How many pounds per square inch can GWP jaws exert? Part two of the progress reports

This is a blog about progress updates, but I figure it's important to be honest about the ups as well as the downs.

Update for Laird

The much loved giant GWP and his ongoing struggles with giving stuff up and love of eating plastic (and anything else that fits in his mouth) have often featured in my writing.

Last week I discovered first hand just how powerful his jaws are.

I have to be honest, it's not a question I’d ever considered before… but it turns out a large adult dog can exert quite a lot of pressure through their teeth.

Laird was behaving out of sorts one evening* - grumbling about a chew, and grumping at his sister Bronte too.  Later on there was a tricky situation involving Laird, my kitchen bin and a large amount of plastic wrapping from some smoked haddock.

It was dark, and while I knew Laird had managed to pull some of the packaging out, I underestimated how much was already in his mouth.

In too much of a hurry to turn on the light, I approached and asked Laird to target my hand with the plastic in his mouth. Usually if he can do this, he'll also be able to give it up.

That night I mis-read the situation.

As my fingers made contact with the plastic, Laird suddenly pulled away.

I tried to hold on, hoping to prevent him from swallowing it.

Laird re-gripped the plastic to make sure he had a firmer hold (letting go and re-grabbing)

My hand was caught in Laird's mouth, and as he started to squeeze his jaws the pain became incredibly intense.

The next 5 minutes felt like the longest in my life.

He didn't understand why I wasn't letting go of the plastic.

And I physically couldn't get my hand out of his mouth!

At one stage I had both hands trapped.

But eventually, my hands escaped, and yes I abandoned the plastic!

In the two days after the incident, Laird returned to finding and eating rubbish on walks with a vengeance. I couldn't ask him to give anything up in the house.

But four days later we were able to attend a Gun Dog Games workshop all about retrieves, and it went really well.  Both Laird and I have a long way to go, but the setback was much less than I feared.


*later on I discovered Laird had split a claw right down to the quick on his front left paw, so was probably in quite a lot of pain, poor lad

Training, changing or improving our dog's behaviour is a life long challenge.

But even when things go horribly wrong, you WILL land on a cushion from all your previous training, relationship building and more.

And that means it takes less time to recover from each set back, I promise!

Which is where the value of regular, incremental training comes in. Every positive experience you have with your dog is a deposit in your joint trust account.



And there's always something left to build back up from.

Next week I'll tell you about Brian coping with the scaffolders, and Quest facing an unexpected bang!

Happy weekend!

Morag, the Big Yin and the Collie Girls

 

Want to do more training with your dog?

New courses start on Monday 7th October at Yorkshire Museum of Farming

APDT Good Companion Award (weekly class)

Essential real life exercises you and your dog can enjoy learning together in a group setting.

You will both learn: response to name, manners (not jumping up), walking nicely on lead, coming back when called, stay, self-control around food and doorways (including the car) and play manners.

• 5 week courses
• Suitable for new starters AND progression students.
• PLUS you can choose to be assessed for the APDT Good Companion Award at Foundation or Progress levels.

Book APDT Good Companion Class

 

Sniffing School: Bomb Detectors (weekly class)

The dog moves steadily down the line of people, suddenly the tail is going extra fast and the bum slams onto the ground. Those brown eyes are staring hard at your left pocket… that’s a passive indication!

This is where the find stops being the reward - vital for a bomb detection dog, but an extra challenge for your dog to take on!

• Three week module
• Pre-req: Dogs can settle quietly in class; can search for at least one target scent; can offer one consistent behaviour (e.g. sit)

Book Sniffing School (Bomb Detection)

Get focused, get help! (even professional dog trainers need this)

Even when you’re a dog trainer, it helps to have a plan and a second pair of eyes to check it over. 

This Sunday Clare and I swapped some brain time to help each other out, and used the 12 Week Year model to design training plans for our own dogs.

In case I haven’t already raved at you about this model, in brief here’s how it works: 

Principles of the 12 Week Year as adapted for Behaviour Modification/Training

Look at the big picture, what’s your vision for the future? Why does it matter, anchor that vision in a positive emotion. This might be a long term aspirational vision

Now get specific – what will this look like in three years?

And break it down further – what would be a stretch but doable goal within 12 weeks?

• Specific, measurable
• Positive statement
• Realistic but still requires effort
• Set accountability and measure your actions

What are the “tactics” that will get you to achieve this goal? These will become the actions we put into a plan. Some will be one-off activities, others will be repeating. For behaviour change we’re often looking at frequent repeated sessions.

Build these into the 12 week plan – what needs to happen every week, how often, when, where etc. Deadlines and due dates. This isn’t about measuring success so much as tracking implementation!

Discuss what actions are likely to be most challenging, where might the blocks appear and what strategies can we use to overcome them.

(and yes, Clare does tend to call these “Morag years”)

What we're working on:

 

Clare is working with Scout so he can accept and enjoy more handling and husbandry with other people.

I’m working on Laird choosing to give stuff up, and coming away from disgusting things BEFORE he eats them. I know, you’re really surprised to read that right?!

So we’ve set our big focus – the thing we really want to be different, and talked about why it’s important for both us and our dogs.

Then we broke it down into the component parts. What are the small pieces that make up the big picture? How often do we need to practice each thing? How will we know when to move forwards?

Here’s an example of how I use the model for myself and my dogs – this record sheet was from earlier in the year when Freya was learning to love the van again. I had targets each day to meet.

The joy of the 12 Week Year model is that it pushes you into setting concrete tasks, and regularly implementing them. 

We’re not judging our progress based on results (we can’t control those). Instead we’re focused on regularly doing the important tasks, and making those targets.

There’s planned review time each week (are we on track, what’s been difficult this week, what do we need to change for next week), and at the end of the “12 Week Year”. Take a break, celebrate, and then do it all again!

Let me know if you decide to try it for yourself, and there’s some great resources in the book itself too.

Have a good week!

Morag and the beasts

What’s going on in WCC Land from October?

Baby Come Back and Stay By My Side!

Our 3 week intensive classes working on JUST recall OR loose lead walking) have been super popular!  We’ve now added dates for the rest of the year with new blocks starting October 8th, then Oct 29th and Nov 26th (only TWO places available per course)

Not sure if it's the course for you - message me :-)

Book here

Get Fit With Your Dog!

Dark nights don’t have to mean boring walks or leaving your dog at home while you head to the gym. Why not try Canicross – running with your dog – to work on your fitness and teamwork. 

 

You DON’T need to be a runner, or particularly fit to start with! In fact it’s often better to start before you get super fit.

Tuesday evening classes from 16^th October (7pm), we can fit and lend you the kit. Small groups with two qualified running coaches and fitness appropriate sessions around York.

Book a couple of sessions now to try it out (newbies MUST book week 1 or discuss with us) 

OR book the whole block using coupon COMMITEDCANI-X to get one session free!

Choose your class here

Size really does matter, the story of two black eyes and an overgrown puppy

This week’s blog is brought to you via the power of ice packs (to reduce the swelling so I can open both eyes) and pain killers (because ouch!).

 The new boy (Laird, a huge German Wirehaired Pointer) is gradually settling into the mad house, and prompting me to practice lots of essential training strategies. Sadly there have also been a few casualties, mostly toys but this week I’ve ended up with two black eyes!

Laird might be just 16 months old, but he weighs over 40kg with very little spatial awareness.

I wouldn’t say he’s much clumsier than any of my previous dogs, but Laird is significantly bigger and heavier. That means it is even more important that he doesn’t pull on his collar, can stop and wait when asked and will be able to give things up.

Small dogs can sometimes get away with “naughty” behaviours like rushing up, barking, stealing things or refusing to move off a chair. 

I don’t personally think size should make that much difference to house rules, but it does give a whole new perspective to how we interact with our dogs when you really can’t “make” them do anything.

This week despite the black eyes and bruises, we’ve also had several calm sofa snuggles. There’s been just one attempted humping episode, and several lovely moments with the collie girls.

Integration is an ongoing process, and because of Laird’s size I have to intervene immediately if anything inappropriate might happen. 

So if Laird is being a little rude in his play invitations, I clap my hands to call him over for a treat. When Laird grabs the sofa or thinks about humping (usually when he is over tired), I need to pop him calmly into his crate (and be quicker to notice the signs tomorrow).

There’s no room for dilly-dallying or second chances. While I absolutely do reward EVERYTHING that I like, it’s just as important to make sure the other stuff has consequences too.

I don’t just “ignore the bad behaviour”. It’s not practical to “ignore” Laird trying to play tug with the curtains. And I’m not going to leave the girls to fend for themselves in the middle of enormous GWP zoomies.

Consequences does NOT mean I shout at Laird or tell him off. Even if I wanted to (and I don’t because it won’t build our relationship), Freya would find it very stressful. She hates it when other dogs break the house rules….

Consequences DO mean that I make sure the stuff I don’t like doesn’t end up being fun for Laird.

The result is within three weeks Laird is much calmer in the house. Relationships are building nicely with the girls, and they know how to come to me if they need a break too. Laird isn’t stealing or grabbing things as much, and we’re snuggling together more.

And to make sure we’re having structured fun together, I’ve just signed up for the next block of Sniffing School (Level 1 for Laird, Level 2 for Freya)! So I’m looking forward to seeing you in class in July.

The next term of classes starts in July – the email with all the booking links is on the way to our subscribers and current students - let us know if it hasn't arrived.

Have a wonderful weekend, and don't forget to send us your pics if you are heading to York Pride with your dog too!

Morag, the collie girls and the big yin

PS for anyone who was worried, Laird is fine – he didn’t even notice!

PPS  If you're already canicrossing with your dog, don't miss our social run on Saturday 16th June

Grab your space here!