BC Crazy Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 (edited) Hi everyone, Would like to start to add some variety to my 11 month old girl Stella's routine. She is very alert & prey driven. So ATM we walk 2 hours daily road/ along the beach where after one hour or so we play fetch & into the water which she loves. Was thinking of starting her on frisbee some days just for a change. Am concerned she may be a little young maybe not, don't want to do any joint e.t.c. harm but am at a bit of a loss for ideas. So I would love some help in starting her on some new stuff. I know she is more than ready. I just have to come up with some interesting new things. Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated. Edited October 19, 2011 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedazzledx2 Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 No way would I be doing frisbee with an 11 month old. Damage done now can last a lifetime and IMO is just not worth it. Personally I don't like frisbee or anything where the dog has to jump and catch and potentially land awkwardly and do a cruciate. I am a crap throw so it would all be on the dog! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 You could always throw the frisbee in to the water instead of another toy. No potential for awkward landings that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 This is when having Dock Diving a mainstream dog sport in Australia would be good!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted October 19, 2011 Author Share Posted October 19, 2011 (edited) Frisbee into the water Ness sounds a safe option. I did think it was too much stress on her young body. Certainly don't want to jepardise her. I just was wanting to change things up a bit. She is very distructive with her toys so they are only played with under my supervision. We play tug in the afternoons, then the tug toys are put away at the end of the game. She thrives on that game too. She is much more motivated than my boy so I am trying to keep her stimulated & exercised on a daily basis. Hope I am doing the right thing. Never had a BC quite as driven as my girl. Sometimes you just come to a bit of a flat spot where you run out of ideas. Edited October 19, 2011 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedazzledx2 Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Trick training and foundation agility training is mentally tiring and takes a surprising amount of energy. Intersperse that with tuggy as the reward and you have a workout! Dock diving would be soooo cool... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted October 19, 2011 Author Share Posted October 19, 2011 I would to do agility one day with her as I think she would love it bedazzledx2. She is extremely quick. Even when I throw the ball for her, I make her sit first & she sort of bounces, growling the whole time in anticipation of the ball being thrown growls while she retrieving it. It is like 'bring it on'. She is very cheeky though when I stop throwing it she barks right at me to throw it some more. Of course we only get the ball thrown when Stella is quiet. What does foundation agility include? Cause I think obedience would put her to sleep LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 At 11 months there is nothing wrong with the occasional fetch game but also keep the frisbee low and I did a lot of work on dead retrieves. So I'd have Kenz wait (in either a sit, drop or stand), throw the frisbee and then release her. In the end you can only wrap them up in cotton wool so much and they are just as likely to injure themselves at home racing around like lunatics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted October 19, 2011 Author Share Posted October 19, 2011 (edited) Yes I guess you are right Ness. These two on their avro Zoomie run makes me cringe in fear of one of them getting hurt. Never thought of making Stella wait to retrieve. That would be interesting!! I am going to give it a try. I want to engage her mind alot more than what I have been doing, so that is a good start. Edited October 19, 2011 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 (edited) I don't think I could tire my young Springer out by just walking/running her - she's like a bloody energiser bunny However she has 1-2 training sessions per day in retrieving, obedience and/or agility. One session at the oval in the morning and one in the evening for her dinner. Plus a controlled walk once a day which might also include a couple of water retrieves. 99% of the retrieves she does are controlled and involve a lot of training - learning to mark, learning to take a line to a blind (unseen retrieve item), stopping and casting (left, right and back) to the dummy and any number of drills. Every now and again I'll toss a 'happy bumper' as a reward (no steadiness required but she can't help delivering to hand). Then there's heeling (and all it's complexities!!!), recalls, dumbbell, stand for exam and stays for obedience. And she's just started agility modules at our training club so we do circle work, just 4 poles for weaves (too young for twisting), basic contact training (e.g. nose touch, 2o/2o), loads of rear end awareness and we are just starting on low jump work. There's a lot to be send for mental stimulation - she spends the rest of the day sleeping at my feet instead of wreaking havoc ;) Edited October 19, 2011 by The Spotted Devil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agility Dogs Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 At 11 months there is nothing wrong with the occasional fetch game but also keep the frisbee low and I did a lot of work on dead retrieves. So I'd have Kenz wait (in either a sit, drop or stand), throw the frisbee and then release her. In the end you can only wrap them up in cotton wool so much and they are just as likely to injure themselves at home racing around like lunatics. The other option is to throw 'rollers' until they are old enough. I know in the US and other countries there are some insane manouvers, but we try and avoid that in the way it is taught here. 2 keys - teaching the dog to land safely and in a balanced manner and throwing low/well (practice). I know disc dogs who are 10+ and are still running just as hard as some of the pups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Cause I think obedience would put her to sleep LOL Why does everyone think obedience is boring? You can so easily MAKE IT FUN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted October 19, 2011 Author Share Posted October 19, 2011 (edited) Wow !! The spotted devil, you certainly have a wonderful training program. If you could break some of these things down for me at the risk of sounding like a complete dummy Taking a line on the blind? stopping & casting? Happy bumper? E.t.c We don't attend any formal training club so I am doing this as I learn it from this site & what I read in books. Stella retrieves & brings what I throw back but she usually puts it about 3 feet away from me & that is it so I am looking forward to all this progress, makes our workout sound like romper room Edited October 19, 2011 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Wow !! The spotted devil, you certainly have a wonderful training program. If you could break some of these things down for me at the risk of sounding like a complete dummy Taking a line on the blind? stopping & casting? Happy bumper? E.t.c We don't attend any formal training club so I am doing this as I learn it from this site & what I read in books. Stella retrieves & brings what I throw back but she usually puts it about 3 feet away from me & that is it so I am looking forward to all this progress. I have to fit a lot of training into not much time so it has to be efficient and fun! Google Shirly Chong Retrieve to shape the retrieve so Stella will bring it back - I trained both my dogs using a similar method. Retrieving is a sport only for gun dogs e.g. labs, Golden Retrievers, GSPs, spaniels etc - but there's no reason why you could't have a play around with the basics. It's damn hard work for trainer and dog. Have a browse through the Retrieving thread in this training forum. Yell if you can't find it and I can find the link. Don't write off obedience - it's an excellent educator for the handler how to make something repetitive a huge amount of fun for the dog. Agility is brilliant fun - I compete with my Dally and Em will join us when she is ready. It is really hard to learn this sort of stuff online - having someone GOOD show you the ropes is much, much easier. A great book to start you off is "The Focussed Puppy" - it has been available free shipping from the Clean Run website but not sure if it still is. If you want to have a look at some retrieving training I have a few You Tubes of Em plus some of Ziggy doing obedience/agility: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSpottedDevil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted October 19, 2011 Author Share Posted October 19, 2011 At 11 months there is nothing wrong with the occasional fetch game but also keep the frisbee low and I did a lot of work on dead retrieves. So I'd have Kenz wait (in either a sit, drop or stand), throw the frisbee and then release her. In the end you can only wrap them up in cotton wool so much and they are just as likely to injure themselves at home racing around like lunatics. The other option is to throw 'rollers' until they are old enough. I know in the US and other countries there are some insane manouvers, but we try and avoid that in the way it is taught here. 2 keys - teaching the dog to land safely and in a balanced manner and throwing low/well (practice). I know disc dogs who are 10+ and are still running just as hard as some of the pups. What do you mean by rollers? Agility dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted October 19, 2011 Author Share Posted October 19, 2011 (edited) Wow !! The spotted devil, you certainly have a wonderful training program. If you could break some of these things down for me at the risk of sounding like a complete dummy Taking a line on the blind? stopping & casting? Happy bumper? E.t.c We don't attend any formal training club so I am doing this as I learn it from this site & what I read in books. Stella retrieves & brings what I throw back but she usually puts it about 3 feet away from me & that is it so I am looking forward to all this progress. I have to fit a lot of training into not much time so it has to be efficient and fun! Google Shirly Chong Retrieve to shape the retrieve so Stella will bring it back - I trained both my dogs using a similar method. Retrieving is a sport only for gun dogs e.g. labs, Golden Retrievers, GSPs, spaniels etc - but there's no reason why you could't have a play around with the basics. It's damn hard work for trainer and dog. Have a browse through the Retrieving thread in this training forum. Yell if you can't find it and I can find the link. Don't write off obedience - it's an excellent educator for the handler how to make something repetitive a huge amount of fun for the dog. Agility is brilliant fun - I compete with my Dally and Em will join us when she is ready. It is really hard to learn this sort of stuff online - having someone GOOD show you the ropes is much, much easier. A great book to start you off is "The Focussed Puppy" - it has been available free shipping from the Clean Run website but not sure if it still is. If you want to have a look at some retrieving training I have a few You Tubes of Em plus some of Ziggy doing obedience/agility: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSpottedDevil I have the book 'the Focused Puppy' & I will look into that info you have so kindly given me. Stella just seems to really love retrieving so that is why I want to find out different things I can do with it to keep her stimulated. Some of her relations were excellent at Flyball. Maybe that might be her fortay. Edited October 19, 2011 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agility Dogs Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 What do you mean by rollers? Agility dogs. Rather than throwing the disc as you would a frisbee roll it on it's edge so that the pup gets used to chasing a frisbee - just not one that they have to jump for. Think a coin rolling on the floor when you drop it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted October 19, 2011 Author Share Posted October 19, 2011 (edited) Just wanted to add we don't have any clubs e.t.c. in our area. The only one is 1 hours drive away & due to the medication I am on am only allowed to drive 20 mins, at a time so that why all the questions, sorry. Was thinking I might enlist some guidence from K9 Pro. Not that I am having any problems with Stella I just feel she could be sooo much more if I had more direction. Edited October 19, 2011 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 (edited) You could also try some free shaping - that really requires them to think and is anything but boring. You could then teach your dog some games. My dogs know how to target this free standing target http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=251&ParentCat=494 (they touch their nose to the red bit). I then put them in their crates and hide the target. I let them out one at a time with "go find it!" and they run around the house searching for it (obviously I started off really simple with the target in plain view). When they find it and bump their nose they get a click and treat. They love this game and they really have to think, which leads to tired little dogs. Edited October 19, 2011 by megan_ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 (edited) The free shaping sounds like really good thing for Stella to start Megan.It's the mental stimulation I think we are lacking in our routine.I will do some research into this & see how we go.Thanks. Edited October 20, 2011 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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