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Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Positive Training - Working with a Sensitive Soul

We were out for sunrise this morning, which always makes my day better. No moose stood between us and seeing the glorious sunrise rays! Nonetheless, I insisted that Shyla held a tight heel next to my snow bike as we head into the forest just in case some wild animal was on our path.

When we made it to the sunrise rays, Shyla was wide-eyed and beautiful.

We did a few recalls right away - we do that every day to get her mind in gear for the rest of our ride. Shyla was leaping for joy in the middle of the recalls!

She awes me with her spontaneous Olympian leaps that are completely fueled by joy!

Although Shyla is mostly a boisterous and confident dog when she and I are out in the forest alone, a cute aspect of her "sensitivity" remains. I sometimes try to have her do a "stay" out of sight of me. In this case, it was supposed to be behind a big boulder.

Today, Shyla sneaked so that she could peek at me from behind the boulder while she was supposed to be doing a "stay" behind it. It was so cute that I could barely bring myself to put her back in the position where I'd asked her to stay. It touches my heart that she would rather not be out of sight of me.
I did ask her to redo that out-of-sight stay although I made the "stay" short so she wouldn't be too stressed out. Then we had a play session as a reward. I've been working to build the "value" of play and toys as rewards, and it's truly been working. She now sees a short game of tug and then fetch as being as good as food for her reward!
I cannot believe how far Shyla has come - from a cowering fearful dog to the one you see in the photo above! I've used nothing but positive training with her, and she loves training. In positive training, almost everything is a "game" where your dog is earning fun rewards like food or play.

Because the training is so fun, we are always working on new tricks, and we practice "nosework" searches daily. I hope to make another video of our nosework games very soon. It's the most fun thing I've taught my dogs in recent years!


25 comments:

  1. Shyla is such a good girl and you are doing such an amazing job with her! She is too cute! I love the photo of her peeking out from the boulder at you! :D

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  2. Shyla is so lucky to have you. You work so hard with her! Beautiful photos again!

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  3. Just a nose and an eye, making sure you were still there, beautiful.

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  4. Just loving that peek around the boulder look on Shyla:)

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  5. Aw, thanks for sharing that cute moment!

    Ah yes, thankyou for reminding me once again about learning to use toys more as rewards! I guess it's common for someone beginning training like me to find it easier to be more consistent using food rewards. I am always worried that play will divert us from the training too much.

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  6. That definately is the sweetest peek we have ever seen!
    And I think Shyla is an Olympian! She deserves a gold medal, for her "flying leaps"!
    love
    tweedles

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  7. I just love Shyla she is a wonderful delight. I think you should frame the photo of her picking around the rock.

    Aroo to you,
    Sully

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  8. What a wonderful journey with Shyla. Thank you for sharing it. I look forward to more.


    Anne and Ziggy

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  9. That second picture really shows how fit and strong she is!

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  10. You two make a great pair, and even though I don't always comment, I never miss a blog!

    Jo, Stella and Zkhat

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  11. What an adorable picture of you peeking out from behind the rock, Shyla ----and you have the most beautiful athletic moves!

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  12. I can't decide which is the most amazing, Shyla's Leaps or your photos of her leaping.. amazing and wonderful pup and so are you pics

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  13. You do wonderful with training sweet Shyla. That is so cute that she was looking around the corner so she could see you. Such a nice bonding time for you.

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  14. Shyla is so amazing and you two are quite the team!

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  15. I am always inspired by your training techniques. You two are an awesome pair
    hugs
    Mr Bailey, Hazel, Mabel & Mom

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  16. we like that sneak peak one. mom thinks we should come stay wif you for awhile so we can learn all those great trainings also.
    stella rose

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  17. Ha - such a cutie. Love reading about how far she has come.

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  18. I just love that picture of Shyla peeking around the boulder at you! The Ginger Sisters have been working on out-of-sight stays in the house...the real challenge will be moving it outside (on a long line, of course).

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  19. I'm so happy you and Shyla found each other! You're perfect together. This is so beautiful!
    KZK

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  20. Ha! You could totally turn that peeking around the corner into a trick of peekaboo!

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  21. Oh what beautiful eyes, and they're focused on YOU!

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  22. Thank you for sharing all that you do about beautiful Shyla! I love seeing her peek sweetly around the rock at you to make sure you didn't go too far away--Nala feels similarly about any attempts I make to hide from her--just as much as I love watching her rocket through the snow toward you!

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  23. Shyla is a real testament to the power of positive training.

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  24. Lovely! Macy doesn't like staying when she can't see me either... And I'm such a sap, I don't make her!

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