training log

Tricks can spice up your training

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In addition to being a venue in its own right, tricks can spice up your training and increase both your and your dog’s interest in the game.

Beside that, training tricks is fun! How much fun is it to watch your friends’ reactions when your dog shakes hands, sits up, touches your palm with his nose or spins in a circle? Your friends are always amazed at how smart your dog is.

And since we’re still self-isolating during the COVID-19 crisis, we’re home much more with our dogs. How can we avoid the bad behaviors that boredom brings? You know that when your dog is bored, he’ll look for things to do which may not be a good thing. The alternative: train your dog! Mental stimulation has been shown to be much more tiring than mere physical exercise. So, after a challenging training session, your dog may be quite tired. And we all know that a tired dog is a good dog!

Trick Titles by Video

Trick Dog Training Log

And now you can actually receive Trick titles from the AKC when you submit videos! But first you have to get those trick behaviors down! The new Trick Dog Training Log has checklists for each level of titling, and lots of space for you to note your progress for each session.

Writing down your notes right after each training session is a true time-saver. Just the fact that you’re writing your notes down will help to solidify them in your brain. The next steps you want to take. What worked. What didn’t work, and what you want to try instead. It could take fewer sessions to achieve the ten tricks you need for the next title level.

Lists of approved Trick Dog evaluators is on the AKC website. Contact any of them and I’m sure they’ll be happy to review your submissions. (Each evaluator may have their own pricing structure.)

Training at home

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I (Fran) am writing this in the midst of the COVID-19 lock-down. Our training classes have been cancelled. Trials have been cancelled. Restaurants, bars and movie theaters are shuttered (hopefully) temporarily. People are encouraged to work from home. Training at home is the best relief from cabin-fever we have. When you’re told you can’t go anywhere or do anything outside for fear of being contaminated or contaminating others, it’s easy to start to panic. A training session with your best friend (your dog) one of the best stress-relievers and a great way to focus on something other than the global pandemic.

One rule of the house is to stay off the table. Will those paws stay off?

If you have a dog (and if you’re reading this, then you probably do!), you want him to abide by the rules of the house. Stay off the kitchen table, don’t chew on the furniture, don’t pee in the house. Easy, right? Well, not if your dog hasn’t learned the rules.

The best way for your dog to actually learn rules, whether that’s the rules of the house or any other rule, is by training. So when we’re home it’s a great time to do that training. And in just a few minutes you can get a good session in. If you’re bingeing a Netflix series or working for an employer remotely, a good break is to just take a few minutes and train your dog.

Decide what you want to work on ahead of time, get your treats, your dog’s collar (or harness) and leash and your dog, and start your training session.

And the best way to get real results is to track the progress you make. Make a note in one of your Training Logs – just because you have the Agility Log doesn’t mean that you have to write about an Agility Training session – and you can refer to it tomorrow or the next day when you’re planning another short session.

If you check the notes in your Training Log before a session with your dog, you can save time by not trying to remember what you worked on, what worked, what didn’t work and any notes for your next session.

Rally is tough!

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Booker sitting

Rally really is much tougher than people think. Especially when the dog goes off-lead. My dog gets distracted easily and is much more interested in the fuzzy on the floor than heeling nicely, or backing up, or …

(The photo is Booker – just to break up the text! It’s not a picture from a competition.)

So when I train, I work on focus first and then the skills needed for the signs.

And since I can’t remember from one training session to the next the skills that I work on, I use my Rally Training Log.

Did I work on pivots? Backing up? Spirals? Spins? Turns? I can look back in my Log and know for sure – and see what needed extra attention.

A dog training log helps keep track

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Your dog training log helps you keep track of your progress.

Whether you’re training your dog for competition or to be a great companion, it helps to document your progress.

Keeping a dog training log will help you to remember what you’ve done. The setting and location you trained in, the time of day and the weather all help to get a sense of what you need to do to continue your success. Or, if your training didn’t go well, to get a sense of the behaviors you need to focus on.

We’ve tried, in the ByGolly Publishing Journals and Logs, to help you document all that. By noting in the blanks what your environment was like during you sessions, you’ll see when and where your dog was successful. You’ll also see what happened when your dog was not successful.

For example, if you’re working at loose-leash walking, don’t forget to write down where you were, pavement or grass, and the distractions around and distance from the distractions – like other people and dogs, squirrels, leaves … Also document the rewards you used and frequency of the reward. Be sure to note down how your dog reacted to all of the stimuli.

If you’re competing in Obedience, again make note of the conditions and distractions. Write down the behaviors you were training during the session, your rate of reinforcement and notes for your next session.