I do seem to swing around from being absolutely silent (trying to be a quiet handler) to being totally 'good boy' OTT!
Somehow I missed your video, it looked as if the Rottie would have enjoyed training with you! Charlie looked so pleased when he returned with his retrieve. I didn't imagine Wimbledon common to look like that, maybe more like Regent's Park! How large an area is it?
In total, Wimbledon and Putney Commons is 1140 acres. The whole Commons is really carefully managed and there are distinct areas - woodland, and meadow etc. That bit I was on in the video is planted up to be a sort of typical English 'heathland' it has a fair bit of gorse and heather. It's good for training, but you get hoards of school children with notebooks there unfortunately.
Hahahaha that is so sweet! Julie, you weren't pleased to get that dummy back AT ALL, I think you should show a little appreciation to your dog!!!! Seriously, he is lovely. What a good-natured, delightful boy. Lovely stop and sit, too. Poppy would have been quite ratty with any dog who got between her and her retrieve like that; I think he's a star to stay so calm. You too!!!
When you have a dog like Charlie, getting a dummy in your hand (when he had to wait for it) is something to celebrate. The longer he has to wait, compared to the time he gets to spend with the dummy, the more likely he is to leg it! There isn't any point getting annoyed with people on Wimbledon Common - although I do feel like it at times! It's an area for everyone to share and all dogs are off lead. The Lady was just toddling along with her pleasant, friendly dog. I was as much in her way, really.
Well, yes... but it was obvious you were trying to do some training, and just as obvious that her dog was stopping you and Charlie from getting on with it! Rather than moving her dog away, she seemed inclined to stand still and wait to see if the situation was going to escalate... I don't think she was being deliberately obstructive - but she certainly wasn't being very helpful, either!
Thanks Julie, interesting. I walk on a common and often there completely on my own UNTIL I put a dummy out!
Now I have a Benny Hill picture in my mind Stacia where you're sneaking round putting dummies out at which point the music starts and people pop out from behind bushes with their dogs to steal them humour me it's been a hard week already
Ok, this is really mad.....I mean, this is Charlie..... Here, Charlie ran in on my hand signal, before I'd said 'fetch'. I do nothing when this happens, which is a bit of a thing with the way I train. I don't have a way of correcting running in, and he'd be rewarded by the dummy. All that happens is about a minute later - long after he'd forgotten about running in - I'd have to make up my mind whether I gave him a treat for giving me the dummy. Today, I was sort of being a bit sarcastic to myself - I muttered 'fetch' when he was well on his way. I was just sort of muttering and grumbling to myself under my breath about the fact he had run in. Blow me down with a feather - he stopped and came back.....Lordy, what's this all about? I have noticed him starting to 'self correct' in other ways too....long may it continue as a theme I say! Fat chance.... [vid] stop on way to retrieve by Julie T, on Flickr
I know! But Charlie listening to anything I say - at the best of times - let alone when he is going for a retrieve is nothing short of amazing!
D'you know what's really great though? That his enthusiasm is clearly undiminished by the thought of having got it not quite right. You've said something and he's gone hhmmm I'd best pop back as I don't think I'm on the right lines.....what did you want mum? *wag wag* And that's totally a testament to your determination to use force free methods
It's wonderful that it's a good advert for force free....but still, someone has swapped my dog....no doubt normal service will be resumed tomorrow though!
Excellent I struggle with how to deal with the running in, too. I guess it's just a case of working on reducing the anticipation (not enthusiasm) by varying what happens once a dummy has been thrown/placed etc. Willow was channeling Charlie earlier. I have some video I'm about to post
The trick with Charlie is to pay the wait with food - people often say the retrieve rewards the wait, but Charlie just thinks why should he wait for his reward..... You do have to reduce arousal enough for the dog to be able to eat, of course.
I've been really, really short of time over the last couple of weeks - which is no excuse not to get on with a few things on walks, but I've been a bit brain dead, and haven't done much planning. It doesn't really work to try to do a lot of training with Charlie without a plan. Although he is much improved, he is still a bonkers dog (and always will be) and exercises do need planning if they are not to go wrong with mad bat dog making an appearance, or it just going wrong because Charlie invents something to do that is completely unexpected. Not training is not at all good for Charlie, he deteriorates rapidly.... He is also getting super fit. I have a new dog walker who walks him for an hour, twice a day, on lead while I'm working - and this woman is a keep fit fanatic like you've never seen. Charlie now has a fitbit and I get a report of how far he's done each day.....so Charlie has added steady trotting for about 8 miles a day to his normal off lead and physio swimming routine. He has shown no signs of this impacting negatively on his physical well being - the opposite in fact, his legs are fine, muscle has improved a bit, and he seems fitter - he is BURSTING with energy (even more than normal). Lovely to see in a way....plus he is doing 3 plus hours of exercise a day (my vet never wants him to do more than 50% of what he does on a daily basis as a peak, but at 3.5 hours a day, that means Charlie can do 5 hours training if I ask.....). So as a stop gap, I've been asking for 'more' on the walks I've been doing with him. In places where he would normally be off lead and sniffing peemails, I've asked him to walk nicely on his hunting lead (I so love the hunting lead, I can't thank Karen enough for finding this for me). And I've been asking for steadier waits, and turns and walk aways before fetches and so on. Just trying to move on a little bit, even in tiny ways. One thing is sniffing though. When I try to walk him in really, really smelly places (high dog traffic areas) where he is used to being able to sniff, it's difficult to have him not sniff. I've had him on his hunting lead (so I can't use the lead to stop him sniffing) and it's been really difficult to get him passed posts by the carpark that will be 'watered' by a thousand dogs a day without sniffing.... I could up my rewards, I haven't been taking anything special, so I'll try that next. I do wonder if I should use a lead to prevent him sniffing, rather than just try to reward him for not. But I like the 'hands free' hunting lead so very, very, much. I like the idea of not being able to 'make' the dog do anything. All I can do is stop, walk on, or reward. But the sniffing is very rewarding for him.....
I have similar problems at certain posts, corners etc. I have to remember and cue a heel just beforehand. It never seems to get better in terms of being able to drop the cue but I think that's because I have to work against years of being allowed to sniff and pee. Some places I step into the road so he's not as close to the post and other times I might just put my hand on the lead to prevent him moving away. I'm not sure I'll ever quite fix it, Riley does too much "just walking"
