Sunday At Joy's

Today Sheryl and I  visited Joy again, shared some delicious Stuffed Bellpepper Stew Sheryl brought, then we walked Joy's dogs, 3 each at a time.  It was my first attempt at walking 3 dogs and I did not particularly enjoy it.  I felt I was always in danger of getting tangled up in the leashes, possibly tripping and injuring myself.  I didn't interact with the dogs much, so busy was I trying to manage them.  From now on no more than 2 dogs at a time.  Afterwards I tried working with Puddin' doing Line Ups on the floor and on the OFF treadmill.  It took some time but he finally started getting the hang of lining up.

Totally different experience than working with my own dogs, who trust me completely and are used to listening to me.  When I tried the "grab the collar" and turn on the treadmill maneuver that worked so well with my dogs, Puddin bolted out of there fast.  Exercise finished.  I'll try this again another day.

Upwards and onward!

1st Treadmill Session/Lucky/Maxie/FoohFooh

It's 65 degrees today but overcast, dreary looking, and breezy.  Not enticing.  So it's a perfect day to start treadmill training my dogs.  Yesterday I came up with some preliminary Line-Up training, described here.  Today I took it to the next level.

• Standing beside the treadmill (turned OFF), I lured Lucky onto it and gave a treat for every 4-on contact facing the right direction. "Get On, Off, Get On, Off, Get On, Off". 10 repetitions, she had no hesitation, understood and enjoyed the game.
• Then we practiced our Line-Ups on the floor beside the board, with treadmill running to desensitize for the noise.
• Turn treadmill off.  Practice Line-Ups on the board, with me straddling the belt.
• After several reps, with her lined up between my legs on the board, I grasped her collar and began the treadmill turning very slowly, barely moving, constantly praising. She was confused for a moment but with encouragement just walked along, focusing on the high value treats in my hand. Lots of praise and treats as she walked. I increased the speed one tick at a time until she was walking along at a slow pace, for about 5 minutes. Then I turned it off. We dismounted. Exercise finished.

A few hours later, we began training in earnest. 
Lucky first.  Thaw out a whole bowl of liver treats. Crate the other dogs.  Maxie goes wild thinking Lucky would get the first turn at whatever it was we were going to do.  Good.  Lucky feels the spotlight on her.  Good.

I straddle the treadmill.  I say "line up" and Lucky lines up between my legs just like we practiced yesterday.  "Line Up. Off. Line Up. Off" a few times.  Then, with Lucky in Line Up position, I turn on the machine at 1.1 mph., hold her collar in one hand and a treat in front of her nose with the other, and she walks along trying to take nips from the treat.  Within 3 minutes I get off the treadmill, hold a treat at her nose, and let go of the collar.  She keeps walking, sometimes going close to the back end and sometimes putting a front paw on the guard, but adjusting each time.  I am VERY CAREFUL to pick a single spot to deliver the treat, and never vary my hand position from that spot, such that her front paws land about 2" from the top end of the belt.  If my hand is too high, she lunges up for it.  Too low, she loses her focus and gait.  I learn to position my hand at her shoulder height, and make precise movements.

When I run out of treat and remove my hand to reach into the bowl for another, she seems to understand another treat is coming so she keeps walking.  I extend the time it takes for me to get each treat from the bowl.  She keeps walking.  I speed up the machine, hold out my hand in same position but with no treat.  She keeps walking, touching my hand for a treat. Within 5 minutes I can remove my treat hand completely and just give verbal encouragement.  "keep walking, keep up, walk along, stay on, good walking", etc.  I walk across the room to the treat bowl, and deliver a treat now and then.

A few times, at first, she hopped off when I removed my treat hand because her nose was following my hand.  I just said "get on" and she hopped right back on, belt going.  Wasn't a bit scared. I reached 1.5 mph within 10 minutes, then slowed it down another minute, then stopped it.  Off.  Exercise finished. Lots of praise, then outside for a pottie break.

Maxie's turn.  I never practiced Line Up with Maxie, but he is a quick study.  Just from watching Lucky he knew exactly what to do.  Because he is so tiny, I used a slip leash to hold him in place between my legs as I started the machine.  He just walked along between my legs as I fed him wee little kibbles of Purina Kitten Chow one at a time.  Within 3 minutes, I got off, belt running, and sat on the floor beside him with the treat bowl hidden behind my outstretched leg.  "Walk, Maxie, keep walking, stay on, good treadmill."  Such verbal encouragement, and reaching behind my knee for a treat and bringing it to his nose every so often, in one precise location, he walked right along.  I sped up the belt so he was almost trotting, and he kept going and wanted to please me but was getting a bit anxious.  I slowed it down to a walk. When I got up to try walking away, he hopped off, but hopped right back on at my signal.  I stopped after about 6 minutes, before he was ready to quit.

So those were my two agility dogs that I've worked with frequently since they were puppies. 

When John got home we did a "demo for Daddy" and both Lucky and Maxie did great, same as above.  Next we tried FoohFooh, who was whining for his turn.  Fooh Fooh is just as smart but much less trained and now getting older. We never turned the machine on.  I just had John straddle the belt and train the Line Up command.  FoohFooh was so excited and snapping for his treats, and John's hands going all over the place, it was not very successful.  I coached from the chair and we finally had some success.  It was interesting to see another person trying to train, getting frustrated, etc.  I'll try again soon on my own.

I didn't even bother with Willow, but I will because if I can train her to do this it will be a big boost to my self-esteem.  When I got her she was already 6 years old and stubborn, so if I can train her, I can probably train any dog.

Upwards and onward!

"Line Up" Exercise

In preparation for training the treadmill, I first trained Lucky and Maxie a Line-Up exercise.  I've also seen some handlers use the LINE UP at the start line at agility trials.
"Line Up": D goes around behind H then comes forward thru H's straddled legs, sits or remains standing. Treat. Praise. "Go Around". Repeat.

Some D's may not need Line-Up training, but others get spooked if you try to straddle them. I've never trained Line Up's before but it's a cool exercise. Lucky learned to Line Up within a few minutes. It can be practiced any where, any time, while cooking, etc. A neat floor exercise and parlor trick.

"Line Up" for treadmill practice: Straddle the treadmill belt. Ask for a Line UP, treat. "Go Around". Repeat. (Same as above, only on the board.)
After several reps, with Lucky lined up between my legs on the board, I grasped her collar and began the treadmill turning very slowly, barely moving, constantly praising. She was confused for a moment but with encouragement just walked along, focusing on the high value treats in my hand. Lots of praise and treats as she walked along between my legs. I increased the speed one tick at a time until she was walking along at a slow pace, for about 5 minutes. Then I turned it off. We dismounted. Exercise finished.

This could be done several times a day, in a few short minutes. Tomorrow we take it to the next level.

Upwards and onward!

Treadmill Training

Trying to figure out how to exercise Joy's 6 dogs on a regular basis while she is laid up, I finally found my inspiration to learn how to train the treadmill.  Googling "Dog Treadmill Training", I came up with mostly amateurish videos. This is one of the most professional ones:


There are several different ways to train the treadmill. Some handlers train from the side.  Some straddle the belt.  Some use leashes, others not.  Some use treats and/or clickers, some not.  But most had these things in common:

1. Get D used to getting on and off the treadmill.  Reward for each behavior. Break it down as needed (reward for 1 paw touch, 2 paws on, 4 on, whatever it takes). Build value into the treadmill.
2. Get D used to the sound of the treadmill running with them nearby.
3. Have D on the belt before turning the treadmill on.  Start slow and gradually increase speed.
4. Practice daily in short segments 30 seconds to 30 minutes long.

Leashes and Treats: The above video does NOT use treats, however in another video by the same trainer, he does lure D onto the belt with treats.  He uses a leash here, but in other videos he does not.  Guess it depends upon the dog.

I found this text on one treadmill training site:
"turn on the treadmill to its slowest speed while your dog is standing on it. The dog will automatically begin walking". While mine just jump off, here's a video that supports that claim:



Once the dog is fully trained, they can exercise a couple of times a day -- great if you have no yard, it's wet, freezing or too hot outside, or you're unable to walk them.  Be sure you don't ever leave the room, especially if D is tied to the treadmill.  Some treadmills come with a magnet you attach to the control console, and a clip you can attach to the collar.  It acts like a leash but if D jumps off, it pulls the magnet off and stops the machine.

One video showed 2 Welsh Corgis walking side by side.  Another showed a dog and a cat.

So now, looks like I have a diverse bunch of dogs I can practice on, starting with mine tomorrow!  Maybe I'll get out the camera and tripod and post my own amateurish video on YouTube!

Meanwhile, you can access some other treadmill training videos from the thumbnails appearing under each of the videos above after you watch them, provided courtesy of YouTube (I had nothing to do with choosing these).

Upwards and onward!