Project "Socializing Noor"

Noor on the sofa when visiting Mads parents and their dog.

 Noor usually lives on an island outside of Tromsø, and therefore isn't very used to being in the city. That is one of the reasons that I have borrowed her so much lately. Plus that I really like having her here. But the most important part of it is to get Noor used to meeting dogs, both pass and greet people she doesn't know, get used to traffic, noises and smells, walking on new substrates and so on. In short socialize her and get her to handle things on her own, away from her pack (she lives with 3 more Siberian Huskies).

Today we have had three dog encounters in one day. One bad, one good and one perfect. The bad one was a Gordon Setter that charged when we passed its house, the Setter was tied up on the porch and clearly didn't like Noor passing by.. Noor was nervous for a while afterwards, but when we came to the spot where we usually play (3 minutes walk from where the Setter was), she had forgotten all about it and happily played with the ball.

A totally unrelated Gordon Setter from the one we met today. This is a very nice Gordon Setter female I took care of during one weekend last summer.

The good dog encounter was with a 10 year old miniature Schnauzer that Noor clearly thought was a puppy. She tried to get him to play, something he really wasn't interested in. She managed to get out of her collar twice during her violent attempts to engage him in playing.. Luckily he was so calm that it ended with them just sniffing each other. A less patient dog would have told her off. Harshly.

The third dog encounter of the day was a 10 year old Flatcoated Retriever. A dignified old lady that obviously commanded so much respect that Noor didn't even try playing with her. She just calmly (well as calmly as a 10 month old Siberian Husky can..) sniffed her and then ended up cuddling with the owner instead.

I was afraid that the Gordon Setter would have set Noor back, but it seems that it hasn't affected her at all. The meeting with the Flatcoated Retriever was really perfect, something I really didn't think was possible considering that just one and a half week ago she started screaming (yes, she screamed, she doesn't bark) when we met a dog.

I really see progress in her every day. It's almost unreal to think about how afraid she was of everything when she came here for the first time two weeks ago. Everything startled her. She was afraid to walk up and down the stairs and she didn't even dare to pee! Now she is at home here in the city. As long as we don't meet dogs she walks around as if she owns the place, and both ignoring other people when told and greeting new people is a piece of cake. Cars, buses, bikes, nothing is scary anymore. She's not even a little scared of the stairs outside anymore, we're still working on the stairs inside, she walked half way in them now tonight, I had to carry her the first half. The elevator is also a piece of cake, she actually seems to like it (even though it could just be the relief of not having to walk down the stairs..).

Noor doesn't need a lot of socialization, that is clear, but she needed what she has gotten. I think she is ready to move back to her pack any day now.. the question is; am I ready to let her go?

Play as reward

I've "borrowed" Noor, Monicas Siberian Husky, again. I just got so inspired at the obedience course last weekend, that I just had to have a dog to practice what I've learned with. I have been trying to teach Noor things using only food/treats as reward, and that works well, for a while, but she soon loses interest. So I went and bought her a ball and a rope with knots. So far we have only played with the ball,which she loved! But in the beginning she didn't understand that she could come back to me in order to get me to throw the ball again, or to offer behaviors or listen to commands for that matter.. It didn't take many play sessions for her to get this though. We've been playing four times now and now she sits down directly when I hold the ball, she still doesn't run back to me with the ball though.. but when I want the ball backs she just gives it up, no problem! Which is very nice. We just have to work on her bringing it to me. But one thing at a time. For now we just enjoy playing together! Below is a video of one of the first playing sessions we had.

Obedience course in Tromsø 13-15 April 2012

Six of the nine dogs participating in the course, here at a group stay. From the front: Qis (Australian Kelpie), Loppa (Lancashire Heeler), Qoralle (Australian Kelpie), Zizu (Mittelspitz), Bjarne (mix "wheaten schanuzer") and farthest to the back Micke (Border Collie).

This weekend I've spent most of my time at a course in obedience in Tromsø, unfortunately I've been ill too, so the first two days I wasn't able to focus much. Today, however, I felt a lot better so today has been very informative and interesting. I've also been able to take a lot of pictures, about 1000 photos, out of which 700 was from today (last day of the course).
It was very fun to spend time with other people that are as interested in dogs as I am. That doesn't happen very often.. But the most important part was of course that I have learned a lot of things that I can use when training my future dog. While on the subject, I got an email today from the breeder that we will buy our Danish Swedish Farmdog puppy from, and her dog has just come in heat! So if all goes well, me and Mads will go and get our puppy on the same weekend as my birthday (the end of August). Lets hope there will be a little female puppy for us in this litter!
But back to the obedience course. I learned a lot about how to effectively reinforce behaviors by using play as reward and when to rather use food/treats as reward.

"Do I have to give it back?" Micke, Border Collie, gives back the ball in exchange for a treat.

"I'll get it!" Mist, Border Collie, is rewarded with playing with a toy.

Qoralle, an Australian Kelpie, just about to start playing!

 It was really interesting to see how the owner worked with their dogs, who were at different levels in teir training. Many of the dogs were very young, but some were more mature and were very good already. Many of the dogs were practicing retrieving and I learned a lot about training dogs that were on different levels in their training.

Qis, an Australian Kelpie, is retrieving from a distance.

Zizu, a Mittelspitz (German Spitz Mittel), is learning the basics of retrieving.

Another thing that many of the participants were training with their dog was heel work. When competing in obedience your dog must not only be able to heel (with or without wearing a leash, depending on which level they're competing at) but also stop on command (either standing, sitting or lying down) while the owner keeps walking. This was very fascinating to me, and I had to smile a bit when I imagined trying this with Noor or Scott.. I know it is possible, especially after seeing the progress the dogs in the obedience course made over just one weekend, but it would take a LOT of work.. Think I'd better wait for my own puppy rather than starting with those two.. besides both of them have a lot of other, more important things to learn first..

Qoralle, an Australian Kelpie, heeling on leash.

Mist, a Border Collie, stays lying down while her owner continues walking.

One of the things I will definitely teach my puppy early is the "starting position", which is sitting on my left side, preferably looking up at me. All of the dogs at the obedience course were really good at this.. Maybe I should start by teaching Noor and Scott this? It can't be too hard, can it? I mean both of them know how to sit on command, they just need to learn where to sit..

Bjarne, a mix between Irish Softcoated Wheaten Terrier and some sort of Schnauzer, showing us a perfect "starting position".

Loppa, a Lancashire Heeler, is rewarded with a treat for staying in position.

It has been a very educative weekend for me, with a lot of nice dog people and dogs. And now I've reached the end of this blog post and still there were two more participating dogs that I wanted to show you pictures of! So here they come:

Eine, working type Labrador Retriever at a group stay.

Ferdinand, a second Lancashire Heeler with the same owner as the previously mentioned Loppa.

There were actually two additional dogs there, one German Shepherd puppy owned by a woman that has a dog training school in Tromsø, who came by both on Saturday and Sunday, and a very pregnant Whippet owned by the same person that had Bjarne, the "Wheaten Schnauzer".

Ella, a 12 weeks old German Shepherd. Here the instructor of the course shows us how to start playing with puppies in order for us to be able to effectively use playing as a reward in obedience training.

Jenny, the Whippet.

In only two weeks time Jenny will have her litter of puppies!

Easter with a Siberian Husky and a Danish Swedish Farmdog

From Tuesday last week, until yesterday, so the entire Easter, I've been at Mads family's cottage, with Mads parents, Mads, Scott (Danish Swedish Farmdog) and Monica's dog Noor (Siberian Husky). The dogs were a bit skeptical towards each other in the beginning but before the Easter was over they were the best of friends!

First day at the cottage, the dogs are not sure about each other and keeps a respectful distance. Here both are showing calming signals. Scott is sniffing the ground and Noor is turning her head away.

Noor being about 10 months old had a harder time acting "adult and calm", she wanted Scott to play with her. But he was not so keen since she is more than twice his size.. Scott prefers to play with people..

Scott is telling Noor to stop playing so roughly with him and she listens.. for the time being..

Scott prefers to play with people and he loves to chase snowballs. Here Merete has just thrown a snowball for him to chase, Noor that saw that Scott was really excited about something that Merete did, also ran to Merete. But she really didn't see the point in chasing snowballs...

They started becoming friends the second day, which was the day me and Merete went down on the ice on the lake and played with them (the two pictures above). We had Noor on a long leash, we didn't know if we could trust her to stay with us at this point.

Out walking on the ice the 3rd day at the cottage.

 The 3rd day at the cottage the dogs had become such good friends that they could even eat out of the same bowl, and they were both really careful to make sure the other dog understood they had no ill intentions. That day I took the dogs for two long walks, first just me and the dogs in the woods behind the cottage, and then in the evening, a walk on the frozen lake with Mads. That night they dogs were so tired they rested next to each other on the couch. When I tried to get Noor with me to bed she was so tired she slept in my arms!

Two very tired dogs!

Noor sleeping in my arms.

On the 4th day the dogs were the best of friends and that continued for the rest of our stay at the cottage. By that point we were also so sure of Noor that we allowed her to be off leash when we were down on the lake. Below are some of the pictures from the last couple of days at the cottage.