Hi all :)

I was going to post this in the daily walk 2021 thread, but didn't because I was blabbing too much lol. So it's here instead 😋

Ozzy left a half hot dog bun he found on the ground outside! I couldn't believe it, he was sniffing it and by the time I noticed it he was walking away! My last male dog would have scarfed that before I even saw anything lol.

My car is in the shop 😕 so we walked to the corner store to pick up milk. We crossed a big highway and everything. I love that he is so good wherever we go. I taught him to wait at traffic lights and to cross. Actually I trained a cross for every street. It's funny because he started this thing where he waits looking at me, I say "ok cross" when the coast is clear and he jumps up and gives me a touch on my hand with his nose and we run across. He just started doing it on his own, it's the cutest thing and makes everyone laugh. I guess he made it a game.

Now every time he waits, he anticipates something exciting or gets all excited. For example he loves to chase my broom. I have him wait while I get the job done. After I'm finished, then he gets to play with the broom, chase it around, bat his paws at it lol. I think the anticipation of waiting for something gets him all excited to finally be released.

Today I was mowing the back lawn. Ozzy stays on the deck while I mow because he will chase the lawnmower. He was a good boy even though I could tell he really really wanted to chase that mower! So after I finished he was set free and we played tug with his wheel toy as reward. Lol I don't think he ever tugged so much! I think that was the 1st time I saw him really play tug.

I'm getting back into k9 freestyle now that Ozzy is old enough to do more moves. At the moment we are working on crawling. So far we've done weaving through legs, through the hoop (my arms forming a hoop on the ground) and cat walk show dog. I think he is old enough now to try standing and hopping on back legs? @JoanneF?

Yeah he just makes everything so fun! Even cleaning lol. He chases my cloth haha. I use a vinegar solution for cleaning now, no chems because he just wants to be a part of everything. I figure why not play while we work right?

I still talk to him while we walk. It makes it more interesting. Like we go 'around' parked cars, if he gets himself wrapped around a sign post, we 'wait' and 'cross' the streets, we go 'this way'. We see birdies and squirrels, kids playing in the park, I make it a point to watch everything. Now sometimes he'll just stop and watch. I find he always stops, watches and thinks about something before he does it in general which I think is really awesome! I'm convinced teaching him impulse control had something to do with it, that and all the time I spent watching things with him to get him familiar with different sites and sounds.

Sounds to me as if you are doing things with him that are very similar to the way I am with my dogs. Walks are like going someplace with a friend - we communicate along the way. It's so cool when you can have a conversation with your dog about everything.

As for the hopping for canine freestyle, I personally think that a dog should only have that put on a cue if the dog already does it on his own. I disapprove of training a dog to do it because if the dog's body is not suited to it you can be doing harm by teaching the dog to do it. Now, most small terriers will do that boing-boing hop in the air on their own, and if Ozzy is doing that, simply put it on cue and there you have it.

I have done musical canine freestyle for 16 years now, have taught 3 of my own dogs to dance with me, taught classes in freestyle, and know a bit about how to train things and how to teach certain moves, so if you have any questions on that please feel free to ask me.

Oh, PS..........I always train the jump through my arms by starting with a hula hoop on the ground. Slowly raising it until he is jumping through it. Then, put my arms slowly and progressively more and more around the hoop, then discard the hula hoop and it's just my arms.

Asking a dog to walk on his hind legs is generally frowned on for freestyle, because it is not good for a dog's body no matter the breed. Again, if you had one of those dogs who volunteers to walk on his hind legs on his own, you can put that on cue, but it is not generally encouraged for freestyle. One of the things that is most important in canine freestyle is that all of the moves the dog does are 100% safe for the dog's body, and hind leg walking just isn't unless it is only a few steps. I never have my dogs do that in a routine, myself.

Now, what I have done is train a dog to put his paws up on a walking stick I am using as a prop, and then take maybe three steps while I hold the cane so that the front paws are supported on the cane, as there's no harm in that. If the dog is big enough, that can be the handler's arm. Most dogs find it much easier to go backward on their hind legs than forwards, but either way it shouldn't be very far and is better if supported.

I really like your method of pretending that he means to play "touch" when he is doing the jump-and-bite. Often putting something on cue as a rewardable behavior will extinguish the performance of the slightly different behavior you don't want.
Of course, it's also necessary eventually to make sure the dog knows that these moves will only be rewarded when they have been requested by the handler. When you have a super enthusiastic and smart dog, it is common for the dog to do what we call "throwing behaviors at you" when they want something. Dog: "hmm, I'll try some spins.....OK, I will sit up....I'll do some twists...." What I do then is ignore all the behaviors that the dog is trying, and ask distinctly for something else, and then reward that. Or, if I am busy, I just ignore it all and then make sure I ask for those behaviors during our next training session so I can reward them.

I have worked with border collies in freestyle and know the importance of making sure the behaviors don't become a sort of obsession that the dog does to get attention or rewards. Some terriers (like the mix I have, and probably your Schnauzer) are super eager in that way as well.

(I just love a bright little scruffy terrier! ♥ I wouldn't mind having a little schnauzer some day, or a mix with schnauzer in it!)

That is a very interesting point! He already throws high 5s' haha. I keep reading your posts and think "hey, we do that too!".

It's funny when they are listening to you, and they tilt their heads sideways back and forth. I remember him doing that when he was just a little tiny guy. He was always trying to figure me out. It's like you can see the gears grinding, sometimes you know what he's thinking, but he's always thinking. Mental games are definitely tiring for a pup!

Speaking of putting behaviors on cue, I know how much they love to be chased. They wait until you get really close and then they wiggle around you and take off, they love to tease. At one point they will take your sock and run around with it guarenteed! So we always made him run around with his toys instead. He looks so proud with his toys carrying them down the hall for us to chase him. I don't have to move very much anymore, he runs around us or at our pace (waits for us). Now outside for instance I'll get him running all around. He has me laughing so much sometimes, zoomies everywhere!

So nothing is set in stone, the pups have not even been born yet, but I've been thinking about a second pup and planning for her arrival. I know one day we will have her.

So I've been thinking about training, and how I will train them separately. I was thinking about a carrier for when she is really tiny (pre-shots) and I would carry her while I took Ozzy for a walk (not every time but sometimes) to get her accustomed to sites and sounds.

I was looking at either a sling carrier or backpack (worn in the front). I'm thinking a sling carrier would distribute the weight a bit better since the pup will be closer to my body being against my body sideways instead of facing outward. Idk if I can carry her like that (chronic pain), so I want to make it the easiest on myself. What do you think?

Sling

Or backpack


Ozzy was under 10 lbs until 14 weeks old.

Schnauzaluv, I have one of those sling carriers. It is not true that is slides off the shoulder as Beardogjesse suggests. They are made in such a way that that is not going to happen. I got mine for use with my small terrier who is aging and at times doesn't want to finish the walk if it is a long one.
My dog weighs 20 - 22 pounds. 25 lb is the upper limit of what these slings are made to carry. I have a very compromised back, and have to be careful what I do, but I have not had a day that I couldn't carry my dog in the sling as long as it was a day I could go for a walk at all. I wouldn't want to carry him like that for miles, but if I had to, I could.

The one I got, my dog's whole head is out of the sling and he can look around and know what is going on.

If your puppy is smaller than my dog (as I assume they will be) you will not have a problem with this. The sling, in my opinion, is better than the front pack because it rests partially on your hip if you want it to, and you can have one arm under it as well if you want. The front backpack pulls on your back in a way that is not healthy for your back if you have any problems.