Training Chica to come is quite the undertaking.  She likes to run and explore, with or without me. 

So I think to myself, this is healthy.  Meaning, she is an inquisitive 6/7 month old pup.  She is never let outside off leash.  We use a flexi or long line and practice "come" every chance we get.  Do we use food?  All the time.  Yes, I carry it around with me.  She is in training so I must do that.  I don't want what happened yesterday to happen on a regular basis.

She climbed through the fence and went and met the ducks.  The ducks were not thrilled at all.

She loves toys and food so we use those as motivators.  She loves us too, but just isn't trained to come the first or second time.

My expectations aren't for her to come now, but for the dog she'll be in a few months.  For now we do all the leg work.

So what is the excuse for the old dog?  Calamity is a senior who can't hear very well and gets kind of lost.  We help her and love her to us.  We have to follow her around or she doesn't remember where she is.

What a love she is.

Alright it is time for me to blog!  So what first do I do?  How do I start training?  What techniques?  Who's books do I read, what advice do I take?

I think the most important thing I can get across about training, is become a watcher.  Watch how someone interacts with their dog.  Do you do the same?  If you want a skill that someone has, then watch them and try to do the same.  Break it down to small steps and practice.

Become a student of dogs, canines.  How do they think, what do they think, how do they communicate?  Watch at a dog park, and take notes.  Watch your own dogs and take more notes.

There are so many trainers out there, and what is a common denominator?  Action.  Take action, but take small steps.

I have had Chica now for about a month.  She downs, she sits, she is learning to come and most importantly we are working on separation anxiety.

Okay, you maybe wonder, why Chica?  She is a Chihuahua and about 6 months old.  I love toy dogs.  Always have.  They offer their own set of challenges, but it is fun to rise to the occasion.

The coming when called is tough, as she doesn't.  We work a lot on leave its coookies.  So we play tug, yes I play tug with my dogs, and immediately use food at her nose and tell her to "leave It".  She drops the toy and gets the food.  So now in the yard when she is running after plums or whatever, I can get her to leave it and then come get a cookie.

Yes I carry treats with me all the time when I am training.

Noel