Four Legged Scholars LLC – Aurora – Dog Training and Surrounding Areas
Do you struggle with a dog that only listens well to you when no dogs are around? Does this make walking stressful for you? We understand, and fortunately, you are not alone.
Currently, I am working with a boxer mix named Millie that struggles to listen to her owners around other dogs. The owners still walk Millie. It is embarrassing for them when they come across another dog.
Their cute boxer no longer looks cute as she barks and lunges. In fact, the owners state that many people feel fear around Millie when she is reacting this way.
They are afraid that Millie might hurt someone. The owners know that Millie is not likely to attack but everyone else does not know this. Millie lives in Aurora. Dog training is what I was hired to do for this family
Millie knows all of the basic obedience commands but when another dog is around she completely blows off her owners. This why we are now focusing on Aurora dog training.
We are beginning with a technique called proofing. This is getting Millie to respond to basic commands when she is distracted.
If your dog isn’t responding to you when another dog is around it’s because he is focused on something else. Hence he is distracted.
Start by making a list of things that distract your dog. For Millie this includes treats, the doorbell, other loud noises, toys, and water shooting from a hose.
The process goes like this. Have your dog on leash. Have a distraction at a distance from your dog. Then re-train the command with the distraction.
Remember Aurora dog training isn’t going to happen over night. So don’t repeat the command if your dog doesn’t respond. Instead move farther away, use an easier distraction, use higher valued treats, or prompt your dog to get him to respond.
The farther your dog is away from the distraction the easier it will be for your dog to respond. A higher treat reward will increase your dog’s motivation to respond to you.
When re-training a command, you will do something to prompt your dog to respond. Lures work well. This means that you have a treat in your hand.
As your dog follows the treat, guide your dog into the position you want according to the command that you are using.
Practice will make perfect. Millie and her owners worked on target, name recognition, making a u-turn, walking loosely on the leash, watch, and leave it with distractions last week.
We used treats laying on the floor. We also progressed to pushing the treats back and forth on the floor. Lastly, I was a distraction by acting super happy and clapping my hands.
With each distraction we trained Millie to respond to the command rather than reacting to the distraction (such as running toward me or eating the treats.)
Millie lives in Aurora. Dog training is a high priority for these owners so I bet when I go to this house today Millie will be ready to progress to the next level. What is the next level? You guessed it getting your dog to respond to commands around dogs.
Remember you have to start somewhere to have success. Proofing is where to start in Aurora. Dog training will be much easier when you start with proofing rather than starting with other dog distractions.
Johanna Teresi, Aurora Dog Trainer, Four Legged Scholars LLC, Aurora, Dog Training
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