. It was so cold that we couldn't really let them play outside though. They got along very well, a few little growls here and there, but that is to be expected at first I think. Baby wanted to play but she didn't really know how to join in. Alley and Buddy would start playing and Baby would run up to them, jump in and then turn and run away. Then stand there for a minute and bark then run around them. It was cute. Here's some pictures.
Alley trying to get Baby to play
 Baby_Alley_Buddy.jpg   82.34KB   3 downloads

Alley on the left, Buddy in the center, Baby on the right
 Baby_Alley_Buddy2.jpg   74.46KB   2 downloads

Baby pulling on Buddy
 Baby_Alley_Buddy3.jpg   75.61KB   0 downloads

Baby and Buddy taking a rest
 Baby_n_Buddy.jpg   86.8KB   1 downloads

Ummm, Mom she is hogging our bed!
 Baby_Teasing.jpg   86.13KB   0 downloads

Edited by doberpagegirl, 23 January 2008 - 06:25 PM.

[Diana]

Looks like it went very well, good job guys !!! Thanks for sharing the picture's, they all look very happy and in wonderful condition, their coats are glowing with good health.

[bumpster]

Thanks for the pictures! All three look wonderful. But my how Baby has grown!!

[Kari]

They all look beautiful !! Great pictures !!

[brownsmom]

Great pictures! Baby looks like she is having a fun visit!