4 Feet In A Box

jayc

Well-Known Member
Grace and I have been having fun with this trick.

I'm interested to see other dogs doing this trick ... I'm always surprised how well dogs can balance and some just make it look so easy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_H6tfK58Cw

She managed to squeeze herself into this tiny box that literally has just enough room for all 4 feet squished together ;)
 

sara

Moderator
Staff member
I taught my Oliver to get in a box... but I have never tried to get him in something that small. he also seems to think he needs to sit down in it! LOL

Heres a video I did up for Ollie's foster Mom, just shortly after I adopted him (4 months, I think) he was 10 months old (I adopted him when he was 6 months old) I did up a couple of other video's too, at around that time, but this is the one with his box trick in. It's not well done, and I wasn't the trainer then that I am now... and am now correcting mistakes I made when training him earlier tricks... (I lured and talked too much... caused some grief with more complicated tricks... Wish I'd'a known what free-shaping was then, and how to properly shape!)


The start of the "Touch Mouse" trick is in this video as well, for those of you who want to see it!
 

jayc

Well-Known Member
Hi Sara
Oh my goodness, Oliver is such a cutie! I love his ears ;) How long have you had him for now?

Great video! Grace was the same with the box trick, she would always sit down when the box was a bit bigger. I love his backwards crawling. I'll have to teach that to G dog

That is so funny, your "touch mouse" trick is very similar to a trick i recently taught Grace: "give him a hug". Love it!

This video shows Grace hugging her boyfriend (problem is she has started offering this trick to any dog that sits next to her. Quite the flirt!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzVpwfqs_xc

PS i know what you mean about fixing past training mistakes. When Grace was a pup i also lured way too much. I've started retraining some of her early tricks like pivoting (with me out of her way!) - I also trained G to pivot on my chopping board
 

jackienmutts

Honored Member
Great job everybody!!

I was cheering when Grace finally got all four feet in the little box!! Yea!!! :p I also loved Grace and Sprockett's (love that name!!!) leap frog and a hug - just way too cute!

Oliver is adorable, and is quite the little performer. And - I also love his ears!

Oh, I don't even want to talk about the way I used to train vs the way I train now -- way too much talking, no clicker years ago, fumbled around like an idiot -- it's amazing my dogs ever even figured out SIT! :confused: Goes to show how forgiving (and smart!!) they really are.
 

fly30

Experienced Member
Too much talking is not a problem for me nor for Fly. I love speaking to my dog. Though I use a clicker, I'm not too keen on full shaping. We just both get bored. As when I talk and encourage Fly, she's really into it and has much more fun. And so do I.
 

jayc

Well-Known Member
Ha! Thanks for cheering her along :-) Yeah, when i listened to myself on this video thought i sounded like a derranged cheerleader!

Grace & Sprockett are just soooo cute together. They just kiss and play nonstop ;). They are so in love, it seemed the appropriate trick to teach them

That's hilarious - it's a wonder my old dog figured out SIT too. Indeed, they are just so forgiving and smart.

:-)
 

sara

Moderator
Staff member
Ollie's ears are what got him from Houston, TX to Alberta Canada! (well that, and his non-existant deafness, and his dog aggression! LOL) I totally adore his ears!

I've had Oliver for 2 years now, and we've come amazingly far. he's a brilliant dog, with amazing potential, and such a love of life. Everything is a game to him, it's like he was born and bred for tricks! And tricks give him so much confidence.

I origonally decided to teach Ollie to touch Mouse as a tool for recalling her (she's deaf) unfortunately, all it is is a cute trick, as Oliver whacks her all the time, so it has no meaning to her. the command has morphed into Whack Mouse, as it's funnier that way :)

I LOVE Gracie's hug! it's adorable with those rediculously long legs of hers! I started teaching Mouse to jump Ollie a few weeks ago... It's really cute :) But anything with Mouse takes time, as she's obsessed with food, and it takes a LONG time to get her to think, and associate a trick with a sign... but she's adorable anyway!

Mouse is the only dog I've worked with that I cannot do any shaping with... I dont think she can think when there's food involved, Luring is the only way I can teach her anything.:rolleyes:
 

jayc

Well-Known Member
Great idea for helping mouse's recall - pity oliver is so enthusiastic! :) I love 'whack mouse'!

That is amazing that you have so many deaf dogs - was that deliberate? Must be very challenging to train

:-) cam
 

sara

Moderator
Staff member
Yes, it was deliberate. I prefer Deaf Dogs, I find I get more focus from my deafies, they're easier to train in many ways, there are some consessions to having deafies I make (like not letting Mouse and Boo off leash, but Scout has 100% recall) but all in all, I've never once wished any of my deafies could hear, but I am constantly wishing Oliver and Zoe were deaf! (both have fear issues that would be eased by not being able to hear!) My wish list of dog breeds is a deaf English Cocker Spaniel, a deaf wire fox terrier, a Deaf great dane, and a deaf pit bull... the only hearing dog I'd want is an Irish Terrier (only because they dont have deafness in their breed, but I'd sure like a deaf one of those, if it were possible!)

Honestly, if you ever get a chance to try one out, DO they're amazing dogs, and fantastic teachers... my deafies have made me a MUCH better teacher, and I'm so much more in tune with what I'm telling them with my body.

Deafness is NOT a disability in dogs.

Here's a couple of video's

This one is the first demo I ever did with Scout. I'd adopted her at the end of June, this vid. was taken at the beginning of September, the same year. Scout was 4 when I adopted her, and knew 2 signs, sit, and shake... this is her 10 weeks after adoption...

This vid is of Oliver and Mouse. I'd only had Mouse for 3 weeks at this point. Oliver only 4 months. there are only a couple of Ollie's tricks on this vid, but you can see what I was able to do with a really "stubborn" deaf puppy, in 3 weeks.

And here's one with Mouse, when she was 9 months old.

I have several others on my You Tube Channel.... 3 other deaf dog demos. And I'm in the process of doing up another video, I managed to get a little free-shaping with Mouse (FINALLY!!!) It didn't work very well, but I'm hoping this may be a starting point! But holy crap, she's fast, and hard to click at the right moment!
 
Reactions: Ina

jayc

Well-Known Member
WOW! That's brilliant - thanks so much for sharing :-) Believe it or not, I've never actually met a deaf dog (except for oldies when they lose their hearing). Incredible what you have done w them. I loved scout's demo..unbelievable focus! Also love your little thumbs up hand signal
Are you able to let Scout run free like any other dog or do you have to keep her within close range for recalls?
Congratulations with your shaping breakthrough with Mouse! Grace and I really struggled w shaping until i followed silvia trkman's advice - she says to start with no goal other than rewarding every single movement the dog makes (to teach them that their action will generate rewards). G used to get a bit anxious w shaping but now she loves it

:-) cam
 

sara

Moderator
Staff member
Yeah, Scout can run off leash. I rewarded her everytime for coming back to me, she'd run out, then turn and run back, treat, she'd rin out then turn and run back. I did this for a couple of weeks, then started only rewarding when I called her (waved at her) so she looked back every few seconds, incase I might recall her and she will get a treat! She's awesome! We've almost had her for 4 years now, and Scout, despite very little practice, is still the same dog in the video, high focus, eagerness to please. She's the perfect dog!
 

horsy

Well-Known Member
We've been doing brickwork for a few days trying to get Diesel to realise he actually HAS back feet, that are MOVABLE lol, and today his dog food was delivered, and its a pretty big box sooo...


I know its a big box but its a start! He still doesn't seem to be able to coordinate quite right yet, he has to get his back feet in first, then reverse his front end in. But its only the first time, we will work on it!
 

jayc

Well-Known Member
Well done diesel!! he's a big boy so needs a big box to start with :-)

Grace and i started with this big box and each session the boxes got smaller and smaller - by the end of the week she was in the tiny one!

Look forward to seeing his progress :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQg2UaJrLKw
 
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