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Yesterday I wrote about the final day of my 30-day challenge to take my mutt to 30 new places. The main goal of this challenge was to get my dog to chill out when he visits new places. Basically I want Ace to act calm wherever I take him and to not freak out (he gets really anxious or excited) just because we’re at a new park or a friend’s house.
The challenge was difficult, but I plan on creating more challenges for Ace and I. Time was the biggest problem for me. I thought just walking him for 30 days was hard enough. It was even harder to take him to a new place 30 days in a row, let alone think of where to go. Plus, getting there and being there cut into our daily exercise time. A walk is more important than going somewhere new, and this challenge required me to organize my time in order to get a good walk in every day before going somewhere new. Let’s just say we did not get a long enough walk in some days. And although I took Ace somewhere new 30 days in a row, I didn’t blog about it 30 days in a row and got behind on the updates.
Over the last 30 days, I wanted to:
1. Take Ace to 30 new places.
This was fairly easy to accomplish. If I had more time it would’ve been easier. Some days we had no choice but to walk to a new neighborhood or even a new street because of time. Other days I was able to plan ahead and take Ace to a new grooming shop or dog park.
2. Decrease his anxiousness/excitement in the car.
OK, this is still a problem. It seemed to get better for awhile. Now it seems worse again. It depends on how much exercise Ace has had. Wearing the Gentle Leader in the car also makes him more calm. I plan to work on telling him “No!” Instead of “quiet,” “down,” “bad dog,” etc.
3. Cure Ace of his whining issue when he wants something.
This problem hasn’t improved either. Ace cries after we get up because he wants to go for a walk. Sometimes he cries if he’s not in the room with me, etc. I’ll have to think of some ways to work on this issues, perhaps putting him in his kennel for a half-hour at a time while I’m home or making him stay on his dog bed while I’m in a different room.
4. Help Ace control his excitement in a new area or his favorite places.
This improved. The Gentle Leader or other training collars help, as do treats. Just going to new places and telling Ace to heel or sit improved how he listens to me. He still needs work, but he is getting better.
5. Practice random basic obedience in as many places as possible.
I want Ace to listen well no matter where we are. When I’m consistent with this, Ace improves. When I slack of, Ace doesn’t listen as well. It’s all up to me to practice with him every day in as many places as possible. The goal is still to get Ace to sit on the first command 95 percent of the time. He is not there yet.
6. Improve Ace’s response to the heel command.
His heeling has improved. Lately the choke collar, worn high on the neck has been working better than the pinch collar or the leader. Ace’s heeling has improved a lot since our first challenge. This second challenge helped some more. We still have a lot of work to do though. Perfect heeling will be a never-ending goal for Ace and I.
7. Work to perfect Ace’s heeling without a pinch collar or Gentle Leader.
This is still a challenge. Some days are better than others. There are so many factors, from where we are, who we are with, how much exercise he has had, etc.
8. Work on Ace’s off-leash heeling.
He has gotten better at this too. But again, he does better the more we practice. If we take a couple days or a week off from off-leash heeling, then we have to work harder to catch up again. Other factors affect this too like how tired he is and where we are. I need to practice more off-leash heeling randomly, so Ace doesn’t know whether I’m holding the leash or not.
9. Continue using treats for positive reinforcement.
I’ve been using more treats and this has helped Ace’s focus big time. I’ve been using jerky and that works great because they are soft, and I can tear them into tiny pieces. I don’t want to depend on treats, however.
Taking my mutt to a new place every day for 30 days was a good challenge. But in order to keep up the positive improvements, I will have to continue bringing him to new places and walking him every day. It is not necessary to take him to a new place every day, but once a week would be good. I encourage others to give it a try.
Click here to see all my 30-day challenge posts.
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June 8th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Im glad you were able to accomplish what you set out to do. Good training is hard work but very rewarding. Ace has benefited in more areas than you intended. The bond between you has also been strengthened 100 fold. Thanks for all the adventures!
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June 8th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Kudos for your 30 days. I think its amazing how much thought and effort you’re putting into making sure Ace is happy and healthy. With consistency, im sure hes gonna behave better and better!
ps: the two of you make a handsome couple, he looks a bit like stranger actually.
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June 9th, 2008 at 9:18 am
It’s been really cool to read about your goals here. I love the pic of you two also - Ace’s pose is priceless!
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June 10th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Great tips, Lindsay! It’s inspiring to read about your love and persistence when working with your dogs.
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June 10th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
I’m going to send Muffit to you.. he needs to go to new places, too, and learn to be calm. He gets frantic when he sees other dogs. He’s nice, he just wants to say hi. And with three other sports dogs I’m training… Muffit isn’t getting the attention he needs.
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