Training Calender for Isis' & Jinx's Training

My family is quite wonderful with allowing me to keep these two Boxers even though they have successfully turned our lives upside down. Now, my mother and brother are surprisingly much much more organized then I am. So, I naturally asked the for help when it came to making a schedule that I could use for Isis and Jinx. The calender is based off of a month with two separate sessions in the day. The first two weeks are for training each behavior while the last two weeks are for testing the dog's understanding of said behavior. The behaviors represented in the calender are based off of Sue Ailsby's New Training Levels. (Found for sale: Here) along with others that I'm using to curb and help Isis/ Jinx cope with their respective triggers. The links to those behaviors are also placed within the calender.

Now, all I ask is that this is used for personal use only and not for profit. I hope it helps anybody that is willing to use it. Below is a link to the PDF version. Have fun training!!


Training Calender-PDF Version

Training Goals for Kratos This Summer (2013)

I’m just sitting here thinking about my training goals for Kratos this summer. I really want to set some concrete goals for this year even though not all of them will get done within the summer. It's just making me really really want to be in the new house. 

Here’s what I’m hoping will be accomplished with Kratos this summer:

• Heeling-  Kratos is working on earning his Rally-o title and our CGC. Kratos is relatively good at staying close to me when regularly walking. He tends to lag behind or pull away from me if we walk too long.

• Attention Work - I never really worked on attention with Kratos. I don't know why to be quite honest. I figure if we are going to work on his titles I might as well work on his attention to me while I'm doing it.
  
• Front/Finish- Kratos is very very respectful of space. He already know front but it's about 2 ft away and if I'm leaning forward it can be upward of 5. So, I'll be cleaning that up and getting him to realize "front" is a perfectly good reason to invade my space. Finish just needs some cleaning up as well.

• Moving Down- Kratos hasn't learned that yet so this should be good. He knows down at a distance and he knows recall so it shouldn't be hard to combine the two.

• Nose Work - I'm going to be working with the 3 pups on Birch plus it will give them something to do and entertain their minds. Kratos know blood trailing and he knows shed hunting so it will be fun.

• Go To Place - I'll be working on distance and speed for Kratos. He has an incredible place when distractions are added but he is a Mastiff so speed is slow and our distance from the mat slows him down even further.
  
• Recall - Competition style of course!! And working on it in real life recalls as always. I never stop training my recalls
  
• Off-leash work- I haven't been working on any off-leash stuff with Kratos because it makes my brother very nervous. Now, that Kratos lives with me and not with my brother. I've decided to start working on it so that I can take Kratos on off-leash hiking.

• Some Weird Issue That Will Suddenly Develop - Kratos has had a good 6 years without serious problems. I doubt he will develop any serious odd issues.

Please Share

What your training goals are for the summer. Do you have an issue that you are struggling through too?

Training Goals for Jinx This Summer (2013)

I’m just sitting here thinking about my training goals for Jinx this summer. I really want to set some concrete goals for this year even though not all of them will get done within the summer. It's just making me really really want to be in the new house. You'll notice that a lot of the goals for Jinx are close to Isis' goals.

Here’s what I’m hoping will be accomplished with Jinx this summer:

• Loose Leash-  Jinx is relatively good on the leash. She tends to get the leash tight when faced with scary people. I want to work towards her CGC and the heeling needs to be done.

• Attention Work - Yep, just like with Isis, I've poisoned my "watch" command so I'm retraining my main attention command as "Eyes". I'll be using Sue Ailsby method that that.
  

• 3 Passive Human Interactions - Jinx is terrified of new people so I'm looking to get her used to my father's business partner, his wife and their son at the very least. Hopefully no reactions on the walks will be part of this.
• Zen - Food Zen to be precise. Jinx does not have very good control when it comes to food. In fact she is a food thief when it come the other dog's food. Well, mostly Isis' food, she leaves Kratos' food alone.

• Nose Work - I'm going to be working with the 3 pups on Birch plus it will give them something to do and entertain their minds. Jinx is pretty nosy so this shouldn't be hard for her.

• Go To Place/Crate - Jinx is pretty good about going to her crate but she lacks the speed that I would like her to have. I'll be doing crate games with her too. Her place will just be brushed up on because she is a not lying on the mat anymore but beside it.
• Recall - Jinx likes to give the boxer "What's in it for me?" look. And when she does, it's really ssssslllloooooowwww. Everything Jinx does is slow :P
• Emergency U-Turn - For use on walks. Jinx would rather follow me so I'd like to put it on cue.

• Some Weird Issue That Will Suddenly Develop - Now, we all know Jinx is a big weirdo so she'll probably act weird and some crazy new annoying behavior will pop up within the year. Maybe, I'll tackle her food problems.

Please Share

What your training goals are for the summer. Do you have an issue that you are struggling through too?

It only takes one dog...

Really. It only takes one dog to ruin everything you've done in a second. In case anybody is wondering, Isis got attacked today. For once in her life she didn't instigate. In fact, she didn't even see it coming. It was an accident and I completely understand that.

At the end of the hotel, in the last room are two pitbulls (Yes, both are APBTs) . One of the is human/ dog reactive and the other is just dog reactive. One of the kids in the room opened the door at the wrong time and wasn't able to keep the human/dog dog back. He came right for Isis and I. I quickly picked up Isis and slung her over my shoulder (quite a feat for someone as small as me). He made one lunge and got the back leg of Isis before I landed a swift kick to his chest. That got him thinking twice and his owner was able to grab him before he came back. His owner apologized profusely and made sure that we were both okay after I put Isis up.

But the damage is done, both physical and mental. Isis has 3 punctures and 1 gash while I'm just covered in scratches from Isis. But mentally, Isis has been set back from working with dogs. All the work I've done with dogs behind fences is probably ruined. My hope for another dog while Isis is around is diminished.

To be honest though, I'm glad Isis was the dog I had out instead of Jinx or Kratos. Kratos wouldn't have fought back and it would have ruined his like of other dogs. And Jinx? I wouldn't have been able to stop Jinx from tearing that dog a new one. I gave the owner the name of a trainer around here so he could look into it when he had the chance. Maybe it will help him and his dogs. That'll be good for both of us.

Training Goals for Isis This Summer (2013)

I’m just sitting here thinking about my training goals for Isis this summer. I really want to set some concrete goals for this year even though not all of them will get done within the summer. It's just making me really really want to be in the new house.

Here’s what I’m hoping will be accomplished with Isis this summer:

• Heeling - Of course, I'll be working on heeling. I really want Isis glued to my leg like Schutzhund style heel. She's doesn't really have a good Loose leash but she doesn't pull either unless she is faced with a trigger. I'd really like to get her heeling to work towards her CGC and make it almost a default behavior.

• Attention Work - Yep, I've gone and poisoned my "watch" command so I'm retraining my main attention command as "Eyes". I'll be using Sue Ailsby method for that.
  

• Passive Human Interaction - I'm not saying she is going to love people but dear lord, the goal of the year is to be standing near a person with no problems. Not touching, no interactions. Just standing within a couple of feet of someone she hasn't really met that well.

• Nose Work - I'm going to be working with the 3 pups on Birch plus it will give them something to do and entertain their minds. She already know "Find it" for treats in the yard so it shouldn't be too much of a stretch for her.
• Go To Place/Crate - So Isis can go to her crate about 60% of the time at 8-10ft but it's not enthusiastic enough for me. I'll be order Crate Games to help with that a bit. Place is any where I put her blanket which is usually left in the living room.
• Recall - I seriously am getting sick of being ignored by her in favor of barking out of the window. Seriously sick of it. Right now we have a sick management plan for both girls but accidents happen and I want to be prepared in case any of this happens outside.
• Emergency U-Turn - For use on walks. Right now, I'm just grabbing her collar and walking in the other direction to get away but she is getting suspicious of why I keep grabbing her collar so change of cue to just be another random thing mommy does on walks.

• Some Weird Issue That Will Suddenly Develop - Now, we all know Isis isn't an angel by any stretch of imagination so she'll probably act weird and some crazy new annoying behavior will pop up within the year. Maybe, I'll attack her alarm clock barking while I'm at it.

Please Share

What your training goals are for the summer. Do you have an issue that you are struggling through too? I’d love to know that I’m not alone in this sea of crazy dog. :)

Baseline & Off leash dogs

I finally have a baseline for Isis' Human Reactivity. In case anybody wants to know, it's about 40ft with the person sitting down. A lovely girl at the hotel was willing to sit there for us in exchange for a ride up to the store which I was more than happy to oblige.

Another thing, I noticed that around this hotel in NC most people will keep their doors open and just let their dogs run free. Thankfully, this hasn't happened with Jinx or Isis but it has happened with Kratos. Kratos is okay with dogs, only getting aggressive when dogs mess with his ears too much. But this still shouldn't happen for him just cause he won't fight back if attacked.

I can't wait to get into the new house.

Trigger Stacking in the Hotel Room

Trigger stacking is a BAT (Behavior Adjustment Training) term that refers to times when multiple triggers combine to make the dog behave differently then in the presence of any of those triggers individually.

Isis' triggers are various. Including unknown Humans (&Anything that comes with them), unknown Dogs (Any kind), bicycles, skateboards, birds, Vehicles (Semis & Trucks are the worst), loud noises, rain and thunder storms. Along with many more things to be discovered.

Jinx's triggers are unknown humans, unknown dogs, vehicles and loud noises. Easy compared to Isis.

So in turn, being in a hotel room is not exactly the best place for her or Jinx to be. It's complete trigger stacking here. There are unknown Humans and dogs everywhere. But it will be at least another week before we can move into our house. Then a Detox and Relaxation Protocol for the new house.

 On a lighter note, Jinx and Isis have turned 5 years old today.

Bad Dog Isis- Update

Isis has not been feeling good these past couple of weeks. We're staying at a hotel in North Carolina while we search for a new home. Isis, herself, is very stressed over constantly having to see her triggers around her.

She has been acting weird just today. She's been really rewarded for not barking and lunging at unknown people but today she's just been shivering and whining. Just really stressy and not herself. I just put her thundershirt on her hoping it will help. I guess no training for her today. She just can't think.

I'm going to be working on training sheets now.