The Importance of Treat Bags

Since yesterday, I can't seem to find my treat bag (a small, cilinder-shaped red Outward Hound bag), and to be honest, I had never realized how much I loved it till I was unable to find it, and got so angry with myself I almost felt like crying. Yesterday I had to walk Khali without treats, and I really missed having something to reinforce her with, so today I used a small plastic bag to hold her treats, but it was hard to get the hot dogs out quickly enough, and I had to keep it in my jacket's pocket. It was rather uncomfortable.

If you don't have a treat bag or treat pouch, go buy one right now! Another option is using one of those aprons that have front pockets. I assure you, it will make your life easier; there's nothing worse than having to manage your dog's leash, clicker, the toys, your keys, your cellphone AND the treats. Most of pouches/bags available are big enough to hold your treats and a tennis ball, and you can wear them on your waist or hanging from your pants, so that means you can actually use your hands. Mine had a string I could attach my old clicker to, so that was a plus (my new clicker has a spiral cord, so I can wear it on my wirst)

You might want to spend some money on a good, washable and durable pouch; if you seriously want your training to be successful, you have to be constant: Take your treats everywhere you go, you never know when your dog will offer great behaviors!

Other than this treat pouch issue, my walk with Khali was quite nice! I was away all day, so she was dying for a good walk, her energy was so pent up she went crazy when she saw me get home. After playing fetch for a while, she was more manageable and I was able to take her out without much problems. I've noticed that if the first step of a walk is a GOOD step, the rest of the walk usually follows the trend, so when she bolted outside and started sniffing around ignoring me, I turned around and went inside. Once she saw the walk was not going to happen on those terms, she started paying attention to me. I reinforced her attention and we went outside again, reinforcing her every time she looked at me, and every few steps of loose leash walking.

An older picture - it was already dark when we went out today.

At the park we played fetch with her favorite, smelliest tennis ball, and I was incredibly careful to reinforce every bit of attention, and to give her lots of treats when she came back to me (I want her to WANT to be near me, even at distracting environments). We did some heel work and I tried to capture her "sniff" behavior, I want to add a cue to it so I can actually reinforce her with sniffing...it's going along slowly but smoothly! I also tried some counter-conditioning every time we saw another dog, and I was surprised to see that she got the hang of it quickly. She still wanted to lounge at them and probably rip them to pieces, but after a while she preferred to stay calmly by my side (the power of treats!) instead of indulging her murderous desire.

The Start of a New Path (Introductions!)

This is the first time I write a blog entry, and to be honest, I'm not expecting a lot of people to be reading this. Yet, I wanted to keep track of my progress, remember what I've done and how I've felt, and most of all, I want to become a better dog owner. That being the case, making myself a blog seemed like a good idea, so without further ado, it's time for introductions!

Mela of Icy Mountain, a brown and white Border Collie otherwise known as Khali, was born on April 14th, 2006. Somehow, she ended up at a pet store, bound in a cage and unable to get to enjoy her puppyhood in a family setting. She was 4 months old when I saw her, and I was just a 14 year old girl barely recovering from Linda, my poodle toy, that had passed away almost exactly one year before. I have always had a soft spot for dogs, and for the longest time I had been asking my parents for a new puppy, without getting the "yes" I wished for. This big puppy was not the Belgian Shepherd of my dreams, and she had that messy, scrawny look dogs have when they just finish they "adorable puppy phase" to enter their "crazy destruction-machine adolescent dog-thing phase"...All in all, she was the kind of dog you don't impulse buy. But by that afternoon, I had a new dog in my arms. From that moment onwards, it's been a hard road, but she has given me more joy than what I could ever imagine. She might not come when called, she might pull on the leash every now and then, and she might bark at people like it's the end of the world, but I love her and I will do everything in my power to make her a happy dog.

Dani (me!) is the luckiest owner on Earth. I like to think it was fate or destiny, or maybe even chance, but somehow I ended up owning just the dog that would make me grow more than what I thought was possible. I still have a long way to go, though. Other than Khali, I've only owned one other dog, Linda, and raised a pup since he was 1 month old till he was half a year old, so you could say I am 1,5 dogs old. After finishing high school, I studied medicine, a 7 yr old career here, for just one year. Sure, being a physician has its charm, but I kept feeling something was missing. Eventually, the light bulb on my head lit up, and it all seemed clear to me: I needed to work with and for animals, my love for science meant veterinary medicine was the job for me. So, I sent my applications, and I'm currently waiting for the results to be delivered on the 15th. I'm just a 20 yr old student, trying to balance her priorities in life, while striving to give her dog the best possible life.

That's all I've got to say about introductions, and let's hope this blog blooms into something great that will make Khali and me become better. Also, I expect to share all kinds of doggy advice and discuss matters such as choke chains, positive reinforcement, etc.

See ya!