This isn't a big thing,but it has been a most annoying thing ......Ball throwers !!!!! They aren't popular with many and hated by me.....why?Because Dexter leaps like a dolphin coming out for a fish to get to the thrower as the unsuspecting thrower handler arcs it through the air he doesn't care a toffee about the ball it's just thrown...he wants the thrower.....this has been going on for quite some time and I had to do something about it ,its just such a dreadful antisocial habit.....a Labrador leaping 6 foot in the air! :-[ Sooooo we started with ball throwers being left around the house in view but out of reach ,practising Leave It and working up to moving them into reach and then us all walking round like lemons carrying them in the house and garden ......out on walks ,first him seeing me pack it in the back pack,then it sticking out the back pack a bit,then in my hand as we walk along ( still not proofed that in times of high excitement though....if all else fails and He can't do want he wants....he grabs the ball thrower : which to be honest solves one problem.....lunging on the lead but creates another one ;D) I meet my friend,her dogs.........and her ball thrower : on a Friday,she's been really good helping me out with Dexter and his bad habit!Weve built up exposure time gradually and we managed a whole 10 minutes today without me having to supervise Dexter....a timely ah ah worked, not one leap!......until it came time to get back on lead.....he managed a spectacular one :-[ oh well ,we seem a little bit less of a show now but still work to do ;D .... As always! I think Debsie's Broderick was guilty of this one .....has anyone else had to do battle with the ball thrower? X
Re: Small triumph! Oh well done, Angela! Yes, I have had to do battle with the ball thrower. But the battle was with my OH, not with the dog… :
Re: Small triumph! [quote author=Karen link=topic=6003.msg77778#msg77778 date=1400225619] Oh well done, Angela! Yes, I have had to do battle with the ball thrower. But the battle was with my OH, not with the dog… : [/quote] And how did you manage to get your OH to stop leaping like a dolphin?
Re: Small triumph! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Have a mental image of people leaping about now...... I LOVE my tennis ball chucker and I don't care who knows it Sounds like the desensitization is going well Angela, he's a good boy x
Re: Small triumph! [quote author=UncleBob link=topic=6003.msg77788#msg77788 date=1400226934] [quote author=Karen link=topic=6003.msg77778#msg77778 date=1400225619] Oh well done, Angela! Yes, I have had to do battle with the ball thrower. But the battle was with my OH, not with the dog… : [/quote] And how did you manage to get your OH to stop leaping like a dolphin? [/quote] Oh, the mental image!!!!!!! ;D 8)
Re: Small triumph! Wow, what an impressive program of desensitisation. Great stuff. Definitely a big thing!
Re: Small triumph! Angela well done and Dexter too Wow now where is my ball chucker, it could be just the ticket for Charlie ;D xx
Re: Small triumph! Well done Angela! It's posts like these that make me know that if you want to do something, stick at it and the hard work pays off
Re: Small triumph! Well done! Another dedicated owner I throw balls "like a girl" Ball chucker essential. On the beach. With sand. Every few weeks. Oh well.
Re: Small triumph! I would so love to use a chucker and see Simba race enthusiastically after the ball...working on it.... :-\
Re: Small triumph! When we first got one, Mira was a nightmare if we were carrying it while walking to a place to use it. She would leap up madly, which was obviously not acceptable if we were walking along a pavement, so we stopped taking it unless we were going somewhere by car. However, we discovered she is not remotely interested in it if the ball is not in it - she is ball-obsessed! We actually mostly just use it in the garden these days. We have a big ball on a rope for throwing at the beach. Good luck with the training - sounds as though Dexter is getting the idea!
