Training Talk Thread

[RubyStar]

Yes, thanks guys, that is what I meant by the mood changes - mine. I go all serious and take away the fun, so I am going to make an effort to train in the ring like I do out of it!

I know it's easier said than done RubyStar but if you can manage to do this it really works - think it has made a world of difference to Riv's attitude in the trial ring the last couple of times we've done obedience

I like doing duration heelwork, doing big circles and stuff, and so do my girls, I get so much more out of them this way! Get us in a ring where there isn't much room to move, and things aren't as much "fun" anymore. The ring last night was tiny to start with, then cramped up with UD gear it made room for heeling very difficult without chopping and changing direction every 2 seconds!

[huski]

Tiggy I have two 4ft premium leather leashes and one 6ft standard leather leash as well as a 4ft braided leash for trialling and a light weight purple trial leash all from K9 Pro and they are worth every cent - the quality is great and there is nothing like walking your dogs on a nice leather leash the 6ft one i use the most for walking but it's my go to leash I've had for five years or so now. They aren't cheap to buy but they will last forever.

I didn't mean to have so many, I'm not really an addict LOL then again I think $90 for a collar and leash is a bargain -Daisy's collar cost more than that alone

[Guest RosieFT]

a question, probably a bit mundane for all you super dooper trialing people ;-) ....

trying (still, again, every time..) to get more focus from Rosie on our general walks. Thing is, she is not switched on me, so i make her stop and sit, and 'watch'me.. she looks... then we worked on stopping and standing still and getting her to 'watch' me... but i cannot for the life of me get her to watch me if we are in any sort of motion.. even if i make her creep along in her slow walk. As soon as we move off, she is off with the fairies and she will not 'watch' until i stop her. ugh. help?

When we stayed with my parents recently, and there were rabbits everywhere and she was very brain dead as far as we were concerned, my dad thought it very amusing that she could be tugging pulling going silly about the rabbits, but put her into a sit and she would be fine, as soon as you move off - so is her brain!

I cannot seem to get motion and focus. ugh. We have had improvement on our 'normal' walks, but not if anything is going on.

From a stand or a sit, as soon as we move off she puts in a canter gait, or a couple skips to get way out in front again and ignore me. I have bought a shorter leash and I have started stopping, stepping off, and stopping again the second she hops/canters at all, and have to say last nights walk was the best in a long time.

Obviously i cannot, don't know how, to transfer the attention i get when she is stationary, to when we move. There is a very obvious focus shift. Yes, i have tried treats, changing direction, treating when she is in the right spot. This works to a degree, but the food soon becomes way less interesting than the world around her.

Mainly, i just want to know how/why she won't 'watch' whilst moving?

Any tips from the experts?

[TerraNik]

Love your new signature TerraNik

Thanks!

[Mas1981]

RosieFt, I am no expert but I taught Mason to heel by holding a favorite toy at my hip, when he looked I threw the toy and we had a game. I am sure others may also have some suggestions. Now when I walk him even though I am not asking for heel he tends to look at me a lot when we are out walking instead of pulling, he only ignores me for the first few minutes now whereas before he ignored me the whole walk!

Just trained for 20 mins in light rain, it went ok but I feel that I should add some new stuff in to make it more exciting for him, any suggestions?

Edited June 15, 2010 by Mas1981

[J...]

Agility training questions:

I'm thinking about strating to train Kyzer some directional commands, what commands do people use? I've seen the Greg Derrett DVD and he uses 'Back' and 'Close' but interested to hear what other people use and how you taight your dog.

Also, does anyone have some exercises to help me train him to do tighter lines when going around jumps (pinwheels, serpentines etc), or is it me that needs the training? Going to do some experimenting with shoulder placement with some jump grids during the week to see if that helps too.

I know a few who have trained them but don't know anyone who uses them in the ring. I haven't bothered, 1) because I don't feel I need them even with a fast dog and a not so fast handler, and 2) I can barely tell my left from my right at the best of times. Add speed and pressure and trying to figure out my dogs left and right I'd have no hope.

As for tighter lines, you can work on it with things like GD's double box work and basic sequences. Video them if you can and check your positioning and timing. I rarely run courses for training any more, I find going back and working sequences has been really valuable and has improved both my consistancy and my confidence (which flows onto my dog as well). A little of it is just experience for both of you, but just keep working on it.

Just don't get so bogged down in the tight lines that you pull the speed out of your dog.

[Ptolomy]

I like doing duration heelwork, doing big circles and stuff, and so do my girls, I get so much more out of them this way!

I started duration work with Soggy Bear tonight. I spent longer walking to the oval than I did actually training LOL.

[Ptolomy]

RosieFt, I am no expert but I taught Mason to heel by holding a favorite toy at my hip, when he looked I threw the toy and we had a game. I am sure others may also have some suggestions. Now when I walk him even though I am not asking for heel he tends to look at me a lot when we are out walking instead of pulling, he only ignores me for the first few minutes now whereas before he ignored me the whole walk!

Just trained for 20 mins in light rain, it went ok but I feel that I should add some new stuff in to make it more exciting for him, any suggestions?

Buy yourself a hula hoop and teach him to sit in it. You can work your way back to send him from a distance - this is the start of UD work and dog in the box.

Have you taught him to hold a dumbbell yet - thats something else you can have fun with.

[Tiggy]

I like doing duration heelwork, doing big circles and stuff, and so do my girls, I get so much more out of them this way!

I started duration work with Soggy Bear tonight. I spent longer walking to the oval than I did actually training LOL.

I like doing big circles to and spiraling in and out of circles, it's fun and good when you can't be bothered with turns . I didn't know it was called duration work. Forgot to ask do you circle both ways or only to the left(dog on your inside).

Edited June 15, 2010 by tiggystaff

[Tiggy]

RosieFt, I am no expert but I taught Mason to heel by holding a favorite toy at my hip, when he looked I threw the toy and we had a game. I am sure others may also have some suggestions. Now when I walk him even though I am not asking for heel he tends to look at me a lot when we are out walking instead of pulling, he only ignores me for the first few minutes now whereas before he ignored me the whole walk!

Just trained for 20 mins in light rain, it went ok but I feel that I should add some new stuff in to make it more exciting for him, any suggestions?

Buy yourself a hula hoop and teach him to sit in it. You can work your way back to send him from a distance - this is the start of UD work and dog in the box.

Have you taught him to hold a dumbbell yet - thats something else you can have fun with.

I'm getting a hula hoop, good idea Ptolomy

[Mas1981]

RosieFt, I am no expert but I taught Mason to heel by holding a favorite toy at my hip, when he looked I threw the toy and we had a game. I am sure others may also have some suggestions. Now when I walk him even though I am not asking for heel he tends to look at me a lot when we are out walking instead of pulling, he only ignores me for the first few minutes now whereas before he ignored me the whole walk!

Just trained for 20 mins in light rain, it went ok but I feel that I should add some new stuff in to make it more exciting for him, any suggestions?

Buy yourself a hula hoop and teach him to sit in it. You can work your way back to send him from a distance - this is the start of UD work and dog in the box.

Have you taught him to hold a dumbbell yet - thats something else you can have fun with.

I am trying to teach him to hold a retrieving dummy and not drop it but not a dumbell as such, I am useless at teaching new things that I dont know how to train, I watch the video's etc on the net but it is sooo much easier when someone points out what you are doing wrong, G has helped a lot he can always point out what I do wrong Great idea with the hula hoop, I will get one next time I am at the shops!

[RubyStar]

I like doing duration heelwork, doing big circles and stuff, and so do my girls, I get so much more out of them this way!

I started duration work with Soggy Bear tonight. I spent longer walking to the oval than I did actually training LOL.

I like doing big circles to and spiraling in and out of circles, it's fun and good when you can't be bothered with turns . I didn't know it was called duration work. Forgot to ask do you circle both ways or only to the left(dog on your inside).

Both

[Flick_Mac]

Hi all: Nuff nuff question for you all...

In CCD (what we're aiming for) is the dog allowed to 'drop' with either end first? Louie doesn't consistently drop with his front end, and will sometimes sit then drop (in a fluid motion) when I tell him drop... I think it's just him being a gangly weimy and not liking getting his chest cold

I hope I'm being clear! Any answers?

[huski]

Hi all: Nuff nuff question for you all...

In CCD (what we're aiming for) is the dog allowed to 'drop' with either end first? Louie doesn't consistently drop with his front end, and will sometimes sit then drop (in a fluid motion) when I tell him drop... I think it's just him being a gangly weimy and not liking getting his chest cold

I hope I'm being clear! Any answers?

I am sure someone more experienced than me can give you a clearer answer, personally I like Daisy to throw herself on the ground as quickly as possible I'm not sure what judges will dock points for exactly, but you don't want him to take too long to down and you don't want him to go through two positions to down. Even if it doesn't lose you points under most judges, it can look messy.

If it were me I would be rewarding for fast downs only.

Edited June 15, 2010 by huski

[huski]

Obviously i cannot, don't know how, to transfer the attention i get when she is stationary, to when we move. There is a very obvious focus shift. Yes, i have tried treats, changing direction, treating when she is in the right spot. This works to a degree, but the food soon becomes way less interesting than the world around her.

Mainly, i just want to know how/why she won't 'watch' whilst moving?

Any tips from the experts?

What happens if you get her really excited by the food/toy, and have her sitting in heel position, then take one small step forward?

How well does she know where heel position is?

[huski]

BTW I love the hoola hoop idea! I am so going to try that!

I've taught Daisy to retrieve the dumbell and to do scent discrimination - even if we never get to UD it was heaps of fun and there's nothing more exciting than teaching your dog something new and seeing the lightbulb go off in their head

Daisy did a brilliant ROH the other night - she really loves going over and back the jump and it looks so cute seeing her jump back over with the dumbell in her mouth

[Flick_Mac]

Thanks Huski - he does do it at a decent pace most of the time, and it probably is when we're not totally switched on that he does the slow drop! I'm definitely planning on honing in on the fast drops - but it's a fine balance for him between fast drops and ridiculously excited 'pawsy' drops with limbs flying!

[huski]

Thanks Huski - he does do it at a decent pace most of the time, and it probably is when we're not totally switched on that he does the slow drop! I'm definitely planning on honing in on the fast drops - but it's a fine balance for him between fast drops and ridiculously excited 'pawsy' drops with limbs flying!

He sounds so cute!! You should do a video for us

So it could be more of a lack of focus/excitement issue than anything else? Some people use things like the two food or two toy game to help speed up downs. Might be worth a try if you haven't already?

[huski]

Haha, Daisy is great!!! You know you and her will do brilliantly brilliant on the weekend....

I've come to join the training talk thread - I own a 9month old Aussie Shepherd - she's going AWESOME in training - lots of focus, and really working nice... I can't wait until she's ready to trial.... Tonight she was just so great, so proud of my girl!!!!!!

Flick Mac - I think over the holidays we should go down the oval and video each other to put up so we can get some training tips!!!!!!!!!

Hey Beth I totally missed this!

So glad you have popped by the thread

Lottie is fantastic, especially for such a young dog, I can't wait to see how you guys go You guys were doing a great job at training the other night :D

[Ptolomy]

I am not sure how I teach it but all my kids have lightening fast downs. When I give them to others to work - you should see the look on the handlers faces when they give them a down signal and the handler ends up a step ahead of the dog because the dog has reacted faster.

Now if I could only work out how I teach it........