Kaitlin S.
South House
Dog Care/ Training
What is the most important factors to consider when taking care of a dog?

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Independent Study 2

Logs:
Log for Class and Training
            Date: April 7
Time: 1 hr 30 min
            Today was my first class it was just an introductory class on what we would be learning and this was the day to check medical records and wait for other dogs.
Date: April 8
Time: 1 hr 20 min
            Today I went to April’s house and helped her train her boxer. I taught her how to potty train him as well I taught him how to sit and lay down.  Also taught her the motivation of the treat. The puppy was fun and was kind of out of control due to his age and playful nature. I really enjoyed helping April and her dog even though it was a little difficult to control the pup.
Date: April 14
Time: 2 hrs
Today I believe was are official day of training. We began with the introduction to what are the three best dog motivators. They were food and water, air, and companionship. He introduced the clicker, in which my instructor told us to practice at home during the week. We then started learning about body language and how to apply it. Then came the training with the clicker and how to sit. We were instructed not to say sit, but to only use the clicker and a treat. We also went over the leash and collar. He looked over all of our leashes to make sure we were using them properly and were not hurting our dog’s trachea. Which he explained that trachea collapse is common in small dogs (my class has only 9 dogs and 8 of them are small dogs) due to a tight collar.  He then explained the difference between a harness and a collar that only holds tags. He finally showed us his leash of chose and talked about how it was a really good chose because it does not choke the dog. He told us that we should bring treats the next time we came and he recommended hot dogs cut up.
Date: April 21
Time: 2 hrs
            I remembered the hot dog slices. Today we did a review of both name recognition and sit. We then applied the word sit to the trick. Mina did very well might I add. He then gave us a worksheet hat showed a flowchart of how to teach sit and he talked to us about the timing and motivation in training. He then came around to make sure we all did the proper timing of the click and hand gesture as well as the word “sit”. We then started teaching our dogs how to properly walk by walking slowly and feeding treats into our dog’s mouth and clicking and saying walk. It was tough to multi-task with this. We continually repeated these tricks all night until the end of class.
Date: April 28
Time: 2hrs
Today I bought a new leash that would help with corrections for my dog my instructor recommended it. After buying it, it really did work and helped my training Mina. We then practiced name recognition and sit once again. He then told us to repeat luring if necessary. Luring is when you bring the food to the dog’s nose then put the dog in what position you want most common is the “sit” position.  After that we then started to learn drop or down which was tough due to a small dog’s fiery nature and napoleon complex. She did not want to drop, but finally she did. Yay! I was really proud of her. The reason she did not drop or lay down even though I taught it to her before is because she learned from two different teaching techniques mine and the instructors.

Total Hours: 8 hrs 50 mins


Log for Blog: Training and Feeding Your Dog

Date: April 18
Time:  4 hrs
            Today I created my blog on dog training and feeding. It took a long time to format the blog just the way I wanted it. The design took me about 2 hours. I then did two blog entries. I did an introduction of why I did this blog then I went on to talk about the clicker and had to find pictures for it.
Date: April 19
Time: 2 hr 30 min
            Today I had one entry and I talked about the leash and collar and how to properly use both. I then gave some common collars and their uses and training use. I even decide to talk about my own experience  and which one I prefer.
Date: April 20
Time: 1 hr 40 min
            Today I talked about treats and which ones are used for regular use and which ones are used for training and how to use them. I found pictures for both. I wanted to show the reader that treats are a important tool in the training process and they are a primary motivator.
Date: April 21
Time: 1hr 30 min
           Today I talked about pack leader skills and what it takes to be a pack leader and how to prevent your dog from being pack leader. I did some research today to make sure I was right and to add more information to the blog. I wanted to find something that would help me with more dominant dogs.
Date: April 22
Time: 2 hrs
            Today I talked about motivation and timing which was taught to me by my dog trainer. I looked up the pictures which surprisingly took me more time than I expected. I then wrote about what motivation is and how to use it and how to use timing with the clicker.

Date: April 24
Time: 2 hrs
          Today I did two entries because I wanted to start talking about feeding. So, I introduced reading labels and counting calories. I then started to talk about chow time and how much to food to feed. I wanted to inform the reader of my next step in the blog. I then wanted to discuss meal times and how much food should be feed.
Date: April 25
Time: 2 hrs
          Today I talked about reading labels and how to focus on the ingredients and how to make sure you are feeding your dog the healthy food that you want to feed your dog. I then had to find a label for an example which was difficult because I found labels but they were all pixilated or a bad photo taken by someone.
Date: April 26
Time: 1 hrs 45 min
          Today I talked about reading labels how to look at the calories. I looked for a good example and posted it. I then pulled out one of my research books and used it for the total amount of calories for dogs. I also wanted to also go back to the food pyramid which we also refer to tell us what to eat.
Date: April 27
Time: 2hrs 15 min
          Today I talked about food allergies in dogs which I knew very little about and I found 2 Articles which were very useful as well as a picture that I see to be very concise and a good use for dog owners. I talked about the most common food allergy and how to notice it as well as ask your vet about it. I stress the seriousness of allergies and I continually repeat the importance for a vet visit.
Date: April 28
Time: 2 hrs
          Today I talked about how to correct a dog when misbehaving or when training.  It took me forever to find a ok pictures of both  dog walking and the leash. I wanted to inform the owners of how to correct without causing harm and talk about how to never cause harm to the dog.
Total Time for Blog: 21 hrs 40 mins

Total Time for Both: 30 hrs 30 mins

Evidence:
This is my blog:
This is my evidence for my class its a apron, I don't have a certificate because I am not done with the class yet. My mom can verify for me.


LIA:
            Literal

(a)  “I, Katie S., affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.” 
(b) I went to a class every Thursday and I wrote a blog about training and feeding a dog. I also tried to help a friend with her dog, it didn't work so well.

Interpretive

The class took about 2 hours a day and would help me learn how to apply training to both my dogs and other dogs. My blog I think took the most time because I had to research the topic then find the right picture then I had to write about it. I thought it proved to be difficult to write about both training and feeding because I can always learn more about the topic.

Applied
This Independent Task taught me how to use training techniques and how to apply them and teach my dog.  My blog taught me more about dog training and how to properly feed my dog. This will help me better know my third EQ answer. It also answers my EQ answer of socialization and how a dog has to be accustom to its trainer and have respect for the trainer. if the dog does not know who is giving it a command the dog is going to have know respect for the person.  This will help me during my 2 hr presentation by talking about what a expert told me and what I learned from personal experience.







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