Hi All, Anyone doing placeboard training, but using hoops instead of placeboards? If so, has anyone successfully made any hoops themselves? (Hope this is the right section to be posting this in?). If so, what materials did you use and what sort of size? I'm thinking some sort of flexible plastic tube, that'll be nice and portable; maybe 4m per hoop to fit me and the dog in; taped together with something like duct/duck tape?? :-\
Re: Hoops DIY I have no real experience with this but what about a child's hula hoop? You can get them in different diameters - mine I use for tricks is 24inches I think. Lightweight, portable and lots of cool colours! Lol mine is pink and purple stripes
Re: Hoops DIY Hi Again, Lauren! Once again, thanks for the reply. Need a bigger one than that, though . Must be my big feet!
Re: Hoops DIY Should it just be my dog in there? :-[ Maybe I need to read up on this topic a bit more! Well "a bit" wouldn't go amiss. Won't we both be in there sometimes, eg if I recall him to me and I'm standing in it?? Thanks Heidrun for replying.
Re: Hoops DIY If you are using it along the principles of place board training then you don't need to stand in it yourself. I use place boards but I don't actually stand on one myself.
Re: Hoops DIY But, would you think it would also work this way, that if you are standing in the hoop, your dog can see exactly where you want him to come to??
Re: Hoops DIY Yes, sure, but it is not necessary. You can just stand behind the hoop and train the dog to return and sit inside the hoop. The smaller the hoop the easier it will be to transport.
Re: Hoops DIY Hmm, true, was just typing a reply to that effect. However, with a bigger hoop, you would probably have room to finish the dog after the recall too?? Probably need to do some homework.
Re: Hoops DIY I have four spaniels but no Labrador, and have never trained a smart finish after a retrieve. It might look good but I don't need it. When they are working and have delivered their retrieve they will take up a position near me which gives them the best vantage point, but not necessarily right next to my left knee. So, if you are training for obedience, working trials or gundog competitions for retrievers it might actually be a good idea to get a hoop big enough to train a finish in.
Re: Hoops DIY Someone on facebook posted how to make a hoop but I'm b******d if I can find it ! Will look again later :-\ I think it was either in the Working Clumber group or Positive Gundogs.........
Re: Hoops DIY I'm not sure why standing in the hoop would help train a finish though? Two place boards, or two hoops would be better, although if you want your body orientation to be a cue and the dog straight on the board, it seems intuitively easier with square boards (eg sit in front when the board is in front, to my left when the board is to my left). The larger the hoop, the more room for error it seems to me.
Re: Hoops DIY Hiya I've been looking for a while, googling with many variations of hoop and DIY, etc to no avail. Has anyone used hoops?? I'm training for working, plus gundog competitions, but I can't believe we'll ever get there. Trying hard though...!! And mostly loving it
Re: Hoops DIY Heidrun, I just re-read my post and I didn't mean that you need to do homework, but that I do...Oh, it's so easy to accidentally annoy people!! :-[
Re: Hoops DIY I guess the hoop might keep the dog nice and tight as it moved round you but I'm not sure I'd bother with a hoop or placeboard for a finish. I would train the finish completely separately to the retrieve and only put it on the end of a retrieve when I was happy with it. As far as I can tell many dogs end up not needing a finish command anyway and they automatically finish themselves as it's the best way to get another retrieve ;D Even with Riley a tiny hand movement is all he needs to come round if he's paused and goodness knows we've had plenty of challenges with our retrieving along the way but this bit he's definitely got his head round :
Re: Hoops DIY [quote author=Tina D link=topic=7515.msg104862#msg104862 date=1409067466] Heidrun, I just re-read my post and I didn't mean that you need to do homework, but that I do...Oh, it's so easy to accidentally annoy people!! :-[ [/quote] Don't worry! ;D I hadn't read it like that at all! But you are right there is always something new to learn and read up about!
Re: Hoops DIY Julie T, Thanks for replying. I don't need to train a finish, as he's fine with this. (Something he is fine with... rejoice!!) Just that, he could do a finish in the hoop and wouldn't have to step outside it to "complete the recall". Re boards, I can see what you are saying, but aren't they heavy to cart around? I can see myself walking cross-country with a shoulder full of hoops, but not an armful of boards
Re: Hoops DIY What is it that you are trying to teach with your hoops? Perhaps I'm not with you? If you are teaching sit in font after a retrieve with a hoop, then ask for a finish which is already trained, what does it matter if he leaves the hoop?
Re: Hoops DIY Julie T, I am hoping to use the hoops to work on better steadiness and to use them for directional training. His recall (then sitting and finishing) is pretty good (though we could do better at times and I suppose there is no intermediate level, you either have an excellent recall every time, whatever the distractions, or you don't have a good recall - Pippa's book has been excellent). Anyway, to continue...would it be the case, that the dog stays in the hoop unless he's moving from one hoop to the next, or has been sent for a retrieve? So, would it be better for the dog to stay in the hoop while he is sitting by you and finishing, if you have the luxury of extra space? You could still stand outside it if you wanted to for a recall, but you wouldn't have to (although I suppose you'd have to be consistent). Would he be concerned if he was leaving the hoop for a finish??
Re: Hoops DIY I should think the answer depends on how you are using place boards, but I can't think of a reason why I would have a placebord big enough for me to stand on it, my dog to sit in front of me, and turn and sit at the side of me. That's not how I would use a placeboard. I'm not sure what it would be teaching the dog? I'd use it to mark a specific position for a specific exercise - it just defines exactly where the dog should be. The bigger that is, the less well defined it is - at least, that's how I see it. So a sit in front, a sit to the side, yes, steadiness, help with a stop whistle. In your example, if I wanted to use place boards, I'd have two place boards one to mark each place where I wanted the dog to be. If they were all one placeboard I think the point would be lost. But maybe people use it as you suggest, don't know.
