Training Log Template

TRAINING LOG TEMPLATE Owner Trainer’s Name: Dog’s Name: Breed: Gender: Age: Week of: ____________________Hours( on Site) + ( Outings) Health: Problems: Outings: Socialization: Obedience: Service Dog Tasks: Manners: Comments:

Training Class 12/3

TRAINING LOG Date: 12/3/2014 "Pooch Academy" Obedience Class Class Trainer: Erin Schneider, CPDT-KA Duration: 1 Hour 7:45-8:45 Pm Homework/Summary: We started class by having our dogs settle on the mat as soon as you arrived. We will start every class this way. I will provide towels every week, but feel free to bring your dogs mat or bed to class. You can practice this behavior at home by doing the following. Have your dogs bed or mat close to where you are working Give your pup a Kong or other chew Have a bowl of treats (or kibble) near you so that you can give a treat to your pup when they are doing a good job staying settled on their bed. You may have to reinforce often at first, gradually cutting back. Make sure to reward often enough to keep the behavior well oiled. We gave our dogs a bark bonus. Every time they hear another dog bark (or a loud noise) and they DON'T bark, they get a treat. We are really trying to instill good, calm behavior in our dogs. You can also practice this at home or outside on your walks. We then worked on Go To Your Mat and Lie Down. We worked on teaching our puppies to go to their mat, lie down, and remain there until released. Make sure to practice in phases, adding each step as you go. First Phase: Luring to the mat Say "Go to your mat" and then use a treat to lure your puppy onto his mat. Reward him with the treat. Back up a couple feet, enticing your pup to follow, and then repeat. Second Phase: Luring Down I have attached a handout for you to follow. Third Phase: Combining Go to Mat and Down, Add Verbal Cues Tell your puppy, "Go to your mat" Lure your puppy to the mat Reward him for getting all four paws on the mat Tell your puppy, "down" Lure your puppy into a down Reward him for the down Fourth Phase: Add duration to down on the mat, release word Once your puppy is in a down on the mat, tell him to "stay". Keep giving him treats If he gets up, say "uh-oh". If he goes back into a down, reward for that good behavior. If he doesn't go back into a down, lure him back down. Continue to treat at whatever rate is necessary to keep the down Tell your puppy "Free" and motion for them to get up Next, we worked on down stay on our mats. One of the challenges of visiting the cafe is getting our puppies to settle for a long period of time despite lots of activity. Learning to lie down and settle on their mat is an important puppy skill. I have attached some some information for you to look over.

Training Class 11/19

TRAINING LOG Date: 11/19/2014 "Pooch Academy" Obedience Class Duration: 1 Hour 7:45-8:45 Pm Homework/Summary: We started class by having our dogs Settle on the Mat as soon as you arrived. We will start every class this way. I will provide towels every week, but feel free to bring your dogs mat or bed to class. You can practice this behavior at home by doing the following. Have your dogs bed or mat close to where you are working Give your pup a Kong or other chew Have a bowl of treats (or kibble) near you so that you can give a treat to your pup when they are doing a good job staying settled on their bed. You may have to reinforce often at first, gradually cutting back. Make sure to reward often enough to keep the behavior well oiled. We gave our dogs a bark bonus. Every time they hear another dog bark (or a loud noise) and they DON'T bark, they get a treat. We are really trying to instill good, calm behavior in our dogs. You can also practice this at home or outside on your walks. Next, we talked about Equipment. As I mentioned, I really like the Gentle Leader and Sensible harness. Both are great tools to help with the pulling. For those of you interested in using a Gentle Leader for your dog, I have included a link that gives some great direction on how to get your dog used to it. I also recommend using a 6 foot leash. I prefer a nice leather one, but a nylon leash is perfectly fine. Next, we worked on Loose Leash Walking. We want our dogs to walk nicely and not pull on their leash. Practice loose leash walking by incorporating Red Light/Green Light. You stop when the leash goes tight (red light) and walk when the leash is loose (green light). You will want to see a curve in the leash. Make sure to treat your dog for walking nicely next to you (the sweet spot). When walking past distractions, practice the following. When your pup gets close to the distraction, call them away. Reward the recall with a treat by keeping it close to your dogs nose as you walk past the distraction, letting them have the treat once you're past it. If your pup does not come when called, turn around and walk in the other direction, away from the thing your pup wants. Sometimes what the puppy is interested in is something that's perfectly OK for him to have access to, such a tree to sniff. Use Nothing for Free to get some training in. When your dog is pulling towards the tree, use your recall to call them to you. Once they come to you, say "go sniff". The reward is letting them have a sniff at the tree. We then worked on Touch. ​Hide a treat behind your back, put your other hand in front of your dog's nose and wait for them to move their nose to your hand. As soon as their nose touches your hand, say your marker word and give them the reward from behind your back. Start this exercise very close to their face and slowly work your way to further and further away from them. If your dog seems confused move your hand back to a closer distance where they can be successful, do 10 more reps and then move your hand further away. When your dog is successful 8 out of 10 times we add the command "touch" when you present your hand.

Class 11/10/2014

TRAINING LOG Date: 11/12/2014 "Pooch Academy" Obedience Class Class Trainer: Erin Schneider, CPDT-KA Duration: 1 Hour 7:45-8:45 Pm Homework/Summary: We started class by having our dogs settle on the mat as soon as you arrived. We will start every class this way. I will provide towels every week, but feel free to bring your dogs mat or bed to class. You can practice this behavior at home by doing the following. Have your dogs bed or mat close to where you are working Give your pup a Kong or other chew Have a bowl of treats (or kibble) near you so that you can give a treat to your pup when they are doing a good job staying settled on their bed. You may have to reinforce often at first, gradually cutting back. Make sure to reward often enough to keep the behavior well oiled. We gave our dogs a bark bonus. Every time they hear another dog bark (or a loud noise) and they DON'T bark, they get a treat. We are really trying to instill good, calm behavior in our dogs. You can also practice this at home or outside on your walks. Next, we worked on down and building reliability. Your dogs did very well with this, especially with all the distractions in class. We worked on the following with down. Different positions: We practiced asking for down in different positions. When practicing at home, practice while standing, sitting, laying on the ground, laying on the couch, turning your back to them, etc. This will help in making it more reliable. Distance: We practiced adding distance to down. When practicing at home, tether your dog, or have someone hold onto the leash. Start by being right next to them and asking for a down. Once they are consistently doing it, you can start building some distance. Go slow, only take a few steps at a time. Remember to always come back to your dog to reward them. If they are struggling, that means you have gone too far. Take a few steps back towards them and repeat. Distraction: We had plenty of distraction just by being around all the other dogs in class. When your dog has a very reliable down, you can start practicing outside. First, practice in your yard, then build up to parks, etc. Verbal/Hand signals: You can also build reliability by teaching your dog down with a verbal cue and a hand signal. We practiced by using verbal and hand signal together and then only using the verbal or only using the hand signal. We worked on teaching our pups stand. We practiced from both a sitting and down position. Get your pup in a sit or a down Put a treat right in front of their nose Slowly move the treat away from their nose Once they are standing on all 4 paws, say your marker work and treat Once they are standing consistently 8 out of 10 times, add the command "stand" Next, we worked on some socialization. We need to teach our pups to be comfortable with the types of handling involved in grooming. Brushing, cleaning ears, brushing teeth, and trimming nails are important tasks in taking care of dogs. Our job is to make our dog's first experiences with these things as pleasant as possible. Practice doing the following. Brushing: Show your puppy the brush, allow him to investigate the brush and offer him a treat. Then brush him a few times, treating after each stroke. Ear Cleaning: Show your puppy the cotton ball and allow him to investigate. Lift the ear and treat. Lift the ear, do a quick swab with the cotton ball, treat. Repeat on the other ear. Nail Trimming: Pick up your puppy's paw and treat. Pick up your puppy's paw and squeeze lightly, treat. Pick up your puppy's paw, squeeze lightly, and briefly hold a nail. Treat Show your puppy the clippers and allow him to investigate. Touch the clipper to the nail, but no clipping. Treat. Once you are ready to cut a nail, be careful not to clip too far. We want our dogs to have nothing but positive experiences. Practice clipping a nail once a day before dinner. Dinner can be a big reward. Teeth Cleaning: Show your puppy the toothbrush, allow your pup to investigate. Treat. Gently grab your puppy's snout and treat. Grab the snout and lift one lip and then the other. Treat. Lift the lip again and touch your puppy's toothbrush to the teeth. Treat. Lift the lip and do one quick stroke with the toothbrush. Treat. Next, we talked about canine communication. As promised, here's the video on dog body language that I think is very good and well done: dog body language video. I have also attached some more information for you to look over. We finished up class with our real world exercise by "going" to the vet office. We practiced getting our dogs to stay in a down while we filled out paperwork. We then had them visit the vet for a checkup. Your puppies got yummy treats while being petted and touched.

Training Class 11/5

TRAINING LOG Date: 11/5/2014 "Pooch Academy" Obedience Class Class Trainer: Erin Schneider, CPDT-KA Duration: 1 Hour 7:45-8:45 Pm Homework/Summary: We started class by working on recall. One of the most important things you can teach your puppy for safety outside is to come when called. Practice the following steps. Get your puppy's attention - with her name. Tell your puppy what you want her do - "Come!" (and only say it once) Go crazy....with excitement and encouragement...move, make noises, "good girl"...anything you can do to get and keep your puppy moving. Give a big payoff - extra special treats, extra praise - when your puppy gets to you. The starting point for all of this is charging the word - where you just say "come" and pop a treat in your puppy's mouth. Then you add the motion. One way we practiced this in class, which you can do at home, is by playing "puppy in the middle." I have attached some more information for you to look over. I also wanted to pass along some things you do NOT want to do while you are working on building a Recall. These can cause your puppy to start to tune out the word "come". ​Call her when you're angry Call her to end playtime Call her for unpleasant things (nail clipping, bathing) Skip giving her a big reward for coming Wait until she gets to you before praising and encouraging Use your Recall word off leash before you're sure she will come ​Next, we worked on leave it. This can be used to get your puppy to leave something alone (squirrels, rabbits, flowers) or to not pick up something (mulch, sticks, trash). On Saturday we started making this more challenging for our puppies by placing the "decoy treat" on the ground and walking your puppy up to it. You can continue to do that sort of thing at home - just remember, that when your are working on Leave It, don't give your puppy the object - whether it's a biscuit or something else - at the end of the training session. For those of you who have seen your puppy get especially fascinated by something (flowers, mulch), you can practice Leave It using those things.