Name Everything

I can't remember if I've posted this picture before, dagnab it. My dear old girl, and her "little" sister, aka my kid sister's dog MissM, scanning for critters on the pond edge, as we canoed..

MissM, like old red girl, was a Pound puppy, rescued from Etobicoke Humane Society, at only 3 months old. Already had a propensity for eating anything, sister caught MissM eating broken glass almost immediately. Scared the heck out of sister. I was kinda pissed that sister got a puppy, as I had always preferred rescuing the older dogs. So I was already unsympathetic, as in, well, she's a Puppy! They do eat anything, you have to watch them! DUH!!

I was also annoyed, because my old girl was about 11 at this point. My older dog wasn't all that thrilled with her new baby sister. Neither was I. Poor MissM:(
We weren't mean or anything! My sister had been one of my old girl's favourite people, and I was also surprised when sister did get her puppy. I thought she'd have too busy a life already. Sister was inspired by the relationship that me and old girl shared, and I think she wanted that, too. Who wouldn't?? We were a team. Sister used dog-sitters and neighbours and my place, which I finally had to put the nix on. As in, she's YOUR dog, take care of her!

I had no clue on how to train a puppy, as evidenced by my first tentative snap/tug of choke-chain on sister's puppy's poor neck. Puppy cowered/flinched. I was floored. I'd used some old school tough love "traps" on Red Dog, I'm still ashamed to admit.

I did read Koehler first. Had to discard a fair amount of that. Carol Lea Benjamin, Jean Donaldson, very helpful too, but puppies seemed to be a different planet altogether, for me. Sort of like tiny infants. They make me um, "glow". Okay, sweat, okay! perspire. They make me nervous:) I'm Getting to my point. Really!

So, after kid sister had thoroughly annoyed me, by using my house as puppy inn when she was (often) away, MissM and sister learned on their own, with little help from me. Sister didn't listen to me much, anyway:)

Sister did a (mostly) beautiful job. Sister forgot to socialize MissM to cats, and gave her unlimited stuffies, some of which were ingested. MissM cannot be trusted around cats, ever. Everything else, she's pretty fine. Loves kids. Still not poisoned proofed, as sister insisted on leaving her unleashed on walks at my place, where MissM learned to eat anything she found, as Mom couldn't stop her. Yup, that annoyed me. I'd managed to poison proof my old girl, through perfect timing. And a long leash. And good luck.

Kid sisters' kitchen reno, that was on "Pure Design", on HGTV? The reno guys removed her old fridge, exposing some old rat poison, that MissM ingested a bit of, before helpfully bringing the rest to her mom.. Sister gave MissM hydrogen peroxide to vomit her, and MissM got particulate-inhalation pneumonia. Poor MissM. She's had some BAD luck through the years.

But through it all, MissM is a wonderfully sweet, well-socialized, mostly obedient dog. She has never really learned to heel well on leash. Sister never regimented her training that religiously. I was a tougher task-master with my methods. Didn't work well with Flip, in our first year, at all. MissM and Flip instantly fell in love with each other. Have been the best of buddies ever since.

When I got my Blaze puppy, I was MadlY reading puppy books, (since I only had older dog training books) and losing sleep over evening ups and downs. "My Smart Puppy" by Brian Kilcommons was perfectly helpful. Blaze house-trained in a week, and was really just an awesome little pup. I made several gabillion mistakes.

As I'd never HaD nor wanted a puppy before, though, I was pretty, um, stressed. Oh, but the smell of a puppy. No wonder people go so crazy over them. That often nobody seems to want the grown-up dog that follows, is for others to blog about.

Believe me, I felt so many mixed emotions. I think giving Flip her own ReaL little (half) sister was what helped save her brain, and mine. So, I feel less guilt for not going to a shelter. But I still feel it. Crap, tangenting aGain. I wanted another red dog, is the short story there. I didn't want what I was finding in the shelters, after old red girl passed. Flip was my old red dog's idea:) Blaze was my husband's and my breeder's idea. Blaze and I share a birthday. How cool and weird is that?
Confused? Me TOO.

Finally, My Point.
Sister gave me a training tip priceless gift, when I'd had Blaze puppy about four months.. It's so simple, it's ridiculous. But it's the best tip I've ever gotten.
NAME EVERYTHING.
Of course, I already knew to name and reward behaviours.

But when you name everything, you do indeed teach the dog a beautiful broad language. Horses, too. Name everything you do, the same name of course, being crucial. And only name the exact behaviour, and name it the SAME, every time. Same with cues, aids, hand gestures. The same gesture=name=behaviour=object=movement. Whatever it is.

every single time.
Way harder than it sounds.

Animals are watching and listening. Give them total, utter consistency, and they will learn, faster than you can believe possible. It's amazing.

For your own riding, find and name a position that is comfortable. Try to memorize how it feels. The muscles that pain you need named too. Muscle memory is our friend... As long as the muscle is being used correctly!

Simplification. I'm all for it! Hard to tell from THIS post, but oh, well..

Humans, animals, all of us are like sponges, just soaking up information. Make sure they soak up the same thing each time, and language between the two of you is born.

whew, that's more than enough for one day.. I have always been a rather monotonous sort. (You might have noticed). I can say the same thing, a Lot. I practiced it, growing up. Still do.

I learned the best with consistent repetition. Animals do, too. I've always named everything. Not very creatively, maybe, but it's how I've learned.



Horse News in the 905 Toronto area:)
I didn't get to see the horses I wanted to see, for various totally annoying reasons, BUT, I may have found something better. I will definitely keep ya posted. I did screw up enough courage to check out a "new" (not really) barn, VERY close to where I live.
Which is about all I can afford right now. Ya know? I did scritch withers and charm a spooky yearling filly. Oh, her ex-RCMP horse!
Sigh, and wow, ironic seems to be the order of my day.
There was an Appy and a Haflinger out in the field, but they were busy, looking so not very starved. The big black horse and the filly smiled at me:)

The Barn Manager kinda owes me one. I have to go back, find, and re-post something, soon. It's all about how the BM owing me the favour came about:)
What goes around, CAN maybe come around.
Just frickin' once, is all I'm askin'.

To filthy fingernails, and itchy underwear, you lucky horse beast owners, you!
Keep your hooves crossed. And keep your shoulders back:)
Sorry, I couldn't help it. I dreamed I was in a barn, then an arena last night, hand-working a palomino large pony. Haven't dreamt of barns in ages... I was also giving the riders in the arena shite for standing around gossiping, while their horses got cold and stiff.
Uh, oh...

Not toooo ditzy, and out:)