# What is he waiting for?



## katkoota (Feb 25, 2010)

waiting patiently....hmm what for though ???









*scroll down*










I love playing this game with this dog  what sort of games do you enjoy playing with your hav?

sporting his summer-hair-cut.


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Awwwwwwwwwwww......I thought for sure, it was a treat after a good sit!


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Did he catch it? Love your pictures and videos. I want to learn to take action pictures I need to read my manual. Thanks for sharing!


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## dbeech (Jun 16, 2009)

What great pictures!


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

Wonderful pictures!!! He is so cute!


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## katkoota (Feb 25, 2010)

Glad that you liked the photos. It was getting dark when i took these, so I could only take very few.



HavaneseSoon said:


> Awwwwwwwwwwww......I thought for sure, it was *a treat *after a good sit!


you were right ^_^ Snowy's treat is a toy lol he works in performnig tricks for toys instead of food. He can perform tricks for food too, but you see him having an intense focuse with you when a ball or other toys are on sight. He enjoys them better, so that is how we practice working on the commands that I taught him



Suzi said:


> Did he catch it? Love your pictures and videos. I want to learn to take action pictures I need to read my manual. Thanks for sharing!


yup he did. and the funny thing is that he will want to do this ...forever. me throw and he catches. He loves it.

Always remember "high shutter speed" for action shots 

Action photography is my favorite type of photography. I enjoy freezing a fun moment. Sometimes, you end up with a funny one too ound:
Crystal grabs wet snowy from the tail


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## FancyNancy (Oct 7, 2009)

i adore pics of Snowy and Crystal! Especially when they are swimming. It looks like you really know how to have fun with those dogs. Makes me want a couple of Maltese!!!


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

I just love seeing your pictures of Snowy and Crystal. They are adorable - wet or dry!


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## Flynn Gentry-Taylor (Jan 17, 2008)

Thanks Kat...your videos and photos remind us all that we CAN have fun with our fury companions. It takes time and the training and playing builds a bond like nothing else. It does not have to be a maltese or havanese, just a dog you love and want to spend time with. 
Maybe you can share some of your training methods, books, tips with us.
I love that Snowy prefers toys to food. I know some dogs prefer treats, but is there any way to transfer that desire to toys?? I have one new dog and she only has been exposed to knotted socks and empty plastic bottles for toys...but she loves food....if I food train with her I will have her fat in no time...
Oops, this may need to go on another thread...thanks Kat...


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## katkoota (Feb 25, 2010)

FancyNancy said:


> Especially when they are swimming....Makes me want a couple of Maltese!!!


There comes somedays when I wish that they weren't addicted to swimming (in days when bathing post swimming grooming session is not in the plan. We are in the garden, they go sniffing and all, then get close to pool, I call out "NO" when I see them so close to jumping, and then they just pretend to be deaf and jump in making a splash, regardless. those times, they really drive me crazy. But, more other times, they would listen. I guess there are some moments where the desire to swim is unbeatable).

haha in days similar to post swimming session is not in plan, yet they still swim, I don't mind sending you these two...



Flynn Gentry-Taylor said:


> It takes time and the training and playing builds a bond like nothing else.


so true, Flynn.



Flynn Gentry-Taylor said:


> Maybe you can share some of your training methods, books, tips with us.
> I love that Snowy prefers toys to food. I know some dogs prefer treats, but is there any way to transfer that desire to toys?? I have one new dog and she only has been exposed to knotted socks and empty plastic bottles for toys...but she loves food....if I food train with her I will have her fat in no time...
> Oops, this may need to go on another thread...thanks Kat...


briefly speaking....
I think the first thing a dog owner should do is learn about his/her dog. What does the dog likes, what does he doesn't like, what motivates the dog, how to motivate the dog. Each dog is different. Just like us people. Some dogs go nuts after toys and would do anything for it. They would give you an intese focus if toys were involved (Snowy is like that). Other dogs will love toys too but not to the point that they would do anything for it and will be interested in learning something completely new for the sake of the toy. They'd rather work for food (Crystal is like that). When Crystal first joined the family, she did not know how to play. Fetch is the last thing you will expect her to play. Living with Snowy and seeing how a fetch-a-holic he is, taught her how to fetch. At the beginning, she would only chase Snowy as he fetched. I used to throw the ball, snowy used to run after it, Crystal used to run after snowy, snowy used to catch the ball, crystal used to catch snowy, snowy used to come back with the ball in mouth, crystal used to come back grabbing snowy's hair. Continuing doing that, little by little, Crystal learned how to fetch the toy and not Snowy ound: ...yet, he biggest desire is still "food" to work on new things. Not toys. She would fetch and all that, but only for fun. She does not have that intense desire to toys and objects to work for them. I am not sure if it is possible to switch that desire. It is more of her personality not being as intense to toys as Snowy is.

Training sessions should be kept short (10 minutes training per session for example is good) and simple and fun  We use positive training with lots of encouragement, praise and fun.

Lets say you wanna teach the dog something new, first thing to do is learn how to teach whatever you wanna teach. and have a plan. Even before introducing anything new to teach to the dog. A Plan on how to teach the new command. Breaking it down to steps makes it easier. No harsh tone, nothing similar should be involved.

Training became so much fun and more effective once I was introduced to clicker training. Both my malts are clicker trained. An excellent book that I read which introduced me to it is called "Everything You Need to Know about Dog Training" by Gerilyn J. Bielakiewicz. The step by step is the best in this book. It doesn't only talk about clicker training. There is loooooads of GREAT info for training, understanding different behavior...etc I love this book. I learned WAY SO MUCH from it.

Congrats on your new dog, Flynn. I saw her picture. She is adoooorable <3 I bet that you are too excited:biggrin1: I hope to see some more pictures and read more stories - so exciting!!!! ^_^


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## katkoota (Feb 25, 2010)

Flynn Gentry-Taylor said:


> but she loves food....if I food train with her I will have her fat in no time...


I forgot this part.

When giving food for training, you can always have control of the amount. I do not give so much. I cut the treat to itsy bitsy tiny little pieces. Each reward is so very small. Trust me, Crystal still gets excited to the itsy bitsy tinny VERY tiny treat. So you can do so much, yet not over feed. and since the training are kept short (10 minutes), there is not much to worry. Also, if I wanted to have, say 4 training sessions per day -- 10 minutes per session, divided well among the hours in the day, and I noticed that there will be tones of big treats involved, I will reduce the amount of the dog's regular meal to make a balance between them  it works for us ^_^


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