CUSTOM TRAINING PLAN FOR TIFFANY ARCHER AND HER DOG BELLA

It’s great that you have so much free time a day to train Bella! Since she loves to train and enjoys working with you so much I’m going to recommend that you keep training her three times a day, for ten minute intervals at a time. Since she’s a little nervous when she’s outside of the house I would suggest training her indoors only for the first two weeks and if she begins to get the hang of it and would like to train outside than go ahead and train outdoors in week three. I find it’s a lot easier to train tricks indoors when you first start to train a new trick anyways because there are fewer distractions. Follow whichever of the three methods I have shown you or a combination of them all, whichever ones work best for beautiful Bella. I have planned things out for three weeks, however if she learns at a faster pace (which I have a feeling she does, she seems very smart!) then feel free to progress to the next weeks plan and intensify her training.

Week 1: One ten minute interval, three times a day. Do between six to ten repetitions of the trick during the training session. If you’re using the nose tickle method, then continue to tickle her nose each time over the whole week. If you’re using the halti method or the itchy head collar method than leave the halti on during each training session for the whole week (If you choose to use the itchy head collar method, small scraps of Kleenex or toilet paper work great as an alternative to grass and leaves.). Use her favorite treats (several different kinds if you have them to mix things up), lots of praise and games of tug since she enjoys playing. Mix your rewards up also. Five treats one time, one treat and a game of tug the next, eight treats and a hug, etc. Another great reward would be letting her do one of her favorite activities. For example, for her last repetition after she covers her eyes you could click, squeal in absolute delight, and take off running around the house encouraging her to play with you! (If you don’t approve of letting her get hyper in the house that’s fine too. You could save this special reward for until you move your training outdoors J).

Week 2: One ten minute interval, three times a day. Do between six to ten repetitions of the trick during each training session, as you did in week one. If you’re using the nose tickle method, then begin to ask her to do it sometimes without tickling her nose. If you’re using the halti or itchy head collar method, than begin by asking her to cover her eyes a few times while wearing the halti. Then remove it and ask her to do it while it’s off. You may have to tickle her muzzle to remind her what you’d like her to do. Continue to mix up your rewards and use lots of treats and praise as explained in week one. You should be beginning to see progress by this point. Be sure to celebrate each small step of accomplishment! Your dog is incredible! (I know celebrating will be an easy thing for you two. It’s obvious you guys have a very strong bond J).

Week 3: One ten minute training interval, three times a day. Once again, do between six to ten trick repetitions during each training session. If Bella has made a lot of progress and is feeling up to it, than you can move her training outdoors. I’d start with one training session outside to begin with and work up over the course of the final week until she’ll happily perform her new trick both indoors and outdoors. At this point you should begin to phase out the nose tickle and halti completely. Move slowly, don’t suddenly stop using them altogether, and make it a gradual transition. And if you do have to go back and use them as a reminder that’s okay too. Now that you’re beginning to train outside you can use more play rewards. Games of fetch, tossing the treats for her to find and short, happy walks are all great ideas. Even a large bowl of water with ice cubes in it or chasing the water from a hose can be fun, unique rewards. Feel free to be creative! Working for life rewards in addition to treats and toys will make her perform tricks happily in situations where you may not always have treats handy. She’ll have more confidence to train and perform in situations that may otherwise make her nervous too (my boy Kodi is also a little shy, but trick training has definitely made him a lot more confident and content).

Hopefully, these methods and plans will work for you two. I know that each dog is an individual though and that no one knows your dog better than you. If you have to take things slower or if your dog is super smart and needs to move at a faster pace to stay content then that’s fine too. Please keep us up to date on your training progress. We’d love to see your videos! And if you need any extra help or if these methods don’t work for you and Bella let us know. We can brainstorm ideas to find something that will work J. And remember, If You’re Going To Bark, Than Bark Like You Mean It!