Compromise

Obviously, I cannot improve Seven's It-Is-Not-My-Turn Anxiety by tricking her when we are training close to home.  In a trial setting, tricking Seven has worked very well, but daily training is far too routine for outsmarting her.  So we compromise.

If Seven will stay in her crate, I will leave the door open.  Leaving the crate door open diffuses Seven's anxiety almost completely.  No more screaming, yelping, spinning, or crate chewing.  We have been doing this for couple of months now and she has only come out of the crate twice.... and was corrected for it.  The rest of the time she is rewarded for staying where she is.

The van is positioned so she can see the training field and Riley and I are able to work at the far end.  Riley can now run full courses, slam the teeter, and barrel through tunnels without Seven getting overly excited.  It has been a good compromise.

Trickery

If you can't train em, trick em.  Seven has It-Is-Not-My-Turn Anxiety.  It is the result of Seven having to wait in a crate while I set up courses or while working other dogs.  She screams, yelps, circles, shreds bedding, and chews the crate bars.  She has even damaged her teeth.

I have tried numerous things to eliminate this problem.  We did "Crate Games" (Susan Garrett DVD). I used to stuff Kongs and provide chewies... she just ignores them.  I try to always train/exercise her first.  Have her in view.  Out of view.  Closer to the action.  It does not matter.  If it is not her turn, you are going to hear about it.

I find the behavior stressful at trials because I cannot alter the running order.  If Riley runs first, I might come back to Seven having a fit and then it is her turn.  The last thing I want to do is to reinforce it by returning and getting her out.  In the past, I have actually separated them completely so Seven is not triggered by the sight of me getting Riley out.  But then I feel bad because I cannot sit by them both when I have down time.

So I came up with this solution and it has worked well at two trials.  I cover the top and two sides of Seven's crate so she cannot see Riley.  Seven has a view of a door that leads to the outside and away from agility.  So she is fine with seeing me come and go through this door because she does not think I am doing agility.  When it is Seven's turn to run, I come through the door she is watching and I take her in the opposite direction to agility.  When Seven is returned to her crate, I exit the door she can see, even if I just run around to another she cannot see.

When it is Riley's turn, I come from the direction that Seven cannot see.  Riley's things are always ready to go and I quietly grab her and go.  Seven probably hears the movement, but is not triggered because she does not get a visual. After Riley's run, I quietly return her to her crate (out of Seven's view).  If it is time to get Seven, I will exit through one of the out of sight doors and come through the door Seven is watching.  Make sense?

It is labor intensive, but it has worked really well and best of all, I can sit with both hounds when I have down time.

Recalls

Recently, we visited with my sister and played at my friend's 60 acre horse farm.  It is an excellent safe place to really test out recalls.  I wanted to demonstrate how good I expect my recalls to be.  If my recalls are not this good, I do not give mine any unleashed freedom.  We practice recalls on leash, on long lines, fenced areas, and larger fenced areas before we ever venture out into a less secure area.  I also require that mine respond promptly even if we see people and/or other dogs.  They also cannot lose their minds chasing a squirrel up a tree.  I do not mind squirrel chasing, but they then have to come right away if I call.

This is Seven about to turn three years old with 8 months of training. 

The last recall reminds me that it would be a very good idea to train a recall to a whistle.  A whistle could be heard at a farther distance.  I believe Seven simply did not hear my first call.

Here is another video of Seven working on recalls.

Camping Firsts

Riley, Seven, and I camped in my tent at the Harriman agility trial.  This was my first time back to tent camping since May 2008, before Travis died.  It was the first time for Riley and Seven.  It was the first time during winter.... luckily indoors.

Although indoors, is was not without hardships.  For one, the building is not heated at night.  It certainly was not as bitter as the snowy, windy, cold conditions outside, but the fleeces, long sleeves, space heater, and electric blanket were necessities.  It was also very dusty with the stirred up dirt hanging in the air long after everyone had left. 

One other brave soul camped as well and he was an excellent neighbor and knew everything you need to know about camping at Harriman.  Camping is definitely a money saver, but it is labor intensive.  I especially hate having to use the bath house facilities, but its almost free, so I get over it.

The girls did really well with camping.  Recall that Riley has some issues with hotel rooms and tends to have a meltdown on day 2 just outside the room.  However, she did really well with camping.  Sometimes she was very alert to our neighbor outside of our tent.  I sometimes asked him to say hi to the girls and hearing his voice would settle her down.  I am hoping she outgrows her weirdness all together.  Seven could care less about it all. 

But Seven does care about being by my side 24/7 and continues to voice her opinion on the manner.  The trial was a really good experience for her.  She had to see me come in and out of sight over and over.  Sometimes it was her turn to come out and sometimes it was Riley's turn.  She was never alone as there are lots of other people and dogs at the trial coming and going at all times.

Focus will certainly not be a problem for Seven.  While Riley snoozes and recharges her batteries, Seven is on high alert at all times.  I was surprised that she was not exhausted each night, but really she was not.

The Harriman trial is situated next door to a college that has a nice walking path and a field for the girls to play fetch in.  We go for long walks each day.

Riley was nice to carry the wet, slimy fetch toy back to... well, of course, until I took a picture of her doing it and she promptly dropped it and made me carry it the rest of the way. 

All in all, we had a lot of fun and despite the approaching snow storm and nail in my tire, we made it home safe and sound.

Totally Fetching - Part 4

Here is the final installment to teaching your hound or non-retriever to retrieve.

Part 1 - Click Here

Part 2 - Click Here

Part 3 - Click Here

At this point, I was satisfied that Seven understood that she should pick up and put the toy in my hand.  So I switched toys on her.  I switched to my favorite toy, the Zanie Flyer.  The stuffy disc is not easy to pick up so it is not ideal for early training, but its very easy to throw a good distance so it was important for me to eventually make the switch.  This video is an awesome illustration of how dogs do not generalize.  Throw down a Zanie Flyer and suddenly Seven's brain turns to mush and she has no idea how to proceed. 

With a new toy, I have to take a few steps back to remind Seven what we are doing.  The dog should progress much faster with each new toy.  The more toys and objects you work with, the more your dog learns to generalize.  Eventually, you can point to anything and your dog will pick it up for you.  Katie was especially good at generalizing and would pick up anything I asked her to.  In this video, one of the dogs had dragged a toy out into the yard.  I was barefoot and did not want to get it myself so I asked Katie to get it.  It was not something we had practiced, but we had worked with such a variety of things she knew what I wanted.

In this video, I run Seven through all of the steps with the Zanie Flyer.  I start by dragging the toy with a leash and C&T the pick ups.  Then I C&T for pick ups when the toy is motionless.  I start to grab the toy.  Notice that I run through all of these steps in just one minute.

In our next training session, Seven quickly started to offer to pick up and put the toy in my hand again so I started to add some distance.  I am sorry the video is so dark.

Now we have a finished "play" retrieve.  At this point, you do not need the clicker anymore.  You can just trade the toy for a treat.  I tend to continue using treats for play retrieves since it keeps my food motivated hounds very motivated to retrieve.  I sometimes will reward every other retrieve depending on the dog.  I also do not use high value treats once the game has a lot of value.

Happy Training!  Please let me know if you have any questions.  I know this seems like a lot of work, but it is only because I broke it down into so many steps.  This entire process only took about a week for Seven.

Totally Fetching - Part 3

Let us get back to teaching your dog (especially hounds or other non-retrievers) a "play" retrieve.  If you are new here, be sure to check out Part 1 and 2 first.

Part 1 - Click Here
Part 2 - Click Here

The goal before the holidays was to teach your dog to pick up the toy and for the trainer to grab the toy and click & treat (C&T).  I want to remind you about a few things. 

First, you must give frequent, positive feedback so your hound stays interested.  So lets say twice in a row, your hound picks up the toy and you try to grab it, but your hound drops it before you can reach it.  Therefore, your hound has done two things without any positive feedback.  Immediately take a step back and C&T for the dog just picking up the toy again.  Make sure you are standing up tall so your dog will pick up the toy and tend to bring his head higher up towards you... versus you looming over him and the dog keeping his head lower to the ground.  C&T for when the dog brings the toy up to a nice high position. 

Once your dog is back to picking up the toy, start trying to grab it again and C&T.  The first few times you succeed, C&T, but give your dog 3 treats and really let him know that putting the toy in your hand is super special.

If you are training a small dog, you may need to sit or kneel on the floor so you are not bending over him at this stage of training.

Shorten your training sessions if your dog is losing interest.  End each training session with your dog wanting more.

Remember to restrict access to the toy when you are not ready with your treats and clicker.

In this video, Seven is showing more propensity for moving the toy towards my hand and turning towards me with the toy.  Remember that retrieving is simply teaching the dog to put something in your hand.  Once you have that, adding distance is the easy part.

Here we start adding some distance.  Seven shows that she knows to put the toy in my hand because she quickly recovers the toy when she drops it on the ground and tries for my hand, but she still is clumsy.

Happy Training!

Totally Fetching - Part 2

Part 1 - Click Here

At this point, your dog should be very interested in his toy and offering teeth grabs. If not, keep working at it. Do you need a more attractive toy? Maybe you need to drag the toy faster and further to stimulate prey drive. Are you clicking & treating (C&T) frequently? Do not let too much time pass between clicks or the toy's value to the dog will not grow. Make the dog feel really awesome about all silly interactions resulting in a C&T. I did not show much of that with Seven in Part 1 because she was quick to offer the teeth grab so I focused on that.In this video, I raise my criteria for Seven. I am no longer satisfied with teeth grabs as I want to her to pick up the toy. So I C&T when the toy is lifted up off the ground. Secondly, I would like for her to pick up the toy without me having to move it. I want her to pick it up just because it is in front of her. Gradually, I reduce the amount of movement until the toy is sitting still, but the dog is still motivated to pick it up. At the end of this video I remove the leash from the toy.

If at anytime, your dog becomes confused. Take a step back. Continue to drag the toy and C&T for touches or teeth grabs. Do not let even a half a minute pass without C&Ting your dog for some success. Continuous positive feedback is important. It is what gets your dog excited about participating and playing with the toy.If your dog is doing a great job of lifting the toy up off the ground, start trying to put your hand on it. C&T as soon as you grasp the toy that is in your dog's mouth. Again, do not allow for a lot of time to pass between C&Ts. If you miss grabbing the toy a time or two, go back to C&Ting teeth grabs and pick ups. You do not want your dog to lose interest in the game.

Recall this in Part 1 - My dog is extremely interested in the toy and tries to run off with it. Skip Part 1 training. Your dog can start at a later step that I will point out in Part 2... Here is me pointing out your starting point.

Put your dog on leash so he cannot take off with the toy. Drop the toy and as soon as he picks it up, put your hand on it and shove a treat in his mouth. If you are super organized, feel free to use a clicker, but it is not necessary with a super toy motivated dog that is picking up the toy as soon as you drop it. Its more important that you use your hands for holding the leash, grabbing the toy, and shoving a treat in his mouth so he has a reason to let go. You are basically teaching him to trade the toy for a treat.

If my greyhound is a toy snatcher, I will yelp and make a big fuss if he touches me with his teeth. I do not wait till it hurts. I do not tolerate and will disagree with carelessness. He has to be careful around my skin.

At this point, the goal for everyone is to teach the dog to put the toy into your hand. You should start to notice your dog holding the toy if you are slow with your hand. Or if the dog drops the toy, you may notice him immediately pick it up and try again.

Hopefully this will keep you busy over the holidays. I will finish this series once the hustle and bustle is over.

Totally Fetching - Part 1

Hounds are not usually known for their retrieving abilities. Few exhibit it naturally. Travis was a freak of greyhound nature with his retrieving especially in the water (Click Here if you never saw his dock jumping post). Except for Travis, I have had to teach the other five greyhounds how to retrieve. And even Travis had to go through a similar process for a formal dumbbell retrieve.I have been wanting to do a post on how to train your dog (especially a hound) to retrieve for a very long time, but it is much easier to show if I have videos of the process. I have them now thanks to Seven. Initially, she showed some retrieving tendencies, but her toy drive turned to mush when she tasted the goodies in my pocket.In these videos, I am teaching Seven what I call a "play" retrieve. I think it is easier to teach a play retrieve with a fun toy first and then move to other objects or a dumbbell if that is your goal. Otherwise, a play retrieve is a great way to exercise the hounds and is a lot of fun.

First, you will have to find 5 - 10 minutes a day to train. I am going to give you a lot of information, but this is not rocket science or an attempt to cure cancer. This is just teaching a dog to retrieve 5 - 10 minutes per day. Yes, you do have time.

Step one, you must teach your dog the clicker training concept. If you and your dog are not familiar with clicker training spend a few days working on this exercise - Click Here. Once your dog can touch an object with his nose for a click and treat (C&T), you can begin teaching your retrieve.

Let us get started. Pick a stuffy toy that is very easy to pick up. Not too big and not too small. With greyhounds, you have to consider the long nose. You do not want something that the greyhound smashes his nose into the ground as he picks it up. The toy in my video is a good example.

Step two, teach your dog to touch the toy. You can do this several ways, but I really like the method I am going to show you. I attached a leash to the toy so I could stimulate her interest by moving it around. Use the smallest amount of movement it takes to generate any interest from your dog. It might just be a head turn, a nose touch, pouncing, or a grab. C&T for all forms of interest and interaction with the toy. You want to add value to the toy and make it very special because it causes so many C&Ts. I was lucky with Seven because she has a high prey drive and offered a grab with her teeth almost immediately so I focused on that. Ultimately, you want a teeth grab, but make sure you C&T for all interest in the toy initially.

Take your time at this step. You really want your hound's interest in the toy to increase significantly. Once you complete a 5-10 minute training session, put the toy away. The toy should only come out for training or retrieving sessions for now on. Now for some troubleshooting.

My dog has no interest in the toy even if it is moving. Clicker train your dog to touch the toy with his nose. I am assuming you have already taught your dog to touch a cup with his nose... do the same exercise, but use a toy. Put the treat on top of the toy and C&T as your dog takes the treat or you can touch the toy right to his nose and C&T.

My dog is extremely interested in the toy and tries to run off with it. Skip Part 1 training. Your dog can start at a later step that I will point out in Part 2.

My dog does well at first, but then loses interest in training. Shorten your training session. You want to end your training session while the dog still wants more. One way to accomplish this is to put 5 treats in your pocket. Once you have given them out, your training session is done. You may also need a better treat. Use real meat and cheese.

Happy Training! Let me know if there are any questions.