Category Archives: Uncategorized

This is an uncut training session of the early stages of teaching Voodoo the “Cookie Jar concept”. Please excuse my training errors, this is something I’m just learning as well but I make some basic errors too. The main components of the concept are 1) The dog can go check out the cookie jar any time he wants. You want the dog to CHOOSE to work with you because 2) YOU are the dog’s “key” to the cookie jar.

We want the dog to learn that the way to open the jar is to work with the human. This is slightly but importantly different from the idea of a “delayed reward” (work X amount and then get “paid”). We want the dog to work the human to convince him/her to open the jar for the dog. This is more powerful for the dog because they have more control. This difference is taught to the dog in the details of the training steps and creates a dog that pushes you to work with them, even though you don’t have any rewards on you.

In the early stages, the dog only has to do easy behaviors to get the human to open the jar. So one of the biggest mistakes I made in this video is expecting too much from Voodoo. So hopefully others can learn from my mistakes in this clip. 🙂

I’m using a different “marker” for this to let Voodoo know the reward will come from the jar (still learning to do this myself, so I still click a few times and I forget to say the new word at least once in this clip). This will later allow me to click behaviors I want to reward from my hand without him running off to the jar. And it will let him know right away when he can run to the jar where I will open it for him. https://vimeo.com/178545755

Voodoo graduated puppy class tonight and got his first certificate of achievement!  He chose the hedgehog from the pile of toys from which the graduates got to pick 🙂

We also went next door and played for a few minutes on the agility equipment https://vimeo.com/178421170/9579122303

Just some food for thought:  The above photo shows how many sensitive things are found in a dog’s neck and how pressure on those things can cause or worsen certain conditions. Clipping a leash to a dog’s collar is one of those “we’ve always done it” sort of things and mostly it works out fine for the dog as far as I can tell. They might need some chiropractic adjustments or might cough when they pull, but that’s normal, right? But is it okay for a growing puppy to be stressing the nerves, joints and tendons in their neck each time the handler or the pup pulls on the collar?  I honestly don’t know.

It seems like most dogs turn out fine and only some end up with collapsed trachea or nerve damage or other such issues that might be caused or aggravated by years of constriction on their necks.

Obviously dogs have to wear collars if they are going to compete since most venues don’t allow harnesses. So dogs have to get used to working with a leash attached to a collar.  But personally, I will be keeping my puppy on a harness as long as possible while he learns leash manners because it can’t hurt, and might help prevent issues down the line.

Harnesses move the pressure to the dog’s body and away from the sensitive neck.

But there are vast differences in harness types and how they affect the dog’s body. The type that constrict on the dog’s shoulders may be linked to shoulder issues later in life when used on growing puppies. And harnesses that have a chest strap across the front of the dog’s shoulders can also restrict full motion of the dog’s front legs. So a non-constricting, “V- front” harness with a strap between the dog’s front legs to prevent the neck pieces from moving into the neck seems to be the best choice. Or the wide strap or padded/cloth type that help spread the pressure. And a chest ring, like the one on this Chai’s Choice Front Range Harness lets you clip the leash to the chest, making it easier to control where the dog’s body is going and makes it harder for the dog to pull.

I’m currently using the Premier “Sure-fit” harness on Voodoo because it’s what I had in the size he needs and it has a non-constricting, full motion V front with a chest ring and every strap is adjustable on it.

Another option is the Perfect Fit harness by Dog Games, Ltd.

Obviously training is the most key component to getting a dog that walks nicely on a leash, but the equipment on the dog can aid the training if it’s the right equipment being used correctly, including harnesses.

As for collars, the wider the better to help distribute the pressure over a wider area and reduce the digging in caused by narrow collars. Compare the photo below with a wide collar to the ones at the top of this article.

You can find wide collars by searching the internet for “Greyhound collar”, “Greyhound martingale”, or “extra wide dog collar”. Another nice thing about the wider collar is that the design is more visible and it doesn’t damage or discolor the dog’s hair like some collars, especially if you get a fleece lined one.  🙂 The martingale design is really nice because it will tighten enough that the dog can’t slip out of the collar, but can’t tighten enough to choke or put too much pressure when it’s properly fitted. Great for dogs with thick necks or with heads that are smaller than their neck.

As I said at the start, this is just food for thought.  If you’re happy with what you are using, stick with it! If not, there ARE options to consider.

This morning I tossed a ball toward him and he caught it!  Then proceeded to catch it again and again! But I didn’t have the camera set up (of course) and I knew it would be too hard to hold the phone and toss the ball.  So I waited till the evening and got the camera set up. Started with a soft fleece tug toy and he caught it 4 out of 4 tries!  Including a bad throw. But when I tried to get him to catch the ball again, he wasn’t getting it. But that’s okay!  He’s SO proud of himself when he makes a catch and I get excited. He gets all wiggly 🙂  Darn good for 18 weeks old!

Short Video: https://vimeo.com/177185308

Catching treats is going well too. But it’s hard to hold the camera and toss the treats correctly 🙂 https://vimeo.com/176904974
He likes to tear up paper, so I have been “tossing” bits of paper, which float nicely, although sometime erratically and he’s been catching those more often than not.

He now has his big boy teeth in the front, which looks odd with the baby teeth next to them 🙂  I tried to get a photo, but he’s not a fan of my holding his lips back while I stick a phone in his face. LOL Doesn’t help that it takes awhile to focus and take the photo.  I might have to try with my real camera, which would be faster and might catch more than a black blur or a nice photo of the background.

I took him to the park with his new GPS collar and he did great on the short walk along the trail. Dazzle also got to go along and really enjoyed it!  Voodoo really watches him and likes to do what his “big brother” does. “Whatcha sniffin?”… “Whatcha peeing on?”… “We’re moving on, okay, wait for me!”  Dazzle wasn’t minding being left behind for awhile, but I think he’s over that now and would like to go more places again. And now that Voodoo has better leash manners, I can try taking both on errands when I don’t have to be busy with other things.

Forgot to mention that Voodoo now has a snazzy new tracking device collar that I just activated. If he decides to go “walk about” while off leash, I can use my phone to see his location on a map or satellite view of the area. Kind of like insurance- you hope to never need it, but having it gives a bit of peace of mind. He’s scratched at it a few times while I was getting him used to it, but he isn’t really bothered by it. Just hoping no one thinks it’s a shock collar.  He will mostly just be wearing it when I know he’s going to be off leash.

For anyone interested, it’s a Whistle brand. I got it for half price through a facebook promo and the GPS service is $6.99 – $9.99/mo. depending on the plan you pick. There was a glitch in the facebook promo and I got a second unit for free for Dazzle! Which is why I got them when I did (before I even got Voodoo). They fixed the glitch in the sale quickly, but still honored the purchases made during the glitch. It was supposed to be buy one and get one half off, which I was considering. But because of the glitch, one was half price and when I put the second one in my cart it came up free! Couldn’t pass up THAT deal when I saw it! I haven’t activated the monthly plan for Dazzle’s yet.

From 7-29-16

He did great at his first hotel stay!  I’m sure it helped that he had his ‘hotel pro’ brother there. He liked that he could get on the hotel bed himself. My bed at home is higher, which helps me get in and out, but he’s not able to jump on it himself-yet. His first night was after getting up at 7am and spending most of the day at the trial while I Judged. But since he spent most of that time sleeping in his crate, he and Dazzle were ready to play when we arrived at the hotel room. Thankfully they play quietly and I was done Judging by 3pm, so we got to the hotel fairly early.

After they played for awhile, then napped for awhile, I took them to Bob Evans to try Voodoo’s first sit-down meal in a restaurant. When the waitress says (at the end of the meal) “I didn’t know you had dogs under there!”  I’d say that was a success! But they take up a LOT of space. Not an issue when I’m by myself, but there wasn’t any leg room under the booth for anyone else.

Back at the hotel, they played a bit more and we went out for a potty walk where they found what seemed to be an entire colony of mice in the grass strip by the road. They both had a blast following trails and sticking their noses into the holes and breathing deeply for about a half hour. No mice were seen, but their scent trails were everywhere! we would have stayed there longer, but even though it was dark, it was still about 85 degrees with high enough humidity to feel like a sauna.

Back in the room, he went into his crate and slept silently till morning. Since I was only back up Judging that day, I didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn and it was nice to have a relaxed morning.

The boys relaxing at the hotel:

Pretty snazzy for a Super 8!

Checking facebook for messages from his fans

He may no longer fit on my desk at home, but when he got in my lap and saw the uncluttered, open expanse of “desk” he went right on up and sprawled out! Bonus: it was right in front of the A/C unit.

This is how he spent most of the time at the trial- sprawled in the crate, belly up. Thankfully he was quiet and relaxed, even when I was running Dazzle in the ring!

Saturday evening a group of us went out to dinner. I debated taking both dogs, but in the end I decided it would be better to just take Voodoo, so Dazzle stayed in his crate at the dog club (building was locked and A/C on). I only stayed at dinner about an hour and a half. For the first part, Voodoo was figidity. Then he settled down and took a short nap. Then he was ready to go and do something else (bored). But by then, we were done eating and ready to go back and get Dazzle and head to the hotel for the night. The restaurant was packed and busy. But overall he did really well with it!

Only issue was that when I got Dazzle, I forgot to get Voodoo’s folding crate! It was about 9:30 pm when I realized I didn’t have a crate for him to sleep in!  So, he also experienced his first night sleeping loose.  I did my best to “puppy proof” the room by tucking up all visible wires, picking up the trash can, closing the toilet, etc. and then just had to hope for the best.  After I went to bed and turned off the lights (about midnight) he started on the bed with me and Dazzle. But I could tell he was hot by the amount of flipping and flopping and complaint moaning  he was doing.  So then he went to the floor and tried several different places there (next to the bed, under the luggage rack, under the desk, under the chair, near the bathroom, etc.) but there apparently wasn’t a good spot on the floor either.  He tried a few different positions on the chair in the room, but that also wasn’t right for Goldilocks. So I got up and gave him a bully stick. He moved around the floor as he worked on that till about 2am when he finally got comfortable and sleepy. He jumped on the bed, dug around a bit, flopped down, let out a big sigh and finally went to sleep!  He was still in that spot when I got up in the morning. And he was relaxed and stretching out on the bed as I got dressed to take him out. So a big success! But he still sleeps in his crate at home 🙂

I feel like a slacker.  Compared to what I did with Dazzle when he was a pup, I haven’t done as much with Voodoo. But I haven’t NEEDED to do as much training! With Dazzle, he was non-stop energy.  Self-control and impulse control was NOT his strong suit 🙂 So the multiple training sessions per day were to save both our sanity.

Voodoo however, is much more laid back and has excellent self control and impulse control. We have worked on it, but he learns fast and he just has a much different temperament from a Malinois. Which is REALLY pleasant, I must say 🙂 But because he does have such a nice ability to settle and/or self-entertain I haven’t felt the need to be keeping him occupied 24/7. So we do little training sessions here and there whenever the need or desire arises, but I haven’t set up the camera to capture it. Most of what we are working on has been building the foundation behaviors, some of which I did capture and post.

The newest behavior I have been trying to teach him is to catch treats/toys that are tossed to him. He is making improvements, but I think his biggest stumbling block at the moment is just his age and lack of mouth/eye coordination. I’m sure in a few weeks he will be a catching maniac 🙂 He’s doing excellent in puppy class, way ahead of everyone, but it’s a great way for me to work on obedience behaviors in a highly distracting environment. And he gets a bit of time to play with the other pups. He and Dazzle are still playing like crazy and that helps keep him occupied and exercised.

Photo of the 4′ high barrier I put around the table with the cat food to keep Voodoo from another unplanned snack time.The cat can go in/out through the gate near the middle of the photo.  That is held open and kept from closing with a couple double ended snaps (not in the photo). While she’s not afraid of the dogs, she does like her new little safe haven 🙂

A few photos of our session with bubbles. In the first photo, I hadn’t planned for him to jump, but the bubble floated upwards and of course that was the one he wanted.  I cringed as I took it, but he landed safely and I got a great photo. He wasn’t so happy with the taste of them when he did catch them (shown in the last photo where he’s making a face after catching one). The session was cut short when I leaned down to get a better angle and dumped most of the bubble solution. 😦

He is LOVING nail trim time with the remote control treat dispenser! He can’t wait to get up there with it to have his nails dremeled. Still doing pretty rapid fire treats as I file, but very gradually increasing the time between treats being dispensed when I hit the button.

This photo of him under the Jog-a-dog is the last photo I think I’ll get of him under that machine.  He went under a couple days ago and rolled over and got himself stuck under the lower part and started screaming because “the machine wouldn’t let him out”. He wasn’t hurt, just freaked out. He hasn’t squeezed under since then.

Last two photos are just for fun.  I was at my desk and heard him come in and sit next to me.  I looked down and he was patiently holding the big, heavy Galileo bone and waiting for me to trade it for a treat (which I did after I got the photo) 🙂  And the last one was where I finally captured a half way decent shot showing how he likes to wrap his front feet around the tug toy. This allows him to hang his full weight on it. I’m sure that will be fun when he’s 60 lbs! And sometimes he’s able to grab higher on the toy by quickly switching his grip to the part above his paws.

My little boy is growing up!  He’s starting to lose his puppy teeth (probably swallowed them).

He still has a puppy look, but not as much as just 6 weeks ago!