Here are the “top 3” signals that I need most often in everyday life with my dog.
The recall
As mentioned in the first blog article, I consider recall to be the signal that every dog should master. The safe recall gives my dog freedom.full grown shih tzu poodle mix freedom to walk without a leash. Due to the fact that Loriot belongs to a hunting dog breed, it is particularly important to me to be able to call him up if a hare, deer or wild boar has crossed the path in front of him or if he is just following an exciting trail with his nose. This requires a lot of other skills, which I’ll come back to in a moment. The recall (under distraction) is one of the supreme disciplines in dog training and requires many, many training sessions to achieve a truly safe return of the dog.
The leash handling
In the first step, I attach great importance to the fact that my dog can walk on a loose leash and correct himself when on a leash tension; i.e., take back and loosen the leash on his own. He is allowed to use the entire line length that I give him.
In the second step, he should run on the signal “With me” close to me at knee level and orient himself to me. This allows us to master dog encounters in a relaxed way.
Also considered very important and daily in use is the change of my dog from the left to the right side, or vice versa. For example, if someone comes towards me on the sidewalk, I let my dog change sides on a signal so that I stand between the pedestrian and my dog. This not only shows the person approaching me that I am prudent, but also shows me how attentive my dog is to me and whether he is responsive.
The free succession
When my dog walks without a leash, I rely on him to come to me on a signal and move around me within a radius of 2 meters. That is not to say he always roams free. When at home I always use a dog fence to ensure he does not stray from the home. Through the second step of the linen, I can let it run close to me without a leash. This allows me, for example, to look relaxed at crossroads to see if a cyclist, jogger or another human-dog team is coming around the corner and react accordingly without panicking: Because my dog is already running by my side.
As already written above, individual signals of course, include much more than training. My dog needs certain skills to implement what I ask of him (e.B. coming back despite wild sighting). Very important points here are impulse control and frustration tolerance.
What’s that? Impulse control means to control one’s impulses; i.e. not to be tempted directly by the sight of the rabbit to run, but to pause and thus remain responsive to me.
Frustration tolerance means little more than accepting that sometimes life is just stupid. Those who know this can deal with it better and also know that there are better times. That’s why it’s important to keep confronting your dog with frustration so that he learns to deal with it. It makes it much easier for him in everyday life.
A small example of how you can confront your types of terrier dogs with a little frustration: Leash your dog on the walk, sit on a bench or on the floor, and enjoy the moment. Very important: Your dog receives no task and no attention from you. There are no instructions such as seat or seat. Nothing happens. And this is very frustrating for some dogs. Stay calm and relaxed even with your mood, even if your dog feels or otherwise tries to draw attention to himself. If he becomes calmer and relaxed, you can talk to him briefly, get up and walk quietly. Repeat this more and more often and your dog will learn that even such frustrating moments pass and are not so dramatic.
These are my “top 3” of the most important and common signals in everyday life with my dog. However, these three points can change with every dog that enters my life and other things suddenly become more important in everyday life.
