Charlie is two next month...and I've being thinking about what we really need to focus on over the next couple of months. I intend to ask my trainer if this year, we might attend the advanced training weeks, because although we fall short of the standard, I don't think we'd benefit much from the beginner weeks again. So that's a goal for me - to get enough in place such that we could attend the advanced training weeks this year. I have to work on: Coping in exciting environments Charlie is pretty much 90% there in all of his pet dog environments. But we struggle to watch other dogs work, particularly to watch dogs hunting. My main problem here is that I don't have access to environments that are exciting enough, often enough. So I might have to think about what to do... Steadiness, and water Our steadiness is so-so. We don't have any around water! Retrieving We are not doing any serious retrieving right now, and haven't for a while. Because we are reworking our clicker retrieve. I honestly think doing basic clicker retrieve can solve a few problems. Doing it properly, and proofing it properly is turning out to be difficult, and taking months. Impulse control My main exercise here right now is getting Charlie to be able to carry out all his cues with a bowl of food or a toy next to him. It's slow work! Really slow work! Placeboards I'm really pleased by how our placeboards are now everyday tools in our training, but I still need more distance so I can use them effectively a long way away. My target is toget them to 50m in the next month and be able to do T drills. Basic control I am still working on fully proofing stop, recall, sit and wait, settle - I'd say again that we are ok in our pet environment, but ramping it up to the next level is difficult, not least because we first need focus and calmness in very exciting circumstances (see point one). But we have some things to get on with, our lead walking isn't perfect when things get exciting and so on. Still room for improvement in our everyday life, for sure. Guns and birds Charlie has done his initial introduction to shot and game, but I'll have to ramp this up before the advanced class. I'll need help, because while I have a starting pistol, I don't have a shotgun or access to guns...or pheasants. We train around what birds and rabbits we can find - crows, Ravens and seagulls and the rabbits and squirrels we find on the Common. But it's not challenging. Charlie will half heartedly run to them, they just look at him, and lazily take off/run up a tree/disappear into the brambles and he practically has his bum on the floor waiting for his ball before I've blown my stop. Whipit is more exciting, to be honest... Hunting and quartering Charlie is great at find it, both in an area of fall or across a wider area. Not much more we can do on this without some expert input about what to do next, so I'll look at that at my next 121 We need to knuckle down on our quartering though...haven't done much, but also I think we need ground with more scent....
Re: Choc Charlie's training log That sounds like a plan ;D How far away from you is Thruxton motor circuit? There's a dog training place right next to it which is also a shooting school. They have a pond for swimming, shotguns in the background, rabbit and bird pens, a retrieving lane and other people training dogs at the same time as you. There's also a fenced off bit of wood for hunting practice. You can join and use those facilities without being in class. I go up a couple of times a month. Just a thought. It's probably quite far away but if you could get out every now and then it might help......
Re: Choc Charlie's training log That would be just the thing..it's a two hour drive. So 4 hours round trip. I'm super short of time right now. maybe a bit later in the year though. Because I'm short of time - well, short of daylight hour time in particular - I think my things to train is too long. I'm not spending enough time on any one thing.
Re: Choc Charlie's training log Ah- I'm starting a round of classes with them in Feb, and have also got a membership with exactly that in mind! (Have plans of getting up there in the holidays.)
Re: Choc Charlie's training log Had a good success this afternoon. Walking over the cliffs, and I sat down on a bench to look at the sea (bench is on top of a big cliff) and below us, two dogs were fetching balls from a tennis ball launcher. There was no way Charlie was going to settle, but he was off lead, watching them and just turning back for a treat time to time (he gets a treat if he is able to look away from a ball or dummy that doesn't belong to him) and he was able to do this for a good 5 minutes with no cue or prompt not to leave me. I didn't push my luck after that, but we walked on and I threw his reward ball for him. So, for people without genuinely ball obsessed dogs, or without dogs that are nightmares for running to other dogs, this may sound like no big deal. But as tennis ball launchers have been particularly difficult for us, I was very pleased.
Re: Choc Charlie's training log Well done Charlie! And you, for getting him to that stage. What a test for the handsome man
Re: Choc Charlie's training log Sounds like it must have required nerves of steel if the dogs and ball launcher were at the bottom of the cliff and Charlie was at the top Excellent result I agree, ball launchers are the work of the devil ;D we always seem to get them with barky collies- nightmare :
Re: Choc Charlie's training log Oh, no! The dogs were just on a long sloping bit way before the edge of the cliff! ;D Thanks! I was pleased. A billion miles away from getting him to do this when people are shooting pheasants, and dogs are running everywhere, but at least we are making progress. One of the odd things I'm finding from all of this though is without distractions, or a cue, my dog won't leave me at all (he'd be off like a shot if we were at training though with other dogs hunting : ). On the way back from a walk, this is fine, as he just bumbles along at heel. On the way to and during a walk though it makes his exercise depend on me. So he gets to run when I send him for something, tell him run around, or play with him and he is so keen for this, I'm tripping over him half the time! Hmmm....I suppose i can't have it both ways...
Re: Choc Charlie's training log [quote author=JulieT link=topic=9533.msg137842#msg137842 date=1421606289] .....without distractions, or a cue, my dog won't leave me at all... [/quote] #prolemsI'dlovetohave ;D ;D ;D
Re: Choc Charlie's training log ;D ;D ;D I'm not complaining! I go days without using a recall...but when I say no distractions, I mean non whatsoever...he's not at all reliable! I guess as we get better, it might all become more relaxed...as I fade out the treats and rewards, maybe.
Re: Choc Charlie's training log We got back to training class today (after missing the one at the beginning of the month due to pesky work). Focus was impulse control. Working in the presence of distractions eg bowls of food and toys etc. charlie wasn't able to be off lead, unfortunately - I can work on the common around other dogs ok, but training is still a bit too exciting. Still very useful, and I did all the exercises later at my 121. So this is going to be a big push for me over the next month. On the plus side, lovely lead walking by Charlie round all the excitement of dogs playing with food and toys. . We wouldn't have been able to do that a while ago... Second half of the lesson was working with dummies scattered in the bottom half of the field, and people running round with whipit sticks. We were tied to a fence posts for that. But, very little whining, lots of calm and MUCH better. Then the dogs were sent 1 by 1 to hunt and bring back a dummy. Charlie did a lovely straight run out, and lovely hunt to find the last dummy....but it was a super exciting banana dummy wrapped in a pheasant pelt...ooo...er... :-\ So everyone left while I sat on the floor with every toy in my possession...I got it back, after not tooooo long by Charlie standards anyway. Here we are trying to be calm watching the grown ups. image by julieandcharlie, on Flickri
Re: Choc Charlie's training log [quote author=JulieT link=topic=9533.msg139594#msg139594 date=1422222017] ...but it was a super exciting banana dummy wrapped in a pheasant pelt...ooo...er... :-\ [/quote] Charlie must have thought all his Christmases had come at once! ;D ;D Still, impressive progress in the face of very many distractions and temptations
Re: Choc Charlie's training log [quote author=JulieT link=topic=9533.msg139594#msg139594 date=1422222017] We were tied to a fence posts for that. [/quote] Just wondering why you two were tied to a fence post? ;D
Re: Choc Charlie's training log Aha! It is only Charlie tied to a fence post. ;D It's to stop me making a mistake. Moving (so rewarding him with movement) and so on - also, at first, it was to stop him pulling me over, but that doesn't happen now. All I do is sit still with food in my hand. At first, a few months ago, I could have piles of delicious food in my hand and he wouldn't, or couldn't, look away from dogs retrieving (and he also went nuts, lunging etc). Now he mostly just wants the food. So that's this bit of it more or less over, and I think we'll be able to stand in the line and watch next time. Or closer to the line, anyway.
Re: Choc Charlie's training log Sounds very impressive indeed. You are doing great, Julie....all these training logs are very impressive. Well done, everyone. I might join you once spring rolls around again, and I can get outside. Maybe by the end of summer we can retire the long line? I guess we'll see......
Re: Choc Charlie's training log So.... What went well: Steadiness around dummies is a bit better. So I can now drop a dummy and have him walk away with me off lead. Which does open up a whole new world of using my back cue with a dummy as a result. Which was brill! I've put in so much work on the back cue with placeboards, now he knows that it might mean "fetch" he is super keen. He brought all the dummies back. His lead walking is good now, we can walk past just about anything. And I'm working on his position off lead. My trainer wants this properly on cue - it's only sort of on cue - but I've decided to do more work on it first. What didn't go well: His nicking stuff is just getting out of hand. If he sees a football - even if it's waaaay in the distance - he's off. Sometimes I can stop him, sometimes I can't. It has suddenly taken a dramatic turn for the worse. Tonight, he saw a single person in the distance with a football, legged it, and by the time I'd got there was running rings round the guy, nicking his football, and towel (which he'd dragged out of the chap's training bag) in turn... :-[ :-[ :-[ I think the most likely explanation is that I've got complacent. I got tennis ball launchers nearly licked, and did a lot of work on footballs. But the problem was far from solved, I've been busy so haven't been training "no nicking footballs" and "stop on your way once you've decided to nick a football", we've had some failures and he has just reverted back to his natural state of a mad football thief. Anyway, I've got some exercises to get him to listen to me while he is hunting, so I think they will also help with the football thing, as I'll just do the same exercises with footballs too....and, I'm afraid, it's back on a long line in football country. I've just bought a new biothane one...
