I just use thick elastic bands to keep wings on dummies. I agree about cable ties, there'll always be a sharp bit!
Today, we did three things: Distinguishing 'run around' cue from fetch, with Charlie's new run around toy. I really have to watch this. Because I use 'run around' as a reward for fetch I have to maintain the cues carefully. When I introduce a new run around toy, I always work on him knowing that if I say 'fetch' he doesn't run around! He doesn't quite know the difference with this new toy.... We did a bit more steadiness, this time using his run around toy, which he found quite difficult! And we went back to basics on blinds. These have got wrong for me, he over shoots and starts hunting randomly, so I'm back at the beginning. Got a lesson on blinds on the 13th April, so thought I'd rework the bits I know how to do. I don't have a helper, so used my placeboard instead of a marked retrieve first. I thought it worked very well! I also love the rugby pitch for having helpful lines painted on it, so I can see whether Charlie is actually running straight. blinds by julieandcharlie julieandcharlie, on Flickr
Do you often throw a dummy yourself as a mark? I very rarely have a helper so throw nearly all marks myself. It's a bit dull with all the walking to and from the dog, though. I'm a rubbish thrower Lovely straight lines from Charlie there!
Almost never. Only as part of a steadiness exercise, and then I'll consult my spreadsheet to see how far away from my dog I need to be, and then I'll pick it up several times myself. I just can't casually wander round throwing things, you know! Not with Charlie around.
Haha! So, sorry to hijack your training thread, but can you see anything wrong with me throwing dummies for my two? So, either putting them in a sit and walking 50+m away from them, throwing a dummy, coming back and sending them to the mark, or else having them walk with me to throw/place it, then walk back and send them for the memory? I don't have any steadiness issues to talk about, so can throw from either next to them, or at a distance from them, as long as they're in a sit.
No, I don't think there is a problem with throwing marks at all - I don't do it just because unless I'm working on steadiness (and have a plan!) it's too easy to make a mistake a ruin my steadiness progress, and I don't work on marks alone I'm always working on something else. I suppose the only time I'd use a marked retrieve on its own is if I'm working on his return (short marks are the hardest thing for him to return).
What are you using your marks to train Fiona? Looking fab as always Charlie boy Do you use backstop like hedges for your blinds Julie? And what do you do if he over shoots?
I've started using hedges, yes. Well, ever since he got sensible enough to actually have a hedge stop him. He has been known not to stop at a hedge, but that kind of behaviour has really worn off in the last six months or so. I've stopped doing blinds where he can over shoot until I can get to my next lesson. I didn't have a satisfactory solution to over shooting. I tried just waiting, then I tried stopping him (that took a while to train) and redirecting him. Neither of these made things better. I think I'm going to have to firmly train "run straight until you hear a hunt whistle, then stop". So I was using my hunt whistle when he got to the hedge.
I've not been using them a lot recently, but in the last couple of weeks, I've been trying to work on blinds, so following Pippa's tutorial on permanent blinds, which starts with marks.
It's tricky...some people say don't handle on the move so you would stop your dog before you gave a cue to hunt. Others say it depends on the dog and situation. Riley's hunt cue used to be way stronger than his stop and he's not uber quick so in the past I've used a hunt cue on the move with some success. If your dog is fast and/or doesn't have a pretty tight hunt pattern you can end up with a pretty loose dog not quite in the right place hunting ever widening circles. Personally I don't think there's a right or wrong answer to it and now with Riley sometimes I'll stop him and sometimes I'll hunt him (I pretty much always stop Obi) but you might want to think about the problem you're trying to solve and the implications of each approach.
I'm sort of parking it until my lesson! Which I've waited ages for....I'm just polishing up the basics so we don't have to spend too long on those, really....hope we can get on to the hunt whistle. Trouble is, sometimes SWMBO says "well, what do you want your dog to do?" and I'm a bit stuck! What do you expect your dog to do if he looks in a spot and doesn't find something?
Me? It depends.... Firstly is there something there to find? This is important to my mind in the early stages. With Riley I was very careful that when he hunted he had success one way or another. These days I'll do one of four things. 1 Ask him to look again 2 If I think he's done a thorough job then move him to an adjacent 'area' and ask him to check there (this is on the advanced side of things for us) 3 Call him home - you don't always find but be careful with a fragile confidence 4 Throw a dummy for him because he's hunted well and should be rewarded. Edited to say I rarely do 4 now with Riley. He's a big boy he can handle coming home without a retrieve
It's all a balancing act. They have to hunt with confidence but not go self employed. This is where the partnership element is really strong. You want a dog that knows its job but who listens and trusts you when you say 'do this'
You think you have a maintenance strategy for cues now, wait til you get this under your belt. You will forever be adjusting and maintaining it. It is, without doubt, the best feeling when you work together and get your retrieve though.....Worth every second of training
I've been working on 'no shopping' recently. Charlie is terribly distracted by dummies, and I've never been able to do things like leave a pile of dummies at a marker for lining exercises and things like that. Finding one dummy is exciting enough, but more that one! BOOM! Little choccie brain fries.... But we've moved on, and learned to think in the presence of dummies, so it was time to address 'no shopping'. I want him to only pick up one when he has a choice, regardless of how far apart they are, or whether I've sent him to a particular dummy, or to a pile of dummies. Today we were working on a pile of dummies, but I was really glad to see later that it also helped him when the dummies were far apart. Although they are different skills, the concept of ONE AT A TIME CHARLIE! is the same. We worked on after this, and managed to do the same at a distance. Very pleased. If he can do this, we have lots more games to play! GOPR1845 by julieandcharlie julieandcharlie, on Flickr
