A+ for Socialization

Well - it's been 6 weeks since I came home with Gitta and things are going both better and worse than I expected. I became re-excited about all things related to dog training and devoured books, dvds, articles, and websites on the subject. In some ways, it almost felt like I had already taught all these behaviors, I was so convinced of the power or training and the science of operant conditioning. So of course, training went slower than what I pictured in my head at first. Gitta was so small, and had a hard time eating most treats when I first got her! She has a puppy attention span, and when I first started training her - she was just mawling me! I joked with friends that I spent the first few weeks of training just reinforcing her for not attacking me!!!

I have had some successes. Teaching a spin was a huge accomplishment as I used pure shaping rather than luring. She does a wonderful job offering eye contact when I started reinforcing that. And she is learning (through shaping) to go to a bed and lie down.

But the number 1 thing I am MOST proud of is the job I have done socializing her. I used to get up on weekends and just take off with Isaac to get him out of the house and give Esteban a chance to sleep in. It was easier to take care of him on the road than to try and keep him quiet at home. It's much the same now with Gitta! She's crated when not under supervision, so what's the difference between being crated at home and crated in the car? Not much - except that in the car, she's getting used to driving around and getting into and out of the car - something we do alot of when showing. So, I'll often get up and pack up Isaac and Gitta in the car. A typical weekend morning might look something like this:

• Drive to starbucks, leave Gitta in the car with a fan while ordering, then bring Gitta to one of the outside tables while I drink coffee and Isaac drinks hot chocolate.


• Pack her back into the car and go to the UPS store to mail a package.


• Head to the library, let her out in the grass for a few minutes, then put her in the car with a fan while we pick out some movies, let her out on the grass again before leaving.

We go to Petco and we hang out in the front yard while the neighbor's kids run around, drive around, and bike around. None of it phases her.

But the other aspect of socialization that I am particularly proud of is the amount of handling I have done with her. I had a eureka moment where I realized that spending time just stroking her and touching her and manipulating her arms, legs, paws, and nails is EXTREMELY valuable! Just as valuable - at the age perhaps even more valuable - than teaching skills or tricks. I owe alot to the WONDERFUL book "Quick Clicks: 40 Fast and Fun Behaviors to Train with a Clicker". It had an entire chapter on clicker training husbandry tasks such as relaxing for an exam, opening mouth for brushing, and relaxing for nail cutting. It really opened my eyes to all the things I should be teaching that lie outside of obedience or agility skills. Sometimes at night when Gitta is more sedate, when I open her crate, she steps out, stretches and then just plops down. Those are the times when I will just take each paw and spread out each toe and touch each nail. Sometimes I'll grab the clippers and just trim 3 or 4 nails, stopping when she gets antsy. I do this every few days - so I never have to cut much, and never risk hitting the quick.

And what do I get for all this??? Just a few moments ago, Gitta just laid there when I opened the door of her X-pen. So I grabbed the clippers, rolled her on her back, and cut every single nail. We only own one dog whose nails I could cut by myself - our golden (and she was just born that way!). So this was an unbelievable accomplishment!

I'm enjoying all aspects of training her and I have so much I want to do. And yet, perhaps it's the wisdom of the second generation of competition dogs - but I'm in no rush to get there. I want a solid foundation and a dog I can live with and take anywhere. And at this age - if I have to choose between training a skill and socialization - socialization is the clear answer.