Quote: Solange Boivin

LOL Willie....the flowers I return to YOU.....you are our savior...yes of course if I would have just listen to the guidance you gave and not acted upon them none of this would be happening....but hey....I am a passionate and if I say I am going to give all I have....that is what I will do....but without you none of this would be happening....THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU....now we can proceed to the next step lol.

Marj....I don't know if you know the meaning of the name Ziva.....in Hebrew it means radiance, brilliance or light of God.

cheers.

Solange, HUGE "kudos" to you, Willie, and ZIVA -- Each one of you deserves so much praise !!!

By the way, my own Hebrew name is Zohar, which also means the same things as Ziva

First of all, I just want to start by saying how glad I am that the situation is turning out so favorably.

That said, what part of this training is unique to LSG? Isn't this simply modern dog training, ie positive reinforcement during the learning phases coupled with NILF?

Thank you all for the support and kind words.

I will leave Willie answer the technical question that John posted.

One more HUGE thing happened last night......my husband came home with 2 large bags of groceries....that was 2 stimuli....him and the bags of food.....Before Ziva would have jump for him and the bags....well she actually went up to jump and in mid flight she fell to a down without being told......I saw her face change......she did not stay down long...1 second may be....but the point is, that she actually acted upon her urge to jump .....This is really big....I know how demanding it is for her to modify her ways.

Willie and I are both very excited about that.

And now, my husband just appeared in the living area after being absent all night....Ziva is in her crate the door open.....she did not even get up....just lifted her head.....this is A-MA-ZING!!!

Have a great day everyone and enjoy the weekend

Hi John....I see Willie did not have the time to give you a technical answer about what we have been doing based on Willie's methods and Ziva particularities. I suggest that you read the thread "Educating a Kuvasz puppy" I started it in early May when I first came on Leerburg and the thread is pretty detailed about the issues and methods /tools that were used so far.

I know it is a bit long....but it is very informative and loaded with knowledge and information from many board users and from Willie Tilton.

Happy reading

Hello everyone;

Sorry for the silence, but so much has happened some better than others but once all put in perspective it's all good.

So this is a way over due update:

Ziva and I made really good work under Willie's guidance. The three of us are very excited with the results and how quick Ziva shows to understand some of the things that are added to her routine.

Wille admited that Ziva was so particular that she was one of her biggest challenge and was wreking her brains to come up with solutions has new behaviors would pop up.

Out of the territory (home) Ziva is sooo good. We have been introduicing "drop downs" to our walk as soon she would show signs of being aroused by any type of stimulus, especialy dogs. The first 2 days were hard...she would fight the down, bite either my hand or leash and roll on her side....but on day 3 and so forth she got to understand the process, as soon as I would put my walking stick down and kneeling beside her I would have to only say "down" with a little preasure on the collar and she would lay down in a proper position...then a few days later she would show avoidance to the target turning her gaze away. She would actually, at times, initiate the down on her own for exemple to greet people. Mind you it would not last for long but Hey!!! she is a puppy and we have been doing this only for 2 weeks now.

However, Ziva started to show territorial dominance behavior. Willie got to view it on webcam as one incident happened while we were meeting. Then it happened in other occasions. Couch, coffee table, rocks so Willie not wanting to pass beside something she might not have spotted she asked David Winners to join us in a conference yesterday. We met for 3 hours. Him being in Korea, Willie in Tennessee and me in France.

I hope that Willie and David will come and add and correct my explaination of this and use better technical terms to it and clarify what I will try to describe.

David observed the dog through webcam and from what was verbaly explained from Willie professional point of view etc. They both agreed to try a different approach with the dog.

They are suggesting that the dog should be trained and dealt with like we would a working dog.

Avoiding situations where she can take possession of things or room in the house she is to be kept in her crate and taken out to exercice, do her business and obedience training while in drive and put back in the crate while still in drive. Ziva showed to be more responsive (like with the down and sit) when stimulated. She is allowed to come out of the crate on a line if she stays laying down at my feet. If she wants to lay down further then in the crate she goes. She can not take a hold of something and for me being at a distance. Total avoidance of confrontation. This way David says that the crate is not a punishment but will develop the desire to be with me in the dog as she will feel to be seperated. The fact of working her in drive mode will also reinforce the bond.

The program is as follow:

a.m.: feeding, potty, in crate for 2 hrs. out to walk half of what we were doing normaly so 2km now and put her in drive and do obedience training. The time spend in obedience will depend on Ziva's capability to stay focussed and in drive. I must stop when she shows signs of shutting down. Then after that back in the crate. When calm she may come out if behaving nicely at my feet.

p.m., same as above but without feeding (she eats twice a day)

evening: work her and walk her before feeding.

My chosen words need to be changed and my tone of voice as well. French being kind of a smooth spoken language and long words I am switching to some in English and some in German and keep some in French. I also need to add body signs or body language to the words I use. Got to practice for all of the above mentioned so I can be very consistant.

The food issue is also being delt with since yesterday. Ziva shows to have abilities to track. Being able to keep her nose down for just about 1 km. I explained David the sounds she makes during that time and he suggested that I spread out her food on the floor in the garage where she is presently fed for her to work this natural nose she has and to make her brain work.

She seems to enjoy that, this morning was the second feeding done that way, and she was all happy to enter the garage and waited for me to say, "search" (in french ,CHERCHE, has an exciting sound to it.)

When passing barking dogs in their yard, David suggested that for now to go pass them quickly...if I may lure her with a treat in front of her nose be it.....not give the time to the dog to give attention to them even though that the drop down has some benefit.....not to use it just now. Keep in movement, keep her attention on me and watch my body language.

So that being said, we will give Ziva 2 weeks with this new program and see how she will respond. Then I don't know, but I must face the reality that if the dog is not made to be in a home but should be working the decision will be made for her to be fulfilled and happy. It is not a matter of what "I" want or satisfy any fancy of mine, but to do what is best for her.

Like David and Willie said as we were talking yesterday, it might only be a matter of bad communication and working with her in a way where she will understand, all the pieces might fall into place.

I will let you all know. I will notify Willie that I posted this today if she feels that more need to be added to it.

cheers

Solange, you are truly an inspiration and this thread has wonderful information in it.

You showed by example the time and commitment needed to raise a such a dog as your Ziva - no, you went above and beyond.

I hope it works out for you but I just felt the need to tell you that your attitude of doing what is best for your pup is admirable in every sense of the word.

All the best to both of you.

Aww Thank you Maggie....I appreciate it.

 Quote: Maggie MacDonald

Solange, you are truly an inspiration and this thread has wonderful information in it.

You showed by example the time and commitment needed to raise a such a dog as your Ziva - no, you went above and beyond.

I hope it works out for you but I just felt the need to tell you that your attitude of doing what is best for your pup is admirable in every sense of the word.

All the best to both of you.

Ditto!! I love reading this thread

bump!

3 days with the new program:

The weather is very hot here and makes it difficult to play tug outside. I try to accomodate the dinning room area for that purpose, pushing the table and chairs against the buffet but the floor is tile and Ziva slips easily on it. So the intensity of the game is less obviously, no jumping for the tug, no tight turns, for security reason....I don't want her to get hurt. Early in the morning and late at night we go in the garden and she really get at it.

But it is going well I think, the tug toy is a towel, she loooves towel and with that she can stay in drive longer. Our first tug/obedience sessions would not last more then 7 min. Now we go up to 10 min. As soon as I say"want to play tug?' I get a reaction. If she is not sleeping she gets on 4, if she is sleeping she wakes up and get her head up, ears up very quickly lol....that is nice to see.

With the hand commands with the voice make that Ziva is looking at me a lot more...Interesting. David had told me that it would make things easier as dog don't talk our language but are very keen on body posture and such.

The night walk is after playing tug and before feeding. It is not the same to walk a dog in drive than calm lol....Pigeons, dogs, people are a lot more of a distraction than in the morning where she is walked when she is calm. But it only last for the first 5 minutes.

She took the habbit to drop to a down by herself as soon as I stop to talk to someone and strats to crawl to them. I think this is such a HUGE improvement and effort from her part. Even though once close to them she wants to jump, but with reminders and praise she stays down and swarms like a worm lol...she loves people...can't wait till she is educated enough to be around them more and more.

The feeding is being tested. Willie and I are trying different things after Ziva showed a tiny bit of wanting to take possession of the garage after being fed with her food scattered on the floor. She loves it, she goes in the garage, very aller and sits waiting for the word "search" but....We need to come up with an answer about that. Will repport in a few.

Right now she is laying down under the desk as I am typing this enjoying the cool tile floor. She might stay there for a full hour...she might not. But the time spent out of the crate at my feet is a bit longer every time.

The harder for me is to be consistent with the new words and the hand commands *at the same time* lol..... but she is forgiving. The walks are fun, she behaves beautifully.

I will up date at the end of the week.

cheers