Anyone doing Susan Garrett's Recallers this year?

[The Spotted Devil]

Thanks @KobiD! Yep when you do dog training like this it becomes a journey of education and understanding. There’s no end goal! Just awesome byproducts  

Edited September 29, 2017 by The Spotted Devil

[KobiD]

1 hour ago, The Spotted Devil said:

Thanks @KobiD! Yep when you do dog training like this it becomes a journey of education and understanding. There’s no end goal! Just awesome byproducts  

Same can be said for many things in life! Still have your rough days where you feel like everything's out to get you (dog included), however it really is about looking at the behaviours you had, the behaviours you have, the behaviours you envision, and then the steps you'll take to fill in the gaps. The real point being rather than focusing on how to 'make' the dog do something, it changes into how can I encourage them.. and in my experience by being flexible you see each behaviour they offer as something to work from as opposed to a 'mistake'.

But you know all this.. I haven't considered dropping the coin on the full course as I think I'd get bored with working through structured games, and am seeing the progress I'm after through my own trial and error. I can see the value for many though.

[Roova]

I'm plodding through the games, probably slower than I should be so I'm up to Cookies in the corner.  I'm throwing kibble but calling her to me for chopped up steak (teeny tiny pieces). Anyway, I was outside setting up geddit with kibble thrown a short distance then calling her name and running and she was spinning around from going for the kibble and running fast to me.  Sounds obvious raw meat will beat kibble but it was still pretty exciting to see this happen because I can now picture a future where she recalls the same way off big ticket items and it was really exciting! 

[The Spotted Devil]

Now that’s just SMART training! Setting your pup up for success!!!

 

And it’s not a race! A few of us call ourselves Turtles in Recallers  

[Verve]

I have just started Recallers and can't believe how more focused on me my boy is!!!

[The Spotted Devil]

1 minute ago, Verve said:

I have just started Recallers and can't believe how more focused on me my boy is!!!

Whoo hoo! Welcome!!!

[Roova]

Yay!! 

What game are you up to at the moment?

[Verve]

I'm in the early stages and only up to the game 'only call once'. I'm absolutely loving it! My boy is enjoying training and I no longer have tension headaches  due to micromanaging. 

[The Spotted Devil]

❤️❤️❤️❤️ for @Verve

[Verve]

Ok I had to share as this has never in 4.5 years ever happened - we don't have a recall as everything in the world is way more exciting than me but today while playing only call once the lad ran to me to get his cookie  I was so surprised and happy but should have realized we had been working on the layers for days and it paid off big time (its official I am more exciting than the pigeons in the backyard)

[The Spotted Devil]

 

[Tassie]

@Verve   What TSD said .  

 

And there will be backward steps .. like a couple of failures that I had with Pippa puppy this evening ... we've been playing IYCVC when I open the door to the cat room for Bonnie to come out for house time .. last minute lapse of impulse control ... luckily I was able to manage a response cost.   And that followed a day of brilliant recalls from who knows where in my acre + .. and then a complete failure when she was about 5 metres from me, in plain sight .. but focussed entirely on something in a different direction (I think she was looking at a bird that might have dared to use the bird bath Pippa was standing right near.) .. and she then having ignored my call, started off in the direction of said bird.   I must say I cheated, and praised and treated Rory for paying attention

 

 

[KobiD]

What I find interesting is that I hadn't really heard of Susan Garrett for the past however many months we've had this puppy. I've done more than my fair share of reading across a variety of training methods, and also had some terrific advise from certain people on this forum (you know who you are). But what I have seen from the videos that have been shared, and the games that Susan has spoke of (I'm sure I've only seen a handful of them).. is that I had very much been training like this already, and realising the rewards.

 

Just turning every day activities into training sessions, which in turn leads to the dog offering the behaviours you seek every day, and the cycle continues. I find the real challenge or skill lies in preempting the dogs behaviour and being realistic in how likely they will be to make the right choice.. and there are many times where things have moved too quickly or are beyond the dogs threshold (environment not set up for success), where asking for a certain behaviour will result in the dog ignoring you.. 

 

I had a failed recall due to that myself today. Heading out the front yard to take the bins out and she got upwind of some cat poo, coupled with a knowledge that I didn't have a pocket full of treats. It was an easy choice for her, and a bit of poor judgement on my behalf to even bother calling. But it was immediately followed by a positive, in that I grabbed her and lead her back to the yard, but left the gate open. This time she made the choice to stay in the yard, knowing all too well that both I and the smelly delights were both out there. 

 

 

[ari.g]

I have signed up for a second year. I only did IYC and Collar grab game last year and haven't started any games this year. I can't do any of the games that require more than one person. Honestly I find the videos too long and get too overwhelmed with it all. I don't know why I signed up for another year.