Re: September training [quote author=JulieT link=topic=7616.msg108511#msg108511 date=1410346964] Exactly! Seem to have spent all week waiting for lunge whips, cones, placeboards, new soft dummies (new trainer didn't like my dummies)...blah blah. [/quote] My epic dummy collection is reduced to about three that I've been prepared to let out in public at training and two of those I only bought at CLA because I was fed up of the funny looks I was getting! I'm branching out again with my new positive attitude though
Re: September training [quote author=bbrown link=topic=7616.msg108525#msg108525 date=1410350983] I'm branching out again with my new positive attitude though [/quote] Got some new toys? ;D ;D
Re: September training [quote author=JulieT link=topic=7616.msg108511#msg108511 date=1410346964] Exactly! Seem to have spent all week waiting for lunge whips, cones, placeboards, new soft dummies (new trainer didn't like my dummies)...blah blah. [/quote] I've gone a completely different route lately. One dummy, one whistle, one bag of food and a lead. That's it!
Re: September training We are very minimilist, 1 whistle, 1 bag of food, lead, a ball in my pocket just in case :!! x
Re: September training Half of pets at home here! ;D ;D ;D Well, it's working, that's the main thing.
Re: September training [quote author=JulieT link=topic=7616.msg108537#msg108537 date=1410354465] Half of pets at home here! ;D ;D ;D [/quote] You should buy one of those old fashioned shopping trollies on wheels with a handle to drag it all round in ;D ;D x
Re: September training [quote author=JulieT link=topic=7616.msg108528#msg108528 date=1410352067] [quote author=bbrown link=topic=7616.msg108525#msg108525 date=1410350983] I'm branching out again with my new positive attitude though [/quote] Got some new toys? ;D ;D [/quote] Nope I just care less what people think and care more about the results ;D I spent most of my Monday lesson on the floor engaging Riley in little hunting games in between our retrieves to keep his focus on me while everyone else stood with their dogs sat politely at their sides : Less success today though as when we got to our chosen training spot there were dogs out in a kennel run on one side of us and a pair of dogs training the other side of us(spaniels to start with then a pair of labs). Riley couldn't get to either set of dogs without jumping a fence. He wouldn't eat a treat when we got there he was so distracted so a quick expectation reset occured : We did some simple focus exercises - hand touch, look at me, crazy heelwork - all rewarded with food and he started eating and settled a bit. Then we did some noddy retrieves - just a few metres but lefts, rights, backs and a couple picking as he came towards me. The ladies training went in to swap dogs and I took advantage to head out onto the main field and finish up with some water retrieves for fun ;D I think bearing in mind out bete noir is unmet dogs that was all pretty good. Not quite as much eye contact as I'd like but I didn't rush, kept it upbeat and fast and we were better than we have been when I've been letting frustration get the better of me ;D
Re: September training That sounds fab, Barbara! [quote author=bbrown link=topic=7616.msg108551#msg108551 date=1410358205] Nope I just care less what people think and care more about the results ;D [/quote] Very wise!
Re: September training Not sure what cones are used for, but if it is a target, what about an electric fence post in bright pink or white, they stick well into the ground and are a good target to aim for. Not that I use them but they are used at lessons. Someone suggested just putting a bit of white tissue on a bush, so you can target that.
Re: September training [quote author=Stacia link=topic=7616.msg108562#msg108562 date=1410359737] Not sure what cones are used for ...[/quote] I'm contemplating painting a big "D" on one and strapping it to Harvey's head! Seriously though, we're are doing directional targeting (left, right, and back/out) so ultimately the cones will be removed anyway. Harvey is quite the herbivore sometimes and is likely to eat any plant that I directed him toward
Re: September training Harvey is quite the herbivore sometimes and is likely to eat any plant that I directed him toward [/quote] A gorse bush ;D ;D
Re: September training [quote author=Stacia link=topic=7616.msg108569#msg108569 date=1410360461] Harvey is quite the herbivore sometimes and is likely to eat any plant that I directed him toward [/quote] A gorse bush ;D ;D [/quote] good call lol !
Re: September training [quote author=UncleBob link=topic=7616.msg108567#msg108567 date=1410360055] [quote author=Stacia link=topic=7616.msg108562#msg108562 date=1410359737] Not sure what cones are used for ...[/quote] I'm contemplating painting a big "D" on one and strapping it to Harvey's head! Seriously though, we're are doing directional targeting (left, right, and back/out) so ultimately the cones will be removed anyway. Harvey is quite the herbivore sometimes and is likely to eat any plant that I directed him toward [/quote] Yup, you are supposed to "fade" the cones in long grass. Charlie carrying them into the distance makes them look really quite faint already.
Re: September training [quote author=charlie link=topic=7616.msg108539#msg108539 date=1410354680] You should buy one of those old fashioned shopping trollies on wheels with a handle to drag it all round in ;D ;D x [/quote] The way my back aches, that is starting to look like a great idea! Well, the recall away from football training. I decided to take a few steps back and not do recall at all at first. I decided we'd do something that just got Charlie's attention. Eg a hand target while standing next to a bouncing football. Nope. No chance. So I went and got a dummy and he saw me put it in my pocket. NOW a hand target standing next to a bouncing football was no trouble. :-\ Hmm..... So person with football walked away, and I put a dummy out. Recall rewarded by a retrieve (which he brought back, perfectly ). Trouble with that was the second time I did it he wouldn't stop at me - just flew by me to the dummy. :-\ At least he brought it back though! I know, a blind! Then he'll have to stop at me, won't he? No, he won't, he'll just hunt the entire field from end to end for the dummy. Ok, gave up on retrieving as a reward. We just don't have enough control to use it like that. It's risking our progress. So went back to working on him giving me attention instead of the football - did ok. Then tried more recalls - getting a fair bit better. I think I can say we made some progress towards the end.
Re: September training Well, we haven't been doing much training - been camping and things like that instead. Although we have been continuing to work on attention when out and about, which has been going very well. We walked at heel, off lead, passed another dog in a field yesterday. Which is good progress. And there was 2 Collies and an owner with a tennis ball launcher and we also managed an off lead walk at heel - but with a margin of 50m! Still, that's also progress. Apart from that, we've been trying to get more consistency into our placeboards. Another few sessions, and I'll try this outside the garden. https://www.flickr.com/photos/123706979@N04/15070576480/
Re: September training - cue confusion! So we're getting on well with placebords. I can even use them for things now - they are solving the sit straight on my left hand side cue for example. I'm not doing so much with the cones because I can send him left, right and back to place boards. I'm worried I'm muddling my cues and trying to think through what cues I want to end up with. For left and right when retrieving do I only want visual arm cues? Do people use verbal or whistle left and right? How is the back cue used? If I have "fetch" as my retrieve cue, do I want that to also mean back? I have a visual back cue now... I'm not doing this with dummies, so can't use the method in Pippa's videos - but they seem to be with visual cues only.
Re: September training Good boy Charlie. Place board training looks to be going well (OH is making good progress on this front with Harvey too). I think 'back' and 'fetch' are two distinct commands. Fetch is a general 'go get the dummy, whereas as back is part of our directional controls for guiding them to dummies that they haven't seen. The one that concerns me (and we haven't even done it yet!) is when they overshoot and we have to call them back towards us and then stop again - will that have a negative impact on the recall command? If it helps, we're just using the visual arm cues.
Re: September training Thanks, UB - I missed the instructions for this as we were doing our watch the dummy exercise. So just visual cues for now. Do you think it matters that I'm not using the cones? I guess the implications are that I'm carrying placeboards around...
Re: September training So to send from my side to retrieve I use "Riley go back" this will gradually change just to his name and you saw me send him on his name when I wasn't next to him for a marked retrieve at the pond. If he's facing me along with my arm signal I saw "back" and that also means find a dummy. Left and right I use "get out", some people use "left" and "right" as that way they have verbal control if the dog can't see them. If your dog overshoots you can do a couple of things UB. You can stop them or use the recall whistle directly. If they have stopped quite close to the dummy you can ask them to hunt straight away.... I kind of pat the air near my knee as this was my visual hunt cue when the dog was close by. Or if I'm recalling them I give them the visual hunt cue with their recall whistle but a softer version of the recall.....this was Heidrun's advice.....it is a recall but Riley is working out the difference. When they get nearer the dummy I would reinforce with my hunt whistle. In order to practice this I sat Riley up, put a dummy between us and blew my soft recall with my visual hunt to encourage him to pick on the way home. It's not that you break your recall you just want them. To retrieve on the way. The most important thing I'm learning at the moment is to have a plan for the retrieve. You want to decide when the dog is in the area and what you're going to do if they get out of area. Factoring in they things that will draw them or push them around like wind, visual markers, boundaries etc. For example we sent the dogs for what was really a simple marked retrieve on Monday but they crossed several boundaries...the long grass we started in, the farm track which was mud and then out onto the crop in the field. None of which looked challenging. 4 out of 6 dogs got stuck on the farm track which ran perpendicular to the straight line of the retrieve and started going right to left and back again. So my plan was when Riley got to the track to call "back" and if he still got stuck to stop him and send him back from a sit. He definitely wavered at the boundary but the back call kept him moving - phew! When I don't have a plan I'm not fast enough to catch him and then the retrieve turns into a massive handling exercise as he's got much further away. Hope that waffle all makes sense and is vaguely helpful ;D
