Lanzarote Dog Trainer

Archive for the ‘Severo’ Category

A little video of Severo during his training

Severo and his new toy!

For the last few sessions I have been working with Severo with a toy, teaching him how to play nicely. Dogs don’t automatically know how to play with people properly and a dog like Severo can get a bit rough so needs a bit of guidance.

I have been using the toy as a reward for good behaviour. He can only have a play with it following carrying out a behaviour like sit or walk to heel. When he has done what I ask on command he can have the toy for a minute.

I have also been teaching

him to

release the toy on command and also to fetch it and return it to me.

I have started him on searching for the toy by hiding it in the field somewhere and then telling him to go and find it. He loves this game as the toy is as much of a reward to him as food is. Once he’s found it he can have a play with it before returning it to me to hide it again. This is a great game for most dogs as not only do they get the toy or treat when they find it; they take so much enjoyment out of the searching for it.

Severo is so desperate for mental stimulation that the work with the toy combined with keeping up the obedience training is really helping him to become a really nice dog. There is one side effect though…..he’s having so much fun with me that he’s started digging his heels in and not wanting to go back to his cage!

I’m really happy with Severo now, he’s come such a long way. He really needs to find a loving home now as I think he will only continue to improve in a stable environment. I only spend three hours a week with him and he has reached a point where he is much more comfortable around other dogs. He has learned basic obedience commands and in a home environment with love, play and more attention he will go on to become a real best friend to someone.

I will continue to work with Severo until a new home is found for him and if the new owners want me to I will work with them to help them get the best out of him.

I offer anyone who homes any of the dogs that I have been working with a free settling-in session.

Well, I’ve had two weeks away from the dogs at Sara with a trip to the UK. So, first day back with Severo and I expected an explosion of energy when I took him out. He was, however, surprisingly good, full of beans as always but very pleased to see me.

We went through his repertoire of leaned behaviours just as a refresher and he hasn’t forgotten a thing! He walks to heel nicely, will sit, stay, down and come. Today, just as a bit of fun, I started teaching him to weave through my legs, a little bit of ‘doggy dancing’. He’s getting the hang of it; he’ll do anything for food!

On a real behavioural note, we passed by at least 10 other dogs today and he showed no signs of aggression towards any of them. He actively wants to go over and say hello now to other dogs, which is such a positive step forwards for him.

This 'sit' business is too easy

I love this dog! He is such a handful but such a sweetie. I can’t wait for him to find a new home, whoever takes him will have their work cut out for them but if they put in the effort they will have themselves a real friend.

He is so intelligent and loves doing the obedience training, he has massively improved with other dogs and his concentration with me is excellent. He is still playing up when we first get out of the shelter but I’m sure this is just tons of pent-up energy from being in the kennel. As soon as I get him settled down he behaves really well.

I still think that he best suited to someone with experience with dogs, I don’t think he’s right for a first time dog owner.

Tired after a good walk

I learnt a little about Severo’s background today. Apparently he was brought in to the shelter after living for a couple of months in a mechanic’s yard. He had been being fed by the men who worked there but they could see he was getting ill and so brought him in. He was quite ill and fragile and everyone fell in love with him until he started to get better and stronger and showing his dominant side. This explains a few things about his behaviour, he’s a fighter and a stray who had to survive for quite a while out there on his own. He’s bound to have met some unpleasant people and dogs that he didn’t get on with and so has to defend himself from other dogs. This spills over, unfortunately, and Severo tries to defend himself when there is no need. He is getting so much better though and he will only go on improving.

Today’s session went really well. We did plenty of heelwork and worked with his obedience. Today I totally trusted in him and let go of the lead while we were working. He behaved beautifully and went through the sit, down, stay all off lead and all perfectly executed. We found a stick today and he was so excited wanting to play so next time I might take along a toy and teach him to fetch. Anything to keep him interested and enjoying our time together.

He was fantastically behaved when I took him back to the shelter. He was quite happy to smell and be smelt by other dogs in reception. He is coming along so well with other dogs, I think it won’t be long before this problem is well in the past.

Showing me how happy he is to go 'down'

Very much a split session today, I could have been out with two different dogs. At first Severo started with his usual game of tug of war which then escalated into a game of ‘chew my clothes, hands, anything he can get his mouth round’. I really felt like he was challenging me to see if I would give in and if he had a chance to win. He didn’t!

Once I had him behaving a little better we did some heelwork. He is so focused and very quick to learn and today he walked really well to heal. We also worked on the other commands and he now has the down command perfect and will stay down while I walk back a few paces.

I am very happy with his progress but I still think he a way to go before he is ready to hand over to a family.

Excellent session today, he's happy I'm happy

We had an absolutely fantastic session today. Again I have been concentrating on the obedience training and he has really got the hang of the stay command. I will need to use a longer lead on our next session so I can extend the distance.

We did quite a bit of heal work and he really understands what is expected of him. I am still using food rewards and as he is very food orientated it doesn’t take him long to work out what he needs to do to get the reward. He really gave me his full attention today and seems to be enjoying having something constructive to do.

His sit is practically perfect so it won’t be long before I can start removing the treat and only rewarding for the best behaviour and the quickest response.

He still needs a bit of time to perfect the down command but he is getting there.

The biggest breakthrough for Severo today came on our way back into the shelter. He greeted a dog outside with textbook doggie manners and showed signs of wanting to play with one of the dogs that are loose in reception. I was so proud of him, with time I’m sure we will be able to bring out his sociable side.

Today I wanted to concentrate more on his obedience training. As he already will come and sit on command I wanted to start to introduce stay and down. Both these

Beautiful Boy Severo

commands can be a bit harder to teach but it is just a matter of being consistent and patient.

I only have him on a fairly short lead so the maximum I can walk away from him is about 2 paces but that’s fine to start with. Once he understands what stay means I will take him out on a longer lead and extend the distance. He did really well today though and I think when we go over it again on the next session he will have it no problem.

The down command was a little trickier but after several attempts and some manoeuvring him into the right position he started to get the idea. The problem with down is if you are using food as a lure the bottom tends to go up as the nose goes down. Normally I would counteract this by using a chair or low table to lure him under but as I was out in a field I had to help him by guiding him into the right position. Next session, we will perfect this.

His walk to heel is coming along, he can be a bit stubborn and start chewing on the lead but with practise we will over come this I’m sure.