So I have a very naughty 11 week old puppy. Below is the video evidence to prove it. I thought this would be an ideal time to talk about my Ruff Love program.
When Ruff Love was first released more than 10 years ago it received some pretty harsh criticism from many so called “gurus” in the clicker training or positive dog training circles.
Unfortunately I may have given the reader credit for too much common sense and left, what I felt was the obvious, out of the book.
For some reason people equated “Ruff Love” with keeping a dog hostage. I know some performance dog people do believe to create a drive to work you should completely isolate the
dog and the only time he is free is when he gets to his intended “work” for you.
Where is the joy in THAT?
If you know anything about me, you know that was never the intention of the Ruff Love program. As a matter of fact it says so in the book. The point of the program is for you to “supervise” the dog 100% of the time. If you can’t have your focus on the dog then he needs to be crated. If you have time to kill and can watch and monitor where you dog finds his reinforcement in life less crate time will be needed.
Having said all of that, I would caution anyone against allowing behaviours you will see in this video be repeated by your dog or puppy. I am happy to allow a puppy to have his joy and you notice I am there supervising, but don’t allow these rehearsals to happen over and over.
I allowed some of the behaviours to occur; one, because it made for good television and two, I am a professional dog trainer who is pretty confident in my ability to turn this puppy’s focus around although I will admit I have never trained one quite like Swagger. He totally lives up to his name!
Today after looking at this lovely video, I want you to tell me what does “Ruff Love” mean to you? Have you tried the program? How did it go and what were the results.
For those of you that can not view the video I have also posted it to my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/SusanGarrettDogAgility
Today I am grateful for Swagger who is already has me re-writing my puppy training journal.
Ruff love is a program to keep mommies from losing their minds and putting their cute, naughty puppies in a basket and dropping them off on someone elses doorstep? I have the book, but just started reading it. Will let you know how it goes.
A book on Swagger would be a great read, but the movie will be better. 😉 When will you ever have the time to write a book on the other end of the spectrum – DeCaff???
I loved Buzz’s story but I think DeCaff’s would be even better.
Julia’s response was interesting and I’m afraid a response a lot of people seem to have to Ruff Love. I thought your intention in that book was very clear but people seem to have an almost knee jerk emotional response to it (negative response that is). It’s a response I’ve never understood because really all they have to do is look at your dogs and it is blindingly obvious that they are exceedingly happy and live a life of great freedom and joy.
I think in part it is maybe because there is still this huge negative response to crates – there are still many breeders (here at least) who openly write things like, my dogs are all family pets , I do not use crates. Alot of people seem to have a very wrong idea about what ”Ruff love” is all about 🙁
I have to say when I was first made aware of this book, “Ruff Love,” I was skeptical. I have totally dedicated myself to positive-reinforcement training methods for quite a few years now. While my puppy and I were attending a particular training class, we had a problem with one of the instructors. She did not like the fact that my border collie puppy liked to jump on people when he greeted them. I admit that I have been overly indulgent and permissive with him, and so have many other people who met him and could not resist his charms. But this particular instuctor shoved him around quite a bit, and it ticked me off, because I have had to deal with rescue dogs for many years who have fear issues, being undersocialized and/or abused in some way. Now I had this wonderful boy who loved everybody and was not afraid of anything, and the last thing I would tolerate was someone jeopardizing that. But, she was the one who told me about “Ruff Love,” so of course, I was dubious. I was also curious, however, so I purchased a copy ( I also dropped out of that class!!). After reading it, I am very interested in starting this with all 3 of my dogs, even my 10-yr-old girl who has had fear-aggression issues forever. I love the motto “Positive is not permissive.” I know that I have been way too permissive with all my dogs. Things are going to change, because I want all my dogs to be happy and safe, and to be able to live up to their potential.
Yes, a DeCaff one would be great. An unmotivated dog can be so challenging and frustrating.
I bought Ruff Love a a month ago but also misunderstood the “isolating” part and didn’t begin with it (have two “naughty”, unmotivated dogs). After Recallers I will definitely read it (completely) and give it a try.
Julia’s comment is a great reminder of the emotional reactivity we have towards all sorts of ideas that somehow harken back to our childhoods, and where we learned whatever we learned about punishment and being naughty, and what that meant. Probably like many of us, I did not have perfect parents. I had a “strict” Italian father and a frequently depressed social worker mother, and as a child I only had to sneeze to be naughty, and so we all come to dog training with all this baggage, and we see through the lens of our childhoods, and also through the lens of the way we perhaps saw pets mistreated. So it’s understandable how we run into different kinds of reactivity in our human discussions and I love the way people in these discussions don’t tend to come at it with an argumentative attitude, but with problem solving attitudes. We’re all in the same boat, er, dog bed. I think the hardest thing about teaching must be, how to avoid getting frustrated and annoyed with the students, but Susan is awesome and we get to see how she does that, and that is a lesson in itself.
Amazing perspective Jenny. Thank you for sharing.
I know this comment is from years ago, but I love it. Spot on; all of it.
This post & many of the comments make me sad. Swagger is a baby and there is nothing naughty about him moving into the world at full throttle. If he was two years old in this video, I’d say, sure – untrained. But to be naughty, you have to grasp what is good & bad behavior, and no untrained dog has that framework. I’m all for focus and intensity, but there is something dangerously humorless about the tone here – this puppy’s being bad, don’t let your dog get away with this sass. Or what? Most dogs that are considered ‘bad’ are in danger of losing their homes & lives. That’s the larger-world context that makes me, too, cringe at the language of ‘ruff love’. I don’t mean this disrespectfully, but until you outsell Cesar Milan with your take on ‘ruff’, his version of ‘rough’ is what most dogs will continue to experience. I know you’ll make Swagger a champ and a happy dog. But, words matter.
Hi Julia.
I’m sure you mean well 😉
” but there is something dangerously humorless about the tone here”
That is a naughty thing to say!
I appreciate that is your view of the post and comments.
My view? I felt it was a celebration of the way we have been challenged by our dogs to be better. To be patient, understanding, purposeful. It was loving humor and lacked judgement.
Your comment reminds me that to some people, this is a dangerous world. You called swagger bad, and busted on Cesar and Susan all in one comment. How about you come back and say something awesome about all 3 of them?
Show us the power of words, and enroll us in a safe and wonderful world.
@Julia I assume you are new to this blog. Any inference to this puppy being “bad” or “naughty” was all done in good humour — which is, I think, pretty obvious from my reaction to these incidences in the video clips. I am laughing as my puppy is being “naughty” and I am obviously enjoying watching him do what other 10 week old puppies do.
Life is to be enjoyed– find the JOY! If we all trained ourselves to look for the best in people, in blog posts, in life — it would be reflected in our dog training, in our interactions with; our dogs, our friends and yes even with people we have never met who we sit behind a computer screen and judge. All of these interactions would be about JOY and reflect what is good and not what is lacking.
This is a blog where I go to great lengths to share for my readers, ways I can help them create a better life for their dogs, more success with their training and more joy for both of them.
This is not a blog for throwing stones. It is about inspiration, motivation and gratitude. For that reason no reply from you written with the disrespect of your last one will be published. Peace.
I will try to clarify, because I care deeply about dogs and their place in our culture. I am not particularly new to this blog and I’m a big fan of Crate Games. My response was serious and disrespect was not intended. Here’s where I’m coming from: I am researching & writing about dogs and language for an academic project, and I believe deeply in the power of words to shape experiences. I’m an experienced, now-amateur trainer who learned from Dick Koehler & co. how to train with force (as a teen), and who has been unlearning that ever since. There was zero joy & humor in that system, and it is echoed in the most popular training books out there, still. And in my view, positive trainers have to take care to construct a new language that doesn’t risk re-engraving the tools of cruelty. Because we have not won this war yet. Susan, your word choice matters very much to me in the sense that this is a public dialog. There has to be way to communicate that that isn’t seen as an attack. Clearly, I didn’t pull that off, and I hope that everyone can see that as a flaw in my communication skills, and still see that there’s a point worth considering.
A month late but …
It’s amazing what gets lost in translation when things hit the internet. “Naughty” is much more in the spirit of Life of Brian. If Susan’s intent isn’t patently obvious from reading the blog and watching the videos then you really should take a seminar from her and see her in person.
You mentioned that Feature LOVES keep away. This is so obviously her child! 😉
Before reading Ruff Love, I didn’t think too highly of head halters. Before taking Susan’s Recallers Class, I didn’t think too highly of collar grabs. I am now a proponent of both. I started the Ruff Love program on a professor of self rewarding behavior – a rescued Dobie who was in a shelter before 6 months of age due to her naughty nature. I’m a Ruff Love dropout because I didn’t finish the entire course with her, but what I did finish has helped me understand tons about her and has enhanced our relationship. I am on the brink of using it on another dog, but I need to get back into the book to re-read it so I know the path I’m on. It’s a little tough in a multi-dog household because the dog on the program is “special” and gets a lot of the energy and focus I usually spread out more widely among my pack. That’s the main reason I didn’t finish with it the first time. I think it’s an excellent program, and along with it, Crate Games and Recallers, I find myself in a much better position to tackle more of the training issues I face now than ever. I’m glad you’re out there educating us, Susan.
That is an outstanding point Helen and the idea of coming into Rough Love with adult dogs of varying training backgrounds integrated into one house hold is something I would dearly love to see addressed 🙂
I got “Ruff Love” as a gift from a friend when I got a difficult puppy. I used many of the techniques and ended up with a wonderful dog. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that I should have used and continued to use ALL OF THE ADVICE I found in the book. When my dog was older and I had allowed my vigilance to slip and the rewards to be found somewhere other than me, I lost the love of my life to a HBC (hit by car) when she chose to investigate across the street. I thought I was a decent dog trainer but I (unfortunately too late) realized I didn’t have the control I thought I had.
I love Susan’s techniques. Find the Joy! Build the value, test the value. Its not Ruff Love its the best way to communicate with your dog…they are dogs after all not people. Revel in their dogginess and keep them safe in our world of human created dangers by managing their environment and reactions!
My new dog is 3 years old and is a continuously Ruff Love trained companion. Thank you Susan for all you do for us and our dogs.
oh boy with Buzzy we got a wonderful book to read that if you did not read it several times you are missing something special. Maybe with Swagger there will be a new book to read, I sure hope so. Even though my terriers are still very naughty I learned more from Ruff Love than any book I have ever read. I really believe it is the reason all of my dogs have the drive they have and willingness to work for me.
Oh my Beth, that would be a thriller that would be:).
I got Ruff Love 2 years ago.
And although I had Crate Games I have to confess to laziness, it was the imposed discipline of the Recallers 1.0 that got me DOing what never got off the ground with just the book.
Now reading Ruff Love again, I understand the significance of the content better, the old saying “I do and I understand”
I didn’t know these fundamentals with my 2 dogs, especially 2 prevalent ideas I didn’t know any better : “let dogs be dogs” (and scold when things go wrong) and “let the older dog educate the second”.
I would highly recommend this book.
I’m sorry to say, I tried but gave up on the head halter. Then. Susan you promised during last year’s recallers course, to give more detailed demonstration of how to use the head halter correctly. If you do, I’ll be certain to try again.
Sadly, I can’t get to watch Swagger in action. Reason is also like what #1 wrote.
Well anyway,Ruff Love isn’t to be confused with “Rough” Love as what those gurus implies. Will have to test it out for my dog first, though I think it’ll be a tough road since I’m not a pro like you.
Swagger reminds me my young Malinois one year ago when he was a puppy. Actually without the ruff love program I wouldn’t have been able to raise him properly and without any harsh corrections. I was believing in that program and I was seeing small improvements as the time was passing. But it was not easy because I received many crictisisms from many people, even close ones. When nobody believes in what you believe, you sometimes almost lose faith. But I was determined to use only positive methods and I sticked to that.
Finally I got what I wanted, a good family dog along with focus and motivation to work with me. So I’m happy I didn’t give up because the benefit is huge and it continues to be, day after day as he’s still improving.
I’m so much grateful to the ruff love program because it allowed me to raise a difficult puppy with only joy and games.
It is difficult, feels isolating, to do something that requires commitment when nobody around you is interested. It’s worse when you’re surrounded by uninformed critics. Under those circumstances, though, we are required to get to know ourselves and our motivations better, and to learn to sort the reality of the outcomes we are seeing with our dogs from the noise of the chatter around us.
I found your story motivating and inspiring, Marco, and I’m happy for you and your dog. Thank you for sharing!
I’m one of those that was mislead about what Ruff Love really meant. I should have listened to Lynda and Blanche many years ago! Instead, I felt that it was my Mini Schnauzer’s right to be a little brat in agility class and zoom around like a potential madman because it was my choice to go to class and not his. I paid the price in that I left agility because it wasn’t any fun. Learned a lesson the hard way
Ruff love was a must for me with all my dogs. It taught them my relationship with me was so much more important than the rest of the world. I haven’t fed from a bowl since I first read Ruff Love 6 years ago…all treats and toys come from me. Before Ruff love I had a lot of run offs…zoomies…and distraction issues. It will always be one of the most powerful books I’ve ever had.
Swagger man is just beautiful…and so vivacious! Great drive!
I have a young border collie boy (just turned 1-yr-old yesterday) who is a lot like Swagger! He was great in puppy classes, but he totally wants to play with other dogs more than paying any attention to me. We were enrolled in a special “performance puppy” class, designed to help them get ready for sports, and he was like an ADD dog – it was darn near impossible for me to get his attention. One of the instructors told me about your book, “Ruff Love,” and I purchased a copy. This program makes a lot of sense, and, as I am planning on trying agility, herding and possibly even flyball with him, I think it will be detrimental for me to implement it with him. By the way, I love the video of Swagger! Just like Petey!! A great dog but a real handful!!
This is so funny, I can’t stop laughing! Swagger you are just adorable boy! We know in time you’ll be as fab as Feature but it’s fun to see you getting the upper paw for just a tiny bit! Life certainly isn’t going to be dull in the Garrett house with Swagger around!!!
what an awesome puppy! He could be related to my Border Collie Ivy – a total snoop and no fear.
Ivy says that if Swagger would like some pointers, she can teach him how to get up on top of the fridge to play with a cat.
I completely understand and see the value of Ruff Love but it is the one part of your program that I’ve struggled to integrate into my life with my dogs. I very much want to raise a puppy with Ruff Love but I’ve yet to manage it. I probably won’t have another pup now for about 3 years but I’m already trying to work out how I’m going to manage Ruff Love with that pup – still struggling I’m afraid.
THAT puppy antics got me out of the Monday blues! THANKS!!!
How’s Penny doing with her puppy?????????
Oh gosh, I just love all that puppy stuff. What a cute boy and now I know why you decided to keep him. He is playful and devilish at the same time. Looks like you will have lots of fun with him!
Cute – Naughty. Such a fine line!! 😀
“I am a professional. Do not try this at home.” LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Such an interesting question and I think about “What is Ruff Love” a lot, partly because I read the book used it with mixed results, and so since then I have followed you more closely, because I know you are onto something, but I didn’t know exactly how to apply it. An “issue” that came up for me with my formerly feral Charlie, and also with my hunting obsessed french waterdog (who acts more like a swimming-terrier than a poodle), that A. I got some extinction bursts that were really hard to manage, and that got away from me, thus putting some powerful reinforcement on some difficult escape behaviors and B. I’m just not quite organized or methodical or competent or whatever to do everything right all the time. I goof up and then it can feel like I have totally screwed my training progress.
But then, I did your recallers course, which helped me “get” a better sense of the kind of energy you are looking for, what you really meant by that great little book, that ruff love is about play, not just about management and training, and today I was playing what began as one of your “crate games” with my hunting dog, taking her collar and revving her up and sending her to “go sniff,” (instead of go “crate”) and she got it! I was really able to transfer the crate game to a game that made it much easier to call her away from a level 10 distraction. I could write a book about all that I have learned from your book(s)! Very thought provoking growth inspiring lessons. But I will leave it at this: when I find myself getting stiff, frustrated, tired, annoyed,boring, I know that’s not ruff love. And when I feel funny and my energy is balanced, I find myself laughing at the mistakes, and revising my games to make them more fun, then I know I am kinda starting to get it right!
“When I find myself getting stiff, frustrated, tired . . .that is not Ruff Love.” You found words to express one of the guidepost feelings I have gotten from all the information from Susan. When those negative feelings creep in and can’t be quickly cleared up, that’s my signal to give the dog an easy success, wrap up the training session, and start studying up on what to do next. I had been doing this but did not realize it ’til I read what you wrote. Thank you!!
I have a 5 month old border and when I’m home she is always with me or in her crate if can’t be supervised. However I do have a question regarding long time crating? I work 8 hrs Monday to Friday and my partner works four days on four off… So the are times through the week which she is at home for 8 hrs with the older dog in the yard. I have no choice but to put her in the yard. The problem we are finding is that when unsupervised she is getting reinforcement from starting to chase cars next door. When we are here the value is strongly with us so she wont do it. Would love to hear your oppinions on long hour solutions to keep them supervised??
I don’t feel 8 hours is too long to crate them as long as you give them lots of exercise/training/attention at another time of day. It’s preferable if someone can come to let them out in the middle of the day, but 8 hours isn’t too bad, and preferable to being in a yard all day, from a safety and ‘stealing reinforcement’ point of view. Others may have a different opinion, but that’s what I think.
Quite awhile back and way before I knew about Recallers, I thought keeping the puppy “isolated” sounded mean. When I got my border collie puppy over 3 years ago, he was either in the crate with me in whatever room I was working in, in the kitchen/dining room in his ex-pen or on a leash attached to me. I had to do this because he was determined to eat my carpet, my furniture and my back yard. Rather than being pissed off all the time, I made sure I could supervise him all the time he was out of his kennel/ex-pen. Even on leash he would try to be naughty. By 5 months old I had a puppy that could be trusted anywhere in the house off leash. I did all this before I had even heard of “Susan Garrett.” I had encouragement from his foster to do this and without knowing it was doing some “Ruff Love” myself. Now I’m reading Ruff Love and see I coulda/shoulda done more. Rather than focus on what I didn’t do “right,” I’m focusing on the changes I can make with him now. I love him completely! He has so much joy for life. And I’m finding Recallers/Ruff Love aren’t squashing his joy. Lots of people, me included, tend to make judgements of what someone else is doing or recommending without research of knowledge. Today I am grateful for Recallers, for knowing for “Susan Garrett” is now, and all that I’m learning! I’m grateful to be finding the joy with all of my dogs!
I have been working at raising my puppy (now 13 months) with Ruff Love and Shaping success. It was great to see the bit of independence of Swagger. He seems curious and testing the limits. I have let Fly investigate the world but have always supervised her out in the yard and free in the house. I don’t just let her out to do her own thing without me there. I did have a few months where my mother was here and it was too easy for her to just let Fly out or let her run free about the house. I have had to regroup a bit since then. If let to do her own thing in the house she chases shadows and waits for them to move fixed on the wall. I have to carefully watch to keep that behavior from appearing. When she is out of the crate we play but if I have to do other things I put her in the crate. The recall class is also getting her focus back at me. You showed us the naughty Swagger but there must be the brilliant Swagger also. I love Ruff Love, the time in the crate is less – I watch her and as long as the behavior is what I desire there is out time. I try hard not to open the opportunity to rehearse the unwanted behaviors, but life is real.
I was so frustrated by my willful, independent female BC puppy because after months of work, she still had zero interest in playing with me. I knew people who had done “the program” with success in the past and they recommended the book, so I got it. I admit that I did not have the most open mind in the world. My views of RL were that “the dog lives all day in a crate and has to wear a gentle leader all the time.”
I followed about 50% of the program and did see improvements. I took away all free access to toys, I hand-fed meals, I kept her separate from the other dogs about half the time — Overall, I just wasn’t *willing* to alter my lifestyle in a manner to follow the program 100%.
While I do feel we have come so far from where we were when I was so frustrated, I do wonder what our relationship would be like I had followed the program to the letter. She’s 20 months old now and is super into toys and her drive has increased a ton — But it’s pretty obvious that I’m not #1 in her life. We get on well with each other and my value continues to increase in her eyes (as I earn it, I suppose she thinks!), but I’m not sure she’ll ever find me more rewarding than playing with my other dogs.
First off, Susan…you giving us a glimpse of naughty Swagger reminds me that even the Best if trainers have their day issues…but you still see the joy in it and that greatly helps me, Susan. I love to see Swagger being allowed to be himself in between your training. Yes, he’s gonna be your dog of confidence and even teach you things that your Encore, Feature & other dogs never did!!
I’ve not yet ordered Ruff Love; that’s my next agenda…but to me…Ruff Love is loving your dog so much that in order to help her be the best she can be, you have to control the enviroment around her to help her focus on yoy and only you.
Here’s a confession, made with the utmost respect for all involved:
Ruff Love reminds me of the story of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan. Annie Sullivan removed the blind and deaf child Helen from all kinds of stimuli and self-reinforcement in her home, narrowed her world down to the two of them in a small guest cottage, persistently went after the communication, communication, communication until Helen made the association between water and the w-a-t-e-r Annie was spelling in her hand. And then BOOM! Little Helen’s world cracked wide open: education, college, world travel, a very full life with boundless possibilities. A truly bright mind set free. Helen went from being loved but unmannered and destructive, an institutionalized future very likely, to being a citizen of the world.
What more could I want for my dog? I will spare you details, but this is really how Ruff Love (and Crate Games and Recallers) has worked, and continutes to work, for us.
WOW! What a powerful analogy!
I love this analogy. It really portrays the whole theory of Ruff Love perfectly (at least, as I see it!)
Apparently he finds his motivation in power tools.
Haha, boys will be boys!
Well I think we could compare some notes Susan…! I remember Tiffany having to put camping chairs on the upramps of her dog walk to stop certain 6 week old puppies from checking out the view – my pup just took that as a challenge to test out his newly found body awareness and crawl through said chairs… More recently he decided that a snow drift plus a garden shed roof was a convenient ramp to clear our 6′ fence to check out what the rest of the family was doing on the other side…
Seriously though, I see a lot of similarities but with the help of routines, consistency and some ‘brilliant recall’ exercises, we have a mostly awesome boy who is turning into a very nice companion and working dog. It is a very different journey this time around but I know that we are both up to it!
When I first read Ruff Love I did not fully get it…partly because I had seen people using what their interpretation was of the program, which I now know they were totally off the mark….ANYWAY, for me I think it is a program for setting your dog up for success, I used it for my last puppy and I have never had more fun and I think my puppy is just full of joy because she gets soooo many chances to earn reinforcement and have fun.
Wow, this looks like my dog when he was a pup. Swagger even has the same crazy-naughty expression on his face, even though they’re different breeds! The expression that says “wide world, here I come!”. I guess the naughty face is universal 🙂
At that time I didn’t know how to deal with the extreme attractiveness of everything around him, so the first year was very dishartening and frustrating… but now I wouldn’t change him for the world 🙂
I haven’t read Ruff Love, but I will ,now. Da Mama is da bomb….look at that Swaggy rocket launch out of that big yellow hidey-hole! What a Call Once! Naughty? No, I see a gifted puppy lucky enough to land in the lap of a gifted trainer. Re-writing the puppy journal? You have the perfect creative partner for that adventure. Thanks for showing us what balance looks like.
At 79 I am starting over again with a 7 mos Pap boy. Working on Crate Games right now but can’t wait to get to town and pick up a copy of Ruff Love. Perhaps Little Ben will learn to play tug with me – soon after the potty training is over. (I’m the tired one – not Ben. Thank you for keeping so simple that even I understand and more important Ben understands. Blessings, Grandma W.
p.s. I hope to train my pup with Ruff Love and Recallers concepts, as well as crate games.
Ha ha ha! This will make for a great before/after! One of the things I’ve always admired about you is that you never attempted to portray yourself as perfect. Thank you for that; it makes good training seem that much more attainable for the rest of us. Nose kisses to your sweet Swagger! -d.
I get the same blocked message. Guess only Americans can view it. BUMMER
I’m doing current Ruff Love for the 3rd time with my current dog. I gave up the first 2 times because I didn’t really understand that my dog was allowed to do things with me other than the 3-4 times daily training sessions and I wanted to go on hikes with him and various other things I didn’t count as training. Well the last time I reread Ruff Love I realized I was stupid the first two times I tried it and its no about leaving him in his crate all day, its about making me more fun than everything else in his life. So we are about 3 weeks in now and he isn’t blowing me off nearly as much. We still have a long way to go but I am impressed with his progress up to this point.
How is it that none of my puppies have ever been as “bad” as Swagger and at this point I am taking an 8 year old JRT and 5 year old ACD through the Ruff Love program to try to fix some fairly major problems?!?
I don’t know if you know anything about falconry but some people use falconry methods to free-fly pet parrots outside (talk about JOY!) and it is incredibly controversial that in order to safely make certain the parrot will always return to you, you must control not only their food but actually their weight by weighing the bird on a gram scale to make certain they are below a certain weight and thus you and your sunflower seeds will have enough value to the bird to keep him/her from flying off and being lost forever.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/barrielynn/916406790/
Thank you Susan for reminding me of that because I remember how very hard it was to make myself stick to the system (which is much more stringent than Ruff Love) to be able to fly my parrot outside but the incredible joy of letting her do so is something I need to keep in my mind as my girls and I struggle with working through Ruff Love 🙂
To answer your question: Ruff Love doesn’t quite = joy to me or my girls YET but I can see some possibility of it doing so in the not too distant future!
he he he .. you go puppy :>)
I bought the book when it first came out, and I was just crossing over in my training style. Sadly, I read through it with a self-defeating “I already know how to do this stuff” attitude, and rather than learn from it, I shelved it. Last year, in the “great cleaning out,” it was donated along with many other books.
I hopefully have a new puppy arriving in the very late Fall of this year (it’s been 7yrs since a puppy, what AM I thinking?!). There’s a been a great awakening in my brain and a strong desire to train my new puppy in completely different ways than even before when I thought I’d changed to positive training. Can’t even tell you how many hours I’ve spent perusing your blog and watching and rewatching videos. And….I have my 2nd copy of Ruff Love. This time it goes with me anywhere I have 5min to sit and read, and it’s already well marked with an eye-bleeding yellow highliter! 🙂
I have really come to appreciate the subtleties of your training work, to see that it’s not “just” about playing tug (my Rotties are from German working lines, they all LOVE to tug from Day 1), but about the how and why of the game. To see the ways in which I’ve unintentionally dissed my dogs during training by lack of planning, lack of full attention…….WOW!
Thank you Susan for sharing with us so selflessly, and for opening my eyes in how to hold up my end of the relationship. My dogs always give me 100%, but I can not say the same. That is changing, and I’m so excited to have a chance to try this again on a clean slate. Ruff Love + Crate Games + Recallers…..how could you go wrong??
One final comment: I so admire that you are willing to share the trials of Buzz (in the book) and Swagger (via video). So many less secure trainers never allow mistakes to be seen. In some ways, I think that is defeating to the students, for we all live with error in our daily lives. To try to learn from someone who purports that everything is always exactly the way they plan it, can be a daunting task. Thank you for being so REAL!!!
Your Ruff Love program was designed for Swagger. At present, he has NO relationship with you or interest in having one. I had a pup like him, which is why I bought Ruff Love. dog was already older and I was simply wallpaper. Someone at an agility trial saw it, recommended your book. Well, I got that dog to improve relationship quite a bit; however, I ended up sending her back to breeder cuz she ALSO had a health issue (fused bones in tail)…was pain involved at all times? I cried and cried and cried, but I just couldn’t live with a dog that was THAT HARD (she had pica and wouldn’t eat either). And she had taken to barking and growling at neighbors who were teasing her….Even Ruff Love could not overcome all that. Next Puppy, Gabby, is my HEARTDOG and she is a semi ruff love gal, and where I didn’t follow through, I wish I had (naughty trash can behavior and counter surfing….Daddy was supposed to be supervising…LOL) Ruff Love should include: when YOU are not supervising. Gabby is featured on my 5 min recall video “…Recallers ain’t just for Agility” she was 2.5 when it was filmed. LOVE that dog! Love Ruff Love, recommend it to all clients.
I can’t see the movie 🙁 i have informationa that it have been blocked in my country (poland) becous of copyright ??
“Ruff Love” is NOT enabling the rehearsal of self-reinforcing behaviors. Sounds simple in theory… but energy, effort, patience and diligence are required. It IS relationship building, by allowing your dog to succeed and be reinforced more often for being right.
I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count all the times my young pup subtly self-reinforces on any given day. It’s a work in progress for both of us, with a commitment to do better each day. Recallers is an excellent adjunct to the process.
I adore the videos of Swagger!
Hi Jan,
Beautifully said, I also don’t have enough fingers (hopefully enough toes) to count the times my 3 ½ dog self-reinforces… But these are the moments when my dog reminds me that training is always work-in-progress and prove my commitment to her training, and the JOY of it 🙂
Have you thought about taking Penny’s puppy instead?
LOVE HIM!!!!
Well I think I have Swaggers twin sister over here, at least behaviour wise. Very recognisable!! :). And yes supervision very important and I do use the crate when I cannot be 100% there for my pup.
Today I am grateful to Swagger who just gave me a very good laugh before starting my work day. 🙂
I did the Ruff Love program with my Schnauzer when the book came out and I went from a dog who couldn’t care less about me to a very happy female wanting to play fetch with her Mamma until her arm hurt. Rull Love made all the difference in our relationship and we were both so much happier after doing the program.
Swagger is one of the most handsome and well balanced pups I have seen for a long time! He is certainly one happy and brave lad. I wish you fun, happiness and success with him.
I get this error message on the video: This video contains content from SME, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.
Sorry about that.
Me too!
Yep… Me too