Ok help me out here! My little Keely (16 months) took the Paws For People test (similar to the Canine Good Citizen test) today. She passed all sections except 3: Friendly stranger greeting (She jumped!), Distraction (She was pulling with loud noise, cart and bike) and the worst one was the greeting of a person with a dog (She wanted to play so she pulled and pulled). NOW can you give me some ideas on how to help her. I do not know what to do. Her retest is in 2 weeks and I am worried already because I don't know how to help her. I know my nervousness is not helping her.
Flunked Test
- Thread starter emmygirl
- Start date
I have no idea how you train a dog to be ok with something loud. 
SheltieChe
Forums Sage
funny you mention this, we just returned from the testing where we did not pass as well... which was mainly my fault and bunch of circumstances, we spent 2 and 1/2 hr in the hot very hot barn with fans running full blast but it still was too hot for anything... anyway Che was perfect angel for 2 hrs 20 minutes, we were asked repeatedly to assist with meet/greet other dog part, crowd part, I did not even had a leash in my hand, just loosely on my neck.... I think out of dozen dogs he was the youngest at 9 month and probably most trained one, as his sits, downs, fronts, finishes we practiced were near perfect and most other dogs had to be cajoled into positions...
few minutes before our testing he decided that was that and started barking, telling me he is bored out of his ears... so off we went to the hot outdoors to throw disc for a moment and that was when they decided to call us... so Che was not in a mood to do any obedience but he did and we would have passed if he did not throw a tantrum when I left for separation testing.... funny I went to the bathroom short while before and he was perfectly behaving with someone else, so go figure....
anyway, my advice- tire your dog out right before test, so he does not want to jump up anymore, go spend next 2 weeks by doing sits in front of every stranger you meet and come a little early and let him sniff corners and " handshake" other dogs until he is happy not to run up to sniff them at the test...
few minutes before our testing he decided that was that and started barking, telling me he is bored out of his ears... so off we went to the hot outdoors to throw disc for a moment and that was when they decided to call us... so Che was not in a mood to do any obedience but he did and we would have passed if he did not throw a tantrum when I left for separation testing.... funny I went to the bathroom short while before and he was perfectly behaving with someone else, so go figure....
anyway, my advice- tire your dog out right before test, so he does not want to jump up anymore, go spend next 2 weeks by doing sits in front of every stranger you meet and come a little early and let him sniff corners and " handshake" other dogs until he is happy not to run up to sniff them at the test...
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Go to a mall. Pick a nice bench with a view of activity. If your pup is reactive, reward for calmly looking at things. Progress to letting people pet her - only if she is sitting politely. People are usually good when you say, "Yes you can pet her, but I'm doing some training. If she goes to jump up, please pull away." If you are out and about when it is busy enough, this should really take care of the distraction noise. When you are perfect on the bench, start to walk her slowly. Ask her to sit for you any time you stop. Make sure she remains sitting if someone wants to pet her. Release words are good. Smelling things can be a great reward on a walk.
I am really lucky with Duncan in that he is not dog reactive other than shutting down if overwhelmed for too long. Pierre on the other hand is very dog reactive (vocalizations only, but still) and I still need to do some work on it. The only way he passed the CGC, I am positive, is that he was tired beyond any sort of reaction.
I am really lucky with Duncan in that he is not dog reactive other than shutting down if overwhelmed for too long. Pierre on the other hand is very dog reactive (vocalizations only, but still) and I still need to do some work on it. The only way he passed the CGC, I am positive, is that he was tired beyond any sort of reaction.
take4roll10
Moderator
Chelle gave some great suggestions.
Was she tired before the test? I took Bailey to the park for 3 hours before her CGC test. She was too tired to even want to play with the test dog.
A tired dog is a good dog, right?
Was she tired before the test? I took Bailey to the park for 3 hours before her CGC test. She was too tired to even want to play with the test dog.
A tired dog is a good dog, right?
Che, that's totally not fair. You should not have to be there for more than an hour and a half. Why did it take so long? If it's the CGC there's supposed to be a cap on the number of dogs one person can do at any one time to avoid things like that.
As for emmy, you might not be ready in 2 weeks, it's a process to train some of that stuff to any degree of reliability without treats, which your not allowed to use on the CGC, not sure about paws test.
Friendly stranger greeting, just go to alot of new places, pet stores, feed stores, anyplace that will let you take the dog, and let her meet people. a light correction if she goes to jump and a treat when she doesnt. (by light correction I mean an eh eh, don't jump)
Reaction to Distraction, those are unusual distractions. I use a book dropping on a hard surface when I'm giving the CGC test. Your best bet is to think of as many distractions as you can and introduce about 3 a day over the next few weeks.
You'll need a friend for the reaction to a friendly dog thing. Basically you and your friend start walking toward each other, once your pup starts pulling you immediatly turn around and walk away(get your friend to do the same and go back to where she started). After she calms down you turn around and try again, repeating as necessary. Once you get past the dog your gonna u p the anti and try shaking hands with the person when you go by them, and then up the anti again and talk to them for a few seconds. that should do the trick.
As for emmy, you might not be ready in 2 weeks, it's a process to train some of that stuff to any degree of reliability without treats, which your not allowed to use on the CGC, not sure about paws test.
Friendly stranger greeting, just go to alot of new places, pet stores, feed stores, anyplace that will let you take the dog, and let her meet people. a light correction if she goes to jump and a treat when she doesnt. (by light correction I mean an eh eh, don't jump)
Reaction to Distraction, those are unusual distractions. I use a book dropping on a hard surface when I'm giving the CGC test. Your best bet is to think of as many distractions as you can and introduce about 3 a day over the next few weeks.
You'll need a friend for the reaction to a friendly dog thing. Basically you and your friend start walking toward each other, once your pup starts pulling you immediatly turn around and walk away(get your friend to do the same and go back to where she started). After she calms down you turn around and try again, repeating as necessary. Once you get past the dog your gonna u p the anti and try shaking hands with the person when you go by them, and then up the anti again and talk to them for a few seconds. that should do the trick.
Great advice
Does she know an attention command? Something like 'Watch me' or 'focus'? this is easy to train and is great to help a dog overcome distractions. Start in a quiet room, pull out some treats and sit in front of her. Say 'Watch me' and then just wait. When she makes eye contact say 'good watch me!' and treat her. Repeat this until she looks at you right away.
Keep this up for a couple days and then move it to an area with some distraction.. Once she is perfect there go to heavy distractions..
Focus training is fast. Most dogs show marked attention improvement within a week.
The desinsitization to loud noises takes longer. You need to start introducing progrssively louder distractions. Try dropping a fairly light book on carpet. Get a wooden spoon with peanutbutter on it. Get her eating the peanutbutter then have someone drop the book behind her. If she is non-reactive go to a bigger book. You want to up it to the point that she is aware of the noise but overcomes the fear of the noise to keep eating peanut butter. Be sure to praise her when she doesn't react. When she gets to the point that she ignores it, up the sound level.
Good luck! You can do it!
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Great advice
The desinsitization to loud noises takes longer. You need to start introducing progrssively louder distractions. Try dropping a fairly light book on carpet. Get a wooden spoon with peanutbutter on it. Get her eating the peanutbutter then have someone drop the book behind her. If she is non-reactive go to a bigger book. You want to up it to the point that she is aware of the noise but overcomes the fear of the noise to keep eating peanut butter. Be sure to praise her when she doesn't react. When she gets to the point that she ignores it, up the sound level.
Good luck! You can do it!
That is fabulous! I am going to try that.
I would have never thought of peanut butter. Both of mine LOVE peanut butter.How about some suggestions for Greeting another dog? I have to greet a person WITH A DOG!!! for 5-7 seconds, shake their hand and walk on. We went to the mall today and she did well with strangers petting her. She did not bark or pull at people. She did well. OF COURSE THOUGH: THERE WERE NO OTHER DOGS IN THERE!