 "Sit"  "Down"  "Stand"  "Front"  "Finish" | This Monday, February 3rd, please join the Positive Pet Training Blog Hop hosted by Cascadian Nomads, Dachshund Nola & Tenacious Little Terrier. This blog hop is held on the first Monday of each month. Begin Responsible Pet Owners month by sharing and learning about how training and maintaining socialization makes pets better members of society. Any posts about positive based training with any pets are welcome in the blog hop this and every month. Training is part of the responsibility of life with pets!  Grab Our Badge! Typist: Bethany January's National Train Your Dog Month has ended and February brings us Responsible Pet Owners month. While it is always a good idea to have months, weeks or days that bring human's attention and focus to a certain topic, some things should be a regular part of our lives no matter what month it is. Being responsible for a pet, for the entire life of that pet, is part of sharing your home with a pet. Of course, training is only part of responsible pet ownership but it is an extremely important part. Every pet deserves to use their brain each and every day- human's do too! So, like I did in early January, I want to continue to share with you ideas about how to fit training into everyday life. Earlier this week I was cleaning up the kitchen and I noticed Wilhelm sitting nicely near the dishwasher. The dogs are not usually allowed in the kitchen but instead of turning this moment into practicing the "out" command, I praised* Wilhelm for his "good sit" (and grabbed my camera phone from the counter!) Then I asked him for a "down" and raved* about his compliance. Next Wilhelm practiced a "stand." "Stand" is often hard for him but he was very focused on me. (He is a dachshund and we were in a kitchen...) After his success with the "stand" I got really brave and told Wilhelm "front." It was beautiful! I complimented* him again before instructing his "finish" to heel position. I directed an "around" (a finish to my right) because the side of the refrigerator was in the way to my left. By this time Brychwyn had come into the kitchen and offered a "down" in front of the fridge. (I love my smart dogs!) Wilhelm remained in his finished heel while I praised Brychwyn and released** him. Finally I released** Wilhelm. Both dogs got lots and lots of praise* and a few food rewards as quickly as I could get to the treat jar. (In case you were wondering, Huxley was outside with Jason.) So we had a completely unplanned, very fun and totally successful training session in the kitchen while I was wearing my slippers. It was simple and impromptu but so very important. And while I wish all training sessions yielded such good feelings (and adorable photos) I know that any time spent stimulating my pets brains is time spent being a responsible pet owner, no matter what month it is!  Kitchen Dog Training In My Slippers |
Have you ever had kitchen dog training in your slippers time? Or an even more spontaneous training moment? Please share!
* Because I did not have treats near-by, I did not click/mark these behaviors but praised with other high-pitch voiced words and petting that I knew would not change the asked positions.
**My dogs are expected to remain in a command until they hear their trained release words- each dog has a different release and I also have a group release. That's all the space I have to type about release from commands in this post. I hope to have another post about it soon or please contact me; I'd be happy discuss release words with you.
**My dogs are expected to remain in a command until they hear their trained release words- each dog has a different release and I also have a group release. That's all the space I have to type about release from commands in this post. I hope to have another post about it soon or please contact me; I'd be happy discuss release words with you.
You knew there had to be a 12th dog photo in this post, right? The Super Bowl is tomorrow and... Go Seahawks!
Follow on Instagram
