As some of you know I kept Cole while his parents were on vacation for two weeks in Florida. They live down in Birmingham, but felt it worth their time to drive him up to me to watch so he could get some training and insure he was cared for appropriately. Cole is from the Billie and Cash litter (he was Aladdin), so he is only 6 months old. That is a critical age where they test the waters. There were a few things they really needed some help with, and I felt I could whip the little man into shape while still allowing him to have a great little vacation himself.
The first issue I had to work on was his separation anxiety. Cole’s dad work’s from home. This has good points and bad points, especially if you are dealing with a male Std Poodle. They are already clingy creatures, and if you never really leave them it feeds into their desire to be right underfoot at all times. This first video shows me working with Cole, and getting him to understand he gets more from me if he is calm and quiet than if he is barking and acting like a nut. I didn’t film him when he first arrived, because honestly I didn’t think about it. I mainly filmed this to send to his parents to show them just how he is capable of acting. To increase their own expectations. His parents can now look him in the eye and say “OH no you don’t, I KNOW you know how to sit quietly. I am not fooled by you!”. Cole is two things. Extremely smart and persistent. You pair those two traits and you have a dog who can convince their owners they have no control of their own actions, and that the owners must simply adjust to the ‘new way of life’. Cole is the one who had to adjust his thinking when he arrived here. I first had to convince him barking at me and jumping the fence was a no-go. If he jumped the fence, I tossed him back over and said “NO SIR!” I was not mean, I was simply firm, yet fair. If he stayed, I would come over and pet him. If he was barking I sprayed him with water, dropped a can of pennies to interrupt him, or walked over and squeezed his nose and said “ahhhh, no bark”. He liked the water spray, so I had to stop that. I also used the citronella spray bark collar, which worked well on him and would correct him while I was not near him. The key was to interrupt his downward spiral of panic. When he would calm, I would return. As he did better and better, I started expecting more. At first it was stand by the gate and be quiet. Then it was sit by the gate. Then it was sit in the middle of the room. Finally it was go relax in the middle of the room and I will come pet you and tell you how awesome you are. He LOVES attention, so he was eager to learn anything I was willing to teach. He is also a mentally resilient dog, meaning he doesn’t get his feelings hurt if I tell him no. It was more like “Oh… well that didn’t work. Hmm… maybe I should stop and think about this”. When he would stop to think, I would praise him. I had him doing all this in a matter of a few hours with only short training sessions.
Once I had him good in one room, I had to work him in most rooms of the house. Dogs do not generalize, but with each room, the training time needed to get him calm was much less. Eventually, the last room he didn’t really test me and I knew he had the concept that “sure, she goes away, but she comes back if I am calm and quiet and I might get a cookie!”. Getting him to stay in a room or outside without barking, digging at the door, or whining took about 3 days, but in the big scheme of things it was an extremely fast turn around in behavior. His entire demeanor relaxed, when he stopped worrying. Calm mind = calm dog. Works every time.
The next thing I needed to work on with him was calmness out in public. He was very nervous of other places and dogs. I took him to training class once where he did really well, but it was scary meeting Max, the other Std Poodle in class. Even though he was nervous, he worked well for me and we made a lot of progress on his leash manners and basic obedience work. He did not know stay when he arrived, but he had a good grasp by the time he left. I didn’t get any video at class, but I took a short video of him and River at the park. He came here pulling really hard on his leash, so I moved him to a martingale harness that clips in the front. It is a no-pull harness and does well for dogs who are sensitive to pressure. The pinch collar was much for him. A tool is a tool and you use what works for each dog if you are a knowledgeable trainer. He was pulling really hard on the buckle collar and that just isn’t acceptable. He will harm his neck, so another option was needed. Some dogs work just fine on a pinch collar and I have no issue using one on the right dog.
The final thing I had to have a conversation with him about was pushing me out of the way and running out the door. That is a big pet peeve of mine, pun intended. I cannot abide a door bolter, even if they are going out into the back yard. Here is a rather long video of me teaching him to stay at the door.
Cole was so much fun to have visit. He did a lot of funny things, but my favorite was when he tried to convince me he was absolutely allowed to sleep on the bed. His dad told me specifically he doesn’t sleep on the bed, but does allow him up in the morning after he goes out to potty. Well, the first night he walked into our bedroom and I was already laying on the bed. Cole glanced at the bed, then at me, then the bed. I said “Ahh, I know what you are thinking. Ahh Ahh!” Well, he decided to ignore that and put his paws up there. I said “No” and took my feet and pushed his feet off. Still, he did think I was really serious. He decided to just leap up onto the bed, tail wagging. I get up and say “No sir” and pick him up and put him back on the floor. I get back on the bed and look him right in the eye. He gives a little sigh and collapsed to the floor in a defeated heap. After that he never asked to sleep on the bed again. His actions during that event sum up his entire attitude about training. If someone is consistent with him, he will eventually give up, but whoa to the person who isn’t during the testing period!
I miss my little black shadow. Maybe I’ll get to keep that funny, sweet boy again. He is a real gem.
~Becky