# Some gushing and Zero Conflict Foundation :-)



## DaniFani (Jan 24, 2013)

Hello everyone!

As most of you know, I just got my new guy a week ago. He's just fantastic! I am so happy with him. Super stable, really unphased by most things, and boy does he love to bite and pull! :-D I took him to the park a block from my house, I was the only one there. Ran up the steps on the playground, across a super creaky/moving bridge...he ran right after me, grabbed the leash I had and tried to play tug while we were four feet off the ground! Then I ran down the slid and he came pouncing down after me. Zero fear!

The only thing he seemed wary of (really more like "what is that") were groups of kids. However, after meeting a bunch at a bus stop, it literally took that ONE time for him to decide he loved kids, and now they get greetings and kisses just like everyone else. I swear, it's like he is trained. He naturally falls into a heel on me left side, sits when people pet him, it's great! We just got back from getting some lumber from Home Depot. They had to cut it for us, and the guy said, "this is super duper loud, it's probably going to scar him." I said to go ahead, and I'd walk him away if he couldn't handle it. He was laying down next to me, the guy started this screeching saw, and he just kind of cocked his head at the guy, but didn't get up or anything....then he went back to trying to play tug with his leash with me. Everytime I think, surely this will show a little nerve...nope. It's so incredibly refreshing to have such a sound dog. And even when he does look at something he's never seen before(or very litter), bicycle, kids, carts, he regards them quietly, ears up, tail wagging, checks it out...and then it's like it's nothing at all. His recovery time/time to get over something is awesome!

Okay, sorry for the gush-fest....it's just not many around me (except for club people) understand how awesome this makes me feel after what I went through with my other guy.

So, I posted in the SchH/IPO area because I want to know how those of you who have children/family and a sport dog that is in the house, strike a balance. My TD has drilled it into my head to train conflict-free. No heavy handed corrections (obviously) or chasing down, yelling, etc...I do lots of trading/re-directing, and the two times I have had to correct, I did it without my direct intervention. Example: YoJo wanted to jump on my son's head whenever he ran by excitedly playing. So I put a drag line on him, and when he went to jump, I stepped on the drag line, and his momentum/weight corrected himself. I didn't say or do anything. He didn't "react" to the correction, so I thought "well that didn't work" but he hasn't jumped on my son since. It's like he just gets it! It's incredible!

Everything is positive, positive, positive, food, play, everything. I am not introducing corrections until he is mature enough and bonded enough to me to handle them(and even then, only when he needs them). I try to keep a balance between crate time and family time to maintain those drives, and it's been working great. Yesterday was an awesome first day at club! We are really only playing and tugging at this point. He had a habit of grabbing something and running, looking back, trying to get me to chase him...So, I'd run the other way and he takes off after me. He's starting to drop that habit. TD said it's a littermate thing lol. I'm shaping "platz" and "sitz," but it's all with food and luring for the foundation No corrections or pressure, I don't want to create conflict of un-necessary pressure in the foundations. And of course he get's a big party for coming when recalled. He's yet to blow me off though, the bond is already pretty strong. I'll get some videos next time at club. 

I am by NO means an expert at any of this. I am being guided every step of the way by TD's and decoys, but not a lot of them have house/family dogs that also do IPO. So, to everyone who does the family dog/IPO dog, any tips? Especially those of you with children? I'm excited to share my progress with all the IPO peeps here.

And of course some pics!


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## Packen (Sep 14, 2008)

Pretty cool and good advice from your TD. Build engagement using reward and lack of reward, nothing else. When you have super solid engagement (a few months of work) only then start shaping OB with no verbal command (sit, down and stand), then introduce verbal commands when pup is offering behavior and reduce body cues till he begins to understand verbal only. Everything is fun and play, if you start losing engagement that means there needs to be more play. Looking forward to hearing updates.


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## JanaeUlva (Feb 5, 2011)

Congrats and super nice pup! Sounds like you have a good plan and it's already working out. Nice 


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## boomer11 (Jun 9, 2013)

congrats on a stable dog. they are so much more enjoyable then a nervy one. less time managing and more time enjoying the dog.


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## Merciel (Apr 25, 2013)

Man, I am so jealous. 

That is one CUTE puppy, and sounds like a rockstar in the making.


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## Blitzkrieg1 (Jul 31, 2012)

Happy for you, he sounds like an easy keeper. Whats the pedigree if you dont mind my asking?


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## DaniFani (Jan 24, 2013)

Thanks everyone! Merciel, yeah..I just hope my fumbling handling doesn't ruin him!! lol

Blitz, pedigree below .

Father: Gun Vom Weinbergblick

Gun vom Weinbergblick ? working-dog

Mothers: (This is actually her littermate's pedigree, mother isn't on the database)

Quack von der Ernetranch ? working-dog

Missing in the mother's pedigree is 

Freija Vom Klostersee: SchH 2, IPO 1, HD normal

and her parents are:

Quasy von der bosen nachbarschaft: SchH 3(V-WUSV-WM) , FH 2 HD normal

Aloxa Vom Bruckfeld SchH3 HD normal

Both Dam's parents are SchH3 and HD normal, title and health test just not listed on workingdog.

I tried to just attach the scanned German pedigree, but it keeps saying it's too large. Any way to shrink it? Otherwise I can email it to anyone that just loves looking at pedigrees.


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## DaniFani (Jan 24, 2013)

Packen said:


> Pretty cool and good advice from your TD. Build engagement using reward and lack of reward, nothing else. When you have super solid engagement (a few months of work) only then start shaping OB with no verbal command (sit, down and stand), then introduce verbal commands when pup is offering behavior and reduce body cues till he begins to understand verbal only. Everything is fun and play, if you start losing engagement that means there needs to be more play. Looking forward to hearing updates.


Thanks for the advice, Packen. What's the thought behind no verbal markers at first? The only reason I started the obedience is because he started offering behaviors for treats. So I say the command once (now he jumps into a sit), wait for the butt to hit ground, and immediately mark it with release of treat (hand to mouth) and command. Same thing with the down, only it takes him a little longer sometimes to get the butt all the way down...he does the puppy, butt in the air, front paws down, and then drops butt. He's starting to jump into the down from the sit, I'd say about 50% of the time. Then we do a couple of "puppy pushups" and done. Short and sweet, tug and play happens more than OB. Obedience is usually only once, maybe twice a day, for a few mins at a time. Play is 2/3 times, as well as his walk and whatever "exposure" we do...ie Home Depot, Downtown walk, markets, beach, etc.... I can't wait for him to be mature so he can start running with me. I ran the rottie I was training, and I miss my jogging-companion. 

It's nerve wracking starting with a puppy. My late GSD didn't start SchH until he was 5/6 months old, and the rottie I trained was over a year when I got her. I haven't done the foundation stuff with itty bitty puppy, and I'm always thinking, "don't create conflict, don't screw up!" lol!


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## Blitzkrieg1 (Jul 31, 2012)

Thanks for the pedigree, especially like the sire .


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## Wolfenstein (Feb 26, 2009)

This is so awesome to read about, and I'm looking forward to your experiences as your dog grows up! When we eventually get our pup, I'm going to be in the same boat as you, haha! I really want to get into SchH, but way too overly nervous that I'm going to screw up something from the get go and my newbie handling is going to limit my dog's potential. I'm really glad to hear you having a good experience, because after doing tons of research, I'm hoping to get a puppy that also has such a great start to life thanks to the breeder's efforts. Please keep posting as you go along!


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

congratulations , sounds like a good dog , nice pedigree also.
Packen "When you have super solid engagement (a few months of work) only then start shaping OB with no verbal command (sit, down and stand), then introduce verbal commands when pup is offering behavior and reduce body cues till he begins to understand verbal only. Everything is fun and play" AGREE . This is what I do , can go the whole day without saying a word -- dogs are non-verbal non-linguistic . This makes them watch you . Won't work if you have a detached dog . Has to be handler interest which you will spike and make very worthwhile . I don't do the operant conditioning with food . More of a social , co-operative advantage , which is mutual. Too much chatter and "noise" . I constantly shush people -- observe as young dog problem solves without jumping in there and doing the work for them. 
The pup is very handsome . Looking forward to reading more about him.


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## DaniFani (Jan 24, 2013)

Little Update:

YoJo is doing great. I think I've found a nice balance between house dog and sport dog so far. I'm maintaining drives by playing tug every other day(he loves tug, maintains a grip for EVER), lots of exposure to new things, and we started tracking (LOVE tracking!). Not doing much obedience other than really basic stuff. He's super athletic and jumps around like a mad man on everything he can climb on and jump off. When he runs it's half run half gallop/jumping lol.

Tracking is going awesome. It's amazing how fast they learn in tracking. He's on his third track, and he did the whole thing with nose down, checking every footstep. I need to get video this weekend, I always forget. We are on 25 steps. Don't do the whole huge scent pad circle thing. He gets footsteps right away after a tiny one foot by one foot scent pad. Food at the top of every footstep (stuck a little into the ground so he can't use eyes down the track), little check if he lifts his head or skips a piece of food. I couldn't believe how quickly he picked up the forward movement=treats. He has to pick up every piece of food, which quickly translates to the need to check every footstep. 

Over time we add serpentines (when we have consistent forward movement), start laying less bait, and then do articles, and then corners. With each track getting longer and longer. In the last year I've watched four dogs titled using this method, every one with 98-100 in tracking. I've also met other dogs that were titled with the same high scores using the method (both in AKC tracking and IPO). Seems to work pretty well, and the dogs/handlers seem to have fun.  

Tracking is right up there with bitework on my "fun scale." I think it's because it's all I could really focus on with my last dog because he couldn't really cut it in bitework, but excelled in tracking. Also, it's something my TD starts with the pups when they are really little, so it's the one thing I CAN do right away lol. Someday I'd LOVE to get an FH. Dream big, right?! ;-)

He's doing great with exposure to new things. He sits so nicely when new people want to pet him, jumps all over those he knows.  He's getting bigger, and it's so neat to see his world and knowledge growing. :wub: 

Here's a few pics from his first hike. He loved it.


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