We started the week meeting Daniel and Dina – dog and human friends, check! Game wasn’t particularly interested in playing with Dina apart from being happy to see and greet her (Chai, for her part, was very much interested in running with her gal), but loved getting lots and lots of scratches from Daniel. These last few days, Game has become extra social even around new dogs: she’ll wag and greet and lick snouts/have hers licked. This is interesting; I would have expected the opposite as her due day gets closer. But Game’s social side is blooming these days!
Saturday morning with Daniel and Dina.
What isn’t blooming is her love of exercise: being heavier than she ever was in combination with unusually (well, we know that climate change means the unusual is normal) warm days mean that Game has now decided she will no longer do her supposedly healthy endurance trots. That’s okay with me; the queen gets what the queen wants! These days, this is snuggles, sleeping in my bed and lots of food. As I’m typing this, it is Sunday, a little after 4PM and Game just requested (and received) her dinner two hours early. She continues enjoying food toys and training sessions – but not too, too much running around, thank you very much.
Exceptional treats and scavenging
Monday, March 11, was the first day Game didn’t want breakfast (but insisted on her other meals). On Tuesday, she ate half her breakfast and, as usual, a full lunch and dinner, and by Wednesday, she was back to normal. Yay! I hope that’s the only discomfort she ends up feeling.
Two of this week’s extra meals: beef shank with marrow bone, a side of rice and a touch of parsley and a fish-and-rice bowl with avocado sprinkles.
Exceptional scavenging finds of the week:
Chilaquiles
Yellow and blue tortilla chips
Crunchy fried tortilla
Cake frosting
A big puff pastry
Little training sessions
Among other things, one particular shaping project for our daily little training sessions was a spin. These are, I believe, the first two full spins Game has offered! Pregnant dogs learn new things too. Isn’t she super cute? That belly really shows (particularly because you can still see where it was shaved for the ultrasound) and her movements look … well, let’s say less athletic than usual. Panting – also not something she’d be doing usually, but carrying that baggage around changes things! Love the waggy tail and how she is having a great time in any case, pregnant-bellied or not!
This week’s outdoors adventure came with water fetch!
It’s warm and carrying that big belle is heavy. Game has slowed down, but few things are better than a good swim, rolling in the dirt and a slow trot around the lake!
Jacaranda bliss!
Preparations
+ I re-watched the first parts of the Puppy Culture video. Some notes on it below:
Supposedly (no sources were mentioned), puppies turn out to be “more docile” (quote from the film; I am not 100% sure how they’d operationalize “docile”) when you stroke the dog’s belly a lot late in the pregnancy. So I’ve been focussing our snuggle sessions more on Game’s belly – if and only if she consents, of course. I assume that as long as she enjoys it, it can’t hurt, whether it actually does something for the puppies or not.
The colostrum – the milk produced in the first 24 hours after giving birth – is how the puppies get maternal antibodies against anything she is immune/vaccinated to. (I had forgotten about this fact and used to think they already get these antibodies when plugged into her system in utero.) The wild thing is that the puppies’ bodies are only able to absorb these antibodies without breaking them down (and losing their benefits in the process) in the first 18 hours of their life! So getting colostrum in the first 18 hours matters. The maternal antibodies will protect them in their first few weeks of life. This is important to me since I am going to prioritize socialization, i.e. the puppies are going to be exposted to visitors and go places etc. before their first vaccine.
Activated sleep: fun fact! Tiny puppies twitch in their sleep. That’s because in their first two weeks of life, all puppies do is sleep and eat. The twitching is caused by electrical stimuli and it trains their muscles to get stronger as they sleep. What a big difference between altricial (born before they are fully developed – for example, puppies are born with their eyes and ears sealed shut) and precocial species (like horses who’ll run around and eat independently within hours after being born!)
+ I connected with Jessica Hekman to find answers to some questions that will help me with my socialization plan.1 I want to focus on human and dog socialization – the rest, you’ll pretty much get for free in a Mal, but I want these puppies to get the best chance at being able to be family members in addition to whatever else they’ll grow up doing. I’ve taken an Avidog breeder course, I’ve got Puppy Culture, took Jessica’s Genetics/Environment FDSA class, read the linked papers, Carol Beuchat’s genetics class, read the linked papers there and watched all of Jessica’s FDSA webinars on biology and personality. I still have questions:
I know puppies can’t hear or see when they are born. They find their way to each other and to their dam by means of detecting heat. But are they able to smell right away? (This will impact my socialization strategy: if they can already smell different dogs and different people, I would not only handle them myself and have Game interact with them before they can see and hear, but also have other humans handle them and introduce other dogs even when they are still blind and deaf. As a dog trainer, I have seen so much behavioral fallout that when it comes to behavioral benefit/health risk assessment of fragile puppies, I come down heavy on the side of the most socialization possible, no matter the health risk. Personally, I’d expose puppies in my care to physical risks anytime if it set them up for behavioral success.2 Jessica believes they can smell – which means I’ll want to already introduce humans and dogs other than me in the first and second weeks of life (other dogs will be tiny dogs or be held so they can’t step on the puppies.)
BUT – and this was the second question Jessica helped me answer: I know that Game may be protective of her litter. Probably not against close human friends, but potentially against dogs she doesn’t know extremely well. In order to avoid the puppies being exposed to Game’s potentially negative response, I would remove Game when introducing other dogs or humans who aren’t close friends of Game’s. But of course Game would smell the strangers – human or non-human – on her puppies when I let her back into the room. So my question to Jessica was: will she be stressed by this smell on her puppies? Will this stress translate into her milk, and if so, will milk satiated by stress hormones do more harm than socialization does good?
I don’t know where to look for this information, and it has probably not been studied in dogs. Jessica assumes, based on her knowledge of the scarce research that is out there, that only chronic stress would be passed on to the puppies in Game’s milk.
These were the only two questions I still had that Jessica could answer – sadly, there are hardly any studies on puppy socialization.
That’s why I’m skeptical of Puppy Culture3 protocols, for example: yes, there are expert interviews, which is all good – but where are the sources? Show me the studies! Some things said in the Puppy Culture film are incorrect – for example, they suggest we not comfort a scared puppy in order to avoid reinforcing their fear response. We know it is not possible to reinforce fear though. They also introduce their “adult recall cue” by doing the new cue/old cue technique in the wrong order: instead of saying the new cue (in the film, it’s “Come” before the old cue (in the film, the breeder’s high-pitched puppy recall), they say the old cue first and follow it up with the new cue.
Knowing things like this, expert interviews are not enough for me to trust that what is shared in Puppy Culture is necessarily the best or only approach. I want to see papers or get the information from someone I know won’t say things that haven’t been studied. Jessica is scientifically rigorous, and I am glad that I found “it has not been studied in dogs, but based on what we know about other animals, it is probably biologically/physiologically/neurochemically this way”-type answers to two of my questions with their help. Thank you, Jessica! And thank you for not sugarcoating things we do not know for sure!
+ I got raspberry leaf tea (supposedly helpful in the last days before giving birth) – I’ll add a shot of it to Game’s food starting tomorrow, on the first day of week 5 (day 62/61). This has not been scientifically studied, but since I don’t see it doing harm, why not. Plus I like tea myself.
+ I got an x-pen that I’ll use to take the puppies to parks and other public places, and to protect things I don’t want them to get into at home.
+ I got a re-usable puppy toilet and an extra rectangle of fake grass! Almost everything is ready!
Denning news
On Friday, March 15, Game joyfully dug into the pillow-duvet-blanket fort I’ve built for her. I’ve showed it to her every day and spent some time watching my drama TV shows with her (and without Chai) in there every day since I’ve finished it, and on the last day of this week, she finally seemed convinced that it might be a good place to have puppies. Yay! (She can have them anywhere she wants, but it would be most convenient there. That way, I won’t have to throw out my couch or my mattress after they’ve been soaked in fun bodily juices!)
The week’s color tracking sheet
As of Wednesday, I’ve been tracking Game’s body temperature. Supposedly, it goes down by 1 degree 24 hours before giving birth. I’m curious if that’s actually true!
If I made another tracking sheet, I would update this one further: the second line in the left column would go, since outstanding scavenging is further down on the list already. And I’d put “temperature” in as a pre-printed field. As it is, I will stick with this sheet since I’ve already printed it twice – and I won’t need a third one since a dog’s gestation period is 63 days! Wheee!
Let me add this here: Jessica – and I appreciate this very much – would refuse to give anyone advice about socialization (“not a dog trainer, not a behaviorist, but a scientist.”) The socialization I will be doing will be partly informed by how Jessica has answered my questions about “what do we know – what does science say,” but it will always be my socialization decisions (I am saying this specifically in case some of them turn out to not go so well). Jessica would not say, “Do or don’t do this.” I so appreciate people who know what they can and want to have informed opinions on and who will not present personal opinions as facts. So let me just reiterate: Jessica is not the kind of person who would tell me what to do with a 2 week old puppy. That’s all me. Jessica would just say something like, “In rats that get licked by their mothers in X way, it has been measured that at Y weeks, there is more of Z brain chemical present. Here is the study.” Jessical would absolutely not say, “I believe you should do XYZ with your newborn puppies.” She would say, “Watch Puppy Culture or consult a behaviorist. I am not a dog trainer.” And I very, very much appreciate this. The dog world has so many people with SO many opinions based on just-so stories that are presented as facts. Having opinions is absolutely valid. Claiming they are facts is not. My puppy socialization will be based on my personal opinions, which I am forming based on sparsely available facts and my dog trainer bias (I constantly see behavior challenges, but not medical ones). ↩︎
This is how I, personally, want to do this. It is not based on a rigorously studied protocol, but on my opinion, and I am NOT saying you should do this with your litter. You do you, not me! It is absolutely valid to prioritize physical health or aim for the balance that is right for YOU! We do not have enough evidence to know what the best approach is (and I doubt there is a single best approach anyways.) So I say, like in many things in life, we all do our own best and let others do theirs. And we don’t get upset about the fact that of course, different people are going to do things differently. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. Enjoy my puppies – and in case the way I do things upsets you, go enjoy something that brings you joy instead! ↩︎
While I am skeptical of Puppy Culture and do not consider it “the one and only perfect way of raising puppies” due to certain factual errors in the film and the lack of resources, I very much appreciate the film and will be using many of its ideas. It is without doubt an excellent puppy starter, and as a future puppy owner, knowing the person raising the puppies followed Puppy Culture protocols is undoubtedly a green flag. For a first-time puppy owner, I’d also recommend checking out Puppy Culture materials. Perfect or not, it comes with A LOT of truly excellent information and fun ideas! I also know that making factual errors happens – I made one in the puppy book I wrote, too. When I asked for it to be corrected or a “please note that …” leaflet to be added to the book, unfortunately, my publisher told me they could only do this for the next print run because it would be too expensive otherwise (disappointing!) Anyways, my point is: while healthy scientific rigor is great, we can also learn from things that aren’t perfect. ↩︎
I used to have a Wobbler but gave it away when I thought I was moving. To celebrate Game’s pregnancy, we got a new one!
This week’s out-of-the-city freedom trip
A little bit of this weeks at-home dog/dog play
Apart from Game and Chai playing, we also saw our dog friend Dina and two human friends, Daniel and Pabla, and Game and I tugged and played fetch at Ciudad Universitaria.
Scavenging and delicacies
A little scavenging happens on most walks, but this week, scavenged delicacies that stood out to me were:
a big, very ripe tomato
a stack of tortillas
You’re a lucky girl, Game!
This week’s raw meal was 2 eggs:
Preparations
Our preparations are coming along:
I got 19 cute and tiny puppy collars (they came in a bag of 19). I’m pretty sure I won’t need them all – if you’re in Mexico City, reach out if you’d like a collar for your tiny dog or cat and I will gift you one!
I got cleaning supplies – among other things, 8 kitchen towel rolls. That’s because we’ve got a water shortage and there is no way of telling whether I’ll have running water to wash my usual cleaning stuff or not. Better be prepared. And yes, I know you all know what paper towels look like, but I’m in a picture-taking and sharing mood!
Equally important, today I got a giant box of the dewormer that’s recommended to be given daily from day 40 onwards (Panacur/Fenbendazol) and that I’ll also use for the puppies.
And finally, I’ve started re-reading Jessica Hekman‘s The Melting Pot: Genes, Environment, Personality class in my FDSA library. I’ve got a bunch of classes, webinars and videos about puppy development I want to re-ried/watch again over the next couple weeks!
Tracking fun
… and my old-fashioned hand-written tracker, just to make sure I do all of the things on this list a minimum number of times over the next couple weeks. A lot of them (and much more) would happen anyways, of course.
The “snuggle sessions” are interesting because they feel so meditative to me. I usually don’t pay quite as much attention when petting my dogs, but for the last seven days, I’ve looked into Game’s eyes, focused on her body, explored where she most likes to be massaged. Apart from stroking her ears and chest scratches – she’s always loved this – she is now making comfy-Mal sounds when I gently touch a certain part of her belly now that she’s pregnant. Of course, there are always breaks where I ask her if she wants to opt in again or has had enough.
And as you can see on my tracker, this week’s shaping project was all about playing with spins. Next week, we’ll do something else!
I’m finding it fun to do old-fashioned color pencil stuff every day – this really works for me, and it’s rainbowy!
Game had an ultrasound 30 days after the first mating/29 days after the second mating, and it’s confirmed: she is pregnant! I’m so excited! Game is everything I’d want in a breeding female and more, but my previous attempts were unsuccessful. I’ll be transparent about the things going on with her and, once the time comes, the puppies because I want to share a slice of puppy joy with you all, and why not also share my personal dreams and reasons for breeding. You may agree or disagree with them – that’s totally fine; that’s about you, not me. Keep it to yourselves, please. No need to take away from my joy. That’s why I’ll be closing comments on this post. You can of course “like” if you are sharing in the joy!
Just my own thing, really: something I’ve dreamed of ever since I was a little kid was raising a litter of puppies at some point in my life. I’ve learned a lot about breeding by reading books, taking Puppy Culture and Avidog courses and taking classes and a 1-on-1 from Jessica Hekman over the last couple years to learn as much as possible about puppy development. I am as ready as I will ever be. What I personally hope to get out of this (probably one and only) breeding adventure is more knowledge about dogs between 0 and 8 weeks of age: so far, I’ve only raised and worked with puppies who were 7 weeks and older. This litter is going to teach me A LOT.
Rebelde!
I have a litter theme! Why? Because it’s fun! Rebelde by RBD is Game’s theme song because I happened to be listening to it when I decided to give breeding her one last try (the next time she goes into heat, she would be too old for me to want to breed her).
While this isn’t the greatest song in the world, it fits in the sense that not everyone will approve of the sire I’ve chosen for Game. I’m okay with that. This choice is right for me and I will make sure every one of these puppies goes to a most excellent home.
I’ll share my puppy joy with you all because I want you to have a slice of it too: puppies are wonderful. They create bonds between strangers. They make you laugh so much and allow you to fully live in the current moment for a moment. Joy is not a limited resource – take as much as you can carry!
Selecting a sire
Before trying to breed Game for the first time in Mexico, I temperament-tested 6 different male dogs. I didn’t mind whether they were purebred Malinois or not, but I only tested active/worky (i.e. seemingly healthy) dogs of the shepherd-type. That’s because I wanted some predictability, and that’s easiest to achieve if I cross my shepherdy pointy-eared Malinois to a similar dog. Among the dogs I tested were:
Zero German Shepherds (they are popular, but mostly extremely show-liney and I very much didn’t want that)
Zero White Swiss Shepherds (I have yet to meet one who is cool and worky; I the ones I know are very mellow pets)
1 Dutch Shepherd
1 Mal or GSD mix, Mal sized and shaped, GSDish patterned
4 Malinois (of the worky dogs I see here, Mals are by far the most popular)
I made up a temperament test that I’m sharing below. You’ll note that there is nothing about health testing (told you you wouldn’t necessarily approve of this breeding. That’s why.) It is not common in Mexico to health test in the way people in the US commonly do: breeders (i.e. people who make conscious choices about crossing dogs) generally observe and only breed dogs who are both good workers and lovely companions (or whatever temperament they want in a dog.) Mal breeders who are into bitesports, for example, are more likely to look for civil dogs rather than lovely companions. Bitesports in Mexico include personal protection, which is about teaching dogs to (also) attack people who do not wear bite suits and guard houses, specific individuals, cars etc. I’ve only researched the very, very surface of this when I first got here, so I hope I’m not misrepresenting it. The main difference the sport of personal protection seems to have from traditional bitesports is that it is not about impulse/self control but about the dog hanging in there and not backing down against all odds. So there is (I believe; I am not an expert by any means) more weight placed on attacking than on letting go. This sport has several levels, and the dogs are generally bred for and sold to people looking for personal protection dogs. You’re unlikely to see them out walking the streets because they are not necessarily safe to have in public.
On the other hand, there are also lovely companion Mals you see doing incredibly well in public, but I’m pretty certain that these dogs don’t typically come from personal protection/civil lines.
If a dog or their parent dies of cancer young, you don’t breed them. It is common to get regular health exams in breeding dogs, including blood tests for, I believe, cancer markers and general health (I wouldn’t know what you look at there if you’re a vet drawing blood) – but nothing more invasive. Drago (Game’s sire) was all clear on his last health exam, but that really is quite superficial. X-rays aren’t usually done and DNA testing hasn’t quite made it to Mexico yet either.
The humans of the dogs I temperament-tested would probably have agreed if I asked them to do x-rays of the dogs’ hips and shoulders as long as I paid for these exams. I didn’t ask because I want to absorb as much of what I invest in the puppies myself. X-raying would add quite an expense to this that I might have to pass on to puppy buyers, and I don’t want to do that. I wouldn’t trust a Mexican vet’s x-ray evaluation because there doesn’t seem to be a system like there is in Europe and the US. So I would have to send the x-rays to, for example, PennHIP. It would add expenses I may not be able to absorb and do not want to pass on to a puppy’s future families, and I may end up with x-rays where the dog isn’t positioned right anyways.
So instead, I consulted with a veterinarian with an interest in breeding and genetics who I trust. They considered it okay to breed to a dog who was not x-rayed as long as I knew this dog was highly active without showing injuries or unnatural movements suggesting pain and as long as my own dog was clear. Since all of the above is the case, I went without health-testing on the sire. (If you’re reading this and think I’m an idiot – fair enough. I don’t care and I don’t want to hear about it. I already bred the dog, so your opinion changes nothing. Move on with your life.)
I temperament-tested every candidate myself with the owner watching. Some questions were questions I had to rely on the owner’s answers for:
How does the dog react to firecrackers? (Mexico has A LOT of firecrackers, especially in small towns, and we know there is a genetic factor to noise sensitivity.)
What do we know about the dog’s past/pedigree?
Do we know anything about illnesses in the dog and/or their relatives? If so, what?
What does the dog eat and are there food sensitivities the owner is aware of?
Who does the dog live with and do they get along?
Is the dog trained/training in any sports, work or life skills? (I actually preferred as little training as possible because I wanted to see what “the raw dog” brought to the table rather than how good of a trainer the owner was.)
Has the dog sired a litter before? (If yes, what do we know about his puppies?)
For the questions above, I trusted the owner’s accounts. For the ones below, I tested the dog:
What’s the dog’s first reaction when I, a stranger, enter the dog’s home (in a friendly way)?
How does the dog respond if they have a bone or toy and someone approaches? (Resource guarding question: we know there’s genetics involved as well.) I first asked the question, then gave the owner a rawhide bone and/or toy I had brought to give to the dog and asked the owner to take it away again after a minute. If the dog didn’t mind the owner taking it and assured me it was going to be safe, I asked them to give it back to the dog and then took it away myself after another minute (observing the dog’s body language, of course – I wasn’t interested in getting bitten).
How does the dog respond when they head out and meet a strange human?
How does the dog respond when they head out and meet a strange dog?
As for the two questions above, I took dog and owner for a brief walk until we had met both at least one human and at least one dog, and observed. I asked the owner to have their dog at liberty, i.e. either off leash or on a 5m long line I had brought, and not use cues/commands.
Is the dog interested in playing? I brought different toys and observed the owner trying to get the dog to play, and then tried playing with them myself.
Does the dog work for food? (Again, I asked the owner to demo and then tried luring a novel behavior myself with kibble and hot dog slices.)
The first time I tried crossing Game in Mexico was almost exactly a year ago. The sire was the Dutch Shepherd, Hades, who had beaten the second-highest scoring dog by one point: Hades doesn’t mind fireworks at all; he doesn’t blink an eye. We were trying twice when Game was in standing heat. She really liked Hades and was very flirty, but he couldn’t figure out his part. He hadn’t sired a litter before; Game hadn’t been mated before and things ended up not working. They both had a lot of fun and oral sex though, so good for them!
Game and Hades in 2023 (I think).
This time, I used the second highest scoring dog because this dog has already sired four litters – so I knew he’d know what to do. I had brought Game along way back when I tested this dog and they had gotten along well and played together, so I knew she liked him (Drago) too. (Game got to come to all temperament tests and let me know what she thought of the candidates.)
Left: Eduardo with Drago and Game during Drago’s temperament test, Drago (middle) and Drago (front) and Foxy (Hades’ owner’s other adult Malinois) playing fetch, 2022.
The reason Drago scored second rather than first is that unlike the Dutchie (Hades), Drago minds fireworks in a certain context: he doesn’t care about them at all as long as he is out and about with his humans, but when he is home and there are continued firecrackers, he retreats to his “dog house” in a safe corner until they pass. (He only retreats to the dog house for firecrackers – otherwise, he’ll rest close to his people or wander about the house/yard, depending on what is going on.) No shaking, stress-panting, vocalizing etc., but clearly a reaction that shows discomfort around firecrackers. Without Drago losing a point in my evaluation for noise sensitivity, he and Hades would have tied.
Drago’s evaluation
Below are the observations for Drago in the different categories:
What do we know about his past/pedigree: he’s from an FCI registered working/sports kennel in Toluca. His parents do agility and obedience. Drago himself does not have papers (in Mexico, you can get papers for the puppies of FCI-registered breeding parents, but it costs extra to get these papers from the club. It is common that breeders ask buyers whether they want the papers or not. If they want them, the buyer pays the cost for papering the puppy. Drago’s human, Eduardo, didn’t care about the papers.)
Drago himself and his previous puppies Eduardo is in touch with are healthy and have no food sensitivities; it is unknown whether the parents have food sensitivities but they are otherwise active sports dogs and appear healthy.
Drago eats partly kibble and partly a homemade raw diet.
Drago lives with Eduardo (his human), two female Mals, a cat, Eduardo’s sister and Eduardo’s dad. He gets along with all household members. Both Eduardo’s brother and a friend visit regularly with their respective children, the youngest one of whom is 4. Drago gets along with the kids, interacts but doesn’t get nervous and doesn’t push over the kids. He didn’t need to be taught this; he was naturally good around them.
Resource guarding: no. Both me and Eduardo could take things from him and he just smiled up at us in an “Alright, what’s next?” kind of way. Eduardo tells me the other household dogs can also take stuff from him and he’s chill about it.
When I entered the first time, Drago was relaxed and confident – neither desperate to greet me nor shy. He observed, saw that the new person entering (I) was being treated like a friend by his humans and wagged his hello without intruding my space. When I invited him to greet me, he came over and did so in a friendly manner. Nothing frantic. He didn’t mind me touching him.
Eduardo almost exclusively walks with Drago off leash when they roam the neighborhood. It was market day, so we went for a walk that led us through a street market where we met multiple dogs and people. Throughout, Eduardo just walked and Drago stayed within sight radius, sniffing and doing dog things without losing us. He didn’t mind any of the people or dogs we met, seemed confident and sure of himself and enjoying his walk.
Drago is a ball junkie. He’d fetch until he drops and also plays tug, but fetch is his favorite. On the day I evaluated him, I came right after they had had a long toy play session. It was a hot day, and I couldn’t convince him to play tug with me. (Based on what Eduardo tells me, I suspect I might have if he hadn’t just had the hot fetch session.)
He was happy to take my hotdog slices, but not my kibble (maybe also because he was hot). I could clearly see that he treated the hotdog interactions with me as transactions while he was in tune and there was a relationship-based work ethic when Eduardo asked something of him.
He has basic companion dog training and a sporty trick: he has a recall, doesn’t jump up on people and furniture, stays within his radius on their many off-leash urban adventures, doesn’t pull on the leash (which he rarely wears), plays with toys enthusiastically and cooperatively and can jump 2m (!) hurdles.
According to Eduardo, the basic living-together behaviors were very easy to train and just seemed to “make sense” to Drago.
He and Game played a little on neutral territory. Drago was more playful than her, but responded beautifully to the boundaries she set and respected them. Not timid at all, just really good dog/dog skills. He had no problem with her entering the house together with him.
When I temperament-tested Drago originally in 2022, he had sired two litters. By the time I visited for Game’s breeding in 2024, there had been two more litters and I got the opportunity to meet two adult puppies from two different litters: a female who now lives with Drago and his people and is very similar to him in her behaviors (Eduardo told me this; I saw her but didn’t test her) and a male who lives nearby. The male’s human came over with his dog when I was there so we could all meet. He (I forget his name) happily showed off his tricks in public (leg weaves, sits) … He arrived and left off leash and played with Drago and Game, showing exellent dog/dog skills even around my female in heat.
Left: Game meets Drago’s adult son, right: Game and Drago before their first mating.(January, 2024.)
Main criterion: sociability
As you’ll see from my temperament test, I was most interested in sociability (being able to be at liberty around dogs and humans without eating them), interest in working with humans for food and toys and – extremely important to me – noise sensitivity. This element matters because Game is noise sensitive, and I would like to balance this out with the sire. Personally, I’d call noise-sensitivity Game’s only flaw (but I’m biased, of course).
Ideally, I would have bred Game to a dog like Hades, the Dutchie, who doesn’t care AT ALL about fireworks. However, it didn’t work with Hades and ALL the other dogs I tested cared about fireworks to some extent. Drago cared the least amount.
This is not a coincidence – it’s not like I tested a particularly noise-sensitive population of dogs. It’s that I know hardly any Mexican or Guatemaln dogs who aren’t at least a little bit noise sensitive. (Except for Mexico City proper; the city is a lot quieter. I didn’t test any city dogs.)
“Noise” in a Latin American country isn’t the same as in the US or Europe. Many dogs sensitize over the course of their lives. That has been the case for Game: she spent her first New Year’s Eve in Austria and didn’t mind the single night of fireworks at all. Same about the occasional firework display when we lived in Thailand. When we moved to Guatemala, she started out that way too: she didn’t mind. But we moved into a house next to a church. Churches in Guatemalan villages – at least this church in this Guatemalan village – have several services a day, and they will announce each one of them with about 30 minutes of nonstop “bombas” (that’s the name in Guatemalan Spanish for INCREDIBLY loud firecrackers. They sound as if a bomb was exploding next to you. It’s nothing like what I’m used to from other parts of the world and I haven’t heard anything like it outside of Latin America). We woke up this way, it happened at noon and it happened at night – every single day. Over the course of a few months, Game sensitized to these sounds.
For a dog living in Europe, there is only a single day a year where there are fireworks – New Year’s Eve. I suspect Game wouldn’t have developed sound sensitivity there at all – but even if she had, it would be easy to medicate her once a year. Same goes for the US. Medicating your dog on one or two predictable days a year is perfectly fine. But you can’t medicate your dog three times a day, every single day of their life, with the medications we use for noise sensitivity. And Game’s puppies may end up living in Mexico – so I want to make it as improbable as possible for them to worry about loud noises.
An aside: Game has overcome her fear with the help of the Take A Breath Game from CU! It’s crazy how powerful that game is. First, we we consicously breathed and ate thourough each bout of fireworks. By now, she is okay even without the exercise!
In any case, I don’t expect Game’s puppy’s future owners to know CU and ideally, they won’t be noise sensitive in the first place.
Game
Speaking of Game – here’s some stuff about her!
Game is Ygame van’t Merleboosch, born in the Netherlands. She’s an FCI registered KNPV line dog:
This is her unique “genetic pawprint” (this is not an Embark or Wisdom Panel test; I haven’t done those):
These are her (pretty old) hip and shoulder x-rays, done in Austria. As by the European FCI evaluation system, these would be “A” hips (best score), “A” elbows (best score) and there is no lumbosacral transitional vertebra (we want there to be none as it, as far as I understand, makes dogs more prone to back conditions).
Game has passed her breeding evaluation test in Guatemala, where I was originally going to breed her – I just didn’t get around to it because I wasn’t able to renew my temporary residency and left the country. Anyways, here’s her “apt for breeding” certificate (which involved an evaluation by a judge) and the Spanish translation/FCI ACANGUA registration of her pedigree that I had to do in order to get “apt for breeding”:
I even registered a kennel in Guatemala. “Caniversity” was my business name for my in-person dog training business in Antigua, Guatemala, hence the kennel name “Caniversity’s.”
I’m now in Mexico, of course, so the Guatemalan paperwork isn’t valid – I’d have to go through the same process again. I’m not inerested in that though, so I didn’t. Game’s puppies will not have papers.
Game is a great dog with one flaw (I am aware of): noise sensitivity.
Game and I have dabbled in most sports you can dabble in, and she is (like her name suggests) game for anything: bikejoring, obedience, trick training, herding (cattle), nosework, cadaver detection work (fake cadaver scent), bitework, dock diving, parkour. We have not titled in anything but tricks. I LOVE training whatever we have access to and fun with, but I can’t stand competetions. (I was an A student, but HATED school and its grades to a degree that I will not subject myself to anything that reminds me of it as an adult. At least up until now, I have avoided everything and anything that pits individuals against each other. It’s fascinating to me how strongly I feel about this. The fact that Game doesn’t have titles isn’t about Game, it’s about me.)
Game’s main job is to be my demo dog both at Fenzi Dog Sports Academy and in person as well as my take-everywhere companion and service dog (she has two tasks). Public access, no matter what I throw at her, is easy for her. She has been in tiny boats on wavy water without throwing up, cross-country trains and busses. She has done transatlantic in-cabin as well as under-the-belly-of-the-plane flights.
She is very social for a Malinois (if she was a Golden Retriever, I wouldn’t say “she is very social for a Golden Retriever” – she does have her Malinois edginess alright and is a no-bullshit dog who will set boundaries and expect them to be respected).
She has matured late but has grown up to be a fantastic travel companion, house and apartment dog. She loves swimming, running through the forest and along the beach, gets really excited about seeing my friends who are always also her friends, and is highly food and toy motivated.
She currently lives with a female Border Collie and me. She has lived in a household with up to 2 humans, 5 sheep and 5 dogs.
She thinks cats and chickens look a lot like snacks, but I can recall her away from them.
She has lived (i.e. stayed for 6 months or more) on 3 continents: Europe, Asia and the Americas. She has lived (i.e. stayed for 6 months or more) in 4 countries: Austria, Thailand, Guatemala and Mexico. She has visited (i.e. been there for less than 6 months) 7 different countries with me: the Netherlands, Austria, Thailand, Guatemala, Mexico, Germany and 4 different US states. If she were a human, she’d speak 5 languages: Dutch, German, Thai, Spanish and English.
She has also modeled for my recall book that the amazing Isabelle Grubert took professional photos for, is up to date on vaccines and deworming and her latest health check says all good.
That’s all I can think of right now … you’ll get to know her better as I share more about her and eventually her and the puppies over the next few weeks! If you’re an FDSA student or reader of this blog, you’ll already know her quite well. Oh! One more fun fact: the first thing she does when we get to a hotel room, AirBnB or new apartment is look for the bed and roll all over it; it’s one of her trademark moves. Another one is interrupting online meetings with the undelayable need to have her head scratched and her ears massaged or, potentially, a toy thrown.
Looking ahead
In the hope of the mating being successful, I’ve spent the last few months collecting cardboard boxes, paper rolls and shreddable paper. The puppies will have lots to shred!
Now that I know the mating has worked, I will make sure to make as much of a positive (and avoid a negative) impact on the puppies in utero as I can. The in-utero environment is an important factor in terms of who the future puppies will be. They are, of course, still blind and deaf, but they are plugged into Game’s system. If Game’s body is flooded with, for example, cortisol or oxytosin, so will be the puppies. Keeping this in mind, Game will continue her usual life, but I will consciously make sure that she gets the following every week:
I’ll continue allowing her to scavenge for small amounts of random different food items she finds to normalize those. I’ll keep track of her most delicious finds for fun!
Apart from her kibble, I’ll feed raw once a week (either just an extra raw meat treat or a raw meal).
Shape/clicker train briefly 5 times a week – it gives her so much joy and she hasn’t had as much of it as usual because Chai is currently the baby who gets the most training attention.)
Off leash free run of the woods/fields/trails outside the city at least once a week.
Toy play at least once a week (may involve fetch, tugging, swim fetch).
Daily snuggle session; do so really consciously, 5 minutes or more (if Game keeps opting in).
Make sure she gets to hang out with a dog and a person (other than me and Chai) she loves or finds neutral at least once a week.
A car ride at least once a week (I don’t know if this will make it less likely to prevent carsickness in the puppies – but it certainly can’t hurt).
Make sure she has at least one canned-food meal while pregnant too. I don’t know if this will help guard against future food sensitivities – but again, it can’t hurt.
Many of the items on my list happen naturally. Most of the time not accounted for above is either running errands together, taking walks, hanging out in parks, Game snoozing on her couch or playing with Chai. I want to track the above items from now on to make sure they really do happen a minimum number of times every week. Apart from this, I’ll just let Game lead her normal life unless she lets me know she needs changes in food amount, exercise or otherwise. Another thing I am grateful for, even though it’s not on the list since I don’t have control over it, is dog/dog play: Chai play-wrestles with Game most days, and I love that this is likely to continue happening throughout her pregnancy. (If Game wants it to stop, she has an easy time letting Chai know – no need for me to interfere.)
I won’t be doing ENS (early neurological stimulation) on the puppies because. ENS is recommended for puppies who have a relaxed and sheltered in-utero experience, but not for puppies whose mother may have experienced stress during pregnancy. I believe that living in Mexico City – a city that never sleeps and gets as crowded as Times Square at times – is inherently stressful, even if a dog like Game handles it well. So I’d rather not add to this potential stressor with ENS.
I’m happy to report that last week (the week leading up to the ultrasound) checked a lot of the above boxes as well: we clicker trained (shaped) quite a bit because I needed new videos for a private student, Game saw two human friends and two dog friends, she went on a car ride, played lots of water swim fetch and ate an extracurricular rawhyde chew. She did her usual scavenging, but something that stood out to me last week was her favorite treasure: crunchy curbside bones in Iztapalapa. We’re off to an excellent start in terms of an enriched life, even “the week before” (the ultrasound)!
Puppy updates will show up here, on my podcast, Facebook and Instagram. Enjoy your vicarious Rebeldes, you all!
If you’ve been following Chai’s diary, you probably know that she was not house trained when I got her as a foster and hasn’t learned to only go outside since then either. I suspect there is a sensitive period for learning not to pee and poop where you sleep, and Chai was confined to a small space during that time (i.e. she had no other option but to go right where she was). That’s just my best guess. I don’t know what parts of her backstory check out. I only know that some of it does not (she did not have the chip number she supposedly had, for example). The story I got was that Chai originally came from the state of Guerrero, was bred on a farm from a sheep-working sire and a pet dam, and her previous owner had gotten her for themselves but needed a foster or rehome fast due to a tragic family incident.
Assuming there actually is a sensitive period for learning not to pee/poop where you sleep would imply she did not grow up the way she supposedly did – growing up in a family/farm environment and then moving to a different family environment would not cause the pee/poop response to be repressed because there would be plenty of space to leave your sleeping spot to pee. Unless, of course, the sensitive period only happens after 8 weeks (when the previous owner supposedly got her) and she was then confined to a crate. She was in a crate when I picked her up – so maybe. I suspect it happens earlier though. I know folks who do not put effort into housetraining at all and still end up with a house trained dog – just a little later than the folks who do put in effort. That data, of course, is entirely anecdotal and my sample size is small.
Another anecdotal data point was shared with me by one of my wonderful students. Their breeder shared a video where 3 week old puppies would crawl away from the “puppy pile” when needing to go. To me, this suggests a sense of cleanliness kicking in when the puppies barely open their eyes. But again – this is a single anecdotal data point.
A second hypothesis about Chai’s past (I do not know how likely it is and it doesn’t matter) is that her previous owner told me the truth about their job: they procure puppies for pet stores. It is possible that Chai was a pet store puppy (I’ve seen these puppies; they are usually kept in the tiniest cages and definitely cannot pee/poop somewhere they don’t sleep) who aged out of the pet store without being purchased. I know pet stores sell Border Collies around here because I’ve seen them. The most popular Border Collie color in Mexico City is blue merle – not Chai’s color. She may simply not have been purchased while being tiny and cute enough to be put on sale and have gone back to the person procuring puppies after – who did not want to keep her. In that case, things would add up and this would explain why Chai still pees and poops in a crate, too, anytime the thought crosses her mind and she happens to be in her car crate. She may either have been in the pet store cage (resembling a terrarium around here) from an early age on and/or come from a puppy mill type situation, growing up confined to a space she and her mom and littermates barely fit into even before she got to a pet store. (This is not necessarily the case for pet store puppies here. Pet stores also purchase puppies from private folks whose pure-bred looking dogs happen to have puppies.)
I’m aware that I’m just telling myself these stories. I prefer to assume that people tell the truth, but there are 4 things that make me wonder in Chai’s case:
1. Chai’s chip number didn’t check out. 2. The previous owner stopped responding right after I picked her up. 3. They didn’t answer my question about Chai’s birth date (they may not have known). 4. The strange peeing behavior. 5. Her sociability (if she was a pet store puppy and got handled by folks, this would make more sense than if she hadn’t seen anyone but the previous owner between the age of 8 weeks and 4.5 months).
Is there a sensitive/critical period for no house soiling?
I’ve tried to pinpoint the elusive sensitive period of no house soiling but can’t pin it down. I have found a number of sources and meta analyses that found dogs from commercial breeding operations (“puppy mills”) and pet stores have significantly higher incidents of house soiling as adults. However, none of the studies I found went into the details in terms of whether/when there is a sensitive/critical period. I also came across an article (not a peer-reviewed study) claiming dogs who are not house trained by 1 year of age are unlikely to ever become so. Chai’s fake first birthday is in 2 days, and there’s no house training on the horizon.
Gamification
Anyways, so Chai and I have been working on this ever since I got her. I ran a gamification course – partly because I love gamification hacks and partly because I wanted to gamify the house training challenge for myself to stay on top of it – and playing is more fun in good company! So I created a 4-week peer-support course around the topic. While cheering on others, I also set myself a specific goal: I was going to play a streak game for 4 weeks.
I divided the four weeks into four 7-day streaks and came up with the following rules:
During waking hours, I wanted Chai to pee more often outside than inside. Any day I accomplished this goal, I would add one turquois check mark to my weekly streak.
If I got as many or less inside pees as outside pees, my weekly streak would reset and I would start over with check mark 1 of 7. Previously completed (entirely turquois) 7-day streaks would remain – only current weeks could reset.
Anytime I got an outside poop (still a rare occurrance), I would automatically color the check mark for the respective day, independently of Chai’s peeing behavior.
After any 7 day streak, I’d get a brownie. (Very tasty and sold for the most ridiculous price I have encountered, so it’s not something I’d usually purchase.)
After four 7-day streaks (no need for them to be uninterrupted by resets), I’d treat myself to a large house plant.
Example of week 4/4.
I played in a closed group together with my amazing students. Everyone gamified one challenge or another – some of them life related, some of them dog related. The creativity of folks was truly inspiring and I LOVED how our little community cheered each other on and how our virtual group became a confidential and vulnerable space of trust, sharing and compassion. I ended up adding a second more complex life-related quest game for myself as well because playing with this group of people was so much fun. Thank you to all who participated!
Curated peeing patterns
I was aware that I influenced Chai’s peeing behavior heavily by means of taking her out as much as I’d take out an 8 week old puppy. I also always brought Game and encouraged Chai to pee (mark) over Game’s pee and then reinforced. Chai did that pretty reliably, but often only a drop or two. I put peeing on cue with the help of Game peeing first, but would occasionally only get a dry squat from Chai: turns out I had put squatting rather than peeing on cue!
Because I caused peeing outside with the help of antecedent arrangement (Game pees first) and consequences (reinforcement), I ended up with a much higher number of total pees (more pees I ended up counting were single-drop marking instances rather than actual bladder-emptying pees which still mostly happen indoors).
Anyways, I became aware of this since I counted the pees every day and realized Chai peed a lot more often than an average dog her age. So I decided to chart the 4 weeks of the game. In this chart, the inside pee number is higher than it was in the game because I added all nightly (inside) pees to it too.
Pees during the gamified month of August 2023. The number of shower pees is higher in the chart than in the game because I added the nightly pees (which I didn’t count in the game).
What does the data look like if I stop consciously influencing the numbers (playing the game)?
I suspected if I influenced Chai’s peeing behavior less (if I didn’t take her out quite as often and stopped encouraging her to mark), I’d get less daily outside pees than inside pees and a lower number of total daily pees. To test this hypothesis, I kept counting for 17 days after the game had ended. I didn’t play to win brownies anymore but just lived my life. I was right:
The reason I counted for only 17 days is that I traveled and boarded Chai starting September 18.
Finally, I wanted to visualize how the total number of daily pees was higher in the gamified condition than in the no-game condition. (Apparently, once C-s learn to graph things in spreadshits, they can’t stop.)
I used the first 17 days of August 2023 because I only had data for 17 days in September.
I was right again: clearly, more total pees in the gamified condition!
What do we learn from all this?
Nothing in particular (except how to make graphs – thank you, Zane, for helping me work out the last kink!) I still plan on ruling out medical stuff, but I suspect the reason that Chai pees smaller amounts more often while Game pees bigger amounts less often is simply that Game holds her pee until we go outside while Chai has no motivation to hold her pee inside. (She can hold her pee and will for many hours if we go exciting places, but she won’t hold it at home – she’ll go right away.)
I suspect this is just going to be what life will look like: shower pees for Chai. That’s okay. Of all the issues a dog could possibly have, this is probably the one that bothers me the least – especially as long as she keeps peeing and pooping in the shower rather than elsewhere. It just means I’ll clean the shower more often than I would otherwise. That’s not a big deal for me.
What we optimize for
A random observation here is that gamification and reinforcers cause us to optimize performance (no surprise there). The data for August shows this well. However, I did not end up optimizing what I intended (Chai’s peeing behavior outside) but my own behavior (the number of times I took her out in a day). I became aware of this quickly, but did NOT stop playing because I wanted to keep collecting brownies. So this is really interesting too (to me anyways): even if we are aware we haven’t optimized for our actual goal, we may keep our rule structure as is because we want the pay-off (in my case the brownie) and don’t see a simple way to change things around and get brownies just as easily. Brownies I would not otherwise treat myself to are a strong motivator for me, as was the visual representation of seeing my streak grow! Human behavior is fun!
Note to self (and anyone else with a human brain): cafeful what you optimize for (if you actually care about your goal!)
Afterthought
Just in case it isn’t clear: I love this dog and couldn’t love her more. I don’t care where she does her business, and I don’t care what her backstory is. I just found it interesting to think about my house training adventures and share them with you here!
I used to believe it was far more important for dogs to play with appropriate adult dogs than with dogs their own age (this is unsupported “common knowledge” floating around the R+ world). The just-so story is convincing enough: your dog is only going to be a puppy or juvenile animal for a fraction of their life; the conspecific interactions they will eventually have – if any – are mostly going to be with adult dogs. Plus what could a puppy possibly learn from other puppies? Adult dogs are the ones to look for in terms of socializing because adult dogs – other than puppies – actually have social skills.
Then I took Kristina Spaulding‘s excellent ethology class and learned that we do indeed know from actual studies (which I currently don’t have the bandwidth to dig out) that animals benefit from the opportunity to play with conspecifics of a similar age. This has changed my approach: I will now seek out more play opportunities for the puppies and juvenile dogs in my care – specifically with other young dogs.
Mexico and other places in Latin America I’ve been to have one big advantage when it comes to socialization: there’s ALWAYS dogs around. If you give your dog the chance to play every day, they’ll satiate (unless they are the rare dog who doesn’t satiate – these dogs do exist, just like there are dogs who never stop feeling hungry, but they are not the norm.) Given the opportunity to regularly satiate their social needs, they will be far easier to train, walk and work around other dogs. Win-win!
Below is a small selection of Chai’s play dates. These are just a few times I videoed over the course of the months and some I set to music (because it gives me joy) – but they are by far not the only ones. Chai has met other dogs of different ages every single day since she’s been with me. Some have become her friends; some stayed one-off play mates. You’ve seen some of these videos in Chai’s diaries already. In any case – here’s a chronological compilation with some context for each of them.
May 17, 2023 (day 41 with me): Chai plays with a new puppy
Chai played with (mejor dicho ignored in order to keep an eye on Game’s tennis ball) 5-months old puppy Archie at Chapultepec today!
May 28, 2023 (day 52): another new puppy playmate!
Chai made a new play-friend at Las Islas (UNAM), puppy Nenet! Enjoy the music and the play!
June 6, 2023 (day 61): playing with a new adult dog and practicing “pup-pup-pup” and whistle recalls … some of which are more successful than others!
Watch the video above to see my recalls – successful as well as unsuccessful! You won’t hear me use my formal recall cue in this video (“Schnee”). l’ll only use the formal cue in real life – outside of games and set-ups – when I am certain that Chai will respond. The informal recall and even my whistle recall? I don’t mind trying it sometimes and seeing it not work. These are data points that let me know where we are and what Chai’s ability to pay attention currently looks like.
After watching the video above with subtitles and voiceovers – think about the following questions and, if you’d like, leave your answers to any or all questions in the comments! I’ll be sure to read and respond to them!
Can you tell why I chose the first two recall moments (these recalls are not successful – but why did I try them at the points in time that I did?)
In one of the first two, can you spot an indication that Chai heard me even though she doesn’t come back?
Why do you believe I used pup-pup-pup rather than whistled in recalls #2 and #3?
Can you pinpoint (time-stamp) some of my favorite moments of the interaction between Chai and the other dog, Luna? What makes them stand out?
June 8, 2023: Chai (BC, 5.5 months) and Kiba (BC, 6.5 months)
We met our friends Alan and Kiba at the park and our girls had a blast playing together!
June 17, 2023 (day 72): adventures with Kiba at Chapultepec (and a sad, but beautiful song)
July 15, 2023 (day 100) – Chai and Kiba
Chai and I spent an hour with Alan and Kiba at the park today. As always, I started off with an informal recall away from Kiba (this is still HARD for Chai!) and then reinforced by releasing her to play. They also played with Kiba’s toy together!
Play-fighting and running together!
Good friends can share toys!
July 18, 2023: letting off steam after distraction recalls!
Today, we practiced really difficult distraction recalls! Chai needed to let off some steam after – and dog/dog play is perfect for this!
July 22, 2023 – all the Border Collies!
After shaping recalls away from Kiba, Chai got to hang out with her buddy and 4 other BC friends: Ivan’s dogs who were at the park with their dog sitters. Nicole, the child of the main dog sitter, tossed Kiba’s squeaky ball for Chai. I don’t mind informal toy play like this as long as it’s not with our formal training toys. It’s good for Chai to build a relationship with Nicole through playing! The last time, she got intimidated by Nicole who can be a little rough and wants to touch dogs from above or hug them (I suspect they’re between 8 and 12 years old, but I might be totally off – I’m bad at gauging the age of kids.)
August 8, 2023: new friends for Chai
My friend and colleague Kayla visited for a few days with her Border Collies Barley and Niffler and cat Norbert! This video is from the first evening Chai met all the new animals. (If you listened to our podcast chat, you may have already seen a shorter version of this video with a different song.) I like the fact that I’ve been able to introduce Chai to new dogs both in “her” apartment and in neutral spaces. She has also visited Nazli at Scarlett’s place and been to the apartment of friends who have cats.
August 20, 2023: fast friends!
Chai and Kala at Chapultepec! Kala is Zai and Kristen’s adult dog; this was the first time our dogs met!
September 10, 2023: Chai, Kala and Luca at Los Dinamos
We took a weekend trip to los Dinamos today! Time to not hear traffic noises and feel all naturey – even though this is still part of Mexico City! Luca, Zai and Kristen’s pug puppy, got to come as well!
October 15, 2023: Chai, Kiba and Elios
Today, Alan and Kiba introduced us to their friends Soto and Elios, Soto’s 11 months old Corgi!
October 22, 2023: Salazar with Daniel and Dina
Dina has become one of Chai’s best friends. Game and Dina are more acquaintances than friends, but they get along well enough. Today, Daniel (Dina’s human) and Dina showed us a hiking route outside Salazar. Game is wearing a muzzle because she’ll go into heat soon and tends to get easily over-aroused by other dogs running in the weeks before – it’s just a safety measure around Dina.
My bestest girl on the mountain. Mexico City in the distance to the left.
Snuggly girls on the car ride home. They were taking off each other’s burrs! (Poor Dina has a shaved paw because she needed to stay at the vet’s and get fluids for a nasty stomach infection the other week.)
At around 10 months – close to the time Chai went into heat the first time – she got significantly more socially selective. She still has her friends, but is less likely to initiate play with a new dog. She mostly just confidently ignores other dogs (or steals their balls). If given a choice, she’d rather work with me than play with other dogs.
This is a lovely development for a working breed. I see it in the other dogs her age as well: the young Dobi and a young Mal we used to run into at the park don’t play as much as they used to either, and Kiba and Chai, while still extremely close, treat each other more like family: “hey there, great to see you; I can basically read your mind just looking at you because we are the same; now let’s go do other stuff!” Their behavior is very similar; they grew up like siblings with Kiba being one month older. They even went into heat the same week. But there’s less playing from both of them: they seem to feel like grown up Border Collies around each other now. They will do stuff together, like sniff the same spots, greet the same dogs, lie down next to each other … But they rarely behave like puppies with each other (except for an exuberant greeting when they haven’t seen each other for longer than usual).
Dina, on the other hand, is still a favorite play mate of Chai’s. Dina’s play style is different – she’s a different type of dog. She’s built like a whippet and as fast as one, but wire-haired, incredibly gentle and giant-eared. I’m fond of her – and so is Chai. Dina is 3, but still loves to play chase games. If I were to anthropomorphize, I’d say that Chai looks up to Dina and thinks she’s “cool” – hence the continued playing! It’s unlikely that dogs find each other “cool,” but the thought makes me smile.
I suspect that over time, Chai will play a little less with Dina as well. They will stay close friends, but over the next few months, Chai’s behavior around Dina will probably start resembling her behavior around Kiba unless we are on a hike together (which doesn’t happen every day and tends to give the city dogs a boost of youth and bounciness!)
Chai and Kala would probably also keep playing a little longer into the future – or even on a permanent basis. They are extremely well-matched playmates. Kristen, Zai, Kala, Luca and their cats have moved abroad though. Chai says everyone, but especially Kala is always welcome on her couch if they ever miss Mexico City! (Chai is optimistic. I am realistic and would like to add: the cats would probably be safer staying elsewhere because of a certain Belgian Shepherd who lives on Chai’s couch as well and, while getting very good at not eating cats, can’t help the fact that they smell awfully tasty.)
Chai and Game, of course, will still play-wrestle as well. That’s typical for dogs sharing a house: anytime one of them needs to burn off energy, there’s a play partner right there! We just spent a few days at the beach and in this new environment, there was a lot of racing along the waves and chasing each other, too. I wish I had video!
Activity level: average (low physical, high cognitive)
The AM …
We started the morning with our usual walk. Today we took our time, looped the park twice and greeted and dismissed several dogs – good puppy!
2-toy tug reinforced by fetch at Fresa Parque
We dropped Game off at home and Chai and I walked to Fresa Parque in harness mode. There, we had a lovely session of 2-toy fetch and then enjoyed the park some more before heading back home in collar mode. Chai did really well!
Later, we started shaping two tricks from Silvia Trkman‘s first to-do list: “Earn it!” in the apartment and a 2-front-paw target on the roof. Chai is a dog who is happy to keep working and shaping for a long time. She reminds me of the first time I took Sue Ailsby‘s shaping class with Phoebe: we could work and work and work and she wouldn’t tire; I could have spent all day shaping. Chai, at her current age, is like that too – SO much fun!
Staying home alone
She then stayed home alone for Game’s early-afternoon walks and while Game accompanied me for a hair cut.
During Game’s evening walk, Chai got to practice staying home alone a second time.
More shaping!
After coming home, I continued Chai’s 2-paw target shaping. We ended with a relatively consistent 1-paw on the target and will progress to 2 paws tomorrow … I’ve already fed her almost twice her meal in today’s shaping sessions so it’s probably time to stop.
Prepositions for announcements
Today, I started adding prepositions to the announcements I’ve been using for Chai. Is she going to learn and understand them? I don’t know but I assume that with time and context, she will. And even if she doesn’t – striving for the greatest possible clarity when communicating with our dogs (or anyone else) is a worthwhile pursuit in any case.
House training adventures
I am proud to report that our streak continues! Week one of the game couldn’t be going any better! If I make it two more days, I’ll treat myself to a fancy browny – and then we start week 2! Sadly, Chai’s diarrhea is back as well. Here’s to making the shower her default pooping spot! She went there by herself, too.
July 4, 2023 (Day 89)
Activity level: low
The AM …
Chai greeted a few dogs on our 2-dog morning loop and then did well on the retractable leash while Game was off leash – hardly any circles or food reinforcers needed!
Almost home, we found a creepy bouquet of artificial flowers on the ground. Magic hands and Game walking right up to investigate it for the win! If I had already had coffee, I would have turned the bouquet into a toy – but sans caffeine, I really wanted to get home and fuel up.
2 trips and one toy play session at the plaza
After a bit of work, I took Chai to our neighborhood plaza for a quick 2-toy game according to Shade‘s instructions. I’m planning to make today our “calm” day – it’s a good one because I’m meeting a friend and can leave her home. Plus I want to resist the temptation to keep shaping until the diarrhea is gone: my home remedy for diarrhea is 12-24 hours of fasting.
Chai did great walking to the plaza and back with the leash attached to her harness. I replaced most food reinforcers with brief spouts of personal play or running together and needed hardly any circles. At the park, Chai saw someone move a giant water-spouting hose – a new and interesting experience, but not a scary one! Brave puppy!
Play went well even though Chai answered the question whether she could tug without misses first with a “not really – I like my misses.” It may also have been that she expected the first play move to be a chase and was taken aback when I cued a tug.
First time off leash on the sidewalk during the day
Chai will be an off-leash Mexico City dog. When I first got her, I worked on this by means of exclusively walking her on a long line to simulate an off-leash experience (while keeping her safely on the sidewalk next to a busy car street). We’ve also been working on being an off leash city dog for about a month by taking off-leash urban walks between 2AM and 4AM when there are almost no cars in the street. (Furture me chiming in here: the nightly walks are a tradition I stopped a few days after writing this Chiary entry. It led to very tired days for me and after a month, I needed a break!) Other off-leash city dog elements:
Working towards a solid formal recall.
Practicing “Leave it” (and its generalization to stepping off the sidewalk) and …
“Wait” at the curb.
Being off leash when there is a barrier of shrubbery or parked cars between a park and the street.
My plan is to have her drag a long line – no Game present, just Chai – during the day as soon as we make it all the way through our distraction tracker for the formal recall (formal recalls are emergency breaks).
Yesterday, I made an exception to the rule of not having Chai off leash in the street during the day just yet: a neighbor’s dog came bounding down the sidewalk as we were on our way back from the plaza. Since the playful dog was running directly towards us, I unhooked Chai’s leash so she could play. They did for about a minute on the sidewalk and then I walked the last 30 meters home off leash as well. Chai didn’t leave the sidewalk. Good girl! Back to the original plan though as long as there are no playful pups around!
Staying home alone
Game and I are about to head out and meet a friend – time for Chai to be a good stay-home-alone puppy and for Game to get a bike run in!
Game, being a hipster dog for a day. We are street food people, but sometimes – usually when friends want to go OR when I want to dog-train – we head to a place like this one. And yes, of course: “somos lo que somos.
Chai did great staying home alone for 3.5 hours, and Game enjoyed a 20 minute bike ride, 2.5 hours of hanging out at a café and chewing her rawhide bone and 30 minutes of biking home on a different route.
Chai got to stay home again a second time during Game’s evening walk. We’ll count today as the calm day of the week! Our second calm day (the one to make up for last Sunday’s high activity day) might be Friday.
Housetraining
The streak continues! Wheee, it is fun to see my arrows turn green! We’ve almost made it through a week!
July 5, 2023 (Day 90)
Activity level: average (low physical, high cognitive)
The AM …
We had an uneventful morning walk.
Home alone
After work, both dogs stayed home while I bought supplies for trick training, and then Chai stayed home alone again while Game and I headed out for a bit.
Shaping, shaping, shaping!
I shaped away one day’s worth of Chai’s kibble for paw target experiments (we both love this game).
2-toy tug and fetch and waiting at the ice cream store
… then we walked in harness mode to Fresa Parque and played a short 2-toy game before being rudly interrupted by a tall barky stranger Mal mix. As by Shade’s suggestion, I tried cueing “chase” while Chai was tugging rather then after she dropped and offered eye contact to reinforce the tugging rather than the drop.
Chai then waited patiently for me as I got ice cream:
Her right ear has been in a floppy mood!
… and more shaping!
Back home, I shaped a second day’s worth of kibble away in 6 short sessions and then took Game on her evening walk while Chai stayed home alone a third time.
(And yes, there was work too in between all of this, cooking and a post-icecream nap for me.)
House training: the streek continues!
As of today, we’ve made it through an entire week without peeing in the living room! I’ve earned myself a browny! The week 1 streak in all its glory:
July 6, 2023 (Day 91)
Activity level: high average
The AM …
Our morning walk was shorter than usual because I wanted to get home and finish work before meeting Alan and Kiba for our train-and-play date. Work went fast and I had time to clicker up Chai’s daily food ration again. Shaping this dog is FUN! My way of not going overboard is only having the daily food ratio available and stopping once I’m through it (if I can help it). It’s also not one continuous session, of course – one session is either what fits in my hand or what fits in my hand plus another handful of food from my pocket. Then there’s a short break; then we might do another session.
Knowing how much and how fast juvenile dogs change, it is difficult for me not to get carried away with shaping and tricks while I have such an avid learner: there is no way of knowing whether Chai’s stamina and enthusiasm for training will be the same a week from now or once she’s an adult. (My own training stamina and enthusiasm is off the charts these days but will probably wear off a bit in the future.)
Home alone
While Chai is on pee-standby in the bathroom, Game and I are about to head out. After practicing impulse control on her mat, it’s time to give her a little outdoors freedom before Chai gets all the action again!
I used the opportunity to get my week-long streak reinforcer:
Yumm! Game (nose at top left corner) thinks so too!
2-toy tug/fetch and dog/dog play time!
Alan had to cancel our training meeting because he got sick. Instead, I recorded Chai’s toys homework for Shade sans interruptions and then Chai got to play a little bit in the dog park. I decided to go in because there were only two dogs who looked calm. Chai got them to play, and we practiced two recalls out of play for chicken. I had planned on doing this with Kiba today, but since there was no Kiba, these two playmates would do! Chai was a star – however, I’m sure this was easier than Kiba would have been. Kiba is her best buddy and hard to disengage from while Chai has never met these two dogs before and generally recalls well from strange dogs. (Still: this is the very first time I recalled her in the middle of playing – and she came back right away! Go Chai! This may actually have been an excellent step before practicing with Kiba.)
The video below shows Chai’s dog park socializing and the two formal recalls we did – the second one out of full-on play.
More paw target shaping
Back home, we took a break and then shaped for (almost) an entire second day’s meal. We now have two mostly steady paws on 3 different targets: a plastic tupperware lid, a plant saucer and a porcellain plate!
Husbandry
+ “Brush” announcement and brushing!
Toy play Silvia Trkman style
It was thundering and rain-storming and Game was scared (of the thunder). I don’t want Chai to adopt Game’s fears, so we casually played with always-out toys on the couch. There’s also a TV show running in the background … distraction training AND play! I want her to chase and tug on any toy I offer and also learn more about her favorites and preferred play style in a casual context.
(The reason Chai and I can play in this video without Game joining in is that Game is too worried about the thunder to play.)
House training
… week 2 of 4! The streak continues! If Chai makes it another 7 days without accidents in the living room (only in the shower cabin or outdoors), I’ll get another browny. After a 4-week streak – which we may or may not get to on our first attempt – I’m going to treat myself to something bigger. In any case – if all I ever win in my streak game are brownies, that’ll work for me too!
July 7, 2023 (Day 92)
Activity level: low
The AM …
I let Game and Chai run around the park a little more than usual because I’m planning on a calm day today. Chai got to greet several dogs she knows and then we walked back home – Game off leash, Chai on the retractable leash.
Shaping!
After work, we started another project for Silvia’s class: 4 in a box!
A brief 2-short-leashes pee walk
later, I headed off to co-work with a friend at a favorite queer meet-up café while Game and Chai stayed home for about 4 hours.
More shaping!
We did one more 4-in session (Chai was a superstar!) and then called it a day.
I have succeeded in keeping today a light, calm day! AND I made up for all the kibble I fed over the last two days by feeding (i.e. training) less today! (Remember my rule: one day a week has to be calmer than average. If I do a high (rather than average) activity day, I will try to balance it out with a second calm day in that same week. Tomorrow will likely be high activity again – we’re planning on a trail hike. More keep-it-calm challenges for me to come! (Calm days are the hardest for me! Seeing friends helps because it takes up time I would otherwise spend training.)
Housetraining
Streak game week 2, day 2 – we earned another green check mark! Woohooo!
Empty puppies – and empty puppies only! – get to chill on the bed.
July 8, 2023 (Day 93)
Activity level:average
Los Dinamos – finalmente!
After the briefest of morning pee walks (the dogs) and coffee (me), we made our third attempt to head to Los Dinamos, a nature park in the south of Mexico City. And we did it! Finally, nothing got in the way of our plans.
This was Chai’s first “real” nature walk – not in a city park but jumping across fallen trees, scrambling up and down hills and rocks and exploring the slippery rocks and muddy ground of a shallow river. She had a blast – and so did Game. Game loves running in spaces like this and I can tell how much she’s missed it when we go again after a longer break.
I found out that Chai doesn’t yet know she has to keep an eye on me in this kind of environment in order not to accidentally lose me. So I played a lot of hide and seek (hiding behind a tree or rock when she wasn’t looking, letting her worry just a little bit and then waiting for her to find me and celebrating with social feedback:”Yay! Did you lose me? You found me! What a good puppy!”)
Here’s an excerpt of Game and Chai adventuring at Los Dinamos:
Chai also discovered she likes to eat horse poop and found several bone parts of deceased animals to nibble on. I could “Schnee” recall her away from horse poop and successfully traded all bones for chicken. Superpuppy!
In terms of structured sessions, after first getting there and peeing (Chai), I had a 2-toy session for Shade’s class. This space felt different to her than city parks – I could see it in her slightly lower-than-usual focus. Apart from that, she did really well!
We had fun in the shallow river and both dogs got to play with a (non-training) ball in the water.
Otherwise, I just let them be dogs and run around for an hour. We met a couple suddenly appearing people and dogs – very different from the constant buzz of the city! – but Chai, after looking at me questioningly the first time it happened, did well. Game knows the drill and just curves around strangers.
Before we left, we saw a horse – someone was cantering down the trail at full speed. Game barked and wanted to give chase (a “leave it” brought her right back to me – chicken for the big girl!) Chai, who has never met a horse, barked after Game did and scrambled back to me as if she had just seen the devil. I’m looking forward to an opportunity for her to meet more horses – quiet, steady ones who are not crashing down trails! – in the future to ensure she feels neutral about them.
We headed home after only about an hour. So there is still lots of kibble left for shaping in the afternoon, and since we weren’t out very long, I don’t have to worry about overdoing it!
Shaping 4 in!
I used up the remainder of Chai’s daily food ration in two medium-length shaping sessions in the afternoon. We ended with 4 in from all the angles! Good puppy!
Pee walk and bakery
In the late afternoon, Chai and Game got to join me on a mini pee walk to the bakery around the corner, wait outside and then help explain some dog training things to the good folks at the bakery who collected my phone number for a neighbor with two barky adolescent Xolos.
Game imitated Chai’s peeing, I got my “Potty” cue in and reinforced, and we went back upstairs: the empty puppy earned living room privileges again!
Thunder
It is thundering again tonight. Not only is Chai not concerned – Game is feeling way better than last time as well!
Housetraining
Happy to report that my second brownie is getting closer …!
July 9, 2023 (Day 94)
Activity level:low average
The AM …
Given that the AM starts at midnight, I am sad to report that our AM started in a less than relaxing way: someone right around the corner must have been celebrating something (it was Saturday night), and as we came back from our night walk at around 1:45 AM, there were LOUD cohetes.
Fireworks are new for Chai: she looks at me and Game to figure out the appropriate response. So I spent the next hour counterconditioning: big boom – scatter. Big boom – scatter. Chai was happy about her scatters, ate a lot of kibble and then, before I could assess whether she was already happy about hearing big booms, the booms stopped … and we could all go back to sleep. The only one who didn’t get a lot of sleep, I’m afraid, is Game. She looks very tired this morning.
Toy skills!
We did two sessions of tugging reinforced by chase today. Chai now needs less misses in order to enjoy her tug! Good girl!
In the first session, she needed the visual of my outstretched arm with the second toy after my “Chase” cue to let go in the first chase-past-tug rep. In the second rep, she let go of her toy on a verbal “Chase” alone.
In the second session, Chai responded differently to the verbal “Tug” than to the verbal “Chase,” and she let go on the verbal “Chase” alone both times and showed prediction behaviors for chasing, with the other ball still out of sight! Woohooo! Go puppy!!!
Dog socializing
Chai also got to run around a bit and play with a bunch of dogs before we went to a café to work (me) and practice chilling on her mat (Chai). I wanted to make sure she got her need to move and greet dogs out of the way first to set her up for success.
I made sure not to tire her out during our break – I don’t want a dog who lies calmly on her mat because she is exhausted, but a dog who lies calmly on her mat because her social needs and needs to move have been met and she’s ready to watch the world go by for a bit.
Café training
We stayed for about 40 minutes, and there was a lot going on! Chai did VERY well!
Left: waiting outside while I order at the coffee shop – next to another unfamiliar dog who is also waiting for their person!Right: chilling on her mat at the café.This is a fancier place than I like going, but it’s at an wonderfully busy corner – it’s great for training.
Then we left for another round of park play and socializing before Chai got too wound up. 40 minutes of sitting relatively still at a busy corner restaurant is a lot for a young dog! We then returned to the café and I finished up my workload for the morning with Chai being a superstar again.
Here’s a post about the art of doing nothing with a video of our practice session at the café.
Home alone
Chai stayed home alone during Game’s noon and afternoon (pre-rain) walks and during her evening walk.
Housetraining
Chai peed at the park without needing inspiration or a role model to follow! You go girl!
We’re past the halfway mark for the week! Yay! And no accidents of any kind in the living room!I can smell you already, yummy brownie!
The way I conceptualize it, the art of doing nothing comes in handy in 3 different contexts:
1. Doing nothing at home (low activity days)
This requires the skill of switching off one’s brain and body without being mentally/physically exhausted. It includes staying home alone as well as relaxing while humans are doing things that don’t involve dogs. Here’s an example of Chai staying home alone on her second day with me … and the link to a post going into home-alone training details.
2. Doing nothing while running errands or in between training sessions (brief spurts of relaxation in between more active behaviors)
This requires the skill of switching between arousal levels quickly. I have two main ways of training this: (A) crate1 or mat training2 for seminars, trials, waiting in the car and (B) teaching my dog that when my foot is on their leash, it means I’d like them to lie down and relax.
I’ll talk about the third method here – the first two already have their own posts/series linked to above.
When it comes to teaching a lie down cue with a foot on a mat, I’ just’ll start as early as my dog’s first leash walk in a public place. As I’m taking them places and briefly stopping in between (a puppy class, an errand etc.), I’ll stand on the leash when I’m talking to someone, getting money from an ATM, ordering something … I’ll keep the length of the leash between my foot and the harness as short as possible and not give any particular attention to the dog. If and when they lie down, I feed without using a marker cue.
Initially, I’ll feed quite a bit to help them understand. Later on, I’ll only feed when the puppy is looking away from me (I don’t want an obedience down). Even further down the line, once behavior and cue are understood, I’ll randomize reinforcement. For example when I’m out in the street, waiting at a taco stand, I’ll drop a single treat between my dog’s front paws anytime a red car goes by.
Phoebe was the hardest dog to teach the leash cue to. Lynn Ungar (thank you for being wonderful, Lynn! Good CA memories!) suggested I cue the down and then keep my foot very close to Phoebe’s collar as I stand on her leash, not giving her attention. That way, when I was taking obedience classes from Lynn, Phoebe wasn’t physically able to get up and start bouncing and teeth-clapping at me in anticipation or frustration. Once she had understood this, she was able to relax – something that she used to only be able to do in a training context when crated or sent to a mat.
3. Doing nothing for longer periods of time in public (while your people are having a picnic, on public transport, under the table at a restaurant or café, at a trial or seminar …)
This requires the skill of patience in the face of distractions. Mat stationing skills don’t hurt either.
With little puppies, a great way of introducing them to this concept is to just start bringing them places. Small puppies sleep a lot. This fact alone will help them get used to the fact that sometimes, humans do human things in public and dogs are just there.
Any puppy I have, I’ll bring pretty much anywhere – the younger, the better. I’ll bring their mat and a chew and keep the leash too short for them to wander. Simply being in a new and exciting environment tends to tire puppies out and makes it very likely that they’ll fall asleep, practicing exactly what I want them to practice: chilling in a busy environment made by and for humans.
With an adult dog, I will put more work into mat skills (see the crate protocol1 or the CU mat protocol2 – both work for mat training).
July 6, 2023: targeting 3 objects with 2 front paws
July 10, 2023: single-paw target on “Paw” cue!
A compilation:
July 21, 2023: working towards a precise single-paw target
We worked on single-paw targeting. I’ve found a good tall object. Chai still tried getting 2 paws on, but I got 1 more and more reliably towards the end of the session. I’m going to get confidence and duration on this target, then remove the glass from under the lid and then play with different targets – including flat ones and smaller ones. I want Chai to become really precise with her paw targeting. I was originally going to get an object I could shave down – but this will work too and I already have it!
I am not sure whether to put this behavior into the foundations or the tricks category. It is, after all, a foundation for SO many other things! I ended up going with tricks – but know it is a foundation as well! Paw targets are the foundation of pushing easy buttons, door bells, light switches, operating door handles, closing cabinets with a paw … and the list goes on and on!
July 22, 2023: … and the journey continues!
July 23, 2023: paw target nerdery!
Single-paw target
I started with a brief session just like yesteday: feeding continuously as long as the paw was on the lid.
Then I started using “Good,” retreating my treat hand to home position and blinking as a transition behavior between marker and food delivery. This was clearly harder for Chai (and me!): she started getting dancing feet (well, less of a stable right paw) and I had to really pay attention in order to not blink and feed simultaneously.
For our next session(s?), I’ll volley back and forth between continuously feeding in position without a marker and then go back to trying good again, placing the camera next to the wall (closet) this time so I have better view of my treat hand as well as Chai’s right paw.
See what I’m doing here? I’m writing my training plan for the next session right after reviewing the video, which I did right after taking it (training). When I do another session later today or tomorrow, I just have to read my notes here and remember exactly what I want to do.
July 25, 2023: 3 “Paw!” sessions
I’ll work on the single-paw target and always keep it on the ground for now – for all 3 sessions I’m thinking of. If any of them don’t go as planned, I’ll go back to the drawing board.
Session 1
Plan: I’ll use the paw target glass and add the cue from different angles.
Session 2
Plan: if session #1 goes well, I’ll use just the lid – no glass, no cue – in session #2.
Session 3
Plan: if session #2 goes well, I’ll re-attache the cue to the flat (lid only) target.
Debrief
Chai made two mistakes in this session (only 3 of 4 toes on target). I shouldn’t have missed the first one because reviewing the video, I can see her paw is on my finger – and if I can feel it on my finger, it can’t be on the lid. The second one was an understandable miss on my part. I want to reduce the error rate – will go back to session #2 (no cue) next time and make sure I don’t click when I can feel part of Chai’s paw on my hand! This should reduce the error rate. I’m loving these nerdy details, Chai!
July 26, 2023: paw target with cut-out in puzzle mat
We’re repeating yesterday’s last two single paw target sessions!
Session 1
Plan: no cue – make sure not to click when I can feel toes on my hand.
Chai struggled with the first session – my hand was in the way a lot andwhen I took it away, she’d topple the lid. So I cut the session short, cut a lid-shaped opening into the puzzle mat and tried again:
Final count on the video above, after reviewing it: Perfect: 7 Less than perfect: 9 Can’t tell from the video angle whether it’s perfect or less than: 1
This looks better but not quite as close to perfect as I’d like it to be. I’m not re-attaching the cue in the next session (which I’m “dying” to do) – I’m going to do a session with the lid on the glass tomorrow (easier target), followed by another lid-only session without my hand in the way … And depending on how that one looks, we’ll take it from there. If it looks great – I’ll attach the cue in the session after. If it doesn’t – we may toggle back and forth between lid only and lid on glass a few more times before attaching the cue to the lid. I may also find a way to make the surface of the lid more prominent so it’s easier for Chai to feel when she’s fully on it.
July 30, 2023: our final 2 single-paw sessions (for the moment – we’ll build on this trick later when I teach Chai to cross her paws!)
Session 1
I did our session as planned: glass under the lid, no cue. Chai is doing much better about not letting her toes hang off on the side of the glass, but it’s hard for her to keep her toenails from sticking out in front. And I am now going for killer precision and making her work hard! (I know this dog and that I can wait her out. I would NOT do this with a dog I didn’t know well or who was less gritty about getting it right in order to earn that click in order to get that single piece of kibble!)
Session 2
Because this is DIFFICULT, I repeated the same set-up (glass under the lid) for session 2. I taped some of my non-slip surface to the lid – it seems to help! In this session, I focus on finding rather than staying on target and I ease up on the toenail criterion.
The non-slip surface lid really seemed to help! Go puppy!
For the time being, I’m happy with Chai’s single-paw target behavior. We’ll pick back up further down the line when I’ll use it to teach her to cross her paws (a trick I think I’ll name “Cool!”)
In case I want to get nerdier with precision again after all – here are my notes for the next session:
+ Repeat what I did today. + No toenail criterion but keep all the others. + Only loose the glass once it looks perfect with the glass.
One of the first tricks we teach: 4 in! I am starting with a big box and will be working all the way down to a small bowl over the course of the next weeks.
My thoughts about these sessions will mostly be in the subtitles.
July 7, 2023: our very first session with a large-ish cardboard box
I’ll show you my real sessions – wins, mistakes, good decisions and not so good ones, good mechanics and not so good ones … this is what real training looks like. It doesn’t need to be perfect but it sure should be fun!
July 8: 4 in a box from different angles!
The pride flag? Yep, it’s big. It’s the one I bought at CDMX Pride to wear as a cape. My philosophy is to either use things or give them away/throw them out. That way, I don’t accumulate stuff I don’t need. So I turned the flag into wall art, i.e. it’s being used now. Shrug.
July 14, 2023: going down in box size!
Our second puzzle-box session of the day
July 16, 2023: my first compilation of going down in box/bowl size
I videoed all these steps but didn’t edit all of them – today, I turned them into compilation #1:
July 20, 2023: from bowl #2 to bowl #3 (there will be 6 bowls altogether)
We went from bowl #2 down to bowl #3! This is difficult and Chai is being a superstar!
July 22, 2023: starting with bowl #3 right away
July 23, 2023: first 4 in bowl #3 session of the day
Second 4 in bowl #3 session of the day: 4 in with room service marker (“Good”) for building duration
July 24, 2023: the training journey continues
Part 2 of our 4-in journey coming soon! As with my other series, I’ll try to not put more than 10 videos in a single post in order to not break the Internet.
10/10 would recommend this class for advanced trainers. It is denser and requires more self-discipline and previous knowledge on the student’s part than many FDSA classes, which is why it may not make the best choice for absolute beginners. You can’t be too advanced for the class though: Silvia has extra material for dogs who already know some of the tricks and there is little chance you will run out of things to train and creative variations on behaviors your dog already knows.
Silvia is lovely and supportive in their feedback, flexible about students’ idiosyncratic training approaches (such as the fact that I use multiple marker cues) and generous with their time. Their student community is the most international I have come across in any online dog training organization so far. I very much appreciate all of the above in online learning.
I am a student who tells my mentors and teachers how I would like to learn/how I learn best, and Silvia has done an excellent job adapting to me. This is a skill I value in the people I learn from and the second part of the reason I’d very much recommend this class. It’s a fantastic primer for future sports puppies as well as a great choice for non-competitive training geeks in search of fun and inspiration. You can take it with an older dog as well – anything goes! ↩︎
Not a lot going on today. We started off with an attempt at playing tug reinforced by fetch with two balls on a rope at Fresa Parque. Shade had suggested we move to a place where Chai can really run and I can throw the ball further than on the roof. While our last session went well, today we had some pretty intense dog interruptions – but Chai was able to fetch despite being body-blocked by a Whippety dog! Go puppy!
After toy play, Chai got to run around a bit with the other dogs at the park and then had her morning walk with Game. The rest of the day was lazy.
Chai stayed home alone while Game and I walked errands for about an hour – good puppy! And then a not-so-great puppy when I took a shower: I closed the door to the bathroom and Chai had an accident on my bed. Note to self: always lock Chai into the bathroom with me when the door isn’t open!
It has finally started raining this week, so Game and I walked around the block during a rain break and Chai got to practice staying home alone again. When I got back, I found that she had even worse diarrhea than she had this morning. Pobrecita! I hope it passes soon and we’ll be able to go back to eating and training!
Tuesday, June 27 2023 (day 82)
Activity level: average
Good news of the day: no more diarrhea! Chai gets to train and eat again!
Morning walk
Chai started her day with the usual 2-dog morning walk.
Staying home alone x3
She stayed home alone 3 times during the course of the day: when Game and I went to drop off laundry, when we went to pick up our laundry again and for Game’s evening walk.
Toy play
We played two rounds – the first one rudely interrupted by an entire manada of dogs – at a park Chai hadn’t been to before. I like it for training: it tends to have less food on the ground than some of my other favorite parks. Chai did well tugging and getting reinforced with fetch!
We used my Magic Hands1 strategy on a circle of stones. Magic Hands worked fast AND I got video of it:
Magic Hands
Loose leash walking – Manners Context
Heading home from the park, we practiced loose leash walking in collar mode. Chai was a superstar! 5, 15 and then 20, 20, 20 … steps for the win! Two of her 20-step treats were replaced by a “good” treat for waiting at the curb and one by a”get it” to reinforce a “leave it.”
Fun at the park with Alan and Kiba
Chai spent two hours playing with Kiba, Loki and a new pup. We then walked to the market, went inside and practiced lying down and chilling at the pet supply stand and the chicken stand.
A different kind of doing nothing: waiting patiently in a down in the presence of delicious chicken smells!
At the market with Alan and Kiba.
After another round of running and playing at the park, we walked Alan home and then worked on our LLW on a collar some more! Played-out puppies are successful loose-leash walkers!
Manners-context loose-leash walking back home
Chai’s collar walking is really starting to look good! More and more, I am able to swap the twenty-step treat for naturally occurring reinforcers: a cued wait at a curb followed by “good” and a room service treat, or a “leave it” followed by a treat toss behind me. These treats (wich I would be giving Chai anyways; Game also still gets them for stopping/waiting and “leaving” things) are starting to replace LLW treats. I have faded most hand touch treats and soon, I’ll add environmental rewards to the game! The biggest success of the day: we curved out into a quiet street past two leashed dogs while keeping up the 20-step treat rate! Go Chai!
“Floor” protocol
You’ll notice the dark blue arrow in my image above. “Floor” is a marker cue that means I will place a treat at the heel of my foot on the dog’s side. Placing it on the ground is arousal-lowering because the dog can’t sniff for it/eat it and bounce up and down at the same time. It is similar to what I’m doing when passing the Pitbull in this post (May 31; first video in the post), with the only difference being that the marker cue is “Floor” and the treat is being placed at my heel. When I use one “Floor” treat after the other – every step or every other step – I call it the “floor protocol.” When walking past new dogs for the first or second time, I will often use this approach with Chai and then change to feeding from my hand once she knows the dogs are there.
Wednesday, June 28 2023 (day 83)
Activity level: high average
Adventures in house training
After Chai’s and Game’s usual morning walk, Chai sadly had a pee accident on the bed when taking a moment’s break from wrestling with Game. I had everything washed after the accident yesterday, but it is possible that something got into the mattress and it still smells like pee … I also wonder if Chai is like one of these puppy mill puppies who have spent a sensitive period of their puppyhood in a crate and need to poop and pee where they sleep, and if therefore, she will never be fully house trained. Puppies don’t usually pee where they sleep (and start showing this behavior at 3 weeks old already, according to a student’s breeder!). Chai sleeps on the bed during the day, so if she had read the manual, she should technically not pee on it. Good thing I love Chai too much to particularly care about the occasional accident.
At night, she had another pee accident – next to rather than on the mattress, woohoo! We are making progress here! (This is me being sarcastic in case you couldn’t tell.)
Eye contact
Chai got treats for making eye contact and I added a cue to the behavior for the first time: “Watch me!” We played while Zane was having breakfast and learned to offer me eye contact rather than beg for his danish.
Relax while people are eating
When I stopped the eye contact game, Chai offered lying down. I fed a treat between her front paws any time she was not looking at me. Zane was still eating and she stayed relaxed – that is precisely the behavior I want around people having food. I don’t want Chai to focus on me either, so I am waiting for looking away to feed.
Dog fun and recalls at Fresa Parque
After my morning work, we went to Fresa Parque. On the walk there, we passed someone working with an angle grinder. Chai was neither impressed by the noise nor by the flying sparks!
My plan was to work on distraction recalls at the park. Before we got started, Chai got to play with two dogs her size who enjoyed running games and confidently met her first Irish Wolfhound.
Then I set up my camera and the first distraction (see this post) and casually skipped 10 entire steps of my distraction tracking protocol without even noticing. The protocol I have taught others for years! THIS, my dear students, is why I want you to print out your distraction tracker and look at it before every session.
I completely forgot that I hadn’t done the barrier stage “in real life” yet and jumped from barrier recalls in locations 1 and 2 straight to off-leash recalls at the park. Chai passed distractions 1 and 2 in flying colors but failed distraction #3 (kibble). Only then did I realize how many steps I had skipped! Note to self: practice what you preach! Print out Chai’s distraction tracker (I tend to only look at stuff I print).
I was going to get us quesadillas for lunch and passed the dog park on the way there. Since the dogs in in it seemed calm and there was a Great Dane, I decided to let Chai inside briefly so she could meet another large dog. She did phenomenal just like she had with the Irish Wolf.
Adventures at Fresa Parque and a Great Dane in the dog park. Yep, she’s a dog park puppy!
We got water, looped the park again, did some personal play and then headed to the quesadilla stand. Chai did a fantastic job lying down when I stepped on her leash! It is becoming a pretty solid cue, and like in the morning, I am treating – without marking, thanks to Matthias‘ post in the Canine Paradigm discussion group the other day – when she looks away: shaping relaxation in the face of distractions.
Standing on the leash as a cue to lie down and shaping relaxation at the quesadilla stand.
We got back home after about an hour and 20 minutes, having trained up almost all of Chai’s daily kibble meal. Chai was a fantastic (aka sleepy) coworking pup for the next several hours.
Being a good coworking puppy.
Positions
We worked on positions in the kitchen when I took a work break. Messy but fun!
Squirrels, toys, magic hands and sits!
I took Chai and Game to the plaza around the corner that we discovered for toy play yesterday – I want to get our daily toy practice session in there!
The two girls got to run around and chase squirrels for a bit and Game got brushed, and then I put her on her mat and played – interruption-free! – a brief game of 2 balls on a rope tug reinforced by fetch with Chai. She did awesome! I’m keeping things short and fun to build her stamina and joy for both games. (No video.)
Game, meanwhile, also did amazing and held her stay on the mat even though Chai and I were tugging and tossing balls right next to her.
Chai has started imitating Game’s tree jumps after squirrels. She’s going to like critter-chasing quite a bit with this role model!
Example of a trademark Game tree jump/climb.
We ended the field trip by playing in the fountain. Next to it, there is a suspicious metal lid with holes covering the loudly whirring water pump. We did Magic Hands and I added Game’s Magic Sit on the metal cover, and after a few reps with “Get it” treats tossed away from the fountain, Chai put two paws on the concrete rim around the metal cover! Brave puppy!
Chai also found a piece of chocolate today. Here’s to hoping it won’t mess up her stomach for the second time in a week!
Husbandry
+ Brushing
Thursday, June 29, 2023 (day 84)
Activity level: average
The AM
We started the day with our usual morning walk. Chai confidently met three new dogs of different ages and morphologies. On the way back home, I got lots of check-ins on the retractable leash while Game was off leash. Chai needed and hardly any circles! She realized when she was nearing the 5-meter mark and stopped on her own! Good girl!
Plaza work and another stab at real-world distraction recalls
Chai and I walked to a nearby plaza on her harness. After looping the park and greeting a few dogs (and eating grain someone had put out for the birds), we started over with barrier recalls in the real world: time to take another stab at those distractions! Chai struggled with distraction #2 (paper bag that used to have food in it) the first time, but tested out of all 3 barrier distractions over the course of the AM. After each session, we took a break and another loop and occasionally met another dog. I am proud to report: barrier recalls in the real world: achievement unlocked! Our next step will – or should anyways! – be off leash in the house.
Real world informal “pup-pup-pup” recalls have also been working well: I had two or three opportunities to use them when Chai was trotting towards a leashed unfamiliar dog and she nailed it every time. It’s only her friend Kiba who is difficult to recall away from!
We then had a toy play session: 2 balls on ropes; tug reinforced by fetch. I added the “Tug” cue and Chai did great – even when a young husky showed up! She kept tugging!
After another off-leash park loop, we played magic hands with the pump at the fountain again:
We walked the entire way back home in mostly 20-step collar mode. Real-world reinforcers have started becoming “a thing”: stopping behind me to sniff something? Absolutely! I will wait for you to be done! “Leave it”? Bring it on; another non-leash-related reinforcer! This route is also convenient in that it has several crosswalks to practice “Wait” at the curb reinforced by “Good” (room service), replacing another LLW click. We even dismissed and then walked behind a group of 5 dogs for about 30 seconds before they veered off in another direction.
Once home, we went up on the leash and took a video for a new Out and About (FDSA) bonus lecture: walking towards a distraction on a loose leash! Now, Chai is passed out on the couch next to Zane, being a most excellent coworking puppy again.
Chai then stayed home (in the bathroom – her “crate”) – with Zane while Game and I went to the market at Fresa Parque to get lunch. Thrusday is market day here – and the market doesn’t feel fresa at all. It was great! My favorite day at that park so far!
More loose leash walking challenges!
In the afternoon, we were going to film invisible-line challenge #2 on the roof … but right as I was starting to set up, it started raining. We worked on it in the house instead. This is significantly harder in small spaces but Chai was being a superstar and soon understood! This time, we did not walk towards, but past the distraction (2 pieces of kibble on a plate). Not only did we practice the manners context – we also practiced our “Leave it!” cue in the same session. In the end, Chai got to eat the distraction, of course!
Housetraining gamified!
We have not had any accidents in the living room so far! Go Chai! And go me: I have successfully kept full puppies in the bathroom and only let empty puppies into the living space. And I’ve turned my mattress into a Murphy bed to give the puppy less inconvenient (for me) surfaces to pee on. But – let’s not count our ostriches before they hedge. It’s only 16:45 and there is still plenty of time for accidents.
Final accidents-in-the-living-room count for today, right before going to sleep: 0! Woohoo!
I’m starting a streak game and aiming for 4 weeks with zero living room accidents! After 7 days without a living room accident, I get a fancy brownie. After 4 weeks, I get a deep tissue massage. If there is an accident, it only resets the current week. Once a 7-day streak is completed, it is locked in and cannot be lost (i.e. at the very must, I will loose 6 days.)
Wrestling and intelligence
I have been interrupting Chai and Game wrestling on the bed when Game starts barking. I announce to Chai that I will pick her up – and inadvertantly, I’ve been saying, “Let’s take a break!” before doing so. Chai has now picked up on this and stops playing and lies down when I say a sentence with “break.” As a result, Game stops barking and I won’t pick up Chai to put her away for a few minutes. I love observing this puppy learn!
Evening fun with the rest of Chai’s daily meal
We used up the remaining kibble of the day with positions in two sessions: one was sit and stand and one was down and stand. I need to get clear about when I want to room-service mark (good) and when I want to click. Chai, for her part, did great and she is FAST!
Friday, June 30, 2023 (day 85)
Activity level:average
After our usual morning walk, we walked in manners context from my house to the Plaza and back. Chai practiced 20 steps between treats, sniff reinforcers, waiting at curbs, dismissing dogs and “leave it”s and was a very good puppy. It was a little harder today than yesterday because she hadn’t had much of a chance to get rid of all her puppy energy beforehand!2
After a work break (work: me, break: Chai), we walked to Fresa Parque on Chai’s back clip harness and Chai got to run around there off leash and meet and greet several dogs. We also repeated the teeter and stairs exercises in the dog park we had done last week. It was only a 30 minute outing because I didn’t want to be late for a lunch date with friends.
Home alone
Chai then stayed home with Zane for 2.5 while Game and I biked to Condesa to meet friends and give Game her much-deserved only-dog time.
Two 20-minute Ecobici rides and a coffee outing later, Chai was ready to attack-play with Game!
Positions
I cut the crazy short by doing a single longer session of sits, stands and downs. Stand and down are going really well! We’ll focus our next session on sit versus down.
2 dogs on short leashes
After resting, wrestling with Game, drinking A LOT and more resting while I worked, I took both dogs on a short loop around two blocks to get milk. This is the second time I’ve walked them both together on short (2 m) leashes; Chai on her back attachment harness.
Usually, Game is either off leash or one dog is on a long line or the retractable leash while the other one is on a short leash. Like the first time, they did well! Chai’s initial excitement wore off soon and after some circling, she was able to sniff the world and not rush to the end of her leash. The reason I brought both of them out was that I wanted Chai to pee … and I knew she’d follow Game’s example. She did, and now the empty puppy and the empty Game are passed out in the living room without the danger of furniture being peed on. Plus they got to practice waiting outside the mini market together while I went in for milk!
For distraction #3 – the kibble – I wanted to go back a step due to my faux pas the other day where I skipped a few steps and she got the kibble. My helper was still working and I don’t have a barrier in my house, so I went back to a long line. And indeed: she hit the end two (or was it three?) times before we could end on a success: recall on a loose long line, chicken from my hand and release to eat the kibble. (No video.)
Toy play a la Silvia Trkman
Since I’m currently watching Silvia’s Puppy Diary (10/10 would recommend to sports and especially agility folks), I decided to play with their approach to toy play: create some sibling rivalry by playing with more than one dog – and more than one toy – at once. Game and Chai and I had fun with three always-out toys on the bed (decent grip for playing partly on the slippery floor!)
Husbandry and a lazy evening
Chai stayed home with Zane while Game and I ran errands and Game got some well-deserved only-dog time again. Chai was still sleepy when I got home, so after dinner, she got Zane snuggles, got brushed and then fell asleep on the couch until I transfrred her over to her luxury crate aka the bathroom for the night.
I said her potty cue right before she peed on her pee pad in the shower cabin – this is the second or third time I’ve named the behavior.
Housetraining
0 accidents in the living space! Streak counter:
Saturday, July 1, 2023 (day 86)
Activity level: average
The AM …
We were going to go on a hike today, but my friends couldn’t make it and I woke up REALLY tired this morning … So I decided to take it easy instead. We started with a longer morning walk with Game. Chai got to play with lots of different dogs at Fresa Parque and I recalled her running towards different new playmates two or three times successfully, rewarding with chicken and sending her right back. She was being a superstar and had lots of fun, again meeting dogs of new sizes, ages and morphologies.
Meanwhile, Game practiced being calm and getting fed for holding sits and just watching the craziness around her unfold. (Game is neutral with others but can tip over into bullying mode if dogs she doesn’t know very well are running like crazy, so I won’t let her participate.)
Chai continues being much better (hitting the end less often) on a 5 meter leash even when Game is off leash ahead of her. I let them play when one of them is wearing a long line or retractable leash but enforce a no-play policy when both are on short (2 meter) leashes. So far so good! At the park, Chai is off leash and Game, depending on how much dog traffic there is, on leash or off leash. In the streets, Game is off leash and Chai on a long line/retractable leash or they are both on short leashes.
After getting home and some morning wrestling, they are both contently sleeping on the living room floor.
Formal recalls revisited!
Since I fucked up my distraction plan and Chai got to the kibble in the park (what with me skipping a few steps), we worked back up slowly. After yesterday’s long-line stage, Zane agreed to be my helper next to kibble in the house with Chai off leash. She nailed it on her first attempt! Single-rep success: check!
We headed up to the roof after a little break. Here, Chai kept going after “Schnee” (my formal recall cue) the first time and then recalled in the second break of this session.
Since my criterion for moving on is a single-rep success session, we took a little “just be a dog” and ping pong recalls break on the roof and then tried again. This time, she succeeded right away, got her chicken and a release to the kibble … good girl! Achievement unlocked! (No video.)
Now Chai is in the bathroom with a chew to relax and unload. I’ve learned my lesson: only empty puppies get to be in the living room. The strategy has given us two days sans accidents. We’ll see how things continue …
Skipping recall steps again – and Chai knows how to exploit my absent-mindedness!
For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to go from kibble protected by my helper to unprotected kibble at the park we already failed at. Click here to find out what happened …
Human barriers out and about
Chai, Zane and I returned to Fresa Parque in the afternoon – the park where Chai has failed distraction #3 in the past. I didn’t want to repeat the barrier stage for the easier distractions, but thought it would be a good idea to give them another try with kibble and my friend’s help. I was right: Chai went for the kibble on the first approach, and my helper picked up the plate. Keep reading here to see the plot thicken!
“When you are about to let her strike, make sure the ball is still. So, good “misses” look like: ball is still, dog locks on to target, ball is whisked away, repeat. Try that in your misses, so we can start teaching her to have a good strike. When she gets a good successful strike, she’ll like it more!”
(Shade Whitesel)
Post-recall dog socializing
We then headed home, needing almost no circles at all: I believe I have never seen Chai this tired before! Part of it must have been the sheer amount of food she got at the park and part of it the warm day.
Another short outing with Game
Since Chai hadn’t peed at the park, I took her out on Game’s pee walk. At this point, we entered the sleep-deprived toddler stage, needed lots of circles and threw ourselves at Game on the way down the stairs. Game peed right around the corner and Chai – good girl! – followed suit. We headed right back home and Chai fell asleep right away. No accidents so far today – the third day in a row!
Husbandry
+ “Claws!” (This is how I announce nail clipping and then just do it.) I try to do all paws once a week. Chai was great today – 3ish hours after our outing, she was still zonked and didn’t mind me clipping nails.
+ The last thing we did today – after a break after “claws” – I spent some time cutting the fur between Chai’s toes. She likes this less than nail clipping. Today, I introduced the announcement “clippers.”
+ Brush.
Home alone
Chai stayed home alone for Game’s evening walk. That’s the first time in 3 days she has truly been alone: for the last three days, Zane and I co-worked from my house and there was always someone there when I left with Game. After visiting for a month, Zane went back to Chiapas in the afternoon today. It’s going to feel lonely here without his company! I’ve been in this apartment for only two more nights than he has!
Sunday, July 2 2023 (day 87)
Activity level: high
We started the da with a short morning walk, a wrestling session on the couch (the dogs) and coffee (me).
I’m planning on working partly from Chapultepec today, so after coffee #2 and two FDSA forum responses, I’ll change locations before the parking at Chapultepec fills up.
Chapultepec and Chai’s first real swim!
Chai recalled away from strange dogs she was moving towards … and then swam (retrieved balls from Lago Mayor) for the first time! Go Chai!
And then – unprompted! – she pooped outside! Praise and treats! We take house training success wherever we can get it!
Chai met a younger puppy who had a blast playing with her, and then discovered she is a Border Collie: here she is bordercollying and then forgets what she’s doing, which I use as a recall opportunity.
I settled down under a tree to continue working after about half an hour of water-and-dogs fun. Chai, wet and zoomy, is playing with Game around me and about to start inviting a younger puppy to play. Can’t imagine where I’d rather work from!
Water fetch as a recall reinforcer!
We had another swim, and for the first time, I used “chase” as a recall reward for “Schnee” two or three times. Turns out this Border Collie loves the water – it makes a perfect reinforcer! There was a lot going on the second time we were there. It reminded me of Silvia Trkman’s “all the toys and all the dogs are out” philosophy that teaches their puppies to not let anyone steal their toy – better bring it all the way back to your person! I created a similar scenario even though I hadn’t planned on it.
The video below shows Chai meeting a bunch of new dogs, Sunday chaos at the swimming spot, water fetch fun and formal recalls for Chai (recalling away from dogs other than Kiba is easy):
We then walked around the lake, followed by another brief water fetch session (I want to keep them short for the puppy to be sure they stay special and fun! I bet swimming uses muscles she isn’t used to using yet.)
Below our walk around the lake. There’s lots of people, animals and things for a puppy to see: bikes, people of all ages, rollerblades, kid cars, strollers, all the dogs, fish, birds, runners, music, street vendors, toys, giant soap bubbles, boats …
We ended with another walk the other direction, through the sculpture gardens where I took a few recall videos away from dogs Chai was approaching because I want to show them to a student:
After 3 hours at the park, we all piled back into the hot, hot car and headed home. Both dogs are passed out and content, and so am I. Content, that is, not passed out … yet.
Loose leash walking on the collar
After Game’s solo evening walk, I remembered I wanted to go to the bank. It’s just around the corner, so this time, I took Chai while Game stayed home. We walked on her collar there and back, practiced waiting at several curbs and passed a leashed barking, lunging dog up close (with one click-and-treat right after the other). In the ATM cabin, Chai got to work on her foot-on-leash-means-lie-down cue. She did amazing on this evening outing!
An interesting observation: Chai’s hand touches are already getting sloppier now that I don’t feed them anymore. (I only feed the first one that gets her in position before I attach the leash to the collar.) Of course, in other contexts, I still feed all hand touches – but they get used most often during LLW. I’ve started feeding some of them again. Today, I fed two and enforced some other slow responses with Chai’s leash pressure cue. It’s a balancing act between creating a behavior chain of pull – touch – feed (I don’t want that) and pull – don’t touch, or take your time responding – no food (I don’t want that either). See my June 30 leash walking video in this post to get a glimpse at hand touches not being reinforced.
As always, every dog is different and not every dog will create a behavior chain at all. I know Chai will, so in her case, it is important to keep an eye on her hand touches and their reinforcement history. If I get more pulling and beautiful hand touches, I am clearly reinforcing too many. If I get slow responses to “touch” and lackadaisical touches, I haven’t been reinforcing enough. We’re still looking for that perfect balance – and it will likely keep shifting since Chai is a juvenile dog who grows and changes every day!
Take-away of the day: observe and train the puppy you have today and stay aware of the fact that tomorrow, things may look different! Whatever the training project – never stop observing your puppy!
Husbandry
+ Brushing
Housetraining
0 accidents in the house and an unprompted poop at Chapultepec! Peed twice on cue in the shower cabin and got rewarded with a treat and the opportunity to join Game and me in the living room! Go Chai!
There’s a brief explanation of how Magic Hands works in this post, under the Magic Hands heading (June 13). ↩︎
Wanna learn how to do what I do in the video below? I’ll teach a class on this in December; mail me to learn more or sign up! ↩︎
