I don't have time for that.

A well trained dog is a lot of work.  A deaf dog is no different, though I have to say that Rogue is not nearly as much additional work as I thought she'd be.  Since we often use hand signs or body language cues to teach new behaviors with our hearing dogs, it wasn't a big change in teaching Rogue.

But back to the time thing.  Training takes time and time is a precious commodity these days so how do you get all that training into a busy schedule.   One great way is commercial training which is using those annoying commercial breaks during your favorite show as a time to do a little bit of training.  It's actually a perfect amount of time for a dog/puppy's attention span.  You can teach come, sit, stay, off, on, and just about anything else without taking your butt off the couch or missing a moment of your favorite show.

Potty time is another great opportunity.  Sit or lie down before you open the door, stay before you let them go outside and a nice recall to bring them in (assuming they're not running in the moment they're done because it's freezing outside). Make your dog do something for their dinner.  You know they want it.  Make them do something for you before you give it to them.

Figure one hour of TV (8 commercial breaks), two meals and four trips to potty has given you 14 training sessions in one day at no additional time cost.

Cold paws, cold paws cold paws!!!

In last week's puppy class, our homework was to work go to your mat. This is an easy trick that has all kinds of uses.  So, while I was cooking this weekend, I put the mat where it was out of my way and got Rogue to sit on it.  I would periodically give her kibble while she was seated on the mat to the point where she just stayed on the mat.  This works really well to keep dogs out of your way in the kitchen by the way.  I can't wait to show her off in class tomorrow.

Speaking of class, one of our teachers is Belle.  Belle is a deaf double merle Aussie who is a Master of Tricks, has one nosework title, and has her therapy dog certification.  The only reason she doesn't have any Agility titles is because the AKC won't let deaf dogs participate.  Belle does practice agility, she just can't compete.

The lovely and talented, Belle.

I understand Belle and her human, Roxanne are now working on their Champion of tricks. Here is one of my favorites.Belle Go Hide.  

Yeah, I'm thinking that took more than one day to perfect.

As for our evil little imp, I know a lot of folks have had issues with the cold weather.  On the few nights that she gets me up in the middle to potty, we still use the potty pen in the garage, however, for the most part, she keeps busy with Steel and Ruby.

Yup, even on the coldest day, they're out there chasing each other and a toy around.  Now, we keep play time to about fifteen minutes but she's loving the bigger two dogs even if she isn't quite big enough to catch them and this makes three tired dogs which makes me a happy camper.

Rogue also had her first disc dog practice over the weekend.   To our surprise, she's not the only deaf dog in the Midwest Disc Dogs organization.   

 

This is Storm.  Isn't he beautiful?  There are multiple disc dogs around the country who are deaf and two that I know of who only have three legs.   How cool is that?  Dogs are amazing and kudos to the humans who let their 'disabled' dogs do what they love.  

And to finish off today's entry, here's Rogue with her first experience with a disc.