Crate Games

Since I started following Susan Garrett's blog, I've been more and more interested in learning her dog training methods. Her blog posts are confusing enough to make perfect sense to me.  It's really interesting.

A couple of weeks ago I recieved one of her training dvd's called Success with One Jump. We quickly discovered that we had more work to do before we could get very far with that one.  So I ordered her Crate Games dvd. 

Crate Games is very basic stuff. It's teaching the dog self control while teaching them to love their crate (which for performance dogs is essential because they spend a lot of time in them at competitions) and to be calm and quiet in their crate while other dogs are working. It's good stuff for Frankie because she can get a little feisty if she can't see me while she's crated at a comp.  It's great stuff for Kirby because he will bark and paw and whine while other dogs are working, whether I'm sitting right there or not.  Jake's an old pro with the crate and will even spend time in his while the door is open, but it's never too late to teach an old dog new tricks.  Plus, Jake likes to participate and needs to use his brain just like every other dog.

I always think about getting a video of training, and I thought about it last night as I worked all three large dogs through the first stage of Crate Games.  But did I pause and grab the camera?  Nope.  Reading about it and seeing it in action are very different, and the latter is just much more interesting to the average person. I'm working on it.

In the meantime, I would highly recommend SG's stuff. Its easy to understand and it makes sense.