Hi everyone, as Pippa suggested I have been breaking Charlie's meals, including cooked chicken, up into portions for his one man garden exercise which is 95% working with just the odd extra encouragement, (he is on the training line). He is doing 5 recalls in just one session as don't want to push it and I will increase this to two sessions next week but should I start reducing the rewards?. On the last one I let him stick his face into the bag of food to finish it and he gets really excited. As Kerryn suggested I am giving Oscar performances in our garden which I think he is enjoying as he comes to me and jumps up, tail wagging and licks me - lovely! and staying with me for a little longer, thank goodness it is completely enclosed garden and no one can see me, I do believe my Oscar is in the post Kerryn!! Also he has had about 40 minutes off lead in the paddock today (no horses in there now), a good walk and training and he is now tucking into his birthday chewy hide roll (Hattie too!!), and gradual change of food to lower protein. I have also been firmly telling him NO when I don't want him doing what he wants and he has been obeying me, then lots of over the top praise. This week he has had about 1 hours MAD running in our garden every day and when I go out and call him he comes straight to me, again lots of praise. Hope I have got everyones suggestions right!!! Thank you Helen x
Re: Food for Recall Hi Helen, glad you are having some success with this. Bearing in mind how hard won this has been for you, I would reduce the rewards very gradually indeed, maybe starting after a week of really good recalls with big rewards. To start with just reduce the reward a bit for maybe two out of ten recalls, and build up slowly until you get to the point where you are rewarding for example: one in ten with a big feast, two in ten with great treats, and three in ten with a little treat. It wouldn't hurt to take a couple of weeks over this, and don't be afraid to step up the rewards again if he slips back, which he may do occasionally, for a while. It can be very hard to remember how many rewards you have given and what type, so it is a quite a good idea (and informative) to keep some sort of chart handy so you can tick off your progress. Any problems, always go back to the point where you were succeeding and proceed again with caution. Good luck! Pippa
Re: Food for Recall Go Helen!!! Sounds brilliant, so pleased for you... Dont get discouraged if there are a couple of steps back, it sounds like he's really making progress. Keep it up!
Re: Food for Recall No advice as I'm a complete novice with my first pup but I have been reading your posts and just wanted to say well done you! It amazes me how much time and effort people put into their dogs on these forums - more than some parents I know do with their kids to be honest!! It's very heart-warming, and of course the rest of us can then benefit from all your experience.
Re: Food for Recall Aw thank you Sersi that is very kind of you to say. I'm not really too sure about anyone benefiting from my experience as I think Charlie is a "one off" (hopefully!!!) Everyone on this forum has been so brilliant reading my desperate posts and advising me so sensibly with their wealth of experience, when I can't see the wood for the trees. Don't know where I would be without them all. Thank you... Helen xxxx Thank you AGAIN, everyone for your support. One day I hope to post that WE DID IT and that Charlie will be the most obedient dog in the village - yeah right!!!
