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Pointing


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Elbie and Hoover both point from time to time. I'd love to be able to teach them to point on cue. They don't do it frequently enough for them to understand why I'm praising them. Sometimes they point when waiting for a toy/ball to be thrown but not always. Does anyone have any tips on how to teach them to point on cue?

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Would they do it often enough to capture it? Then push a little for it before throwing the ball the next time?

Normally no - Elbie does it when he's excited and waiting for the ball. When I've praised him madly he looks at me like I am bonkers - has no idea why I am praising him. Hoover, too :laugh:

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Would they do it often enough to capture it? Then push a little for it before throwing the ball the next time?

Normally no - Elbie does it when he's excited and waiting for the ball. When I've praised him madly he looks at me like I am bonkers - has no idea why I am praising him. Hoover, too :laugh:

Be ready with the clicker, see if you click as soon as it happens. Then toss the ball.

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maybe teaching "sore paw" where they lift there paw out and hold it like it is sore when sitting and teach it to them when standing ? not the same look but similar hahaha that would be hard to teach as they probably are not awear of what you are clicking for but more for focus for kelpies anyway.

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Well if you can get a photo of it, you can click it :laugh:

Haha – those photos were a fluke! He doesn't point that often! :cheer:

Put him on quail :)

Train him to hold a paw up, that's all he's doing. Shape with a clicker.

Do you have some spare quail you can lend me? :( We've been trying to wave the Frisbee around to get him to get into his point stance but all we get is a Super Alert Stand :)

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Agree with FHRP, how about just training a paw up in the stand position? Can't be too different to a shake or wave, just need to get them to hold it still. You guys have taught enough tricks to do that relatively easily :laugh:

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Do you have some spare quail you can lend me? :laugh: We've been trying to wave the Frisbee around to get him to get into his point stance but all we get is a Super Alert Stand :cheer:

There's quail in the paddocks around Canberra :( I doubt your dog will 'point' them though :) A dog 'on point' doesn't necessarily have a paw up either, they just hold a staunch position indicating game, so your dog's alert stance may be his "point" for the frisbee :) :) If you want the paw held up, I'd work on that as I said, clicker and shaping.

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Practice getting him to do things off his own back to get the click and reward to teach him how the clicker works and then station clickers and rewards around the house to capture any behaviour that can be used as a trick (pointing). If your not sure how to do this give the dog an object to interact with and then C/R the dogs interaction with it, from a nose touch, putting a foot on it, feet on it, anything but after a couple of goes at one thing the dog has to offer something different to get a C/R or if your dog knows several tricks or commands already let it offer you options without giving a command to get a C/R.

You will be amazed at how easy it is if the dog knows how to play the C/T game, I wanted my dog to wipe her feet so when she wiped her feet after toileting I C/T she looked at me wiped her feet again to check that was what had got the C/T and when she got another C/T her face lit up and she kept wiping her feet for more C/T then it was just a matter of adding a command to get it on cue. Yes, it was that easy.

A pup I have had a habit of lifting his backleg ( and cocking his leg from 11 wks :rofl: )so I C/R that and he was doing it as a trick in no time.(lifting not peeing :thumbsup: )

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Thanks for the tips. We've been working on the pointing last night and tonight. In the beginning, Elbie kept trying to shake hands or bow. Then he thought that he was supposed to sit and wave. Then he kept walking forward towards me. He has made a lot of progress although he still can only do it if I'm close enough to point to his leg i.e. he doesn't do it on just voice cue alone.

of the early attempts and then a loose-ish point. I guess we can work our way towards the higher, tighter point ... Edited by koalathebear
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Thanks for the tips. We've been working on the pointing last night and tonight. In the beginning, Elbie kept trying to shake hands or bow. Then he thought that he was supposed to sit and wave. Then he kept walking forward towards me. He has made a lot of progress although he still can only do it if I'm close enough to point to his leg i.e. he doesn't do it on just voice cue alone.
of the early attempts and then a loose-ish point. I guess we can work our way towards the higher, tighter point ...

Looks like he's getting the idea, he's a lovely boy and very clever. Have to agree with Aussielover, he does have the best puppydog eyes. :love:

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Thanks! He IS very smart and extremely eager to please. He is so desperate to offer up all sorts of behaviours and the issue is usually me finding a way to let him know exactly what I want. Once he knows, he's extremely happy to do it. As usual, the weak point is trainer-side :laugh:

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