Upcoming Dog Activity Options in Ventura: Mutt March Madness Headed our Way

This March brings lots of fun choices for you and your dog. The Inquisitive Canine will start it off with a dog social for your puppy or younger smaller dog (up to 12 months and 25 pounds), followed by a leash walking workshop for dogs of all ages. Then there's our popular Canine College for learning good manners, and finally the St. Patrick's Parade Ventura Dog Mile event in downtown Ventura!

Each one provides mental and physical stimulation, so come join in for one or for all of these fun and rewarding activities! Here's a little breakdown of each one:

Social for Puppies & Small Younger Dogs Sunday March 7th, 1:00 - 2:00 PM Puppies learn by exploring their environments and by being exposed to new stimuli - including people and other dogs. While it is important to introduce your puppy to new situations and encourage social behavior, it is also important to provide positive and pleasant experiences that won’t overwhelm and stress out your dog. Puppy Play Groups help you raise a well-adjusted and healthy dog by providing a safe and relaxed environment for your young pup to socialize and play. Your puppy will burn energy while learning how to make friends and investigating new sights, sounds, and smells. The positive experiences that your puppy has during this critical socialization period will have a long-lasting influence on your dog’s developing confidence and sociable temperament. Puppy Socials are for all puppies 10 weeks to 5 months old. However, small dogs up to 25 pounds and 12 months in age are also welcome. Cost: $10.00 advanced registration (by Thursday March 4th) $15.00 at door. Social is one hour. See our website to register, and for policies and safety guidelines. You may contact us directly for additional information. Please provide us with current copy of vaccination records if you are a new student. You may fax a copy to our office: 805.650.8501 or bring with you. _______________________________________________________________________________ Teach Your Dog to Walk Nicely on Leash Sunday March 7th, 3:00 - 4:15 PM This 75 minute workshop for you and your dog covers everything from equipment, simple techniques and training steps that will make walking your dog more enjoyable for everyone. Cost: $20.00 per dog if registered by Thursday March 4th, $25.00 thereafter. $30.00 same-day registration. Workshop is for all dogs who are comfortable around other dogs and people while on leash. Check The Inquisitive Canine website for additional information and toregister, or to contact us. *Perfect class to get your dog ready for the Ventura Downtown Green Mile on March 13th! A current copy of your dogs vaccination records is required at the time of sign-up. You may fax a copy to our office: 805.650.8501 or bring with you. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ St. Patrick's Day Parade Dog Mile Run/Walk An exciting mile run or walk event in Downtown Ventura taking place on Saturday March 13th before the St. Patricks Day Parade. To register for event, please see the Ventura Mile website. For additional information on this fun and exciting event, please click here! (Our Loose Leash Walking workshop on March 7th is the perfect way to prep your pooch for this event!) Canine College With Ventura College Community Education Class is filling quickly ~ Register now! Day of week: Tuesdays Time: 5:30 - 6:30 PM Dates: March 16, 2010 - April 27, 2010 (note: no class April 20th!) Cost: $69.00 for series Location: 71 Day Road - patio area Registration is directly through Ventura College Community Ed online or call (805) 654-6459 Contact Ventura College or The Inquisitive Canine for additional information

Walking Your Dog on Leash Doesn't Have to Be a Huge Production

"My dog pulls like a maniac when I walk him on leash!" "My dog barks at everything when we're out walking." "My dog wants to pull me down the street whenever she sees something run by - even a leaf!"

These comments are just a few examples of what I hear every day from various dog owners. Whether it be attendee's in my dog training classes, my private dog training clients, or those who have written in to the dog behavior advice column Poncho and I write for, everyone seems to be in the same leash-pulling-boat.

As I've said in other posts about walking dogs on leash: "Dogs weren't born knowing how to walk on leash. And us humans weren't born knowing how to use one." Then why is it we think we can just leash up our dogs and head right out the door into a world that, to our pet dogs, is probably more like an amusement park than anything else, and think they would understand exactly what we want? To me, a certified professional dog trainer, this is one of those "unrealistic expectations" kinda moments. Leash walking is an art, a science, and definitely an act that requires practice! And just like any new skill, it's best to start out slow and simple, and then build as you (and your dog) progress along.

I like to break down the leash walking behavior I teach my dog training students into three sections.

• First and foremost: Reward what you want!!!! If you want your dog walking next to you, then reward him or her with yummy treats while they are next to you. Lure your dog into position and reward them. It's that simple.
• STOP! If and when your dog does pull, stop dead in your tracks! They will soon learn that pulling gets them nowhere, but walking next to you gets them yummy treats and walkies.
• Use your dogs environmental motivators as rewards! Okay, remember, our dog's walkies should be about them, and not always about us. They want to sniff? Mark? Say hello to another person or dog? Roll in something dead? Well shoot, use that to your advantage. Ask for a "sit" or "Watch me", then allow them to go and do their doggy thing. It doesn't always have to be about food.

Establishing boundaries to avoid doing a face-plant into the sidewalk makes for a nice outing, for both you and your dog.

Making Dog Walking Outings More Fun For Your Dog & You

As Poncho and I were on our evening stroll today here in Ventura, we played our "let's say hi to our neighbor dogs as we walk by" game, which made it a lot more fun - for the both of us!  

Every time we walked by a house where the dogs started barking, I'd say *Hi!*, mention their names (there's Mookie, Zorro, Nick, Guinness and Waylon, red house dog, blue and white house dog, and Heather), and give Poncho a little piece of leftover chicken.  

This is a fun game - Poncho loves it! And of course now, thanks to learning by association, he loves when other dogs bark too...

This is a really simple and fun activity - it's actually one of the activity cards found in my Out of the Box Dog Training Game.

What are you doing to make your dog walk outings more fun? For your dog and for yourself?

Taking Your Dogs Meal on the Road is a Win-Win For All

I've been taking Poncho out to Kimball Park and the Ventura State Beach a lot lately, training him to run for longer periods of time while on leash... Yes, running for a sustained period of time is new for Poncho the dog... no "marking or sniffing", just exercise... 

Trust me, being a dog trainer I know I need to fulfill Poncho's dogginess, I'm not a tyrant. I make sure I take him on separate outings for sniffing, marking, chasing things, and rolling in dead stinky stuff etc... But for the running/exercise part, it's all about training those slow-twitch fibers...keeping his heart-rate up, and getting his yah-yah's out so he'll want to relax at home, and have better concentration for when he sits at his computer and blogs. 

What I have found to be quite unsettling is that it seems I'm the only doggy guardian out there using any kind of food rewards for rewarding those behaviors I want! For a dog, I would think going outside into the big beautiful world is like going to Disneyland! And if I want to keep Poncho motivated to run with this old slowpoke, vs romping and playing like a dog...then I'm more than happy to pull out the leftover lunch meat. Not tons of it mind you, I don't want him to get sick,  just little nibbles every once in a while, and only for the action of "running". 

I witness all other dogs either be yelled at, choked, or completely ignored by their guardians - usually because they're into their own world - however, their dog is straining to get to us...just to say *hi*. How horrible this must be for the other dogs. And I must say, I think this behavior on the humans part is hypocritical. We brings snacks for ourselves and/or for the kids. We stop at coffee places, fast food places etc...for our own "rewards", but yet being stingy with our dogs is a good thing. Well, I think not. 

So, I ask you, if you're spending time taking your dog out for walkies, try this experiment: bring some of their meal with you on the road, instead of giving it away for free out of a bowl. They might enjoy walkies more, and you might get those behaviors you want! Oh, and if you're already doing that, then you deserve a treat too! 

If you want to learn more about walking or running your dog with simple successful techniques, you might want to join in on one of my classes at the inquisitive canine studio or Ventura College...it's rewarding for everyone. 

Isn't it time to look at how we "treat" our dogs?

Okay folks, heads up! This Ventura dog trainer says it's time we look at "treats" and rewarding our dogs in a new way. I've been doing this myself for quite awhile now, and I'd love for you to join me in this new way of thinking. 

I think we, as humans, are programmed to look at the word "treat" as that something extra we "earn" doing something that's considered "difficult" for us. Maybe something mentally challenging like studying for an exam, and passing with flying colors, "Hey I deserve a treat tonight." Or little Johnny getting an "A" so he gets a piece of cake. Maybe something physically challenging like training and competing in a triathlon...to celebrate, athletes will take themselves out for a nice meal...or ice-cream! Or parents will take their kids for pizza after a game. We earn it, we deserve it... If we don't do something extra special we don't get it... 

Okay, that's fine for ourselves, but what about our pet dogs? Most people end up giving their dogs their meals out of a bowl without asking them to do much of anything besides "sit" before it's placed on the floor... big deal. Then I get training calls about needing help with being quiet in the yard, jumping up to greet people, walking poorly on leash... Well geez, why not use your dogs meal and give them pieces of it whenever they're doing something you want? This way your dog is "earning" it, but you're training at the same time...getting more "bang for your bowl" so to speak. 

I've been taking Poncho out a lot, all over town, teaching him to run next to me while on leash. I seem to be the only one using "treats"... but what I'm actually using is his meal. Sure I'm using higher value stuff because I want the behavior badly, so I'm going to use something more motivating...at least for now. Once he "gets it" and is trained, I'll be able to use less and less... or something lower value. 

I'm not looking at it as "rewards", I'm looking at it as his meal, his daily sustenance, and when we're running I look at it as his personal "aid station". I mean come on! When I'm running a race there are aid stations every mile! Water, electrolyte drinks, oranges, energy gels, banana's, protein bars, and much more.... a lot of non-food items too - just to make everyone happy and as comfortable as they can be. So why can't I be Poncho's "aid station"? His kibble, turkey, and roast beef are equivalent to my energy gels and protein bars? 

So the next time you pack your own lunch, your own snack, your kids snacks, or pass through the burger drive-through or a Starbuck's, remember to pack snackies for your dog too... then use them to reward those behaviors you want! 

BTW, this ice-cream moment was because Poncho's dad happened to be eating an ice-cream and Poncho ignored the mail truck driving by...that's a huge "win" in my book! Bonus! 

This Ventura Dog Trainer Takes Her Own Advice

For the past month or so this Ventura dog trainer has been spending more time training her own dog Poncho to "run" while on leash, versus sniffing/marking/shuffling along... I know he is a dog, and dogs enjoy doing those things. I would never ever want to deny Poncho his normal doggy-like behaviors, but I also want him to get some exercise - outside of the yard - that doesn't involve fetching his toys and going nuts when the mail-truck comes by...(yep, that behavior is a tough one, and another post...) 

My hubby (Poncho's rockin' "Disneyland" dad) takes him out all the time here in Ventura, but he allows Poncho does whatever he wants...again, no real "training" involved. So how can I expect Poncho to know what to do when neither of us has ever taught him.... So I did, and I have to say, it's been going great! Being a runner myself, it's been very rewarding for me... we're working up to a 5K to run together...if we can find a course that allows dogs... Santa Barbara is usually good for this...I'll have to check with the Santa Barbara Running Club. 

Anyway, I had realized that Poncho wasn't great at running on leash, because he's never been trained to do so! I always tell my students, "if your dog isn't performing a certain behavior, ask yourself 'Have I ever taught them?' " Duh! Hello? No, I haven't taught him! Maybe I should!!! Poncho loves when I listen to what I tell my own manners class students... And so I have, and we're progressing quite nicely. 

This is how I've done it:

• Reward what I want: in this case, it's "running" next to me. 
• "Click and treat" for "running" motion. 
• Feed for position: provide the reward with him still next to me, not falling back behind me or crossing in front of me. 
• Use high value rewards: chicken, leftover grilled sirloin. Only when he's in running mode. 
• Use kibble for walking but moving forward...
• Allow sniff breaks here and there (so I can rest)... 

If you ever want to join me and Poncho, we've mostly been going to Kimball Park here in Ventura because there are very few interruptions and loose dogs. I'll be the one rewarding my dog for running - cheering him on and handing out goodies - sort of like the aid stations at races, but instead of Gatorade and energy gels, I hand out chicken... Geez, I hope they have meat at the races... muffin crumbs work too.