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Post by Andreina on Dec 9, 2012 23:49:28 GMT -5
Well, another amazing day at training. The dogs missed Quin, but had a workout without him. We worked hard today, and the dogs are tired and asleep as I write this. And a special thank you to Andreina.....Kazi and Dante are wearing their Christmas collars. They look amazing on them, and are now in the Christmas spirit. Thank You!!! Aww your welcome! The dogs need to look nice for Christmas too! Oh and next week they will all get their early Xmas gifts from chilly dogs. So spoiled... I wonder what their actual Christmas gifts will be lol. I can't wait to see the level 1 dogs too! It's so exciting to start out on your journey through obedience together. Once you start to see the bond you form with your dog you will get addicted to wanting to work harder to improve. We're hoping in the spring to go for our CD or rally. Will we be ready? Eeeeeek. I think I may need to start handling scarlet again since I am the one always home with her.
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Post by Andreina on Dec 9, 2012 23:50:12 GMT -5
Ps. We missed you today wigglebum Quin lol
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Post by Dobereich on Dec 10, 2012 21:47:55 GMT -5
We're going to change things up on the 23rd, start level II at 1:pm and conformation class will be at 2:30 pm, followed by a pot luck Christmas lunch. Even if you're not in our training class you are more then welcome to pop in and share some Christmas cheer! So lets plan ahead, what is your favourite dish that you'd like to share? Oh, and lets not forget the dogs....cause if we don't feed Scarlet we know she'll just help herself to the pastries! LOL
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Post by Andreina on Dec 10, 2012 22:03:54 GMT -5
Hey!!! Lol. Who's the one that ran past her handler for the cheese ball yesterday? Hahaha Okay, be prepared for delicious-ness. Doing my Xmas baking the day before hand so i will be bringing.... Homemade skor bars, vanilla and chocolate macaroons, sugar cookies and yeah something for the dogs lol.
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Post by hooligan on Dec 11, 2012 11:47:58 GMT -5
Here's an obedience question for you. About retrieving the dumbbell. Sorry, it's a long one.
Jack was first taught "take it" and "hold" in the old SchH style that used moderate compulsion. The result? No surprise. He disliked the dumbbell. Wanted NOTHING to do with it. We could almost hear him say "oh, crap" when the dumbbell came out.
So we took a step back and used the dumbbell almost like a tug to encourage him to view the retrieve as a prey exercise. And we used food rewards to teach "take it" and "hold."' This worked beautifully. He now looooves dumbbell work, so mission accomplished in that respect.
We're now at the point where Jack sits beside Bill in basic position while I place the dumbbell on the ground about 10 feet away. On command, Jack runs out, retrieves the dumbbell, returns and sits beautifully in front of Bill while holding it until Bill says "give."
The problem is that when Jack reaches the dumbbell, he pounces on it with his front paws. This prey behaviour makes the dumbbell bounce or slide. But of course, it's a no-no in both SchH and CKC obedience, and I'm certain that if we don't stop it now, Jack will start playing with the dumbbell more and more because this behaviour is very self-rewarding for him. It turns the retrieve into a fun prey-based game.
We've tried leaning the dumbbell against a wall so that Jack (supposedly) can't make it bounce around, but he immediately solved this problem by using his front paws to sweep the dumbbell off to the side or back towards him. Sigh.
I've done some research and found suggestions for various other ways of solving the problem: • adding an intermediate step by placing the dumbbell on the ground right in front of Bill and simply asking Jack to pick it up and hold it (so that he can be corrected if he puts his paws on it before picking it up — once Jack starts doing this correctly, Bill can step farther and farther back) • discouraging the pounce by placing the dumbbell on a small piece of chicken wire and sending Jack out to pick up the dumbbell (once he's in the habit of picking it up correctly, we would gradually reduce the size of the chicken wire) • placing the dumbbell on the ground some distance away and then having Bill leave Jack and walk out and turn to face Jack just beyond the dumbbell. Bill gives the command and when Jack pounces on the dumbbell, Bill is right there to make a correction.
I suspect that we'll end up trying all three of these methods, separately or in combination.
Has anyone had success with any of these methods? If so, do you have any tips for refining them or making them work better? Or does anyone have other suggestions that have worked?
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Post by hooligan on Dec 12, 2012 11:46:22 GMT -5
Here's an obedience question for you. About retrieving the dumbbell. Sorry, it's a long one . . . This is me responding to my own question. LOL. Did a quick preliminary rehab session indoors last night. Placed Jack in a sit about three feet in front of me, then placed the dumbbell on the floor between us, about a foot from my feet, and gave the bring command. Jack immediately moved forward and picked up the dumbbell, but not before brushing it with one paw. I immediately said "no," took the dumbbell from him without offering a reward, and placed him back in a sit. He was a little taken aback, but we tried it again. Same thing. Uh, oh. Twice with no reward whatsoever. Jack didn't like this at all and told me so by going into brat mode and using his "I'm really, really frustrated because I don't know what the heck you want" bark. Once he was quiet, we tried again. This time he got it. He didn't touch the dumbbell with his feet (yay!) — so he got a huuuge reward and lots of praise. We did a couple of quick and perfect repetitions, then called it a night. We'll repeat the exercise tonight, when I hope I can try increasing the distance with the same result. We'll see. I think this process is going to take a while, so I'm not rushing it.
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Post by Dobereich on Dec 12, 2012 16:21:52 GMT -5
Good for you Dyanne. I would have suggested to teach the slow or easy command, similar to that which is done to ensure full contact with the A frame. A little double handling would work well, but I wouldn't necessarily bring in compulsion work for a retrieval, it really steals the dog's motivation to hold.
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Post by Dobereich on Dec 12, 2012 16:25:08 GMT -5
Hey!!! Lol. Who's the one that ran past her handler for the cheese ball yesterday? Hahaha I don't know what you're talking about... I didn't see any 87.3 pound dogs going for cheese. Okay, be prepared for delicious-ness. Doing my Xmas baking the day before hand so i will be bringing.... Homemade skor bars, vanilla and chocolate macaroons, sugar cookies and yeah something for the dogs lol. Hmm, we might want to eat all the goodies and then do an hour of training drills... no dog required...lol.
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Post by dobermoms on Dec 12, 2012 21:19:09 GMT -5
Come on guys.....stop picking on Kazi and me. And here I thought she was doing an amazing recall to me, not stopping at the food that was planted on the path to me, but coming directly to me...only to have her blow past me and head towards the cheese ball on the counter behind me.
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Post by dobermoms on Dec 12, 2012 21:22:11 GMT -5
Phewww...I'm glad you answered that question Monica. I was dreading this thread dying because no simple pet-owner could possibly answer that question with any credibility.
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Post by hooligan on Dec 13, 2012 11:14:04 GMT -5
Come on guys.....stop picking on Kazi and me. And here I thought she was doing an amazing recall to me, not stopping at the food that was planted on the path to me, but coming directly to me...only to have her blow past me and head towards the cheese ball on the counter behind me. LOL. I cracked up as I imagined a video of this: Kazi with her eye on the prize!
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Post by hooligan on Dec 13, 2012 11:28:31 GMT -5
Phewww...I'm glad you answered that question Monica. I was dreading this thread dying because no simple pet-owner could possibly answer that question with any credibility. Awwwww. Sorry. Didn't mean to derail the thread . . . but hey, your turn will come. Dobes have their own unique way of solving problems and getting what they want (clever girl Kazi springs to mind). And a quick update. Yesterday's second rehab session didn't work so well. Jack is determined to pounce on the dumbbell to make it bounce around before he picks it up. It's much more fun that way! So we'll keep working on it!
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Post by dobermoms on Dec 13, 2012 20:16:55 GMT -5
Hahaha....I was afraid to post as I knew I couldn't answer that question. And I didn't want to be rude and avoid the question.......so I'm quite glad Monica chimed in. LOL.
As for Ms. Kazi-Doodle, she is quite the handful, but we love her playfulness ( most of the time )...I suspect that training will need to be a large part of Kazi's life!
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Post by Dobereich on Dec 14, 2012 18:02:11 GMT -5
Here's an obedience question for you. About retrieving the dumbbell. Sorry, it's a long one. Jack was first taught "take it" and "hold" in the old SchH style that used moderate compulsion. The result? No surprise. He disliked the dumbbell. Wanted NOTHING to do with it. We could almost hear him say "oh, crap" when the dumbbell came out. So we took a step back and used the dumbbell almost like a tug to encourage him to view the retrieve as a prey exercise. And we used food rewards to teach "take it" and "hold."' This worked beautifully. He now looooves dumbbell work, so mission accomplished in that respect. We're now at the point where Jack sits beside Bill in basic position while I place the dumbbell on the ground about 10 feet away. On command, Jack runs out, retrieves the dumbbell, returns and sits beautifully in front of Bill while holding it until Bill says "give." The problem is that when Jack reaches the dumbbell, he pounces on it with his front paws. This prey behaviour makes the dumbbell bounce or slide. But of course, it's a no-no in both SchH and CKC obedience, and I'm certain that if we don't stop it now, Jack will start playing with the dumbbell more and more because this behaviour is very self-rewarding for him. It turns the retrieve into a fun prey-based game. We've tried leaning the dumbbell against a wall so that Jack (supposedly) can't make it bounce around, but he immediately solved this problem by using his front paws to sweep the dumbbell off to the side or back towards him. Sigh. I've done some research and found suggestions for various other ways of solving the problem: • adding an intermediate step by placing the dumbbell on the ground right in front of Bill and simply asking Jack to pick it up and hold it (so that he can be corrected if he puts his paws on it before picking it up — once Jack starts doing this correctly, Bill can step farther and farther back) • discouraging the pounce by placing the dumbbell on a small piece of chicken wire and sending Jack out to pick up the dumbbell (once he's in the habit of picking it up correctly, we would gradually reduce the size of the chicken wire) • placing the dumbbell on the ground some distance away and then having Bill leave Jack and walk out and turn to face Jack just beyond the dumbbell. Bill gives the command and when Jack pounces on the dumbbell, Bill is right there to make a correction. I suspect that we'll end up trying all three of these methods, separately or in combination. Has anyone had success with any of these methods? If so, do you have any tips for refining them or making them work better? Or does anyone have other suggestions that have worked? Sorry that didn't work. I'd try the chicken wire, or just some foil wrap. You can also place the dumbbell in a large and shallow box, so that he has to reach in to take it, no reward for the bouncing. I just think that you have already made progress in teaching him to go out and retrieve, so you might not want to undo that by shortening your distance again. Failing that is the double handling, one person keeps a long line for a mild level of compulsion on your command. But knowing Jack, I think you'd be best to try the box... a box that hold a 12 pack of dog food cans is usually good enough.
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Post by dobermoms on Dec 16, 2012 1:06:19 GMT -5
So after class today...it's coffee, apple pie, christmas cookies......cause it's not all about the dogs!
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