Charlie is doing really well with his non cued look at me on and off lead This morning David said Charlie stayed within about 15 meters just trotting NOT RUNNING for a third of the time up the track but he had been for his two runs first, I shall repeat that sentence as I can't quite believe it myself, Charlie stayed within 15 meters just trotting ahead, yes it still sounds the same ;D probably a total fluke but just want to ask this question anyway : When he looks round at this distance can we throw the treat or should he return for it? Thanks xx
Re: Non Cued Look at Me Wow that is amazing progress! Now I am no expert, and have muddled through with Casper, he would just vanish like a bullet....and all I would see is a tiny black spec on the horizon... : We worked on "cued" look at me first..call his name then threw a treat about 10 feet or so...we then moved to "non cued" look at me, and then capture this behaviour with the clicker every time he glanced at me.. I would (still do...) throw a treat roughly 10 feet, or a bit further. I don't need him to return to me, and give him a cheery release cue so he knows he can choose to go of again. I want him to stay close, but not to interrupt him if that makes sense? It's kind of a "moment" for him. I also stop suddenly and call "lost" he knows at that cue something tasty is hidden, this is just something extra I do to make myself more interesting though and not really "un cued" as such. I am surprised though Casper hasn't put on weight with all the pork pie (his absolute favourite) mini scotch eggs and home made cake that appears to be raining down on him at times! ;D Be interesting to hear what other members think
Re: Non Cued Look at Me I would say it depends on what you want him to do. If you can throw the treat so it reaches him and you just want to concentrate on him looking at you then do that. If you want to incorporate your recall when he looks at you call him with lots of enthusiasm, quick treat and let him go ahead again. Then he gets a reward for looking at you, checking back in and the reward is a treat and being allowed to trot on ahead again. I'd probably go with throwing the treat to him until I was sure that was automatic then add the recall. Doesn't mean I'm right though. : Well done Charlie. ;D
Re: Non Cued Look at Me Well done Charlie checking in is a big step forward and I would throw him the treat to start off with
Re: Non Cued Look at Me If all you want is the attention ('checking in') just click when he turns his head and then toss the treat. Sounds like a fab walk!
Re: Non Cued Look at Me Thanks everyone We are using this just for a 'check in' so good to know that throwing the treat is OK. It's working really well and Charlie looks and sometimes comes back and sits for his treat, the last 3 days he has stayed really close for a portion of his off lead time, so getting there in Charlie terms that is : x
Re: Non Cued Look at Me Fab!!! Our "checking-in" usually occurs when Lilly is 20-30m away and Lilly is checking I am keeping up. Can't throw that far We are very impressed. Feeling inspired by you Helen 8)
Re: Non Cued Look at Me With a clicker savvy dog you can mark the moment the dog looks at you and he will come racing to you for the treat.
Re: Non Cued Look at Me [quote author=heidrun link=topic=10015.msg146837#msg146837 date=1425245793] With a clicker savvy dog you can mark the moment the dog looks at you and he will come racing to you for the treat. [/quote] That's the result I was getting on The Common but I haven't trained David to be clicker savvy yet! : Thanks Jac, don't be too impressed this is Charlie we're talking about : : : xx
Re: Non Cued Look at Me My Charlie has to return to me for his treat after a click, I don't throw it. But I do have about a 5% failure to return unless I'm rewarding with a game, which I will do in very exciting areas. I find the pattern of wander off - check in - return is helpful, and feeding when he is with me reinforces being close to me is a good thing. It also gives me the opportunity to give him a cue to do something else when he reaches me (I usually don't, but it's handy – as he usually checks in when he sees another dog for example, I can say "lead on" when he returns, or "close" or something if I want). I do not cue a check in (if I want him to do something I give the relevant cue), I think the point is to have the dog decide that checking in is rewarding.
Re: Non Cued Look at Me I captured a bit of my walk, showing C&T check in on my movi... It's like watching paint dry.... ;D ;D ;D But we enjoyed our walk. It was a very exciting smelly area that we don't go to very often, so was quite pleased I got as many check ins as I did... https://www.flickr.com/photos/123706979@N04/16688575445/ (The ICK! a few minutes in was when I saw the dead, maggoty something (rat?) that he was considering picking up....luckily he thought better of it... ;D ;D ;D ).
Re: Non Cued Look at Me That's an interesting video clip and to me really highlights how differently hunting bred dogs behave in that sort of environment. Mine would spend a nano second on the path and then launch themselves into the undergrowth to start thrashing through the bracken and the brambles. : ;D
Re: Non Cued Look at Me Do you know I was just thinking that, when I watched it, particularly just after the clip ended, we met a working cocker (somewhat out of control) But there was a time when I wouldn't have seen Charlie for dust in this particular bit of the common, so we are much improved!
Re: Non Cued Look at Me Thanks for the video Julie, we get a that level of check in on the track that goes between two fields so we are pretty pleased with that, but there are just no opportunities to cue anything else as he's not interested so we just have to settle for what we get which is better than nothing : Agree totally Heidrun, Charlie's nose hits the ground and he's like a rocket, he has no worries about thrashing through the undergrowth and brambles, it really is a very different 'walk' x
Re: Non Cued Look at Me [quote author=charlie link=topic=10015.msg146881#msg146881 date=1425283940] Agree totally Heidrun, Charlie's nose hits the ground and he's like a rocket, he has no worries about thrashing through the undergrowth and brambles, it really is a very different 'walk' x [/quote] Yes, one of the many reasons why I don't do 'walks' with mine.
Re: Non Cued Look at Me My Charlie's motivations are different, he's a show bred retriever after all, but he still wasn't born acting like this on a walk, so although it's been hundreds of hours and a few tons of chicken, I wouldn't give up on the technique. The same is used for the Pointers and Vizlas at training, with similar results (in this type of environment, anyway). Actually, they are much better than my Charlie in the advanced class, I'm always the last to get connection. Although not spaniels, it's fair to say, I haven't seen them do this (apart from the Irish Water Spaniel, he seems to act in a similar way).
