leopuppy04

Finally got to watch it totally agree with what Laffi said - make sure you are facing in the direction your dog is facing - as this is our 'end behaviour' when running an agility course Put some non-slip stuff on the board - you should be able to find some stuff from bunnings or Kmart pretty cheap - this will make him go even faster Rev him up before letting him loose.... "readddyyyyy settt...... GO" and release him to get his 2o2o He's doing really well - you should be so proud I have been doing as both you and Laffi said but I still dont think he really knows what he is doing. Last night i walked with him along side it and kept walking...and so did he. It seems he only stops in 2o2o just cos thats just where i stop. I am finding it very difficult working without giving him a command and my partner thinks its just stupid! He thinks I should give a command and then shape it without a command later on because he just doesnt think Jordi will understand it...Just like with obedience. When at the heel position, after a while the dog eventually sits next to you by himself... Huff...i dunno, its too hard! Getting a dog to understand to stay there while you still move is fairly 'advanced' in the sense that the dog must have a good grasp of what you want. This is where the nose touch certainly helps because the dog is given a 'set' behaviour at the end . Try and forget about walking him over the plank for the minute - let him offer you behaviours and anything to do with the plank you will C&T - later, you will nut down on this to get your 2o2o. Alternatively introduce a target plate for him to nose touch. Perhaps try to raise the plank further (phone books etc) - you wan the 2o2o behaviour do be a 'defined' behaviour, not just a 'grass on 2 paws, wood on the other 2' feeling.... so if he physically has to step down the dogs understand that behaviour a little better. Would another video help?! I could try and do one this weekend with a friend of mine and her dog knows nothing except a nose touch???

I really need to stop coming in here

hehe - this is fantastic :laugh:

Express post is best happy to do a trade btw :cool:

nah - group orders are always easier TSD. I shall arrange for Laffi to send it to me if it's easier (and to save on postage) as I can always get it to you We send each other way too many packages :laugh: BTW - your talk was really inspiring last night! bring out the clicker again for my poor neglected kitty! 4 paws - :cool:

yeah c'mon Ness - want me to post a vid or my puppies when they tug We are all just v. jealous of Kenzie and want to take her away I think interaction with toys is vital when puppies are young - if they don't get it, it may take a while to build it up

Finally got to watch it totally agree with what Laffi said - make sure you are facing in the direction your dog is facing - as this is our 'end behaviour' when running an agility course :cool: Put some non-slip stuff on the board - you should be able to find some stuff from bunnings or Kmart pretty cheap - this will make him go even faster Rev him up before letting him loose.... "readddyyyyy settt...... GO" and release him to get his 2o2o He's doing really well - you should be so proud

i don't think it really matters heidii took me almost 2 years to get Leo to tug in public..... keep at it - you'll get there. I also have a friend who's dog tugs like the one of that video Kavik and her dog wouldn't even touch a tug initially

I don't see the inconsistency either Serps: use your outside hand to bring the dog over jump 2. this opens up your reinforcement zone and pulls the dogover jump 2. For a serp you are still moving. To send dog over jump 3, you use your near hand to push them over again, sending your reinforcement zone/ BCBL in the direction the dog is going. If you used your far hand to send over jump 3, that would be a flick away Threadles: Similar system, although you are STOPPING and allowing your dog to come into the reinforcement zone before you again step toward jump to and the dog is again chasing reinforcement zone. Makes sense to me

Yeah bugger you Laffi (even though it was my fault!) You better be ready to go shopping again in a few months - though that 'few' months might keep stretching out seeing as I have cost myself an arm and a leg this month, and my dogs too

LOL - yeah I know what you mean It's better IMO in the long run though

D@mn you Laffi - you know I can't watch Youtube at work Kavik - one paw is ok - just remember to SHAPE it .... tiny steps and he won't lose his confidence

Of course Ness Waste not want not

Nah - if they have a good understanding of a target they will. Raise it on a phone book or do it down stairs initially as they will HAVE to put their front feet down in order to contact the plate appropriately

Thanks Laffi - now everyone can watch me and my pathetic training in sandals and socks

Heidii - do a search of my name on youtube... I have an embarassing version of me teaching contacts on there I'm pretty sure :D. I can't post the link though as I can't get onto youtube. ETA - unlike Kavik - I have the touch plate right at the BASE of the contact as this gets them to shift their weight onto their rear as opposed to landing hard on their front I also then graduated from stairs to a contact plank (puppy see-saw) which was raised on phone books, then placed the plank on the stairs, which gave me a good angle!

Jules - I actually think Brock is the exception to the rule and a running contact would suit him! Would give him less chance to worry 'mummy is going to ask for something soon' If he does become super fast because he has built confidence, then we just 'add' the 2o2o in.... he's a special case methinks! He did soooo well with his pinwheels on Monday :D

I taught the contacts initially with Leo using a 2o2o method which basically was to get the dog to hit 2o2o by pure chance and 'mark' that.... wasnt' overly successful and I don't think he completely understood what we wanted. He wouldn't jump off a contact, but he wouldn't reach end behaviour either With Kinta I taught her and later re-taught Leo using Susan Garrett's 2o2o nose touch. It made sense to me, though I didn't teach the repeated nose touch I have found this method has worked really well and while there are gaps in our training thanks to *poor* training by me I believe my dogs have a GOOD understanding of 2o2o position. Kinta has jumped off the A a couple of times at trials, but once I went back and re-trained, everything seems to be going well, and I will fore-go a few seconds just to make sure she has hit and held her contacts as to me this is really important :D SG all the way for me!

thanks KC - I knew I wasn't quite right :D

Definitely! Sticky nose Aussies love to watch what is going on around them . It's boring when there is nothing to do :rolleyes: Ptolomy... I choose not to comment on the 'small minds'

Haha - yep we do that Ptolomy - amazing how many dogs it floors Oi - don't pick on my singing - it's not out loud... I just have a whole theatre in my head.... nothing wrong with that!!!!! I was thinking I would like to do a nice jig to the song in my head too, but alas we are not allowed oohhhhh - see I generally forget that!!!!

Yup I agree with this too - break it up and do the down stay first sometimes Oh and reward the dog for sitting everywhere!!! If they sit and hold it.... coookiessss!!!! :rolleyes:

Hey Heidii - you sure can improve his play drive :rolleyes: Luke has already made some great suggestions but some other things to try: *Keep sessions REALLY short and at times when he is most excited.... ALWAYS quit when he wants more - ie: jumping on you etc *Let him win often - dogs that aren't overly enthused about tugging are usually the ones with the mentality 'if you want it that bad, you can have it'.... so if they tug back on your hand - don't pull harder (it's demotivating) let them win it!!!! *Let them get absolutely crazy for it and don't be too particular about what you want *Leslie McDevitt in Control Unleashed has some great games... such as 'give me a break' the idea is that you will play with the dog for 10 seconds, shorter if your dogs attention can't be kept that long. Then you will abruptly stop, sit down and disengage from the dog. As soon as the dog offers behaviours towards you (looks at you, tries to take the toy etc) then you start playing again. It makes the playing really rewarding for the dog.... but I may not have explained it right (I get it, but I can't explain things well) *Vary your toys - you'll be surprised, but producing a different toy every 10 seconds really increases drive... the dogs end up with the idea "OMG what ELSE do you have in there?!?!?!" *As others have said - pairing tugging with a higher value item (eg: dinner) will help, but not always.... with mine, if I presented food to begin with, focus came off the toy and back to staring holes into me for the food again. Let me keep thinking... I have HEAPS of ideas.

haha - I didn't even notice the jump being on the wrong side :rolleyes: Jump D I believe the easiest would be to FC at 4 and then use your shoulders to bring them around to d.... I am not 100% on this though!

I may be totally off the mark here BUT....... *I would never do the drop stay *If it did it in the trial but never at home, I would go home and practice my stays again without overdoing it and as squeak said, setting up similar situations. I would aim (if all was going well) to get a longer sit stay on my dog so that in the ring, with all the added stressors... 1 min seems 'easy' to both you and the dog. There is nothing better than hearing the "return" and thinking "really?! that was 1min" rather than glaring down the judge going "OMG EVIL judge... this is soooo much longer than 1 min!!!" *I would also work on my body language... usually when our dogs drop it's coz of us.... I used to swear black and blue that I wouldn't stare at my dog in the stays... until one day I noticed - I didn't stare till I noticed a fidget, and then it was the death glare! Totally unintentional but there it was! So I've gone back to picking a spot and singing a song in my head (song gets faster by the end though )