Hi everyone, once Maisie is back up and at em from her spay and tooth operation, we are going to have some interesting times as she is not allowed her toys until the sutures in her mouth come out. No stuffed toys, no balls, no treat toys, no chew toys, nothing! Ahh! And since she was spayed, she'll be on limited walking once we start up walks again. So… a lot of mental training I think is in order. She can have soft treats and I can soften up her kibble to use as treats as well, so it'll be a lot of work for your supper. Can anyone suggest a range of things we can work on? It would be great to have suggestions for useful obedience tricks (staples like sit, etc, if you know what I mean) as well as some fun ones that it doesn't matter if she gets right or not (like four paws in a box, except she'll eat a box, so that one is out for now; bowing or doing something fun like that). Behaviours she has, to at least some extent: Sit, down, hand targeting, leave it, drop it (this one could be worked on… but she can't have any toys, so what would she drop?), let's go (come the way I want to go), recall (but our recall is always at a wild run to come see me, so maybe not for a few days at the very least, or very short distances), bow, spin left, spin right, wait/stay (definitely one we will work on). I'm also teaching the names of toys (she knows her ball at the moment) butttt again that has to wait for toys to come back. I'm thinking of working on the tricks we already have, particularly teaching the difference between a "stay" (stay here until I come back for you and release you) and a "wait" (stay here until I release you, so I might release from the next room or what not and ask her to find me), continuing all other commands, proofing, etc (like maybe doing training while out on a walk so more distractions)… Maybe sitting to the left or right of me? A bit of "heel", which we don't formally have - we could do a lot of leash walking practice in the house or just up and down our street as it's not very busy and the neighbours must hear me taking Maisie out and going "WHO IS THE PRETTIEST PUPPY… YOU ARE" all the time so they're inured to our antics. She's fairly good on the leash already, but teaching a more formal heel might be interesting. Some scent work? Hiding a treat and asking her to find it (she finds this hard if she doesn't see what is going on with the treat when I hide it, so not really hidden!)? I like teaching her new things and fun things, so if you have any cool tricks to teach her or ideas for behaviours she should have for safety/living a polite life, share them please .
Re: Suggestions for toy-free training One of the tricks we do is 'weave between my legs while in walking'. We call this Big Steps as you have to take big steps so the dog can get through Start with treats in both hands and lure her through your legs. It's awkward at first but you will both co-ordinate yourselves eventually You can do 'weave a figure of 8 while human is standing still' too. Play dead is always a crowd pleaser and takes a while to teach so there are a bunch of training sessions in that one. Roll over is good though they can get confused between that and play dead if you try to teach both in parallel. Bow is another good one. One thing I've taught that us not a trick but that is useful as a life skill is 'if we go past a pole walk on the same side of it as me'. Avoids lead tangles
Re: Suggestions for toy-free training Haha yes, the pole avoidance! Do you have any tips on how you trained that? I've started working on that a bit when she's on a walk, but haven't formally tried training it. I usually say "wrong way" or where are you going (should pick a phrase) and she self-corrects herself a bit. Play dead was a good one I was thinking of! I'll have to look up some tutorials for that one. I like the idea of teaching weaving and figure eights too.
Re: Suggestions for toy-free training So with the pole avoidance thing: - I deliberately walked close to poles and marked and rewarded (ie click and treat) for Obi going on the same side as me - if Obi went on the other (wrong) side of the pole I stopped walking, kept some tension on the lead and waited to give him time to work it out. Usually if he hadn't actually done a full 360 round the pole he could work out that he had to go backwards to get out of it. Major fuss and treats as he came back round the pole to my side. - if he'd done a 360 round the pole (so lead wrapped round pole) I'd use a treat to lure him the opposite way and out of it. This is a bit hard for them to work out how to get out of a situation like that at least at first. Eventually you stop getting 360s as they learn to come on your side first or back out if they go the wrong side. - never help by moving the lead round the pole yourself. Always get the dog out of it by waiting for them to work it out or by luring/encouraging them to go in the right direction. It's a great one to teach and very handy!!
Re: Suggestions for toy-free training along the lines of 4 paws IN a box is doing a "paws on a box" or some other object, and incorporating a spin with feet staying on the box. I have a wooden box we use for this, but a "place board" would work too. I've done any number of boxes and objects. It's a good luring/shaping game, and also helps with "where is my butt" awareness - useful in heel work. I need to work more on getting all 4 paws on an object and maintain balance while turning...(think elephant on a tiny box) - Obviously any number of proofing of recall skills - recall away from food, out of a nap, from another room are all good indoor activities - and outside recall away from a good sniff, recall away from a friend, recall when running in opposite direction, recall out of a direct line of sight (she can't see you.) find it games are good like you said, just have to start with easy ones and increase the skill level over time. Hope Maisie is healing well....have fun with her this week!
