Good Evening, Another Newbie here!

[cturner37]

Evening All, Just saying hello. Im from the North of England and have a rescue Golden Retriever. Having had several rescue dogs before, this one has been the most challenging!

Re-homed several times for destructive chewing and uncontrollable behaviour problems, I am sooooooo proud of his basic training progress over the last 3 months. This dog needed routine, boundaries, and clear consistant handling, and has blossomed into the 'best' dog I have ever owned. (I do not use 'best' lightly, as I sobbed for years after losing my last one.)

He is now calm, obedient, and relishes stimulation and exercise, hence Im here for further ideas! Im lucky enough to be a 'home-maker' and have plenty of time to dedicate to his progress, so any fellow goldie owners out there, do say Hi.

Caro, and the Goldie xx

 

[CollieMan]

Not a Goldie owner, but always happy to see a fellow Brit. We're very much in the minority here.

 

[cturner37]

Hi Collieman, do I guess you're a Collie owner ! Would be interested to share 'progress' as my Goldie arrived with me thinking he was a Collie, completely in charge, herded everyone and everything, and was as hyper as Jim Carrey after 15 pints of Red Bull...........

Im certainly looking for 'active' dog exercises/tips. Nice to hear from you.

PS Its funny, but my dog turns round three times before .............. well lets just say popping a pudding!

 

[Jean Cote]

Hi there!!!

:welcome: to the website!!! It's a pleasure to have you onboard!!!

This website is fairly new - only launched a few months back. I've been adding material and lesson as much as possible - and hopefully you'll find many things to do with your dog on here!!

But I'm sure you'll especially enjoy the latter lessons (which are still to be added), especially the shaping tricks which really gets your dog thinking!! :msngrin:

The best thing for exercise would be retrieving or friesbee.. Does your dog retrieve?

 

[cturner37]

Hi Jean Only had a short surf around your site so far, but its really well put together. Well done and thank you for the welcome.

Yes my Goldie does retrieve on land and in water. It took some time as he was very excitable and would rush back, run round me, run past me, try to play etc., but now hes got the idea of dropping at my feet. Im still working on bringing it to my hand but as Im not clear with my instructions, Ive left it for now as I dont want to undo the feet dropping 'leave' that hes learnt. Any tips on how to progress from the 'drop' to the 'hold up' would be greatly appreciated! Well done again on an excellent site, Caro x

 

[Jean Cote]

Thanks for the compliments!

If you are familiar with clicker training, and shaping behaviors. Then you can simply shape his behavior to give you the ball/toy in your hand.

I've trained my husky to take a chess pice from a chess board, and put it into a 4in box beside board. It takes time to do this but once it's conditioned, it's like they've thought of it themselves and it creates a really good response.

If you are going to do this, I'd suggest that you practice it individually. Meaning that you can leave the toy on the floor in front of you and shape it to bring it to you, without the retrieving being involved. Once that behavior is conditioned then you can integrate both and have a perfect retrieve!

 

[cturner37]

Jean thats really brilliant! I really cant wait to start work on this tomorrow!
Must go now but hope to be back soon with progress. Caro xx