Houston, We Have a Pomeranian

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve loved dogs. I tried to convince my parents for years to get a dog. We wound up getting two: a miniature dachshund and a doberman hound cross.  But neither of these dogs were MY dogs, so the convincing continued. It went on for years until finally, my dad caved. I was supposed to wait until my 18th birthday to get a dog, but looking on Craigslist one day, I found this little Pomeranian puppy who was being re-homed. I fell in love with him, and two weeks later I made the drive to Spokane and picked him up. That’s where my love for Poms began, through my little boy, Keenai.

Keenai behaved as one would expect of a regular dog who enjoyed a good belly rub and chewing up a nice pair of slippers. However, it soon became obvious that Keenai is really intelligent. He picks up on my queues, whether they be verbal or through body language. I decided to build on his skills, and so begun my crazy ELI experience.

Before I could begin to train my new-found friend, I had to get to know him. It began with lazy afternoons at the dog park, slobbery tennis balls, and long strolls along the Chipman trail. After all the bonding, it came time for reading. It was time to read all about Pomeranians, from their temperament (stubborn, cocky little things they are) to their sled pulling and sheep herding genes. The Pomeranian breed is a complex breed, a breed that I learned all about from journals, books, Netflix episodes (thank you, Cesar Millan), websites, Youtube, and many other things.

Reading about Pomeranians and becoming familiar with my dog was only part of the process. Next I had to decide which method I would use to train my baby boy. There are so many different options; alpha dog theory, learning theory, clicker training, lure/reward training, compliance with coercion, and the old fashioned reward and punishment system. I researched these through the interwebs, journals, and a lot of videos. I also attended a clicker training session, taught by Rachel Aiello. After researching all of these different methods, I had to decide. My choice was: learning theory accompanied with clicker training. Learning theory is all about consequences, and how every action is just a consequence. Accompanying this theory is the clicker. The clicker links the consequence/action to a positive reward.

Using the learning theory and a clicker, it was time to train Keenai. First I made a list of tricks that I wanted him to learn, and then I researched how to teach them. I taught the fundamentals first: sit, lie down, and drop it. Then came the more complex actions: wait, shake, hop hop, and spin. The tricks I have left to teach are: bang, sit at corners, roll over, and don’t eat the treat until I say so. The learning theory and clicker training has been very effective in training Keenai.

Pomeranians are a very complex breed, and it has been quite the journey training Keenai. Eventually I hope to have him so well trained that he can be a service dog. For now, he will be the most well-trained, little, poofy companion dog that you’ll ever meet.

~Rachael G.