Tonight, he was on his hunting lead, and he wanted to mark a post very badly but I was asking him walk to heel around it....I had wild boar C&J training tips as a reward (he loves them, £40 a kg he bloomin' well better had...) and I clicked, he immediately took that as a release and instead of waiting for the wild boar and blackberry treat went and peed on the dratted post! Ok, so if I ever want my dog not to pee on stuff, I have to have him on a short lead!
I taught my dogs to pee on a post when I said so! So they ignore posts unless given the command to have a sniff and or pee Edited to add that is when they are on the lead or heel walking, when free they can do what they like!
In theory, Charlie has a 'go sniff' cue. Only, he is walked by a few people - myself, my OH and two dog walkers. I think that I'm the only person who actually uses his 'go sniff' cue. With everyone else, he is allowed to wander along on a loose lead, sniffing and peeing at will.... I also have to admit that because of this, I'm not as consistent as I should be, and really only insist on no sniffing and no peeing on a 'close' cue. He is assuming his hunting lead is just a loose lead, but I'd like it to mean no sniffing and no peeing too. That's not working out though.....
I was super pleased with Charlie tonight. He walked reasonably well (the odd sniff and pee aside ) on his hunting lead through the main off lead dog field up at the Common. At one point, there were 2 other dogs jostling him (to get to my treat pocket) and he stayed lovely and focussed (just turned his head time to time, and just once tried to stop to see what a dog behind him was doing). He was a little star. (I've decided to over look the incident of the empty plastic drinks bottle which he picked up, ran around in 17 victory laps, and then laid down in a puddle to chew, ignoring his recall - wiped it from my mind.....).
Well what else was he supposed to do with an empty plastic bottle?☺ Sounds like a good walk though. It's very impressive for him to walk through all of those distractions, especially when there are dogs trying to steal his treats!
He did very well, I was chuffed with him. Well, the empty bottle was just bonkers dog making an appearance. That's Charlie for you. It will never be any different, I don't think - no matter how long I train. He just has these episodes of forgetting everything he knows, and being overwhelmed by the distraction of an empty plastic bottle (or whatever). It's just the dog he is. And I wouldn't swap him for all the tea in china.
Been able to spend a bit of time with Charlie over the last few days - at last! His walking on his hunting lead is really good now! Ok, not perfect, but nothing about Charlie is (well, of course he's fabulous generally, I mean his training!). I have to keep looking down to make sure he hasn't slipped out of it, because I can't feel him at all. I also find it just easier for me - because I can have my thumb stick with me, and that makes tromping over fields a bit easier for me. I still have to walk in big circles around posts etc to discourage him from peeing, but hey...I don't actually give a fig about him peeing, apart from that I'd quite like him not to always pee on stuff at training. We've been having a LOT of fun hunting for dummies in the old golf course bunkers, and today I got him to stop on his whistle while searching. Ok, 4th attempt, but still. He sometimes has a pee in between finding the dummy and giving it to me, I reckon as an excuse to hang on to it for a bit.... We've also being doing a lot of long memory retrieves, and he has been slamming the dummy in my hand in a very satisfying way. I haven't been doing any short marked retrieves (which is when he is most likely to run round with a dummy, so don't know if he is still just as bad on those....). But the only reason I'd ever want to do short marked retrieves is if I do the gundog grades - wonder if I can ask to do a 200m memory instead of a 20m marked at gundog grade 1 !!! Away from the very busy Wimbledon Common and he has been very good around other dogs, and has even ignored tennis ball launchers. We haven't met any footballs though, thankfully - he is no better than he ever was around footballs. Going to have a big push to see whether we can move on our steadiness over the next week or so - he is doing quite well (for Charlie) but as always (and will be forever) being steady is a challenge for Charlie.
Christmassy zen bowl training! Charlie's zen bowl is a Christmas pudding bowl (ceramic so he won't retrieve it ), rewards and zen bowl filling leftover Christmas roast duck, and one of his new Christmas toys. . I had to pay OH for his assistance by cooking a batch of chocolate brownies. zen bowl by Julie T, on Flickr
I'm not sure it matters all that much that its called 'zen bowl' Just work around distractions, really. You create the bowl as something very desirable (eg when you say 'get it' the dog finds a handful of organic home roasted duck in it ). If you don't say 'get it' and the dog goes to get the duck (or whatever) your helper lifts the bowl. The dog gets a 'get it' by moving away from the bowl, and doing what you ask. You are not allowed to give the dog a cue to move away, he has to figure it out. Moving away from the bowl, gets him the bowl. The bowl is supposed to stay very, very desirable. So you reward often by the contents of the bowl.
I'm interested to know also. Some of the ladies at training were talking about "the bucket game" ( http://www.allpetseducationandtraining.com.au/the-bucket-game.html ) and I'm wondering if it's a similar concept?
No, the bucket game isn't the same thing. Although it also involves being able to leave a pot of treats, but that's the only thing it has in common with Doggie Zen. The bucket game is about choice in terms of 'having something done'. It doesn't have to be a bucket though, it can be anything. The dog engages with some activity - mine is Charlie putting his head on a towel - such as staring at a bucket, and then you clean the dogs ears/teeth/take out stitches etc....and reward so long as the dog cooperates and keeps engaging - that's the bucket game, it's about the dog giving permission. Doggie Zen (the Zen bowl) is where an item (the bowl) is built up and up and up in terms of desirability, and in order to get the contents of the bowl, then dog has to be able to move away from, and work around the bowl. This is a game of working around distractions. (Just to complete the set....) Super cool is a standard leave it and never get it (so give something up because rewards come from elsewhere). Three very popular games right now, and very useful!
The other thing I've been working on is Charlie not over running blinds, and hunting on his whistle. Here, I am sending Charlie to an old golf bunker, which serves the purpose of keeping his hunt area confined when he gets there. He also did very well with his steadiness, not running in, and also not shopping, as there were 3 items down in the bunker but he brought them back one by one. Good boy Charlie! For those who like this kind of thing, the headland on the left of the picture is Gribben Head, outside Fowey, in Cornwall. The filed is called "alldays" fields - it was a golf course in the 1950s, but not popular (probably too bloomin' windy ) and was given to the National Trust. Thank goodness for people who give places like this to the National Trust. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gribben_Head blinds into bunker by Julie T, on Flickr
I'm sure it's trivial compared to the training you do, Stacia , but presenting the concepts in terms of games, with names, is helpful for us beginners - well, very helpful for me, anyway, helps me sorts things out!
Thanks for taking the time to explain the difference Julie. You can really see the amount of time and effort that you put into Charlie's training, he really is a great dog ☺
HaHa - he is a fabulous dog, but unfortunately not a well trained one. All of this training just keeps a hooligan barely under control, and not always, and not much else. But we have fun, and that's what it is all about.
