Monday, July 02, 2007
Here's to training
I knew right away that Nicholas was the right trainer for me. Maybe it was his no-nonsense attitude. Maybe it was his ability to make things crystal clear through analogies. Maybe it was his training studying wolves and coyotes. I was on board. My own personal dog whisperer.
Week 1:
see previous post. The outcome was that Nemo walked around looking afraid of me and like he'd done something wrong. I guess it was the not letting him touch me (unless I instigated it), not walking over or around him but straight on through until he moved (that was easy), and not talking to him except to tell him we were "done" with our interaction or to "halt" whatever he was doing wrong.
The dog that greeted Nicholas on the second week was much more unsure, much less certain of himself and his proper place. He stayed in the hall while Nicholas and I sat in the kitchen and talked (a first for a dog who insists on being with me at all times) and only came in to the room when Nicholas called him.
Week 2:
I had a lot of work to do with commands, although Nemo already knew a few from his training with his previous owner. We spent 15-30 seconds, 10 times a day, playing Simon Says. 'Sit. good boy! Lie down. Good boy! Shake. Good boy! Roll over. Good boy!" He was a pro, except when it came from going from a lie down to a sit. That took some pulling and dragging. By week 3 he had the gist of it, and now he does it on his own almost every time.
We also did a lot of practice walks--2x a day, with him on the 1-foot leash and me not looking at him. (this is a lot harder than it sounds, expecially as I'm so enamored with Neemes). Also being very alpha in my posture: head up, chin out, shoulders back. Commanding. I also had to know at every moment where our destination was: even if it was just the telephone poll three yards away. Nemo had to start to learn that, when we went out hunting (as Nicholas explained, this was Nemo's idea of what we did together, and what I was doing when I went out without him), he had a very important job and that was to help me as his pack leader. So I had to decide what to focus on, what was important, how important it was, and how it shoud affect our journey towards our goal. Basically, total leadership at all times.
I found this very challenging at first. I could notice other dogs, but generally ignored loud sounds that Nemo would focused on. Then I'd have to work to get him back focused on me. I was supposed to pause only for a second or two while I considered how important something was: a construction guy with a jackhammer, a rottweiler across the street, a Fed Ex truck pulling up on the sidewalk. I noticed that when I did these walks with my boyfriend, I was much better at it because I could point things out as I was noticing them and then say out loud what the appropriate response was. Then it was like I was following my own instructions, instead of having to think the whole thing through internally at lightening speed. It sounded something like this, said sort of under my breath:
"Chihauha, keep on going. Crazed man in orange suitsit talking to himself, pause for just a sec. Traffic light. 'Sit, Neemes. Good boy. Heel.' Robin in the grass, no matter. Bicycle coming towards us: 'Nemo, sit. Good dog. Stay:'"
I would ramble to myself, and realize that even if I myself sounded like a crazy person, this was probably the most mature thing I'd ever done. As a writer I'm always inside my head, and my work lives inside Word documents and e-mails most of the time. It was fun to have a performance to do; a new language to speak; a posture to maintian. I felt like a new person. And I was starting to see I could have a new dog.
Week 1:
see previous post. The outcome was that Nemo walked around looking afraid of me and like he'd done something wrong. I guess it was the not letting him touch me (unless I instigated it), not walking over or around him but straight on through until he moved (that was easy), and not talking to him except to tell him we were "done" with our interaction or to "halt" whatever he was doing wrong.
The dog that greeted Nicholas on the second week was much more unsure, much less certain of himself and his proper place. He stayed in the hall while Nicholas and I sat in the kitchen and talked (a first for a dog who insists on being with me at all times) and only came in to the room when Nicholas called him.
Week 2:
I had a lot of work to do with commands, although Nemo already knew a few from his training with his previous owner. We spent 15-30 seconds, 10 times a day, playing Simon Says. 'Sit. good boy! Lie down. Good boy! Shake. Good boy! Roll over. Good boy!" He was a pro, except when it came from going from a lie down to a sit. That took some pulling and dragging. By week 3 he had the gist of it, and now he does it on his own almost every time.
We also did a lot of practice walks--2x a day, with him on the 1-foot leash and me not looking at him. (this is a lot harder than it sounds, expecially as I'm so enamored with Neemes). Also being very alpha in my posture: head up, chin out, shoulders back. Commanding. I also had to know at every moment where our destination was: even if it was just the telephone poll three yards away. Nemo had to start to learn that, when we went out hunting (as Nicholas explained, this was Nemo's idea of what we did together, and what I was doing when I went out without him), he had a very important job and that was to help me as his pack leader. So I had to decide what to focus on, what was important, how important it was, and how it shoud affect our journey towards our goal. Basically, total leadership at all times.
I found this very challenging at first. I could notice other dogs, but generally ignored loud sounds that Nemo would focused on. Then I'd have to work to get him back focused on me. I was supposed to pause only for a second or two while I considered how important something was: a construction guy with a jackhammer, a rottweiler across the street, a Fed Ex truck pulling up on the sidewalk. I noticed that when I did these walks with my boyfriend, I was much better at it because I could point things out as I was noticing them and then say out loud what the appropriate response was. Then it was like I was following my own instructions, instead of having to think the whole thing through internally at lightening speed. It sounded something like this, said sort of under my breath:
"Chihauha, keep on going. Crazed man in orange suitsit talking to himself, pause for just a sec. Traffic light. 'Sit, Neemes. Good boy. Heel.' Robin in the grass, no matter. Bicycle coming towards us: 'Nemo, sit. Good dog. Stay:'"
I would ramble to myself, and realize that even if I myself sounded like a crazy person, this was probably the most mature thing I'd ever done. As a writer I'm always inside my head, and my work lives inside Word documents and e-mails most of the time. It was fun to have a performance to do; a new language to speak; a posture to maintian. I felt like a new person. And I was starting to see I could have a new dog.
