milzi09

I love the somersault idea!!! Think we might start teaching that tonight Thanks TerraNiK. The paw over the face is another good idea - lots to teach now.

I just cued 'give' and stopped dead. When training it I offered a piece of food as a high value alternative to tugging with the toy (that was 3 years ago and I haven't had a problem until now). Even with offering another chicken wing as an alternative to the tug it starter with the wing inside he won't let go.

I am just about to get my new tug it starter in the post this week but in the mean time used a sock with a chicken neck in it once (my dog tried to eat the sock and chicken neck all in one so stopped using this). I've already used the tug it starter with one of my dogs and it was fantastic (until I lost it). With my other dog I think it would be a fantastic reward because for him NOTHING can top a chicken neck (obviously since he tried to eat the sock and neck together). But what I am worried about is creating a resource guarding issue. See with the sock he would grab it (like he was playing tug) but there was no way he would let go. Normally he is very good at 'give' but with such a powerful reward he wasn't prepared to give it up. Maybe I should use something less rewarding like sausage meat or something. What do you think?

Oohh I definately like the idea of using targeting to teach them to put objects in a basket - perhaps they can put their own toys away Thanks Ravik

I am wondering if anyone has any good examples of complex tricks you have taught your dogs using targeting? I am completing a training course that requires us to teach a complex trick using targeting and am looking for some new and possibly unique ideas.

I just found this answer. WHat do you all think? Allowing dogs to play with tennis balls on a regular basis could cause the dogs teeth to wear down. The sand and dirt that is accumulated in the felt of the tennis ball (from use outdoors and even indoors) can act as an abrasive powder if the dog chews on the ball, which could wear down the teeth. This has been seen in some competitive flyball dogs.

Does anyone know what the problems are with allowing dogs to play with tennis balls on a regular basis in terms of their teeth?

JulesP - thankyou for your help, I do understand where you are coming from.

You are right I think you do need to view the DVD. I found another trainer I instruct with who has the DVD and I'm going to borrow it off her for a while in a couple of weeks time. My dog is 3 years old and I have done alot of work on shaping with him since he was a young pup. I really don't think inexperience with this is the issue, but more I don't understand the method well enough. Thank-you for your comments kelpiechick they are valid - I think I was just being a bit impatient.

Thanks Ness. Had a quick look at SG blog and she does briefly mention not using a clicker/bridge. So I'll just drop it. I'm sure this will help alot!

Thanks for all the replies! I did some sessions on it tonight and with Kiesha (who I haven't started agility with) got it straight away. She is much more toy motivated so it helped. She went straight through the poles only getting a couple wrong. My other dog Chip who I am doing agility with wasn't so successful. All he wanted to do was target the poles. I didn't reward that and just ignored it and he got increasingly frustrated. Eventually instead of touching the pole he would go past it (just) and I would click and throw the toy (here at home he'll play tuggy so trying to build some value in it) yet the second he heard the click he would turn around and look at me for the reward rather than going after the toy. Should I not bridge so that he continues looking for the toy and a game of tug? In the second session I tried with food (probably should have kept going with the toy but I wanted to see if I had more success) whilst he still doesn't go straight through the middle of the poles and will always revert back to targeting the poles when he doesn't get a reward in all I had more succes. How do I get him to go straight?

I can understand why she wasn't keen on the manners minder. I do have a tug it starter so will use this instead.

Would a manners minder work?

Hi everyone, This is my first post here as I am a new member but have really enjoyed looking over everyones ideas so far. I have just started agility with my dog in SA and as a purely positive trainer I have had to do a lot of training research myself because the clubs in my area are not clubs that train with purely positive methods. I have come across Susan Garretts 2x2 weave pole method which looks fantastic and I would like to give it a try. I have done a fair amount of research on the net as well as watching lots of you-tube videos but unfortunately I cannot afford the DVD at this point in time to get the whole picture. Can anyone help with giving me a broad summary of the method? Where I get stuck is the first part - eg getting the behaviour of going straight through the two weave poles. Do you shape it? My dog is good at free shaping but when the weave poles come out is waiting for me to target him through or he targets the pole and doesn't go past it. I guess I need to break it down into much smaller steps eg look at the pole, step towards the pole, move towards the pole etc. I have a very food motivated dog rather than toys (so not sure if this method will even work because of this). Any help would be much appreciated.