The LEAVE IT command | Dog Training

Recently, Frankie, the chiweenie, the Canine Good Citizen, won a free training session at Petco with our favorite Dog Trainer, the fabulous Ms Cyndy Wood. It was obvious who was in need of the dog training session the most out of our pack: Pedrito, the chihuahua puppy. Rambunctious Pedro, joined our menagerie a few short months ago, but he's already left his mark on all of us. He's IMPOSSIBLE, INCORRIGIBLE, OBNOXIOUS, UNDISCIPLINED, OUT OF CONTROL REALLY. So, when the trainer asked M, "What should we work on," it took her one second to come up with:

the LEAVE IT command
 

The decision was based on both safety considerations aaand our (the rest of the pack's) well-being and sanity. M thought of a Utopian world in which Pedro would be messing with me, and she could say "LEAVE IT" and he'd let me be.

Pedrito was welcomed by Petco with open arms

* * *

Here's how his real dog training session went . . .
 Dog obedience training 101: Leave it!

Oops, that was before they got started.

The student arrived in a rather impressive state of mind: Ready to please
(this may have had something to do with the fact that he got lots of exercise, and a smaller than usual amount of food, until class was over)

First, M "CHARGED" the toy that Pedrito was supposed to learn how to "LEAVE IT", by playing with him.

Then, he hit his trainer on the nose
That's before he tricked her into thinking it was "a good thing he was food motivated" BOL
Is it . . . a good thing? How good is it?
(check out yesterday's post to find the answer)

Ultimately, Pedrito decided that instead of LEAVE it, he'd rather play FETCH and DROP IT. Oh, well. That's something, isn't it?

I hoped you learned something, you lazy dawgs!

xo

Twink!

Our Next Future AKC Canine Good Citizen

Roxie, the Boston Terrier, aka Boston Bull, from puppy training class, decided to become a canine good citizen, and I'm going to be auditing her class while bringing you new ideas and canine good citizen and general dog obedience training tips. Roxie is still a puppy and she's part brindle. Her markings are extraordinary in the sense that she looks like she's dark chocolate with white, but a slightly closer look proves she has a lot of brindle in her. A brindle boston terrier! So unique!

This is Roxie, our next AKC Canine Good Citizen

This is her second class and she's still getting used to the "no dog treats" concept

***AKC Canine Good Citizen Dog Training Tips: No dog treats are allowed during the actual CGC test. If you're training your dog using dog treats, it's a good idea to start to wean him/her before your first AKC CGC class. You can start alternating dog treats and praise or favorite toys or a low grade" treat, such as kibble. This way your dog will not be shocked like Roxie or our chiweenie. 

Step 1: 

Accepting a Friendly Stranger

Roxie did great with that one in the beginning of class, but then, a little girl showed up at the end and wanted to pet her. Roxie's owner, she's truly on top of her training, made Roxie go through the proper steps.

She let Roxie say a gentle hello from the standing position

Step 2:

Sitting Politely for Petting

The owner asked Roxie to go "down" to demonstrate her self restraint

Roxie was perfect, considering this she is so new at this, and only once did she try to jump on the girl's arms. Roxie's mom corrected her instantly, as one does for proper training, but the girl's mom had a panic attack and yanked her child away ... (no comment)

***AKC Canine Good Citizen Dog Training Tips: Instant corrections and rewards are the key to all animal training. Dogs do not remember what they were doing a few minutes ago. They live in the NOW and should be handled accordingly.

Step 3:

Appearance and Grooming

During this part of the test, your dog must demonstrate that he can be easily examined and groomed. The evaluator will brush him and perform a quick exam of the ears, teeth, paws, tail... and your dog must remain calm, but is allowed to move around. 

Roxie is being perfect again.

She lets the trainer (on the right) check her out and brush her.

She's looking at her mom for "help" but she's being good for the trainer

This is what the evaluator wants to see

More AKC canine good citizen test items and tips, dog obedience training, and puppy training tips in the weeks to follow. Stay tuned.

Twinkie

Frankie's Friday (16) | Canine Good Citizen

Frankie the Canine Good Citizen here!!! Yay, I did it! I passed. I couldn't wait to share my experience. It was pawesome! I felt safe and loved throughout my test. Thank you my fabulous trainer, Ms Cyndy Wood, for teaching me how to be an asset to my community. Thank you Olivia for putting up with me and helping me pass the toughest part of my test. Let me share the details about the AKC Canine Good Citizen test items.

Before taking my test, mommy had to sign the Responsible Dog Owner's Pledge. She mumbled something about me taking the test and leaving her out of it, but when she realized I couldn't even take the test, she signed. Then it was my turn. The test was on a pass/fail basis and the way to fail it for sure was to go potty or worse during taking it. I had to keep my legs crossed the entire time.

There were 10 items on the test

1. Accepting a friendly stranger - If they're friendly, I accept them

2. Sitting politely for petting - Piece of pizzle, I love to be petted

3. Appearance and grooming - I look not so bad in general

4. Out for a walk, on a loose leash - How else would I do it? If I pull, I choke my chiweenie self

5. Walking through a crowd - I would like to thank all of Petco's personnel for being my pretend crowd. (no photo available)

6. Sit and down on command and staying in place

I think you can tell by my ear position, how obedient I was

7. Coming when called - Is that a joke? I come even when not calleded

Another easy one. All I had to do was wait for my mommy to call me and I jumped and ran in her arms. I had missed her holding me

8. Reaction to another dog

See the gorgeous spotted Dalmatian? She's Olivia, another AKC Canine Good Citizen

She's one happy smiley girl and I'm grateful she helped me pass the hardest part of the test for me

9. Reaction to distractions 

These are the objects of my torture, a loud cart and a blue plastic bowl that got thrown about five feet away to gauge my reaction

I stayed cool! (but I was trembling inside)

10. Supervised separation: No fun! I had to be away from mommy for three whole minutes! It was not too easy. (the photos of me as I waited for my mommy were too pathetic to post)

The test was over and I was spent! I got my hug and a star though

Here I am posing with my star and my certificate

I am now officially 100% certified AKC Canine Good Citizen

I have to tell you, I took the test with my tumor having gotten bigger, while Linguini stayed on an XL heating pad at home. We're both feeling better, but mommy is not happy. I overheard her on the phone with her friend the other day saying, "The vet told me to watch the dog tumors, well, I am watching them. I'm watching them . . . grow. I'm watching two tumors and a limping dog and there's nothing I can do." 

Until we figure out what is wrong with our health, we're going to enjoy the recent news of my success. In a few days, Linguini will be allowed to exercise again and mommy promises to take us on short hikes with our furiends. There's nothing like hiking with dogs to get your mind off things. 

Frankie the Canine Good Citizen

Chiweenie Friday (15) - Dog Obedience Training

I went to dog obedience training yesterday to learn some new moves and to practice for my AKC Canine Good Citizen test and it went really really well.

This is me, the Chiweenie demonstrating how timid I am generally

Consider this my personal dog training tip

I am rather submissive

This is my furiend, Dexter the Doxie

For a easily frightened dog, like my chiweenie self, the real challenge regarding the Canine Good Citizen test is overcoming my fears (and the fact that for this test mommy is not allowed to use treats). The test is not so hard. I get evaluated on a pass/fail basis. Most items I need to learn are simple. I have to be able to sit/stay, do down/stay, sit politely for petting, allow a stranger to groom me, walk on a loose leash, and sit down on command. No problem. Where dog obedience training gets tough for me is the following training items: walking through a crowd and  reaction to another dog and distractions. Those require a certain amount of bravery I have yet to master. I'll know more next Wednesday the day I take my Canine Good Citizen exam. 

Meanwhile, I have my two sissies to protect me. 

I ask my tiny tea cup chihuahua sissy to fight my battles

btw this is the friendliest blue heeler in the world and her name is Sage

And I hide behind my larger, dalmatian and german shothaired pointer sissy

for protection

Regardless, we all do the best we can in this life and my mommy appreciates it. This is the email we got from my superb and funny and adorable trainer, the fabulous Ms Cyndy Wood.

"Frankie's test is next week but she deserves recognition for completing, and very successfully I might add, the CGC class.  So, with Pomp & Circumstances playing in the background, this is in honor of Frankie's stellar performance as a Canine Good Citizen.

Congratulations to Ms. Frankie and to her able handler!  What a great team you are!"

She even sented me a virtual star!!! I will cherish this email and save it among my most prized possessions. What I haven't mentioned yet is that my trainer is a firm believer in Positive Training for Dogs and Their People. I'm so lucky! Mom loves this philosophy and swears to use it on all dog obedience training from now on. I agree 100%. Thank you Ms Wood and mommy. 

One final word about the Canine Good Citizen exam. There is an automatic failure rule if we, the students, eliminate during testing, we must be marked fail. As you know, chiweenie puppies are not simple to potty train. Puppy potty training is not that easy on most small dogs. If anybody has any potty training tips to share, now is a good time. 

Stay not out of touch and I'll have the exam results next week.

Frankie

Chiweenie Friday (14) - Dog Training Tips...

Hello! Frankie here, the Chiweenie, that's what I'm used to. I don't know what to do about all this Italian Greyhuahua information. I surviveded another week and I'm here to tell you about it. Twinkie's been talking a lot about dog training tips, so I decided to take you to school with me and learn what to avoid.

This is what I see every time I go to school

I only get those a-after class, when I've been good

This is me, the Chiweenie, at the beginning of class

Here's beautiful, playful, and oh-so-smart, Roxie

A new member, Heidi

Can you believe she was the runt of her litter? I do

She's really dainty and perky

Here's Olga (front)

Olga's rear end

No, she's not a Shar- Pei, she's going to grow into those folds

And ... me

Olga and Roxie playing

A furiendly pow-wow/sniffer galore

And me

Olga left early

I would have waved bye-bye

But I was stuck underneath a chair

I did wave bye-bye to the dog treat bar though

After the way I behaved again, I knew I could only wave from far away

As if life wasn't tough enough, the new joke is: Frankie's a Chiweenie, as in Chicken and Weenie. Not BOL. 

Have a not bad day at all!!!

Frankie, The Chiweenie

Chiweenie Friday (13) - Dog Training Tips part deux

Hello! Frankie here, again! I'm here to share more dog training tips. As you all know I'm enrolled in the AKC Canine Good Citizen (GCG) Program every Wednesday and on Mondays I go to dog training class.
This past week, I was determined to make mommy happy. I put on my brave thoughts and off we went to visit the horses and the other rescue dogs. On the car ride there, I made up my mind to be the bestest student there ever was.

After all, I am used to being around many other doggies

I, Frankie, the brindle chiweenie, always get along

With both large

And small

I'm even getting better when the Chimeanie is around

(there's somebody who needs dog training badly)

My dear furiends, I'm going to need another week before I impress you all. 

When we arrived at my last dog obedience training class, it was packeded!

We didn't get any good shots of anybody but me. Can you guess why?

Everybody else was having a ball, while I...

... remained cautious, as usual

Hear me ROAR!!!

Those were not exactly dog training tips, but perhaps if you do the opposite of what I did, they are. Tee hee. 

Have a lovely Friday!

Frankie

* * * GLOBAL ANIMAL BLOGGING EVENT update: don't forget to check out the new links. I am stunned at all the great free giveaways. 

Chiweenie Friday (12)

Hello, dear furiends! Frankie here.

I'm ba-ack, but first I need to say a couple of things about GABE. No, Twinkie's not making me this time. I just like it and hope I win one of the free giveaways. 

Keep your posts and links coming up to the 10th of April. If you want to participate or even pawticipate, you need to email us your post's link at twinkietinydogATaolDOTcom. Twinkie's doing her best uploading the links as they come. If you don't see yours within 8 hours of sending it, try once more. Things constantly get lost in space. Speaking of getting lost, any time you feel lost about G.A.B.E., just click on our badge at the top of the sidebar. Business over. Tee-hee.

* * *

Time to talk about dog obedience training and school. I can't thank you enough about your encouraging comments from last week. They helpeded me so much that I relaxed and even did some soul searching. This is what I discovered. 

The source of my fear

Trixie

Trixie's the one who's been attacking me every time I visit the barn. Trixie's a Chi-meanie and I'm not talking to her ever again. 

A careful analysis of my young soul, as Twinkie puts it, made it clear that I am traumatized. I will not be this way forever though. Now that I know why I'm afraid of small black and white dogs, I can take control. I'm growing up fast after all. 

Not so fast!

My classmates:

This is beautiful and sweet Roxie

I would love to play with her, but she reminds me of a certain Chi-meanie

Adorable, gentle Augie 

He too reminds me of the Chi-meanie

Bright, well-trained handsome Mitch

He's a blue heeler, one of my favorite breeds

He's so well behaved, I shouldn't be afraid of him, but he's also much bigger than I am

Me

As you can see, I was so brave, I even switched chairs

I deserve a tiny drumroll for this next photo

Ta-da! 

Now look who's being brave! It's me!

Mommy was so pleased with me. She kept huffing and puffing, but I could tell she was proud not so deep deep down. 

I have to run now. I want to visit more Global Animal Blogging Event posts and find out about their free giveaways!!! 

Frankie

Chiweenie Friday (8)

Hello! Frankie here. Twinkie's back so now I don't get to post much. I wonder if I should send her to watch over Flat Brutus (keep her busy and away), but I know I'll just miss her within the first few hours. I'm confusing me now. I just wanted to talk to you about the message I got on our answering machine yesterday.

What? 

I'm so excited! The lovely dog obedience training expert, Mrs Cyndy Wood, trainer extraordinaire, called for me. I couldn't believe my ears. I was in her class this past December and apparently I made quite an impression on her. I'm going to slightly paraphrase the phone call, just a tad. Mrs Cyndy called to invite me to join her Canine Good Citizen Class that starts this month.

I'm so excited. She even said I'd ace the class, that's how much she believes in me. I, of course, must start training immediately.

I'll train to use the computer

I'll practice my "shake" 

I cross my heart and paws and promise to be a good citizen

The best part about my news is that I get some time alone with M this way. Of course, she's going to have to practice a few things before our class starts. M needs to practice her back ups. She's good with the car but not her legs. During our last class together, M backed into Petco's shelves and dumpeded two huge pig ear bags right next to me. Needless to say, we blew that class off. I was shaking for an hour and I didn't stop until we got home. So, M needs to practice too. 

Now, can I just tell you how I really feel???

Deliriously happy and overexcited, tee hee

Mrs Cyndy made my day, my week, my month! I'm going to make her proud. This is only going to be the beginning. After I graduate, I'll move on to more important dog obedience training classes, anything AKC has to offer. I think the first one I'm going to tackle is a course that will teach me to become a Siberador Retriever, like Juno.  

I loved sharing with y'all again. Be not bad!

Frankie

(PeeS: Nobody said I had to be potty trained to pass my test, shhhh)