Learning to Communicate: Kennel Training

When Ozzie first arrived at our home, he was reserved and super mellow. He still is. Trying to figure out something to motivate him to teach him is a challenge. Of course, treats/food work. We have a bag of Zuke's crunchy naturals and blueberries that we've used. The rattle of a container or crinkle of a package will have him running for a treat. He knows 'sit', but not reliably yet.  I use the command with a hand gesture and try my best to reward him with praise or a treat the instant his but hits the floor. He's learning! The command that we've been working on that gives me the most hope is 'kennel'.  We keep the kennel door off when we are home. We want him to learn that the kennel is his safe, private place and that he won't mind being in it when we are not home.

The first time I worked on the 'kennel' command with Ozzy, I positioned myself sitting in front of the kennel. I already had his attention since he knew I had treats, but the word 'kennel' was new as far as I knew. I threw the treat into the back of the kennel with a sweeping motion and said 'kennel' at the same time. He watched the treat go in, and sheepishly reached in--advantage dachshund: he could keep his back feet outside the kennel and still reach the treat in the back!--but after a few tries, he went all the way in and turned around. He still wanted to be back out, but I met him with praise and ear scratches when he came back to me. We repeated this maybe 5-6 times, and ended on a successful try. I try to end lessons with some verbal cue (and should probably add a gesture).

The next time we worked on 'kennel', I sat in the same place using the same gesture. He willingly went in for the treat. Toward the end of the lesson, I kept the treat in my other hand and asked him to 'kennel', gesturing inside as if I had thrown a treat in. In he went! And when he turned around, I praised him and gave him the treat, trying to give him some scratches and love before he came back out.

The next time we tried--he went right in, turned around and sat there. Boom! Goooood boy!!!!! New challange, he now understood that going in = treat. He didn't want to come back out! So, now we had the opportunity to add 'come' to the training. Win, win! :)

Right now, I still need to physically be touching or gesturing inside the kennel for him to understand what I want.  My plan is to vary my distances/locations within reach of the kennel and work on command/word recognition without the gesture. When he gets that, I will try moving further away from the kennel. Ozzie's success and consistency will determine the speed that this will happen.

This one lesson has given me so much hope. He CAN learn commands! He IS smart! And, although I'm thinking it could be just food motivation at this point, I have hope that he does have the drive to please.

Side notes: we never use our kennel as punishment.
Apologies for the shakey photo. Hard to get a picture, give command, get a still moment and reward all at the same time!

Welcome!

This is my long-haired,  "tweenie" dachshund, Ozzy. He joined our family exactly one week ago as I write this post. He is 2; he is beautiful, and he is a puppy mill survivor. 

I am creating this blog for a number of reasons: first, I want to share and archive Ozzy's journey. And ours. Ozzy comes to our home in hopes that we can mend him, and that he can mend us. Secondly, in my short time researching, the suggestions for training and rehabilitation methods for puppy mill survivors I've found are vague, endless, and at times contradictory. The common thread: what works for one may not work for another. Find what works. It is hard. It takes time. Be patient, loving, slow, deliberate, consistent. This is  logical, but frustrating. My bag of tricks to use is far from full, and I don't want to further damage Ozzy out of ignorance. And finding a trainer that we like who has experience with puppy mill survivors is not going to be easy! (We have one lead from the adoption agency we worked with--fingers crossed!!!) So I am hopeful that this blog will elicit conversation, laughs, constructive advice, a shoulder to cry on... And that the story of our journey will be of some help in some way to others who have chosen to open their hearts and homes to puppy mill survivors. Or who love dachshunds. 

Necessary "evil":
I suppose I should first make clear that neither my husband nor I are dog trainers or animal behavior specialists. We know what we know through our personal experiences and educating ourselves the best we can. Our journey in no way should be viewed or taken as advice or the "correct" way to do things--it is what it is: an account of our successes and challenges in adopting a puppy mill survivor laced with my own stories.

So. Where to begin?  It took us nearly the full week to come up with a name for him. When we stumbled upon 'Ozzy', it just clicked. It will fit no matter what he becomes: loverboy, rough-neck, comedian, shy-guy... And we like all the better known Ozzys out there. Then there's The Wizard of Oz. I am hoping he will find his heart, courage and 'brain' in his journey to learn that there's no place like home. Hope you enjoy!