Zinnia and I have been going on “silent walks” the last week or so.
Silent walks are among my favorite training devices. I use no voice commands, only hand signals, which forces a dog – especially a working dog – to pay closer attention to me and try to figure out what I want.
On this country road, I give Zinnia the hand up to signal which means “sit,” and the raised hand, which means “stay.” I wait up to there or four minutes, or as long as I can stand to be bored. Then I either signal “come” which a sign for her to come running to me, or the raised hand for her to “stay.”
(You can see her if you look closely in the center of the photo, way down the road, sitting patiently.)
In the latter case, I walk down to her and give her a treat. If I want her to come to me, I’ll reward her either with praise or a small puppy treat. Labs focus on treats.
The misfortune of Labs is that they are so easy to train, but so often are untrained and wild. Today I saw the big UPS truck coming up the hill. I knew he could see her from a long way off.
I got closer to her and then waved to her to sit, then to stay. The truck slowed when the driver saw her and then moved past her. I waved to her to come to me. The truck paused.
The driver stood up and gave us a standing O, and I blushed. I really appreciated it. He shouted out that he sees a lot of crazy dogs on his run, and he’s never seen one respond as well and safely as Zinnia.
It’s very nice to hear that. I’ve come to greatly appreciate and love Zinnia. She is the perfect companion and a wonderful dog to train. She is calm, affectionate, and focused.
Our silent walks are precious to me for many reasons. She is the perfect dog for me now.
It feels like a daily miracle to me to be able to walk up that hill with no pain, shortness of breath, or tightness in the chess. I’m lucky to be able to have a dog l like Zinnia to share this experience with me.
She knows how to do therapy, even when she’s off the clock.
Good work! Good girl, Zinnia! I had a cyclist shout out “Good girl!” to my puppy the other day; we were practicing the automatic sit before crossing a street. Cyclists don’t really like to slow down for pedestrians and dogs as they (the cyclists) barrel along. I can’t train the cyclists, but I can train my dog.
Jon…
Kudos to the UPS driver. Dogs can be wonderful companions. And proper training avoids an obstacle to that companionship.
We have one house dog left. Her prior owner’s husband abused her, so she came with some accumulated baggage. But with training in the basics, patience, time, and love, she has joined our family.
She isn’t a working dog and her roaming is confined to the yard, so her training demands are minimal. But she also has self-trained. She recognizes our habits and routines, our movements and gestures; our commands and the intonations in our voices. And most of all, she is willing.
Next to meal time, her high point is our nightly walk. She knows the time and if I forget, she doesn’t. She has also trained us.
Great Story! You might enjoy this instagram page: UPS drivers and the dogs they encounter on their deliveries:) https://www.instagram.com/upsdogs/
What I appreciate most about the work you do with Zinnia is how consistent you are. Unlike some dog owners, you recognize how important it is to keep working at training. It’s never really done. Dogs need feedback from their owners to let them know that they are still doing the right thing (or not). Your relationship with Zinnia is lovely!
Thanks, I am loving working with Zinnia, she is a very special dog..