Under the bridge... that's falling down

Today I taught my first classes. They weren't even technically mine, I was just covering for another trainer. I had a Puppy class's graduation, and the third week of a Beginner class to teach. I was so nervous! But I think it went pretty well, and I think it's easier this way instead of my first class being day one of a class when we have to give this big long speech about training, positive reinforcement and a bunch of other stuff. Plus, the customers didn't have to know that this was my first time so that helped. I was able to kind of pretend that I'd done this a million times and that helped me get through it without stumbling too much.

In the second class of the night, there were only two dogs: a Pug and a Jindo. We were supposed to learn "Down" which can be very difficult for many dogs to learn. My own dog, Harley, had a difficult time learning it. But none of the normal techniques (i.e. luring dog from a sit to down with a treat starting at their nose and bringing it to the floor, plus some variations on this technique) worked for either of the two dogs in the class so I had to use the bridge technique for both of them. This is when you sit on the floor with your legs together and knees bent to make a little bridge for the dog to go under. It's a lot easier with small dogs, but I was able to get the Jindo under my legs pretty successfully. The point of this technique is that they'll follow your hand/treat under your legs and you click and treat when they lie down. Your legs should be low enough that they can't just walk under your legs but not so high that they will refuse to go under them. Each time you should lower your legs a little bit until you hopefully get to the point where the dog will not want to go under your legs and will lie down next to them. It's kind of complicated and a bit hard to explain, and it is very difficult to fade from going under the legs to just using a simple hand gesture or verbal cue. But I was very proud of myself for remembering this technique because for my final exam during training, I had to teach a week 3 Beginner class and completely forgot about the bridge technique for one of the dogs in the class that was having a difficult time with "down."

Tomorrow I'm not teaching any classes but I'm teaching two more on Thursday- I can't remember which weeks but they're both Beginner classes I believe.

Whew what a day- I'm exhausted! Oh and one of the books I ordered- Don't Shoot the Dog! came in, so I'll try and start reading that soon.

Don't dog ear these!

Just wanted to jot down my list of dog books that I thoroughly enjoy. And since I am against dog ear-ing pages of books, please use a book mark with these. :P

Inside of A Dog by Alexandra Horowitz. Truthfully, I haven't finished it yet, but so far it is very interesting. When I flew from VA to CA, the man in the seat behind mine saw me reading  Reaching the Animal Mind and recommended to me the book he was reading at the moment, which was Inside of A Dog. Although I'm enjoying it, I just haven't had time to finish it yet.

Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds by D. Caroline Coile. This isn't really a good "read" but it's got a lot of great information and is organized very well in my opinion. I like to study it so that I will be able to know a little bit about each breed.

Reaching the Animal Mind by Karen Pryor. This one goes into the method of clicker training- and I thought that it would be a bit like a text book- kind of dry to read with a lot of information shoved into it, but it was very funny and a really quick read. There was a lot of information in it but it wasn't given to the reader very obviously. It made me cry- there were a couple very touching and sad stories in it.



Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin. I read this for a class I took in college on Animal Minds. I really enjoyed it- it has chapters on different animals: Cats, dogs, horses, cows, chickens. I especially liked the chapters on cats and dogs.


51 Puppy Tricks by Kyra Sundance. I love the way this book is set up- the tricks are very easy to understand because there are step by step pictures accompanying each one. And then there are little troubleshooting tips for each trick as well. Although some of the methods used to teach the tricks aren't exactly in line with what I would do, I like the book for the most part. Mostly I just use the book to give me ideas of what to teach my dogs next and then I come up with my own technique for teaching it. (I'm not saying I'm inventing new techniques, I'm just doing whatever comes naturally- which could be based on things I've read in the past).



And I am hopefully going to begin reading It's Not the Dogs, It's the People! A Dog Trainer's Guide to Training Humans by Nicole Wilde, High Energy Dogs: A Practical Guide to Living With Energetic and Driven Canines by Tracy Libby, and Don't Shoot The Dog! by Karen Pryor soon. As soon as they come in. I ordered them almost two weeks ago... so hopefully it won't be long now.

Also on my "To Read" list regarding animals and dog training...

101 Dog Tricks: Step by Step Activities to Engage, Challenge, and Bond With Your Dog by Kyra Sundance
101 Ways to Do More With Your Dog: Make Your Dog a Superdog with Sports, Games, Exercises, Tricks, Mental Challenges, Crafts and Bonding by Kyra Sundance
10 Minute Dog Training Games: Quick and Creative Exercises for the Busy Dog Owner by Kyra Sundance
Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin
Dog Language: An Encyclopedia of Canine Behavior by Roger Abrantes
Training the Hard to Train Dog: Effective Training Techniques for Working With Shy, Controlling, and Stubborn Dogs by Peggy Swager
The Power of Positive Dog Training by Pat Miller
and the list goes on and on......

I still have yet to read Marley and Me by John Grogan, and although the following books have not as much to do with dog training, I still want to read them. From Baghdad With Love: A Marine, The War, and a Dog Named Lava  by Jay Kopelman, Oogy by Larry Levin, One Dog at A Time by Pen Farthing, Saving Cinnamon by Christine Sullivan, and Until Tuesday by Luis Carlos Montalvan. All of them are about dogs- and the majority are about dogs in Afghanistan or Iraq as military dogs. Since my husband is a Marine, the books are combining my two biggest interests right now.
When I finished my training to become a trainer, the area trainer gave me a huge list of books I should read. I think I'd already read maybe two that were on it. And I haven't made that dent any bigger because my books have not come in! They should arrive by next week. Hopefully. Well as soon as I read them, I will review them!