This semester I wanted to approach the Learning Project with an idea that I knew I would keep up with beyond the seven weeks we had to work. I chose to teach all three of my dogs a new trick. I absolutely love spending time with my dogs and was so excited to embark on this journey with them. Today my dogs have not only learned some new things but have also shown great progress in their attentiveness to commands, speed of learning new things, and bond with me as their owner! I am so proud of Chex, Scout, and Apollo, and I am so excited to continue working on a variety of tricks with them!

Recap of My Project

Week One – Can You Teach Old Dogs New Tricks?

• I began my project by outlining my plans for this project. Throughout the next six weeks, I had set out to teach each of my three dogs a new trick.
• Each dog had a different starting point so I knew it was important to choose tricks that suited them.
  • Chex, an older dog who knew how to sit and lay down would learn how to nose target.
  • Scout, a young dog who has done lots of previous training would learn how to weave.
  • And Apollo, my youngest dog who is in the beginning stages of learning tricks would continue to work on his recall.

• In this project I planned to accomplish these tricks by using a mixture of articles, YouTube videos, and TikTok’s to help me in the learning process.

Week Two – Creating A Game Plan

• In this weeks post I set out to gather resources to begin my project. I decided it was incredibly important to establish where to begin, as this was my very first training adventure on my own.
  • For Chex I began with How to Teach Your Dog to Nose Target or “Touch” by Stephanie Gibeault, this resource went into detail on why nose targeting is important and how to begin.
  • For Scout I found a video on TikTok by life.with.ice that outlined how to teach weaving in three steps.
  • For Apollo I found the article How to Teach Your Dog to Come: Reliable Recall Training which I took one strategy for training puppies to try.
• This week I learned the importance of planning when it comes to training. I saw that if I did not have a plan set in place I would not be able to achieve the results I wanted. I was able to carry these resources with me throughout this project, and they were definitely a key piece of my progress.
• Along with establishing a game plan, I found the general resource C.A.R.E. – A Measure of Success in Dog Training by McCann Dogs which focussed on training using the C.A.R.E. acronym.

Week Three – Progress!

• This week I learned about positive reinforcement training. From the article Positive Reinforcement Training on the Humane Society of the United States Website I learned that when a dog is excited to receive a high value reward, they are more likely to repeat the behaviours that have been previously rewarded.
• When working on positive reinforcement, the most important things to consider are timing (must be immediate), consistency (must always reward), and rewarding shaping behaviour (signs that the dog is almost there).
• As for my dogs progress this week, each dog made immense progress as can be seen in the video below!

Week Four – Creating a Training Environment

• This week I wanted to learn more about the tools I can use to set up a productive training environment. I chose this topic to research, as I had been having difficulties with my dogs becoming distracted (especially Scout).
• I found Is Your Dog Easily Distracted? These 5 Tips Will Change EVERYTHING by McCann Dog Training on YouTube and immediately knew this was the perfect resource. I learned that setting up the environment has many different factors that can impact your dog like picking a training time, identifying lengths of training times, and establishing routines.
  • Following suggestions from this article helped me to make further progress when I felt we had paused.
• As for each of my dogs, Chex was catching on really quickly when following the “boop” command, Scout stayed the same as last week while we began to find ways to enhance training times, and Apollo practiced recall from about 6ft away.

Week Five – Keeping Motivation

• As things became busy found myself struggling to stay motivated. So I turned to the article Loosing Interest in Dog Training? How to Stay Motivated to aid in this struggle.
  • In this article I learned some strategies to help not get burned out when training. These were strategies like not taking an all or nothing approach, keeping track of progress (was already doing this thanks to this blog!), and setting goals both long and short term.
• This week I began to realize how far I had really come since the beginning and how much closer I am with my dogs than ever before.
• In my progress update video, I was only able to film Chex and Scout, as Apollo was too distracted by the camera man! But, Apollo also had much progress with recall in the back yard.

Week Six – Learning Project: My Final Week

• In the final week of my Learning Project I decided to place my learning focus on how to continue my training beyond this project. I came across the article 8 Reasons Why Dog Training Is So Important which I plan to keep in mind moving forward. These reasons are training: teaches good behaviour, creates opportunities for safe spaces, builds confidence, keeps dogs safe, prevents bad habits, supports toilet training, teaches safe socialization, and builds a bond.
  • These are things I will keep in mind for my dogs as well as any future dogs I might have in my life.
• My final progress update was a really exciting one as I am so proud of my dogs’ progress. Apollo is shown in the video doing other tricks that we have worked on, as filming his recall is too distracting at this moment.

Did I Reach My Goal?

Overall, yes I do think I reached my goal. Though I did not fully accomplish the goals that I had set out at the beginning of the project, each of my dogs accomplished many things.

• Chex fully accomplished the goals I had set out for her, successfully learning to nose target. I used the command “boop” with her and each time she will touch her nose to my hand. In the beginning until the final week she would lick my hand rather than touch her nose, but she now successfully only uses her nose. I am so proud of her progress.
• Scout did not fully learn to weave, but we have gotten up to three weaves with a lead. Though this was not the original goal, he has made so much progress that I am incredibly happy with this. We will continue to work on weaving beyond this project!
• Apollo has improved so much in his recall as well as picked up some tricks like sit, shake a paw, and lay down. I do not think there was necessarily an end goal for him other than to improve, and I definitely think we achieved that.

My dogs’ accomplishments make me feel as though I did well in this project and can keep up with many of the strategies I have learned!

Key Takeaways

1. You Can Learn Online

I have been able to pull information from a variety of different resources to either learn new strategies for dog training or enhance what I already know. I loved how easy it was to have information at the tips of my fingers, allowing me to know what I needed to instantly. Learning online has given me the opportunity to become independent and take control of my own learning. I did not need to know someone who had extended knowledge on my topic, as I could easily search for answers. Learning online has so many benefits as there are things for all types of learners. On the internet we have videos for visual learners, articles for learners who prefer reading, podcasts for auditory learners, and so much more. I truly believe anyone can learn on the internet.

2. Engaging in a Supportive Community is So Important

I had so many wonderful classmates encouraging me throughout this process, and they were some of the key factors in staying motivated. It is easy to become discouraged when trying something new, so having a community of people who frequently comment with encouragement and suggestions is so helpful. I especially would like to thank two of my classmates who regularly appeared in my comments, Avery and Mariia.

• Avery was consistently tracking my progress and discussing ideas and strategies that work on her own dog.
• Mariia was the first to recommend using McCann Dogs on Youtube for learning, which ended up being one of my most used resources.

3. Consistency is Key

As with learning anything new, constancy is key. I found with my dogs even missing one training session would push them back, as they needed to continue to practice the new skills. This discovery lead me to establishing short training sessions everyday which only lasted about fifteen minutes. When ensuring that I was consistent in training my dogs learned faster, began to trust me quicker, looked forward to and were prepared for training times, and made more progress than I had seen before.

4. Old Dogs CAN Learn New Tricks

Though two of my dogs are younger, Chex who is eleven years old learned her trick the fastest. I am not sure if this is because her trick was easier, or she has more experience but it was noticeable how quickly she caught on. This taught me to never be discouraged by the ages of my dogs, and to always keep teaching them. Learning keeps their brains moving and growing, and I want them to be as healthy as possible, consistently helping them to engage in activity. I think this is also an important lesson for humans. We tend to put ourselves in a box defined by our age. So, if there is anything my readers take away from this it should be this: You are never too old to try something new, your time has not passed, you are capable of anything you set your mind to.