Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!

Elka is not a dog bothered by fireworks (she'll lie to me about having to go out so she can try to see them. Protip: we can't see them from our house), but I get that a lot of dogs are. I'm surprised Elka isn't, really. This dog used to be afraid of plastic bags, and depending, they can still make her skittery.  But she wants to watch thunderstorms and fireworks. Sure, Elka. It's just how she keeps us on our toes, with no way to tell what she'll love and what she'll hate sometimes.

Command Clinic: Look at That

All right, all right. "Look at that" isn't really a command. I've heard it described as a game, which I suppose is sort of it.

"Look at that" is something you may have heard of if you're interested in clicker training and positive methods of training. It's in the book Control Unleashed, by Leslie McDevitt. It's sort of what I've done when working with Elka in respect to other dogs. At absolute perfection, I want her to just be able to ignore other dogs. At worst, I want her to be able to be calm around them. Lofty goals, right? Shoot for the stars!

The Funny Thing About Counter Conditioning

There are a few things I've worked on with Elka on our walks.

First all, the Holy Grail of walking a dog, especially a big one: loose leash walking. I'm happy to say that, combined with the clicker, repetition and improved consistency (I've never said I was perfect; I just play it on the Internet), Elka walks loose leash very well. I still Heel her on my right. We're also working on the left, for which I use the cue "Fuss", which is German for "heel", so we can act all fancy.

We've also worked on reactions to two persistently present things: barking dogs, and machinery, be it from construction or from yard work.