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Em's Early Retrieving Training


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:D Awesome, what a great little worker she is!!!!!

Thank for sharing, mind you, the quality of the work in the vid makes me think you need to remove the word 'novice' from the handler description ;)

Thanks SG - isn't she hilarious! Little Em does her best to make me look good :thumbsup:

To be honest, there are so many subtle aspects about the sport of retrieving (not to mention the training!!!) that I am trying to get a handle on - I am definitely a novice handler. I've already picked the video to pieces in terms of my handling :)

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Omg I just watched this.

Em is SOOOO clever!!!

Not to mention totally gorgeous :birthday:

can't wait to see where this little lady goes, she is already looking amazing. Great job TSD :thumbsup:

eta, I have no doubt my dogs would have returned the item to the throwing person :thumbsup:

Edited by Vickie
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Em is so cute.

Genetics are on her side, also an awesome educate owner/trainer.

I still think SD should have purchased a working line labrador!!!!!

Biased much :laugh: Yo is first in my heart though, so poor pup would have a LOT to live up to :rofl:

I still think SD should have purchased a working line labrador!!!!!

That might be her next one :D

One day, perhaps :rofl:

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Omg I just watched this.

Em is SOOOO clever!!!

Not to mention totally gorgeous :rofl:

can't wait to see where this little lady goes, she is already looking amazing. Great job TSD :laugh:

eta, I have no doubt my dogs would have returned the item to the throwing person :rofl:

Thanks Vickie :rofl: She is way too clever for her own good sometimes :D I don't think I had Little Em with me when we met last year.

As to returning the item to the throwing person - it's not uncommon because that's where all the fun comes from. However, once the dog is reinforced for returning to the handler (food) and then rewarded with another retrieve (and the thrower ignores them), they work it out very quickly.

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Omg I just watched this.

Em is SOOOO clever!!!

Not to mention totally gorgeous :rofl:

can't wait to see where this little lady goes, she is already looking amazing. Great job TSD :laugh:

eta, I have no doubt my dogs would have returned the item to the throwing person :rofl:

Thanks Vickie :( She is way too clever for her own good sometimes :D I don't think I had Little Em with me when we met last year.

As to returning the item to the throwing person - it's not uncommon because that's where all the fun comes from. However, once the dog is reinforced for returning to the handler (food) and then rewarded with another retrieve (and the thrower ignores them), they work it out very quickly.

Ruby used to visit the thrower sometimes too (or at obedience, she'd take the dumbell back to the instructor :rofl:), but now she comes back to me and what was funny was the other day we were mucking around with something and the other person I was training with threw a dummy for her a short distance, and she returned it to me standing nearby :rofl: That's fine by me :(

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  • 1 month later...

I thought it time for an update and, at 7 months of age, I can see huge changes in the confidence level of this little pup. In

, we are working on sighted blinds (in a real retrieving trial she won't know where the birds are but I will know), sending from my left and right and taking direction....stop, back (left and right) and over.

By special request from RubyStar I've included how I've introduced the direction work - thanks to Lablover for all the suggestions and guidance :thumbsup:

You will notice that she now turns correctly for right and left back, although left back didn't come as easily to begin with. The video shows her doing a right over at one point - you will see her hesitate a little as that is only her 2nd time ever so the command is foreign but the instinct is there and I'm sure she'll soon be taking that direction smoothly.

If I look very serious, it's only because I'm trying my hardest to get my body language right and not to stuff her up :rofl: So sit back, turn up the volume and enjoy some ESS puppy madness :)

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Two observations from that video.

1. WOW! Em is going great guns :thumbsup:

2. WOW! You are a really accurate thrower :rofl:

Thanks for showing me the overs and backs, but sorry for my dopeyness.... but it didn't really show me how to introduce the left and right backs to Ruby :) How do they learn to turn in the direction of the arm you used? Ruby is getting confused, she thinks I am asking her to down.

Gosh I wish I only worked a couple of days a week (if at all!) so I can go and do some retrieving training. Need more hours in the day and more days in the week :)

Thanks again for the video, I really enjoyed it!! And makes me realise how lazy I've been with my training :rofl:

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AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW baby Em!!!! I have no idea about retrieving at all, but she looks super awesome to me :hug:

You gonna do retrieving when you get your Springer? :)

Not at this stage :thumbsup: Obedience and agility is the plan. Besides I want a dog I can tug with a lot and I know that can make retrieving training tricky.

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How do they learn to turn in the direction of the arm you used?

Complete and utter novice here but our instructor showed us how to do this last weekend .....

You throw the dummy to the left or right with the dog in front of you, then cast you arm out to wherever you have thrown the dummy and say whatever cue word you will use to send your dog (eg 'over' or 'left' or 'right') and as the dog has already seen the dummy land, all it is doing is learning to read your body language in conjunction with where the dummy is ....... I expect (and would hope!) someone will correct me if I am wrong!

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Two observations from that video.

1. WOW! Em is going great guns :hug:

2. WOW! You are a really accurate thrower :)

Thanks for showing me the overs and backs, but sorry for my dopeyness.... but it didn't really show me how to introduce the left and right backs to Ruby :D How do they learn to turn in the direction of the arm you used? Ruby is getting confused, she thinks I am asking her to down.

Gosh I wish I only worked a couple of days a week (if at all!) so I can go and do some retrieving training. Need more hours in the day and more days in the week ;)

Thanks again for the video, I really enjoyed it!! And makes me realise how lazy I've been with my training :laugh:

A few answers for you...

1. You didn't see all the footage on the cutting room floor of me trying to get her straight on the right :thumbsup:

2. Only because there are no trees :laugh:

GR is essentially correct but I suspect you may have to think a little laterally with an older dog with so much prior learning - a little like going from obedience to agility. For now I wouldn't worry about which way Ruby is turning - she will likely have a strong side and a weak side - let her gain some confidence on her strong side first. Have another look at the hand signal - hold your hands in close to your chest and your hand goes straight up so your arm touches your ear, NOT coming out in front like a salute or a drop signal. Perhaps stand in front of a mirror and make sure you can distinguish clearly between what both signals feel like first. I would get her REALLY razzed up about the dummy first before you try it. Stand quite close to her, toss the dummy over her head (nothing wrong if she turns her head or body to look), straighten her up again, I give a "good" for looking at me nice and square, then you might need to give her release/retrieve word THEN say "back" - keep your voice high pitched and really light (you can hear me say it on the 2 o'clock retrieve) - don't bark BACK! as the tone of voice can make them uncertain.

Once she has the hang of back on one side, work on her other side as well. I walked right up to Em, placed a hand gently on her strong side to prevent her from turning and gave her an exaggerated back signal (leaning body out) with the other arm. As soon as she started to get it (watch the hip and shoulder start to drop as she anticipates) I started to refine the body signal. I also made it easy for her - 2 right backs, play time and cuddles and then do 2 left backs (I tend to still stand a little closer for these). She is getting that pattern now so I am mixing it up a little. When you toss the dummies, you can throw so they are just over the right or left shoulder so they turn their head that way. Still straighten up before you send though - otherwise you develop bad habits.

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