Well I'm feeling hopeful anyway. We had a session with our trainer today, first one for a while and it went really well, working on retrieving which has been on hold while I worked on other issues during which she'd lost interest in retrieving but this did seem to be coming back. And so today she was very enthusiastic, fetching the dummies from longer distances and in long, rough grass which meant she really had to search. To start with she messed about not giving it to me but as soon as I started to jiggle another dummy she came right in. Interestingly when I didn't have a reward ready put it in my hand, but when she knew I had she dropped it. The other good thing was she kept coming to me inbetween times when we were talking as if looking for handtouch and reward, which we did. So I could see the other work we have been doing paying off aswell. I do really hope I can keep this level of enthusiasm going.
Coco will drop the dummy in front of me if I have a reward in my hand - otherwise he'll put it in my hand.
Sounds fantastic. You really have put in a lot of work with Cassie so it is lovely to hear of the progress
Sounds great! If your dog drops the dummy when you have a treat in your hand, you need to proof against that. I've been working on this with my lot and it can really strengthen the delivery. I've heard you have to be careful that the treat doesn't become a bribe, but if you can get a delivery to hand with or without the treat, you're onto a winner
Thanks @snowbunny that's a useful video. I was thinking about it this morning -- why did I decide to treat her when she was bringing me the dummy anyway and was enthusiastic about it, hopefully anticipating another retrieve? The answer is that I was so pleased with her I wanted to treat her! I will see how we progress. I want the penny to drop for her that retrieving is great to do, and by bringing it to me she gets more fun, yesterday it looked like that was happening
So in recent weeks I've been doing all of the things with Cassie on walks that lovely forum people recommended on a recent thread. Looking back to the spring and summer it seems such a whirlwind of growing up and not maturing all rolled into one! Sounds strange I know. But from having a puppy who was happy to stay close to me out and about and was almost over awed in a woodland setting, suddenly I had an adult size dog who had a season, a phantom pregnancy and who's nose seemed to suddenly develop and was telling her all this stuff, and she is physically confident anyway. She was like a bottle of pop. So we are now in the part of her cycle where her hormones are settled, and the weather too makes a difference to her "hyperness". I've always done the about turn walk, which I'm so pleased I did, as even if she follows a scent she comes back to look for me, and added to that I've been stopping and waiting for her to come back for handtouch, which works really well and is a really positive addition. Hiding rewards is brilliant too, she really loves that. We've been doing LAT, and once or twice she has looked to me of her own accord in low potential distracting situations. BUT there is a lot more work to do I know around mega distractions, other dogs etc, but I feel there is definite improvement, and it's lovely. I'm also working on loose lead walking, which isn't bad but needs to get better. Retrieving -- well her interest seems to fluctuate, so am only doing that once a week. Oh and lastly, she's made a great training achievement of her own She has trained me to sit in a comfy chair at anytime of day, not at the table with her on the floor. My reward it seems is an adoring gaze from the sofa next door! But really half past ten on a Saturday should I be sitting in an arm chair?
So this morning we have attended the Beginners session of the gundog training group in the dog training club I joined a few months ago (the one where the classes didn't suit), and all went well. There were 3 other dogs, all proper grown ups, their handlers (also proper grown ups, Cass and myself the youngests at our respective ends of the leads). We did things like walking in a line, stop whistle, steadiness. Really good for Cassie. Some retrieving, when Cassie's idea was to fetch the dummy and take it to a neighbouring dog and try to play, several times. BUT the trainer got her to take it to her, and the next time I emulated what she'd done and it worked At the trainers suggestion we made that the last retrieve, which I was happy with, I really like that she respects what I've already done with her, and doesn't insist on me doing things I know Cassie won't be able to do, but stretches things just a little bit. As each dog took a turn retrieving Cass watched with interest, and then we practised sit/wait and weaving between dogs when it was our turn. The trainer did say at the end that she would be very pleased with Cassie if she was her young dog, so that was encouraging. She seems to genuinely like and be interested in all the dogs, which is lovely. One of the other dogs is called Cassie, which is a bit strange. She's got nowhere near the sass though It's true about the mental work being tiring -- she's shattered after 45 mins of that, whereas after 2 hrs in the woods last Sunday with her Forum chums she was like a hyper child that had had to leave the party too soon!
We are just back from our second gundog session, which had to be cut short due the abysmal weather, with several dogs declining to pick up wet dummies! It went ok, I was pleased initially, but then Cass started running across to the other black lab in the group with her dummy, the first time returning to my whistle, the second time not -- aaargh! So I will be practising recall exercises promptly. It's been going well lately so I don't want it slipping. Nevertheless there were positives -- her close walking when we did the line walking was really good (just need to do it off lead now ), also sit/wait amongst other dogs is good. Working around other dogs is so difficult for her, and I mustn't beat myself up because actually she has made progress recently. Our Saturday class is all about behaving amongst other dogs, lots of recall from around the school, into and from the middle, all the dogs together and last week she didn't waver at all, I was so pleased with her, and also from a dog we met on a walk on the way home. Mind you, I think the big Doberman in the class might have something to do with it, he;s very good, but huge! So I think finally, at 18 months , we are beginning to bring it all together, everything I've done so far, most of which is due to this forum either directly or indirectly, and two classes which I feel happy and comfortable in. Now to go and cook the chicken for Recall exercises
I feel your pain . This is so lovely to read and will encourage me on in the months to come. Well done - you have both worked so hard .
You are both doing really well! Don't forget early days and you have only attended a couple of classes, they do sound like fun though! I like to make a game out of recall, so ping pong games, playing "front" and even recall in the house and driveway. I hide high value treats close to me,( for example a toilet roll stuffed with a venison chew) then recall her, when she is close I get her to hunt. The recall whistle then becomes associated with the best things ever. I actually avoid recalling her out in new places or on interesting walks, preferring to reward check-ins or give her lots of hunting to do. (I use scented snipe) I just wish I had taken this approach with Benson ..sigh...
@Beanwood, thanks so much for your reply. Absolutely, you are right and this is my usual approach, as learnt here, I think because recall has been good lately (even on the Forum walk recently) I pushed it too far today. Hey Ho, we live and learn. Thanks for the tips for recall games, I will work on those. What exactly do you mean by "front"? And a scented snipe? I know what the bird is but is this a special thing?
@Atemas, you are a dear I am full of admiration for all you do with Red. I will confess to being more than a little envious of your scentwork class, it sounds really good.
Don’t be ‘cos your classes sound equally good. We have KCGCS Bronze tonight - don’t like that it’s so late and we have to sit around whilst the Ringcraft class finishes - they always over run .
This sounds great, especially the close walking and sit/stay. I hope you both continue to enjoy it so much! Shame about the weather...
Front is a game I play with Bramble. When she is fairly close, say 20 feet, I will call "Bramble front !" In a cheerful tone and her task is to get as close as possible in a sit position in front of me. I may run back excitedly, just a few paces to encourage her. She loves this game and wiggles as close as she can. Then I ask her to wait, run back about 10 feet, call "ready, ready! Then ask for a front again. It's game she loves to play, whilst keeping her engaged and fairly close. It also helps get a nice "snappy" delivery when retrieving. Regarding a scented snipe, here is a link to Sporting Saint. You can get the snipe dummies here. I also use their scented sticks, much less messy than the fluid scent. You would need to use in conjunction with a hunt cue. There are some really easy games to start you if you want some ideas just let me know. http://www.sportingsaint.co.uk/product/1168
I have been playing "Front" with Cassie this week, she soon latched on to it, rushing up and pushing her nose into my tummy (!) enthusiastically, and have also started the "retrieve for all occasions" video @snowbunny posted above. As I've said before, Cass blows hot and cold about retrieving, but today we did some and she was very enthusiastically returning it to me -- pushing it in to my tummy, for me to take. This is the first time she has done that, I'm so hopeful that we can transfer this to our group class, but time will tell. I know this is a very small thing, but all I want is for her to enjoy doing this together. Thanks Fiona and Kate, @Beanwood for the tips. Sporting saint is just up the road from me, I'm getting a list together
Dangerous! Every time I go to the UK I end up with more stuff from them Have you seen the Working Dog Company, too? You're welcome. https://www.workingdogcompany.co.uk/
