Hi Everyone

dog nerd

dog nerd

Well-Known Member
I'm from Canada and I own a 4 years labrador retriever. We have been training in agility for the past 3 years. We train mostly for fun and also to stay active and fit during long and cold winter in an indoor ring. In the summer, we like do go dock diving and swimming and of course ...fetching :)

I've got involved in dog sport because I soon realised that my dog needed a job because she had a lot of energy and also to keep my boisterous Labrador away form trouble . I taught that agility was a fun way to work and learn knew things

I love my lab , she's my little sunshine ! She's the best partner ever for any kind of activity and she will follow me everywhere just to be with me !!
 
running_dog

running_dog

Honored Member
Welcome to Dog Trick Academy :)

It's great that you are giving your labrador an outlet for her energy and an opportunity to use her brains.
 
dog nerd

dog nerd

Well-Known Member
Thank you running dog,

Indeed agility help my lab gain some self control by using her brain and also help me improve and learn knew skills

I'm looking forward to try some new tricks and keep having fun with my dog !! :)
 
dog nerd

dog nerd

Well-Known Member
I use balls and toys to train my lab to keep the training as fun as possible and to keep her motivation going. I also use treats wen I want to teach her a new trick but once she understand it, I move up with a toy . For example I ask her to perform a certain trick that she's already knows and then I throw the ball in order to reward her.

She can get a little bit obsessed with balls , so I keep the ball in my pocket but if she's knows that the ball (sometime I hide it !! ) Is in a bag or out of reach , she has trouble focusing on me and not the ball , she desperately wants that ball !

So I just started to work on focusing games with a target , for example I put a target (Tupperware cover) on the ground and put the ball out of reach (she can see it but she cant grab it). I thought her to touch the target with her nose and then come back to me and reward her with the ball. (I also use clicker to show her knew tricks). And then ??

I'm wondering how to move forward , my goal is to put the ball on the ground and ask her to come to me and then send her to the ball with a release command ! I want her to have a better control when she sees balls ? Maybe there is a better way to improve her impulsion with balls ? Or other fun tricks that I can try in order to improve her control ?

I also want to say that I'm a French Canadian that is really trying hard to write in English so if any of my writhing does not make any sense please fell free to tell

thanks
Nathalie
 
running_dog

running_dog

Honored Member
Hi again Nathalie,

It is good that you can train and reward your dog with either a treat or a ball. Even if she is a bit obsessed with the ball at the moment that is easier to work with than having a dog that is not interested in toys at all.

I think that working on her impulse control around balls is a good idea. The idea you have of making her move away from the ball to the target is very good.

The best method of improving impulse control the I have heard of and used is to control access to the distraction not control the dog. Although I have read about this from other trainers this has been described and made popular by Susan Garrett in particular. She calls it, "It's yer choice". This is a video I found on youtube that shows "It's yer choice" being used with food but you can easily adapt it to use with a ball as well.


The idea is that the dog learns that only if it stays away from the reward/distraction will it get the reward. The voice-over to the video is rather quiet and in English however I think you will be able to see what the trainer is doing and how she gradually makes the training more difficult for the dog. If you have any questions about it please feel free to ask.

I'll try and think whether there are any other games I play with my dog that might help you.

Your English is very very good and although there are a few words that are not exactly right it is always clear what you mean (y). You explain things very well and I am impressed with how well you can write in English. If there is anything that you don't understand of what I have written because of the English I have used do tell me and I will try to write it more clearly, I have a bad habit of sometimes using longer words and longer sentences than I need to :oops:
 
dog nerd

dog nerd

Well-Known Member
Thank you for responding :)

I'm also a big fan of Suzan Garrett (y)
I will watch the video and get back to you. For some reason, I'm not able to watch the video on my computer ??:confused: I'll try tomorrow at work (during lunch time It's totally legal ) !! Everything you wrote is very clear. Thank you very much for your help and for your time !!!!!
 
running_dog

running_dog

Honored Member
dog nerd said:
Thank you very much for your help and for your time !!!!!
Click to expand...
You're welcome :LOL:



If you can't get the video to work just search on youtube for "it's yer choice".

You can also read about more or less the same method but called "Zen" from a trainer called Sue Ailsby, if you scroll down to the last section on the page I have linked to you can find out about beginning training Zen. That's level one, but there are more stages to teaching Zen which are described in the other training levels.
 
dog nerd

dog nerd

Well-Known Member
The video shows exactly what I need to work with Frida . (y)

I will probably need to go back a few steps, but it's a great way to work on self control

I really like the bloopers at the end !!!! :LOL: so cute !!

thank you
 
running_dog

running_dog

Honored Member
dog nerd said:
The video shows exactly what I need to work with Frida . (y)

I will probably need to go back a few steps, but it's a great way to work on self control
Click to expand...
That's great and you're welcome! Do let me know how you get on! Often dogs get the basic idea of this really quickly.

I'm working on Zac keeping eye contact with me while I drop treats... sometimes he gets the idea, sometimes he doesn't, sometimes my mum's dog Gus rushes in and tries to grab the dropped treats which doesn't help at all! We're working like it's yer choice with me covering the treats with my foot if he tries to go for them.
 
dog nerd

dog nerd

Well-Known Member
We worked on self control games today . First I ask Frida to sit and wait (more easier to start) and drop the ball in front of her until she looks at me and than release her with the word OK. I am asking her to wait for release command for now. It is a bit easier that way because it is really hard for her to even make eye contact when she sees the ball. SHE REALLY WANTS THAT BALL !!Eventually I wont say anything. I will control the ball and let her decide . Or maybe I should start with the it's her choice right away???
 
running_dog

running_dog

Honored Member
dog nerd said:
Should I start a new thread on self control ??
Click to expand...
That's entirely up to you - this is your thread so you can let it go where ever you want. You might attract more replies in another thread but as it's fairly quiet on the forums at the moment you might not :rolleyes:.

dog nerd said:
We worked on self control games today . First I ask Frida to sit and wait (more easier to start) and drop the ball in front of her until she looks at me and than release her with the word OK. I am asking her to wait for release command for now. It is a bit easier that way because it is really hard for her to even make eye contact when she sees the ball. SHE REALLY WANTS THAT BALL !!Eventually I wont say anything. I will control the ball and let her decide . Or maybe I should start with the it's her choice right away???
Click to expand...
Yes, sit is much easier to start with, it's such a solid behaviour that anchors the dog and excludes other behaviours (y)
I think that I would start with It's yer choice first. What you are asking her for there is a much higher level skill. I'm working something similar with Zac at the moment with dropping treats at his feet while he holds eye contact, he finds it tough even though he doesn't have a treat obsession.

There's a post I made in another thread describing a use of It's yer choice with toys for a small dog. As Frida finds it so hard to focus on anything but the ball when you have it in your hand I think I'd also make a habit of getting the ball out and putting it away, passing it from hand to hand and putting it away without involving Frida with it at all so she learns that the ball can be in sight in your hand without it being of any value to her. The previous post in the other thread I linked breaks down into very simple steps how to get a dog to work in the presence of toys which it finds very very distracting. Frida will be way ahead of most of the instructions but you might get something useful out of it.
 
S

summereo3

New Member
Tks,my dear friend,although i am busy at the day time,but when i got home,my lovely friend sam(my dog's name) will be always stay with me.I am in a trade company.....sam is my best friend all the time
 
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