Thought this would be useful, for myself and others. Things I've learned here that I never knew about: - Having a toy box. I never realised what a game changer this one would be! House is so much tidier and I was surprised how much both dogs love having it. It seems to up the value of each toy for them, and there's just something so fun about watching them root around and pick which toy they want - Everyone knows about the usual sit/down/etc but commands such as "watch me" and hand touch are so useful. I've never heard about these before.
I found the stop whistle is of huge use, especially from a safety point of view. And 'shake' comes in very handy, too!
This laundry bag - saves your clothes from hairs and your washing machine too https://www.amazon.co.uk/Moorland-R...id=1473950280&sr=8-1&keywords=Pet+laundry+bag ...
This aquasorb towel. You keep it in the plastic container. Rub the dog down, rinse it out, wring then put back in the container. I have three big dogs here at the moment and two of these are enough for rubbing down the muddiest/wettest of pooches - and no towels to dry! (they never smell either - amazing things!) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Groomers-A...1473950376&sr=1-1&keywords=aquasorb+dog+towel ...
I like to teach "watch me" and "target" - both were really helpful when teaching more complex commands later. Dremmel tool for toe nail cutting - for me it's so much easier than nail clippers. Over the shoulder leash (sometimes called "German style" or "8 way" lead in the US) - everyone teased me about wearing my dog like a cross-shoulder handbag, but man, is hands-free a wondrous invention. Zoom Groom - rubber brush with fat "bristles" that make bathing fast and gets out a ton of hair. Finally - teach your dog to pick up his own leash and place it in your hand - of ALL the tasks Brogan had to learn for his Assistance Dog cert, THAT is the one that universally had everyone thinking he was the bomb, and it's really easy to teach. Makes your dog an insta-star!
Heh, the hardest thing was to get my dog to put something in his darn mouth for more than 2 seconds. Rottweilers are NOT fond of retrieving. An issue you shouldn't have with a Lab. If your dog already knows the whole "don't touch"/"take it"/"drop it" thing, this will be fairly easy but if not, you'll need to teach that first. Teach "take it" (part of "don't touch"/"take it"/"drop it") with treats, first from your hand, then in other locations (couch, floor, stairs, etc) Once pup will "take it" with treat from the ground (pretty easy), then transfer the idea to a non-edible object such as leash (or toy at first, as that is easier to pick up) using click/treat to give feedback on precise moment the pup get's it Click/treat for incremental steps if pup doesn't want to put the object in his mouth (using "target" as an interim step helped me, but for a Lab that wants to put stuff in his mouth, you may not need to go so slowly) Once pup will pick up the object, start click/treating longer and longer holds on the object (my dog didn't want to hold it so this was important - for a Lab maybe the "drop it" part would be harder?) Add a recall while holding the object, pup gets clicked/treated for coming towards you with object in mouth, working up to getting all the way to you Add a "drop it" once pup reaches you (in a sit, stand, whatever you prefer) Perfect the "drop it" until you are click/treating only for when the object is put firmly in your hand (not just dropped in front of you) Start using a leash, then finally a leash actually attached to your pup's collar/harness Put a name to it ("get your leash!") and repeat ad nauseum All done! I'm not a dog trainer, but this worked for me. I also realised while typing this out that there were a lot of "pre-learned" behaviours that Brogan already knew that made this go faster - don't touch, take it, drop it, solid recall, solid sit/down/stand stay, touch, watch, etc. So not really easy for an actual puppy who is just starting. However, I'm not kidding that everyone thought THIS trick made Brogan a proper service dog, which was funny considering how much other training he had. We'd go through airport security and I would put him in a sit stay while I went through the security scanner, then call Brogan through the scanner on his own, then ask him to pick up his leash and hand it to me. I would always get a kick out of the chorus of "Wow's!".
We have a solid drop it and leave it and she will go get her ball when asked....I think we can crack this!
Brogan being tested on his "bring object" task during his Service Dog test. Can you tell from the look in his eyes how much he hated having that darn bottle in his mouth? (Yes, he did have rather endearingly wonky bi-directional eyes)
