Sondermann Playtime for your dog

Keep him busy throughout the day
1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-0-85788-660-6
Verlag: Cadmos Publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 128 Seiten

Reihe: Dogs

Part of the pleasure of owning a dog is the mutual fun that results from the playing of games. However these games also have a role in the development and well-being of our four-legged friends, not least of which is building up our dogs' self confidence and boosting our relationships. With very little financial outlay and no previous experience, any dog owner whether the dog be a puppy or an older animal can invent games using household objects. The purpose of this book is to help you discover and employ games and activities on an everyday basis that both you and your dog will enjoy and that will contribute towards his fitness and training: Marvel at the super-abilities of your dog's sense of smell. Make his daily walks an exciting adventure. Find enough inspiration in your living room to exercise his basic play instincts. Take the opportunity when appropriate to turn your garden into a dog's adventure playground. TV shows have shown how dogs can become bored and unmanageable through lack of stimulation. The occupational therapies introduced in this book are easy to do and can be integrated into your normal daily routine without much time needed or complex training. Everybody, two-or-four legged, that enjoys joint activities can participate - independant of age, height, fitness or knowledge.

Christina Sondermann has been working on ideas on how to occupy dogs properly for many years now. She is involved with dogs friendly, stress free training methods and creating a harmonious relationship between dogs and their owners with her internet project fun-with-dogs.com, by working as an author for a dog magazine, and through the organisation of seminars and workshops for dog owners and trainers.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sondermann, Chistina

Leseproben

Rules of the game and tips for beginners

There are a few things you should look out for so that you and your dog will be able to truly enjoy these joint activities. Take your time to read through the rules of the game: your canine partner will thank you for doing so by having even more fun!

Most of the exercises described in this book should, of course, be playable for all people and all dogs. However please use common sense and think of your dog’s capabilities when choosing a game.

You don’t need to make a big effort to have fun: Mücke shows us how dogs in their prime can stay mentally fit.

Your arthritis-ridden senior will thank you for not expecting him to jump over big obstacles. This wouldn’t be good for your small puppy either. An especially nervous dog doesn’t have to walk across the big, threatening, rustling plastic cover straight away, or jump over the neighbours’ kid’s arms and legs during “people-agility” and so on. You can decide best for yourself what is good for your dog.

Dogs that enjoy easy-to-do activities in the beginning set themselves up for success at games together at a later date. Always take care that you only use equipment for your games that can’t hurt or injure your dog.

Tiffi loves small challenges because she always gets something delicious!

Reward the dog for playing with you? This might seem a little strange at first: aren’t you satisfying him simply by being with him? You are certainly right! Most dogs enjoy sharing activities with their humans. Many games are like little exercises, though, that the dog has to learn first. Not every dog, for instance, is successful in walking through a tunnel set up of chairs and blankets or balancing over a wall at the first go. And why should he climb up a tree trunk? Or rush up to his family with his ears flying in the wind, when playing the come game?

Now it is your turn: you have to get across to your dog how much fun this can be and how successful he can become. You, too, learn best and faster, those things that you do voluntarily and willingly and that you are really interested in. And aren’t you also much more motivated when something is really worthwhile? In this regard, our dogs aren’t any different from us humans. And this is why we count on rewards during joint activities. You will see your dog play along enthusiastically and dare new challenges with pleasure. You can celebrate joint success and really have fun together!

Your dog will tell himself which reward is best for him. Most dogs don’t really make an effort just for kind words, and rightly so. Stroking and touch are preferable for quality time on the sofa and usually don’t go down well in training. Play or throwing a toy is more for toy junkies. But this often disturbs the activities. So food is usually the best choice. It is easy to handle and it motivates the dog.

Do you already see your dog as a four-legged sausage rolling through your apartment? Don’t panic, just use a part of his normal daily ration when playing together and let him work for it a little bit. Most dogs enjoy earning their food that way!

Your basic equipment for nearly all games is food rewards. When you start a new game or work with your dog in unfamiliar situations or environments, use really attractive treats in the beginning. In everyday situations you can just use part of his normal dog food.

When you and your dog are out and about, a waist bag is ideal to store your treats.

The better you know what really makes your dog excited, the better you can reward him. Make up a list of things your dog likes best: put down his top five favourite treats. Think about things that he likes just as well as his food, for instance like running or searching or catching his ball.

Always remember: while you already have an idea of what your dog should do, he doesn’t have the slightest idea in the beginning. And you can’t explain it to him either, because dogs don’t understand human language.

Think about how you would feel if you were alone in a foreign country. You don’t speak the national language and somebody tries to get something across to you. What would make you feel better: someone who keeps talking at you, grabs your arms and hustles you around, friendly at first but then more and more impatient because you still don’t understand what is expected from you? Or a nice interpreter who would help you find your way gradually, in a calm and friendly way? The latter would, of course, be more appreciated. And your dog feels the same in our world.

It is therefore your duty to introduce your dog step-by-step to all the new challenges. Be an example of endurance and patience. Try to do so without touching, pulling or pushing your dog into the right position completely during training. Never yank his collar or lead. As long as the environment is adequate (your dog’s security always comes first!), you do best in training without a leash at all.

With a treat in your hand like a magnet, you can lead your dog into any position. This alternative is suggested within the instructions of this book because this is the easiest way for most of the dog-owner-teams in the beginning. For those who like more of a challenge, you can teach your dog to follow your empty hand and give him the reward out of the other hand or a pocket. Those who are familiar with clicker training can do completely without luring the dog, and can let him figure out the exercise himself. The less you have to lure the dog, the faster your dog will understand a game.

Reaching the goal step-by-step: at first Ronja finds it quite strange to step into the box.

Manuela therefore rewards her for every little improvement. Every other paw in the box is worth a treat. Success is not long in coming!

If he doesn’t just follow the treat without looking, he will better realise what happens during the exercise. Of course, he still gets lots of treats.

However you proceed and whatever game you play with your dog, always take care that you keep the requirements simple in the beginning. Don’t expect the perfect end result at first, but rather reward even the tiniest progress.

How this works in detail is explained within the instructions for the respective activities. All games are described so that people and dogs with no training experience can also understand them.

How to teach your dog to follow your empty hand:

• First hold a treat in your fingers and ask your dog to follow your hand. When he does so successfully, give him the treat.

• Now hide the treat in your fist so that your dog can’t see it and can hardly smell it. Ask him to follow your hand again and then reward him.

• During the next step, you still reward your dog for following your hand but the treat comes from your other hand. Deliver the treats quickly out of a container or your treat bag.

• Repeat this procedure a few times until your dog gets used to it. Keep the hand that the dog is following empty but hold it as if there was food in there! Your dog will probably still follow it – and you can reward him immediately with the available food.

• Practise this regularly. Let your dog follow your empty hand for a little further each time before he is rewarded from the other hand.

Even though you won’t find complex exercises and tricks in this book, a little knowledge of our dogs learning behaviour might be useful. Accurate timing, for instance, is very important. Dogs learn quickest when they understand what they are rewarded for. To achieve this, you have to be as fast as lightning when rewarding them! When your dog does something that you like, you have little more than a second to react. Otherwise it is likely that your dog won’t really know what he is getting his reward for.

The easiest way is to choose a short and clear word, a marker word, that you always say the moment your dog is doing something great and has earned a reward for it: try “good”, “hey” or “yes” for instance. In order that your dog understands the meaning of your marker word as an announcement of a reward, say it to him a few times and immediately give him a tasty treat. After that you can use your word during play and training.

By the way, this is the principle clicker training is based on: with the aid of a clear sound (a clicker is a little plastic box with a metal tongue inside that makes a clicking sound), you can clearly indicate the behaviour required of a dog. Through accurate timing and rewarding the tiniest attempt at showing the right behaviour, the dog always knows exactly what his trainer is expecting from him. “Clicker-dogs” therefore are especially enthusiastic training partners. They work very single-handed and show a lot of own initiative.

For some games, for instance when trying the tunnel during the living room course or the come game in the garden, it can be useful or even necessary that you await your dog with a treat at the other side or the end. If your dog has learned to wait at a certain spot, that’s great. If not, then a human assistant can be of help, staying with the waiting dog. He can, for instance, use a treat to help your dog stay in position. He...