aussielover Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 Is retrieving something that should be natural for a labrador or is it something that needs to be trained? My lab defintiely has the chase and find part of the retrieve sorted- she loves running through thick bush and finding an item, her tail wags at 100 miles an hour! She is getting better at bringing the item back but sometimes gets distracted and drops the item and forgets about it midway!!! Additionally she prefers the "prize it out of my mouth" or "try and catch me" approach to giving the item back to me Any tips or is she just not cut out for retrieving? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 Zora is seriously cute, RV As I said in the WA thread - enjoy the puppy madness! Awwwww, Zora is gorgeous RV!! I look forward to hearing about her gundoggy adventures Polo and I had another busy weekend in the paddocks, although based from home this weekend. We were both shattered after yesterdays efforts, I really should wear a GPS to see how far I walk (and times it by 50 for Polo!). Quail season is over in Victoria, so the trialing season is all but over too! Blink and you miss it ;) However, while the birds are still about and the snakes are asleep we'll keep training. I was very pleased with Polo both days, I seem to have control back, but the real test will be when he's actually shot over again and in a trial situation. His backing was very nice, although he does need a reminder now and then. Love hearing about your training TSD, I'm sure Em will do the 'family' proud when you start trialing her Scout's owner is very happy with getting that third Novice win, although it was quickly followed by 'sh*t, now we're in Restricted' Think of the gorgeous legs you'll have come Summer FHRP, with all that walking Em keeps me sane. Every PhD student should have one :D @ Scout's owner. That was exactly my thought!!! aussielover: it really does depend on the dog, it's breeding and early training. The retrieve may well come naturally but bringing it back to you may not. Personally I like to shape the present and back chain the retrieve. I wrote a reply to this same question on another list - happy to hunt it up if you're interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 aussielover: it really does depend on the dog, it's breeding and early training. The retrieve may well come naturally but bringing it back to you may not. Personally I like to shape the present and back chain the retrieve. I wrote a reply to this same question on another list - happy to hunt it up if you're interested. Thanks that would be great One thing she is excellent at retrieving is shoes When she wants to go for a walk she'll go find and bring my dog walking shoes to me and put them in my lap (who is training who ?) I think I need to work on her focus because now that I think about it she is very good and retrieving at home where there aren't any other interesting smells/dogs/wildlife etc around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 aussielover: it really does depend on the dog, it's breeding and early training. The retrieve may well come naturally but bringing it back to you may not. Personally I like to shape the present and back chain the retrieve. I wrote a reply to this same question on another list - happy to hunt it up if you're interested. Thanks that would be great One thing she is excellent at retrieving is shoes When she wants to go for a walk she'll go find and bring my dog walking shoes to me and put them in my lap (who is training who ?) I think I need to work on her focus because now that I think about it she is very good and retrieving at home where there aren't any other interesting smells/dogs/wildlife etc around. Smart dog!!! Are you training for RATG or retrieving trials or obedience? I've just cut and pasted my reply on another thread so just pick out the bits that are relevant... Personally I would build a lot of value for the bumper and would not be wasting all that lovely drive on chasing tennis balls. I do 2-3 small training sessions every day (marks, drills, blinds, obedience) plus walks and swims. She has toys to chew and play with in the house but I don't play with those. She just about turns herself inside out when she sees the training bag come out. She is incredibly 'birdy' but will ignore those to retrieve dummies now. I was lent Carol Cassidy's book and am also working my way through it. Over here our dogs present to 'front' rather than to 'heel position' so change as appropriate. Firstly I pictured the exact 'front' position I wanted and shaped that until it was second nature for her (which also gives me a lovely recall for obedience!) Then I sat on a chair, legs slightly apart and called her to 'front' and rewarded that - I only use her dry food in the house - save the good rewards for high distraction areas. If they get silly when there is food (like mine does), I tend to hide it. Then I brought out the obedience dumbbell and, whilst holding it, went through the sniff, mouth, no chewing criteria of shaping it. I started using the clicker on this one but moved to a verbal 'good' as she was flying through the steps and it was hard to keep up with my hands full. As soon as she had the hang of that I quickly introduced other objects - the wood, leather and metal objects from obedience for example - but the more different objects you can use to generalise the hold/present the better. Start holding the object to a hard angle to the left and right so they have to collect it and then consciously straighten themselves up for the present. I hold the dumbbell on it's end so she is tempted to not pick it up in the middle - ah well, no reward for that one, try again! I didn't even train this with the dummy but she generalised it without a problem as she truly understood the exercise. Also, shaping really depends on your timing and your dog's ability to think laterally so video your training sessions and also try some free shaping to get the dog relaxed and confident about offering new behaviours.Don't forget to reward when you are doing the drills - if you think about it they're not all that exciting for the dog and some are really difficult concepts. As I was told by one of our trainers at an obedience seminar....if your dog isn't doing what you want him to, he's either confused or underpaid. The other things I do to keep enthusiasm peaking is to watch carefully for signs of tiredness (usually mental as she will run all day), mixing up the drills with fun marks and high reward exercises like heeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenGirl85 Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 I'm guessing its already been mentioned in here, but I'm not reading all the way through to find it! lol Is there any retrieving training in Brisbane? I'd love to get Lexi into the sport she was bred to do, but Google has failed me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHRP Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 GoldenGirl85, I don't know of anything specifially but you might like to contact the Field & Retrieing Association in QLD http://www.fraginc.net/default.asp They should be able to help you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judgejtj Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 I'm guessing its already been mentioned in here, but I'm not reading all the way through to find it! lol Is there any retrieving training in Brisbane? I'd love to get Lexi into the sport she was bred to do, but Google has failed me Hi GoldenGirl85, You could try http://www.unitedfieldandretrieving.org.au/ or check with the CCC on www.cccq.org.au/ Regards JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RallyValley Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Next weekend I am going to watch a field trial with a friend and we are taking the pups for some socialization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 Where's the field trial being held? I'm having retrieving withdrawals, so I should probably go and watch a trial again soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RallyValley Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Everyone meets in Toodjay (sp?) and its on a farm around there. A dog from the same breeder as Zora that is distantly related will be competing as well as at least one other Britt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 So what did Zora's registered name end up being? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollipop Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I'm in withdrawal also with Molly being sick. So far I've missed 3 weekends of trialling and there are not many more happening. Don't know how I will survive if she can't ever do it again. Zora is divine,RV. Congrats on your new arrival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHRP Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Next weekend I am going to watch a field trial with a friend and we are taking the pups for some socialization. Make sure you report back on the day :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHRP Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 How is Molly mollipop? I hope she is back to form soon, maybe for the ACT trials at the end of the month if not before!?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 (edited) Yes, I've been thinking about Molly too - hope she is on the mend 3 hours of transcribing data (trying to hear over dogs barking on the recordings) is enough for anyone! I'm going training for lunch Edited July 6, 2011 by The Spotted Devil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Livertreats Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Where's the field trial being held? I'm having retrieving withdrawals, so I should probably go and watch a trial again soon Next Retrieving (novice/restricted) is on 24th July and being held at Beverley, see you there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted July 6, 2011 Author Share Posted July 6, 2011 Where's the field trial being held? I'm having retrieving withdrawals, so I should probably go and watch a trial again soon Next Retrieving (novice/restricted) is on 24th July and being held at Beverley, see you there? Got an obedience trial that day Last one for me for quite a while, too. Which I have even more withdrawals for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptolomy Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Where's the field trial being held? I'm having retrieving withdrawals, so I should probably go and watch a trial again soon Next Retrieving (novice/restricted) is on 24th July and being held at Beverley, see you there? Where fingers crossed you will make it three wins from the last 3 starts. Well done on your last 2 trials Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted July 6, 2011 Author Share Posted July 6, 2011 Where's the field trial being held? I'm having retrieving withdrawals, so I should probably go and watch a trial again soon Next Retrieving (novice/restricted) is on 24th July and being held at Beverley, see you there? Where fingers crossed you will make it three wins from the last 3 starts. Well done on your last 2 trials Woohoo! I heard of the one win but didn't know you were 2 wins down! Best of luck! Told you you'd get NRD in no time ;) ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I think I just worked out who livertreats is . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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