[doberkim]

this may sound mean but...
i despise a dog without work ethic. and i will actively work to create it in any dog i have, because i want the only thing the dog wants to do, to be what i want to do. my "jobs" i give these dogs need to be the most fun thing in the world, and i will absolutely manipulate anything i can to create it.

if my dogs were so so about toys, they wouldn't be able to play with them without me. they would get chew toys only, and any interactive tugs/balls/ropes etc would be something that came out with me, played briefly with and only to the point of frenzy and nothing else, and then put away still wanting more.

cant keep a dog hungry all the time - you absolutely can. berlin worked for every single meal before i got her CD. my dogs LIVE hungry - i do NOT keep fat dogs, and my dogs eat once a day. before a show i will feed only half the amount if i need to. the food drive i built into all of them is immense and i can use food anywhere for anything - they will stand on their heads for food. i wont accept a dog that just goes "meh" for food. i wont tolerate sitting around and taking 20 minutes to eat, or wandering away from your bowl in the middle of a meal. if i put a meal down, you better put your face in it ASAP and don't move until you're done. in fact, rah reminds me when meal time is and cherry screams the minute the bowls come out. i dont want a dog that when i offer something yummy looks at me and says "what else ya got" or requires me to change up the food in the middle of a training session. as i said, for months berlin trained with ONLY her kibble.

i also wont tolerate a dog blowing me off to play with other dogs. working with me and being with me should be better than anything else - if i cant call you off the pack of dogs i have, then you cant be with the pack yet. when i am working a dog, i should have to physically block the other dogs from being with me because THEY want to work so much. they fight to get into heel position, they compete with each other for my attention and who gets to be with me. if i take one dog out of the yard to work, the others are screaming at the gate banging on it trying to get there. they will try to escape and go outside to be the next one to work. this has been the hardest thing because some of my dogs genuinely REALLY like each other and want to be together, and i feel guilty sometimes keeping them apart or in a crate, but it also made for a VERY good puppy that i raised that would have been hell on earth (since she's rah 2)... the most i've lost to her is a crate mat, and just 2 seconds ago she BOLTED from the kitchen to her crate on my words and sat in there barking at me, expecting her handsome reward.

some dogs require more manipulation than others. i wouldnt say ANY of my dogs is particularly biddable. but ive been able to convince them that what i want IS what they want, to some degree - because those activities are the most rewarding. what *i* want them to do isn't always on their forethought, but molding their lifestyle means that what i want becomes what they want...

 

[doberkim]

i think working relationships with dogs are very hard to maintain and above all, i want to have a relationship with my dogs. while im sad that berlins retired, i think she's actually happier than ever and wants to be my running partner - she comes to training and she's in nosework, but lack of expectation makes her happier.

but so much of it is the energy and expectation we bring. i cant work my dogs for 45-60 minutes in class with the energy that i need - so they go away or we take breaks. i dont ever want to train blah.

in the beginning berlin just had to show me EFFORT> i reward effort, not precision. if you try or give me something cute, that i will reward. i also am making a huge effort to have ME be the reward - i use food and toys all the time, but at some point *i* need to be enough for the dog (because im all they get in the ring). for some dogs this is absolutely easier than others, and it took me three years with berlin to get to the point that if she was happy i could interact with her and play with her without anything else in the world and she was 100% into that - and in fact she wants that more than anything and she begs to play with me (not with toys, but actually with me).

so in the beginning any effort or offering of behaviors was rewarded - she did that for 20 seconds (a long time for dogs) then she could have meals. then i extended it and after MONTHS i introduced it into obedience - to this day i ask her "you hungry?" or "wanna eat" and she better put some effort in - a bounce, a jump, a bark - something that lets me know that she's not done and has more to give. precision comes from repetition, but attitude comes frmo effort. i wont do repetition without attitude.

cherry is in a class right now that i think is much above her focus levels - our super puppy class ended and the only option i have is to not have her in class at all, or have her in attention 1. half her puppy class is in there, but she's the youngest and some of them are almost a year old. so she does what she can, and we spend much of the time that my trainer is talking playing off to the side, perfecting the worlds most adorable spin and twist and keeping attitude. because i want her to perform with pizazz and joy - im less concerned that she has perfect heel position all the time (i CREATE heel position if its important). and we spend a lot of time wrestling and cuddling. i want her to seek me out as something fun to interact with.

i dont use ruff love 100% and i still found it helped me a lot. for starters, i refuse to use a head halter

it all depends on how much you want to put it and how far you want to go. for me, ill be honest - just playing the game isn't enough, i want to win. i want my dogs to want to do this, and i want to be out there kicking butt. so its important to me.