I had to go out of town for a couple of days and I left Miss Cali with a friend. Luckily, these friends are really big dog people. You might recognize Piper from some of the images on the website. She is what is known as a Junior Handler, which means that she is under 18 and shows dogs in the conformation ring. She is also very active in dog sports and training. So, leaving Cali or any of my dogs with her and her family means that I get not only excellent care but I also know that Cali will get some training and lots of dog friendly activity. Plus, their dog get to hang out with a friend.
In the images below Piper is doing some positive reinforcement training. There are no Negative consequences other than no treats.
Training the Behavior: SIT
Training the Behavior: DOWN
Using a hand command before a verbal to teach the behavior. Sometimes porties are silly!
Training the Behavior: PAW
Treat in hand on opposite side of face from paw that you want to have raised. Proper behavior outcome. Treating to celebrate that outcome.
Training the Behavior: OFF
When Cali jumps up, Piper puts her hands to her side. Piper then turns around so she is not facing Cali. Piper remains not facing Cali. Cali is now realizing Piper does not like the jumping. Cali is trying to get Piper’s attention in a calm manner. Cali realizes that Piper probably wants good behavior and has sat down.
Porties are naturally bouncy dogs. They want to see your face and interact with you. One of the most successful ways to train this behavior out of a dog is to just “ignore” them. That means no eye contact, no hands waving, no noise, just turn around. After Cali sat down, Piper gave her a treat and asked her to remain in a sitting position. When Cali did that, Piper gave her a celebration party, lots of treats and lots of eye contact, and lots of pets.
This behavior, or any of these behaviors are trained in one session. This takes several sessions. Each dog is also different and may take longer or less time to perfect a behavior. Also, consistency of family members regarding training methods is important.