Learning Project Post One – Can You Teach Old Dogs New Tricks?

My Plans:

When beginning to think about what I wanted to focus on for my Learning Project, I knew I wanted to choose something I will be doing anyways. This way I can use this project to stay motivated and keep on track with my intentions. So, I have decided to work on training my dogs in the form of teaching them some new tricks. I chose this project because spending time with my dogs is one of my favourite things to do and I don’t always make enough time to work on new skills with them. The spring semester can be so busy, and motivating myself to do something I enjoy will help with my stress levels throughout the semester!

I have chosen to focus on all three of my dogs for this project since I would feel very guilty directing my attention to only one. So, my goal this semester is to teach each dog one to two new tricks. Every week I will work on a different progression until I reach the final skill. Each of my dogs are different ages and have different levels of training, so my goals will be different for each of them. I will outline my intentions with them in the “My Starting Point” section of this post.

My Starting Point:

My first dog, and the inspiration for the title of this post is Chex. She is eleven years old. Currently she knows how to sit and lay down (though sometimes she’s a bit stubborn when we ask her to do this things). This semester I would like to teacher her to touch my hand with her nose. This trick is kind of like a high five, just with her nose instead of paw.

 

 

My second dog is Scout. Scout is two years old and has the most experience with tricks of all three dogs. Scout can sit, shake a paw, touch his nose to my hand, spin, and lay down. He absolutely loves learning new tricks, so I have decided to choose one that is more advanced. I will be teaching Scout to weave between my legs.

It is possible that Scout will get this trick much quicker than I anticipate, so in this case we will move on to learning how to roll over.

 

My third dog is Apollo. Apollo is one years old and I rescued him about six months ago. Apollo is a very shy nervous dog, who has very little confidence. I would like his training this semester to help increase his confidence. Apollo does not do any tricks as we are still working on basic training with him. This semester I will work on recall with Apollo from increasing distances. I have a fenced in space I would like to use for this, increasing my distance each week.

 

Goals for This Week:

My goals for next week are:

• Chex: Begin to get comfortable with my hand being on her nose.
• Scout: Practice moving between my legs when they are both planted on the ground.
• Apollo: Work on recall from 6 feet away.

Where I will Gather Resources:

• I plan to use Youtube and TikTok for a lot of my resources. I am a visual learner so, I enjoy watching videos. As I post my progress each week I will be including links to any videos I used that week.
• For more details on keeping my dogs engaged and focused on the training I will be referring to the Dog Blog posted by Jennifer Berg with Oberhund Dog Training. Jennifer is local to Regina and has spent some time working with Scout. Her training methods align really well with my values as a dog owner, and I would like to use this project as a way to continue learning about her practices.