The Retrieve

"No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich."
-- Louis Sabin



A common beginner’s problem when playing fetch with our dog is he returns to a distance of a few feet with the ball and then runs off. This is natural for those dogs that retrieve readily on their own. Remember many breeds don’t like to pick up items nor to carry them so if your dog retrieves without being taught, consider yourself fortunate.
Now back to the dog that prefers to play keep away. The dog views the ball or whatever item you throw to be an object of prey. His natural sense is to go and get the prey and to bring it back to show you what he caught but not to share it with you because he would then be giving up his catch.
The easy way to teach Buddy to bring the ball to you is to put him on his leash and toss the ball a few feet in front of him and encourage him to “get the ball”. As soon as he picks it up call him to you enthusiastically and reach down and say “give it.” With the hand with which you are going to receive the ball you offer him a generous treat and calmly say “trade you.” If you have been using treats for training up to this point he’ll catch on in a heartbeat. Swap the ball for a small treat for a few sessions and he’ll soon be coming in real close with the ball in anticipation of trading for a goodie.
When you start to teach the retrieve it really helps if you can utilize a hallway and don’t throw the ball too far. It will be much easier for the student to catch onto the process of getting the object and returning it to you instead of running around with it.
DON’T THROW THE BALL TOO FAR TO START WITH! The farther the dog is away from you the less chance you have of having any influence over his actions. Start small. There’s lots of time for the long fetch after you’ve really aced the little ones

Avoiding Conflict During Play

"If only dogs could speak. You might be embarrassed to know what they are really saying."


I was recently approached by a couple and asked why their two miniature Schnauzers, who normally played nicely, had recently started several nasty scraps. Upon questioning it turned out the people held play time most evenings which included throwing the ball for scramble type retrieves and often the neighbor's small dog would join the fun. As long as this group did their thing the dynamics worked great and a good time was enjoyed by all.
The problems started when a new dog was was introduced. The "newbie" was a larger sixty pound fifteen month neutered male and when the ball chase got into high gear one or the other of the Schnauzers would be first to the ball and there would be some tussles for the ball and then this started to turn into snarling and occasionally enough growling and biting that the people were becoming alarmed. Hence their inquiry.
Let's stop here and assess this situation. First off recognize that chasing and retrieving a ball is chasing, catching, and returning, with "prey" from the dog's perspective. That's why many dogs will return with the ball to show off their prey but will not give it up.
Now put this picture on a playground with several twelve to fifteen year boys playing a game of keep away with a soccer ball. It's entirely possible that as the game becomes more competitive a couple of the boys could chase the ball and as one reached toward the ball the other could push or shove the opponent. The next move probably would include a few more shoves and maybe an elbow and as things continued to degenerate we could have a few punches followed by a playground style scuffle. Now, this isn't a fight to the finish or anything any more serious than an on field confrontation that escalated into a bit of a wrestling match with a few punches added. The whole thing wouldn't last more than a few minutes and the most serious injury might include a swollen lip or a black eye.
Back to our dog pack. As long as there was the long familiar threesome of about equal size; the run, catch, retrieve, process was most likely shared somewhat evenly, hence no serious problem.
Ooops, now we throw not only a stranger into the mix, but a larger, stronger, unknown entity that at this stage doesn't know the local rules. Next we have the same as the boys. Pushing, shoving, a little more adrenalin, and here comes the problem. Dogs don't have hands to push or slap with and definitely can't kick or punch so they use their only tool which is their mouth.
As the competitive juices start to flow and the contest for the "prey" begins to escalate often the competitor that finds himself in a secondary status will get a little more physical in an attempt to regain his standing in the competition. If this goes beyond snarling and snapping it's not unlikely that one will bite which naturally will result in a "dog fight" of some varying intensity.
As with the boys, this is not a fight to death, it's just a playground confrontation, but the problem is the results usually include a few bloody ears and sometimes a bite in the side of the neck. From the dog's point of view it's no more serious than a play ground squabble but most people find this whole thing most disconcerting.
Okay how do you avoid this problem. This is so obvious and simple I'm almost embarrassed to blurt out the solution. THROW MORE BALLS.
Throw the first ball and as everyone charges away in hot pursuit, throw a second ball right in the middle of where the first ball is landing and immediately throw another slightly to the side but where they will all see it land.
Now start to enthusiastically encourage the gang to "Get the Balls, Hurry up, Bring them here". Get down on your knees and make a great big target repeating your encouragement to bring the balls to you. When they come scurrying back give everyone a small treat and happy praise.
With this excitement and the multiple "preys", there is much less chance of a jealous encounter and it won't be long before the bigger dog will catch on to the fact that this whole thing is about a chance for everyone to play ball and have fun
Remember to train with your brain. We're supposed to be the smart ones.

"NO" The little big word

“NO “ The little big word

One of the first and most used words we teach yet unfortunately it’s the least properly taught command. Most people know but  won’t remember that dogs don’t naturally understand English (or Russian, Chinese, Spanish for that matter).

Picture our young dog who has just found his pack leader’s slipper under the bed and because it has his pack leader’s smell and it is perfectly chewable he is having a grand time with his new found prize. Enter the master and begins his tirade including, “ don’t chew that slipper, get out of here, and I’m going to tan you backside .” Exit dog. He’s learned he’s in deep “doo doo” and he slinks away thinking “I don’t what that thing is that got him so upset but it doesn’t matter I know where there’s another one just under the bed.”

Another episode and the pup is booted outside and his language class hasn’t been any more helpful than the first experience. Now more confused than before our student encounters a newly planted flower in the bed beside the patio and the past is forgotten because we have pretty blooms,  fresh  soil, and our dog is off on a new adventure which attracts Pack Leader Person with a new string of expletives.

By now the dog is completely confused because he has heard “no” attached to lots of other words in various pitches and tones and he can’t decide whether “no” means, slipper, rose, or dirt. “What’s a guy to do?” “I really am trying to understand you and about the only word I’m pretty sure about is those little bone shaped cookies are called “biscuits”; I remember this because they are food related and have some kind of an image to which I can attach a word.”

If someone gave you the task of teaching English to a visitor from a foreign country you would adopt some semblance of a lesson plan and proceed with a schedule in small portions only progressing as you are satisfied your student is understanding things.  But what about poor puppy?  We just start throwing out sentences with eight or ten words and get all frustrated when he doesn’t completely catch on to this new language.

Okay let’s back up a little. Remember when Mother held up that round thing and carefully said “apple.” She didn’t add a bunch of additional words . Only “apple” and if we said the word we were lavished with praise.  Hey, sounds like a winner so why not adopt that system with the puppy. Item, word, repeat, association, patience, praise.

So let’s set out teach our dog that “No” means

         A certain behavior is not acceptable

         The dog must stop the behavior

        The behavior must not be repeated

Your job now is to show him what “No” means.

The process goes like this. When the dog is doing something you don’t want him to do you DO NOT start to yell NO. You get up off the couch, go to the dog, get his attention, redirect his attention, and reward him for obeying the command and redirecting his attention. It’s not nearly as confusing as it sounds. The important thing is to always follow the same process. We’re making it easier for the student to learn.

Remember, at this stage “No” is just a meaningless sound so our job is to attach it to something tangible so gradually the sound “No” takes on meaning and becomes a word.

Getting his attention takes on many forms and can start with a simple no with a touch on the neck. It that turns his attention toward you, that’s all this case needs. Now redirect and reward for performing the task. Okay, so maybe it’s not that simple. Go to plan B.

What other methods are standard for getting your dog’s attention?  A loud noise, maybe like clap your hands, a rolled up sock thrown at his butt, a soda can filled with several pebbles and taped shut and thrown on the floor near him as you say no. A few years back it was popular to toss your choke chain collar on the floor near the dog as you said no. Some people keep a squirt bottle handy and squirt the dog as they say no. The problem here is it is not uncommon to find dogs that quite enjoy being sprayed with the squirt bottle. If you are lucky enough to catch the dog unaware and to toss the rolled up socks, for example, just as he misbehaving, he might figure out for himself that he is performing an unwanted task.

Okay, what about the repeat performer that flatly ignores the previous ideas. Let’s be completely honest. There are times when the headstrong fifty pound adolescent might need for you to get in his face a little so he understands that you are the boss of the shop and his behavior is unacceptable. I’m not a great fan of thumping on your dog but if you feel you absolutely have to, the choices vary from the fly swatter, to a rolled up newspaper, to that slipper that he was chewing on. Obviously his body design has provided a place for such application and remember, if you must strike your dog, never hit him ahead of the shoulder. A word of warning. Dogs don’t have hands and fists to hit or slap back so don’t be too surprised if you find a dog that will use his mouth to object to your treatment. If your dog growls or offers to bite you it’s time you put down the paper and called a trainer before the situation goes from bad to worse.

This is why I advocate the “get attention”, “redirect attention”, “reward for performing the task  and obeying the command”, process.

Sure it’s slower, it’s not so immediate, and it does require that you put in more effort, but I promise you it will foster a much better relationship between you and your student. Besides which, what’s so great about saying you can beat up on a dog?

The question often comes up as to how much correction is enough?

If the dog continues the unwanted action your correction obviously is ineffective. If the dog lays on his/her back and urinates on himself, you’ve overdone the correction. If the dog stops doing what you didn’t want and looks back and says “hey, the old boy really meant it that time, I better get my act together.” And he comes over another and apologizes, then your correction was about right.

The simple fact is that if you set the rules, regulations, and limitations and you ALWAYS make sure everybody lives by them, the application of No is usually no more than a little “sssst, hey, don’t do that” and a “thank you “ when he stops doing the unwanted. Most people forget that No is a command just like Sit, Stay, Down, etc. and must be acknowledged with a reward like “Thank You” or a pat and in some cases a small treat. Remember you’re not rewarding him for barking, digging, chewing, etc. You’re rewarding him for stopping when you gave a “No don’t do that”, command.

There are a few rules that aren’t options.

If you give the No command and the dog persists in disobeying  YOU MUST GO TO THE DOG AND CORRECT HIM. We practice discipline and correction, not punishment.

Don’t try to convince yourself that the dog knows what is morally or ethically wrong. This is right up there with the mother of the three year old in the grocery store who has just wiped out six feet of display cases and mother utters one of those, “Oh Bobby, you know how that upsets Mommy when you do that.”

Dogs don’t relate to what is right or wrong or rude or mean so DON’T EXPLAIN TO YOUR DOG WHY SOMETHINGS ARE SIMPLY A NO, NO, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER. Case closed.

Oh yeah, none of this “come on be a  good boy, do Mommy a favor…yadayadayada”. You don’t ASK your dog to stop what he’s doing.

Make sure your body language and facial expression also mean No. Don’t be laughing and smiling when you correct him because you thought  his misbehaving was cute.

Lastly, NEVER CALL YOUR DOG TO YOU TO DISCIPLINE HIM.  That’s just plain dumb and isn’t worthy of an explanation.

TIME TO ACT

 

 This is one of Jim Rohn's great messages and while it was not intended specifically to apply to training our dogs, it certainly makes a point that we can all take to heart.

 

 The Time to Act by Jim Rohn

Engaging in genuine discipline requires that you develop the ability to take action. You don’t need to be hasty if it isn’t required, but you don’t want to lose much time either. Here’s the time to act: when the idea is hot and the emotion is strong.
Let’s say you would like to build your library. If that is a strong desire for you, what you’ve got to do is get the first book. Then get the second book. Take action as soon as possible, before the feeling passes and before the idea dims. If you don’t, here’s what happens…
You fall prey to the law of diminishing intent.
We intend to take action when the idea strikes us. We intend to do something when the emotion is high. But if we don’t translate that intention into action fairly soon, the urgency starts to diminish. A month from now the passion is cold. A year from now it can’t be found.
So take action. Set up a discipline when the emotions are high and the idea is strong, clear, and powerful. If somebody talks about good health and you’re motivated by it, you need to get a book on nutrition. Get the book before the idea passes, before the emotion gets cold. Begin the process. Fall on the floor and do some push-ups. You’ve got to take action; otherwise the wisdom is wasted. The emotion soon passes unless you apply it to a disciplined activity. Discipline enables you to capture the emotion and the wisdom and translate them into action. The key is to increase your motivation by quickly setting up the disciplines. By doing so, you’ve started a whole new life process.
Here is the greatest value of discipline: self-worth, also known as self-esteem. Many people who are teaching self-esteem these days don’t connect it to discipline. But once we sense the least lack of discipline within ourselves, it starts to erode our psyche. One of the greatest temptations is to just ease up a little bit. Instead of doing your best, you allow yourself to do just a little less than your best. Sure enough, you’ve started in the slightest way to decrease your sense of self-worth.
There is a problem with even a little bit of neglect. Neglect starts as an infection. If you don’t take care of it, it becomes a disease. And one neglect leads to another. Worst of all, when neglect starts, it diminishes our self-worth.
Once this has happened, how can you regain your self-respect? All you have to do is act now! Start with the smallest discipline that corresponds to your own philosophy. Make the commitment: “I will discipline myself to achieve my goals so that in the years ahead I can celebrate my successes.”

RETRAINING THE OLDER DOG(S)

"No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich."
-- Louis Sabin

Retraining the Older Dog

Thanks to a comment from Debb it seemed like a good subject to address.

 Can we train or retrain an old dog? Of course we can, just like those of us that are 30, 40 , 50, or maybe even a little older. The main thing we have to bear in mind is the student is probably carrying some extra baggage that we might have to train around or gently push to one side so there is room for new ideas and methods.

Have any of you encountered that challenge in your personal efforts to change something old and unwanted or to acquire a new skill? Bet you have, and often an attitude adjustment is required if we are to be successful.

So let’s look at buddy who is our 5 or more year old Lab cross who has some issues and you’ve read some stuff and said “you know I should put some time into Buddy and correct some of his bad habits and teach him some new skills.” What often happens is this thought winds up in the self improvement category and the old “ road to hell is paved with good intentions” concept kicks in because it starts to look like a whole bunch of effort and the reward begins to look too small compared to the perceived effort.

Okay let’s make this a lot more achievable so you’ll at least make the effort to retrain Buddy. This is all about the dog, remember.

Get out that lined pad of paper put a heading of “things I don’t want Buddy to do” and half way down the sheet another heading of “things I’d like to teach Buddy to do”.

Now start with the first section and list all of the things you don’t want Buddy to do. Don’t put them in order and don’t prejudge, just put down whatever comes to mind. Great now go down to the second section and do the same thing with those things you’d like to teach Buddy. Again, don’t prejudge just put whatever comes to mind.

What you’ve done is to list the POSSIBILITIES.

Now take your pencil and draw a line through those ideas that are completely unachievable. For example if Buddy is obese and has sore hips you can scratch the idea of teaching him to participate in Agility Classes.

What you’ve done now is to list the PROBABILITIES.

Chances are you’ll have 6 or 8 items or less in each section. The next step requires a little thought and concentration but we’ll keep it easy. Look at all items and imagine you could magically achieve each one with only ten minutes effort but you only get to do six and you must do the one task most important  to you first, and so on down the list until you’ve used up your six. Now take your pencil and put them in order of number 1, number2, etc.

What you’ve done now is to list the PRIORITIES.

START WITH NUMBER 1

Clearly identify what it is you’re going to teach.

Break it into the smallest teachable and learnable components.

Using the “Lure and Reward” principle we reteach buddy just as if he is a brand new student. If you look back through the previous  month’s blogs you’ll find the methods.

DO NOT PROCEED TO TASK NUMBER 2 UNTIL YOU AND BUDDY HAVE MASTERED NUMBER 1.

Do the repetitions in small bites with lots of positive reinforcement and expect that Buddy might be a bit slower to stick to the new methods of doing things or in some cases not doing things. Remember that just  like  many of us , he has to unlearn some old ways in order to catch on to the new stuff. The neat part is you can be guaranteed that if you proceed with small sections with lots of happy and enthusiastic repetition Buddy will enjoy the experience and reward you both with positive achievement.

Now set yourself some realistic goals and a workable schedule.  Give up 15 minutes of TV and 15 minutes of computer time each day to retrain Buddy. You’ll be amazed how quickly you achieve your  goals and the interesting  thing is many of the items that were a little way down the list will resolve themselves as you both work through the more important items and you’ll subconsciously solve a problem or slip in a new skill just in the process of addressing one of the more important challenges.

STICK WITH YOUR PLAN AND SCHEDULE UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE FIRST SIX ON THE LIST.

When these are finished go back to square one and redo the possibility, probability, priority, routine and see if there are still some issues and/or challenges that need to be addressed . It will be a lot easier to proceed from here. The main thing is IF YOU’VE COME THIS FAR DO NOT GIVE UP.

Lastly, let’s briefly discuss the multiple dog  situation. Seriously assess your concerns with each dog and put a priority on each dog and deal with the most serious or most important challenges first. I would suggest that you complete your efforts with the first dog before you go on to number 2 then next etc. What will most likely happen is that as you train through certain situations you will automatically resolve some of these  same issues if they exist with one or more of the other dogs. As you become a more persistent and consistent trainer and pack leader the efforts will naturally flow to the entire family.

Good training! And remember if you have any specific questions please send them on.

THOSE DARNED "D'S"

THOSE DARNED “D’S”

Most people who have done even a little dog training have encountered the dreaded 3D’s. DISTRACTIONS, DISTANCE, and DURATION. 

Probably the most common comment heard at any dog class is “My dog does it so well at home but when he comes to class he seems to go deaf and forget everything.” 

Most dogs can get a pretty good handle on the basics in just a few concentrated sessions if we work in a quiet place with no distractions.

Now comes the challenge. 

We venture out into the real world filled with even the simplest of distractions and our student turns deaf and has a complete lapse of memory.

Here’s where we check to see if you’ve remembered the basics of training.

Patience, persistence, consistency, and above all motivation. 

The student must have a reason to perform. This is called motivation and we hope you use positive motivation as opposed to the old “jerk and pull” system.

If you hope to overcome a distraction you must offer an alternative motivation which will exceed whatever interest the student has in the distraction. The big piece of freshly grilled sirloin has to be more appealing than the cute little "poodle chick" who has just happened to wander into your training area. 

The real long term answer to overcoming distractions is to practice small bits many times in lots of different environments with tons of positive motivation for performance until the task becomes thoroughly imprinted and is an automatic reflex action which is not sidetracked by distractions.

In short it requires that we practice simple steps regularly in many different situations and environments and gradually increase the difficulty and distractions. 

Mostly we think of DISTANCE as being a factor in the recall.

People seem to forget about having the dog master the recall in a controlled environment and from a very short distance until they have mastered the basics. 

Instead they start yelling “come” or “here” when the dog has no idea what they mean and is way too distant to respond favorably.  

When the dog ignores them they assume he is deaf and up goes the volume, pitch, and velocity and soon the dog is saying “adios amigo, I'm not going near that person.” 

You teach the recall in small bites and short distances and it always ends with positive, happy, enthusiasm. If all he ever gets is the trainer who simply yells more frequently and progressively louder you can be assured that he won't be anxious to come the next time he's called.

Do yourself a favor. If the dog does not respond to your initial command go toward him until you've cut the distance in half and repeat the command and make yourself into a happy receptive target so the dog has a positive reason to come.

Remember our goal is to have the dog come to us, not listen to us yell and scream at him.

Distance is also a major factor when we practice sit, down, and stay commands from a distance away from the student. Again, the solution is simple but we have to adhere to the basics. Practice small bits until they are mastered in various environments and with varying distraction and only then do we up the distances.

DURATION obviously only applies to those tasks that are time sensitive. Mainly we are dealing with stay in a sit position or the down stay. 

I personally use wait in some applications but it is just what it sounds like. i.e. wait while we look for traffic, go through the door, etc and therefore is really only a brief pause.

 The stay duration starts with ten seconds and increases in ten second increments up to thirty seconds and then you go to a minute, then two minutes and finally three. Once you attain three minutes your dog will usually stay as long as you want and it's not difficult to throw in the occasional five minutes.

It's easier to teach the sit stay first because the dog still has the option to move about. Once we ask for the down stay we have removed the flight option which makes some dogs uneasy until they become comfortable and trusting of the environment. 

Again we start with short durations and work up with longer stays, changing environments and distractions. The constant is the same as with the distractions and distance. We start small and increase gradually as we master each step.

If you jump ahead and try to proceed too quickly you run the risk of your dog breaking, becoming confused, you getting frustrated , and much of your effort to this stage being lost and you wind up back at square one but now your dog is carrying some negative baggage which you may have to address before you can move ahead.

So there you have the 3 D's. If you do much training you're guaranteed to encounter them and hopefully this will help you to recognize your challenges and have a little better idea as to how to deal with them.

LURES REWARDS - TEACHING SIT DOWN STAND

If you were with me about two months ago you will recall that we started a young black shepherd called Shep and we used lures and rewards to position the puppy and taught SIT, DOWN, and STAND with hand signals and no voice commands. This video is by Chirag Patel who has a training facility in Britain and is the best example I have seen to illustrate our lesson from that session. Save it and use it. I use this system with all the puppies I train and have found it to work almost the same with older and adult dogs who need training or refreshers. Remember short sessions, lots of repetitions, and happy successful students.

Well Trained Dog Less Likely To Attack

 

 

 This is a great testimonial from the Calgary Herald of Aug. 7,2011. Thanks Debb

Rubensohn: A well-trained dog is less likely to attack

 

 

By Dr. Mark Rubensohn, Calgary Herald August 7, 2011

 

0

 

The recent, very unfortunate event in Didsbury, where two Akitas attacked and seriously injured two young people who were known to them, as well as their dog, highlights the problem of dog attacks and what brings them about.
There is no doubt a number of facts led to this particular attack.
There were newborn (four days old) puppies and the mother dog would have been increasingly protective. The owner, who would have had the most control over the Akitas, was away. She would instil a sense of trust and calm in her dogs, which was not there due to her absence.
The couple's beagle coming into the environment of the bitch with the newborn puppies would almost surely have aggravated the mother Akita's protective instincts. Dog aggression will be compounded by the flight and panic of the object of their attack. If the beagle and its owners were yelling in flight, then the aggression would have been aggravated.
What has made this incident even more sinister is that the couple and their beagle were well known to the Akitas, and that despite their attempts to escape, the Akitas pursued them until they could fight their way out of the garage.
The reality remains, however, that despite the fact we are talking about people's pets - our best friends and constant companions - animals we love dearly, and pets that are regarded as part of the family, we experience aggression, biting, nipping and dominant behaviour continuously from our dogs. As a veterinarian, it is of great concern to me that so many of our dogs cannot be controlled by their owners, and that they are undisciplined, regardless of their size or breed. One need only tune into an episode of Cesar Millan's Dog Whisperer on TV to see how dogs are ruling their people's behaviour, rather than the other way around.
The statistics of dog attacks show without exception that dogs that have been trained and are obedient have a statistically hugely lower incidence of attacks on people. This includes all breeds, both large and small. In the U.K., Labradors have been one of the top listed breeds involved in attacks. Here in Canada and the U.S., German shepherds were for a long time on top of the list, but have now been replaced by the power breeds of pit bulls, cane corsos - and now, we have a case of Akitas. The big difference with the power breeds, of course, is that they do more harm than the smaller breeds.
We would do well to remember that the happiest dogs are those to which we assign jobs and work, and from which we demand respect for our rules. No matter what the breed, all of our dogs have been bred to work, and we need to not only allow them, but to teach them how to do this. All dogs should know how to sit on command, to heel, lie down, stay, come, and walk on a leash without pulling.
No dog should jump up on us without being invited to do so, or jump onto the furniture without invitation. Food should not be available all day, but should be given twice daily with the requirement that the dog sits obediently and only takes the food on command. Praise and reward should be earned, and not unconditional.
And the best love that you can give your dog is to give it adequate exercise and attention. If you need help in how to do this, watch the Dog Whisperer, and if necessary, enrol in training classes, which are available all over, and conveniently for us, with the Calgary Humane Society.
If you want to see a happy dog, attend a show of Super Dogs or go to any dog agility trial.
All of this is available in Calgary. Empower your pet to attain its true potential with your help. That is what loving your pet is really about.
Mark Rubensohn is a veterinarian at the Bridlewood Veterinary Clinic.

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

 

 

 

Train for what you want them to do - not for what you don't want them to do

Recently I was contacted by a past client who had moved to a neighboring city and he was having trouble taking his 4 year old terrier poodle for walks. The city had designated 20 or more kilometers of bike, walk, run, skateboard etc. which is closed off and vehicle free area on Sundays. Perfect for long and pleasant dog walks. The problem was, the man's dog had developed a serious mad-on toward skateboards and Volkswagon Beetles. Yup, all 35 pounds and he was going to disembowel a VW. The man was coming to our area for a week and he wondered if I could do anything to help him.
We arranged times and I had 5 one  hour sessions free and the challenge was to redirect  Rambo's thought process so his retired and slightly aging owner could enjoy the great walking area.
The first thing I did was pick up the dog and set off on a one hour walk through a residential area that was quiet and progressed toward more traffic and active areas with more distractions and hopefully at least one VW. As luck would have it I had one go by quite quickly and "killer" hit the end of the leash barking, snarling, and teeth flashing, in his best "let me at him" fashion. I just stood still until he came back to earth and went on our way but my mind was starting to assess this challenge. The normal trainer's solution is to present the problem over and over and correct the dog until he hopefully decides he should quit attacking VW's or his neck is going to get pretty sore. I don't subscribe to that method because my goal is to find positive solutions so the dog is happy to repeat his successes instead of dreading his failures. Besides which, the owner wasn't going to be able to jerk Rambo over backwards without  doing serious harm to one or both of them plus all this was going to do was make the problem worse. Well this sounds easy Tonto but how are you going to accomplish it?
Next day I showed up equipped with a flat collar, no choke collar or anything similar plus a pocket full of super tasty high value treats. We went a half block away so the student wouldn't be distracted by his owner or their environment and I started at square one just like I do with a puppy. I moved him left and when he followed my hand I opened it and gave him the reward. After about ten of theses I moved him left and right and then when I stopped I lured his nose between his ears and toward his tail and said sit. He remembered his old lessons very quickly and was sitting and doing a sit, down, and stay with "lures and rewards" at least 8 or 9 times out of ten so I decided it was time to proceed to phase two.
I had about half hour left which was just right for a training walk which is different from an exercise walk. We proceeded down the street and as soon as he got out of position I said Oops! and stood still. At first he was confused but he eventually came back to me and was rewarded when he assumed a sit near my left side. It wasn't perfectly in position but I could work on form in some future lessons. From then on we progressed to fewer errors and more relaxed time in the proper heeling position and I was looking for an opportunity to use our new skills and very shortly a somewhat noisy dog bolted toward us and before Rambo could react I stopped suddenly and gave him a sit command both with hand signal and vocally and he was sitting politely beside me as the noisy one came up , sniffed, and decided there was nothing here for him so he was on his way. Good dog, extra reward, and away we go. Lots of cars went by but nary a VW and I was about to give up and about quarter block away, behold a shiny green VW monster was driving into it's driveway and killer was switching gears faster than your best NASCAR jockey. Before he could hit the end of the leash I was into the Oops! routine and standing still armed with my trusty "lure and reward". Hooray, the light went on and his butt hit the sidewalk and I smothered that little sucker with a handful of mind altering treats. And then something interesting occurred. The driver turned the car off and Rambo relaxed. When I saw him let the air out of his tires I asked for a down stay and dropped his leash beside him to see if he was serious. Sure enough no problem. From this I was able to figure out it was the whistling sound of VW's that was inciting him. Hey, great gains so we headed home winners and we had only finished day two.
From here on in I forgot the VW's and skateboards and devoted all my effort to building on the positive and perfecting his manners and leash skills in as many different environments as I could find. The more activity and distractions the better, we were on a roll and he was getting all his old skills back plus some new ones. By the end of day four I was confident in asking him to sit stay in most any situation and as long as it wasn't somewhere that could endanger the dog , I'd drop the leash and walk a few steps away and back and forth in order to help him to understand that he had earned my trust and I was satisfied that he was comfortable with our situation and environment. Next, train the other end of the leash. When I returned the dog I asked the owner if he could take time to join me the next day and he agreed.
Next day as soon as we left the yard I handed the leash to the owner and gave him a short refresher on positioning, looses leash, and confident heads up presentation, and away we went. In the first block he needed to remind the dog who was in charge with a quick correction, an Oops! and an appropriate reward probably a half dozen times but  it wasn't long and the two of them were proceeding like old pros. I headed toward a busier area and I could sense a bit of apprehension but I didn't utter a word. I figured as long as the dog was going along properly I'd let the owner work things through. It wasn't long and the pair were going along great with the dog on a loose leash beside the owner and as we came to busier areas they were calmly waiting and giving way to groups of people.Next came the big test. It was market day with two blocks of booths and every kind of distraction you could conjure up. I  told the man I wanted check on something and
was he up to taking his dog through all the noise and crowd. He got a big grin on his face and said "Heck Yes". From there on it was a snap. The dog and owner had discovered a whole new world.
I'm pleased to report that they are enjoying their walks and ignoring skateboards and VW's.

Happy Dog Days of August

Guess which one has to buy his own food? Oh well it could be worse. I could really love Mastifs.