Trinity, Zach and I have been going to a training class for eight months now. We have had our ups and downs during this time from, not listening, to barking and distracting everyone around us, to jumping for the instructor to pet her. But recently she has been getting better at paying attention and has not barked during two classes now. She still loves it when Fran pets her and we work on that at every class.
Me? Jump on people? Never!
Because of our training, I can now call her from across the room during play group (every Friday we go to our training center to play for 45 min with her best friends) by just yelling, 'Trinity, come here'. When she hears this she comes flying towards me for a pet, then she gets right back to playing with all her friends. Now, I have decided to start training her to go on off leash hiking areas. We have a wonderful area only a few miles from us where dogs are allowed off leash. But the catch is that they need to be under voice control at all times. But, Trinity's not at that level yet, she still has to be told a few times for a reminder. Yet, I still want to take her on a hike and be safe.
"I'm definitely some sort of pointer. I like to lift my front paw and stare at things!"
Therefore, I have devised a super, crazy, awesome way to have her under my complete control at all times. I took her old leash and attached it to a 50ft rope. It amazingly keeps me from being super nervous that she won't listen to me and run off after something. And while I know what your thinking, 'wow, she's a genius' It's not that awe inspiring and many people do this to off leash train their dog's.
Zach is one good rope holder!
But, I still have to work on Miss. Trinity's recall. While at training we have used 'here' as the recall word, we've practiced it in class, in the backyard, in the house and at family members houses, she doesn't always respond to it. Just recently she's had problems with it while in the house and at the dog park. Plus I don't use it quite enough with distractions because I'm afraid she wont listen to it and of course I have created just what I was trying to avoid. That figures. So now I have decided to use 'come here' while at the dog park and in the backyard, which this now has become her Really Reliable Recall. I practice it over and over again while out on our kinda-sorta off leash walks. Here's a video of us in the field practicing.
P.S I hate my voice. I swear I'm not a 12 year old girl.
I'm not that good at teaching this, so here's a post from a real dog trainer to teach you how to recall your dog. As with anything you still need, time, consistency, patience, and love to train your dog! Good luck!
Today was a pretty good day I went to work, went for a walk and oh ya I got an award!!!
I received the Liebster Blog award from Sarah Loves Her Dogs. Trinity's pretty excited that she's spreading her cuteness all over the internet!
So now I must pass this on to 5 fellow bloggers that I think are pretty cool.
1) The Absentee Blogger
Although the real reason she has a blog is to get a writing contract. But we gave her the award pretty much only cause she lives with this cutie pie...
"I'm so cute. I think I'll look out this window."
2) Two Kitties One Pittie
Their cat Stella is pretty much Cookie Dough's doppelganger.
3) Prettie Little Pittie
We love reading about life in the big apple with a cute as can be Pittie and her two cat roommates.
4) Two Grad Students and a Pittie
A blog about a big black pittie living in NYC on a budget. We love there dog walking posts!
5) Of Pitbulls and Patience
Of course these three have had an award before but we love that their mom's a dog trainer. Close to my heart.
Now here are the rules for those of you I have awarded this to
1 - Copy/paste the award to your blog
2 - Link back to the blogger who gave you the award
3 - Choose five blogs with fewer than 200 followers and let them know you've given them the Liebster Blog award
4 - Hope the five you've chosen will continue to spread the love!
Thanks again Sarah! And keep those post coming with your two sweet pups!
Trinity and I have been working on learning tricks since she was a puppy. I love to work with her and she loves to do anything for a piece of meat. So here is a video from over the summer of Trinity doing some tricks. Some she was taught and one of which was a coincidence. She's learned some more since then but I need to take a good video of her. I hope you enjoy it!
I stated in my previous post when we adopted Trinity I assumed I would train her myself. Of course, after two months, I knew I needed help with that. As a result we have been going to Master Peace for eight months now. We love it there! We do clicker based, positive training. This really bonds us and she gets to work her brain in order to make the right decisions. We have had many classes which include, puppy kindergarten, three rounds of graduate puppy, two agility classes and we are in the middle of our continuing education course right now. This course will prepare us for the CGC. Trinity is not quite ready for the test but she sure is getting better every time we attend class.
Today, we did a class involving the scary (well, for Trinity anyway) hula hoops. She had to sit and stay in it for a whole 30 seconds. For her that's long considering how scared she is of inanimate objects. We also did an exercise involving having other people pet the dogs. For Trinity this is the hardest thing because she LOVES people. So much so that she wants to jump on them. But today she didn't jump on anyone, not even our instructor which is quite hard for her. Of course it helps that I give her treats full of hot dogs, bologna, cheese, chicken, steak & peperoni ( her favorite). We used to use regular dog treats but little spoiled Miss. Trinity became bored with them and will refuse to eat them. So now we have upgraded. But hey, if this makes her a well behaved dog I'm all for it. In two weeks we will be starting our intro into competition obedience class!
Here she is on our first snow 'storm' of the year!
It looks yummy doesn't it? I'm making old fashioned pot roast today. I get most of my crock pot recipes from another blogger over at crockpot365.blogspot.com. They are super tasty and if your on a gluten free diet it's perfect for you! (Were not a gluten free house but I love the recipes!)
While I was taking pictures I decided to do a sit and stay for Trinity. Then Cookie Dough decided to pitch in.
Of course she decided to taunt her knowing I wasn't going to let Trinity 'play' with her.
Here's the look I got as I did this.
Pretending that she wasn't doing her 'look at me, look at me!' pose.
Trinity did so well. She got a treat, then was able to chase Cookie Dough.
I stated in my previous post when we adopted Trinity I assumed I would train her myself. Of course, after two months, I knew I needed help with that. As a result we have been going to Master Peace for eight months now. We love it there! We do clicker based, positive training. This really bonds us and she gets to work her brain in order to make the right decisions. We have had many classes which include, puppy kindergarten, three rounds of graduate puppy, two agility classes and we are in the middle of our continuing education course right now. This course will prepare us for the CGC. Trinity is not quite ready for the test but she sure is getting better every time we attend class. 
