Hiya!!! New Member!

[ellieh]

Hiya,

My name is Ellie Haines, I live in Milton Keynes and I am lucky enough to be a positive reinforcement Dog Trainer

I am currently owned by six dogs (two from a breeder, four are rescues), six rabbits (all rescues) and two hamsters (again rescued), we also foster lots of dogs so there is always about 9 or 10 in the house:

Mackeson - 8yr old Male Chocolate Labrador
Pudgey - 7yr old Male English Springer Spaniel (with a bit of Border Collie we think)
Missy - 6yr old Female German epherd cross ?
Bosun - 5yr old Male Alaunt x Whippet (we think, he is odd looking! Photo below)
Little Kiba - 3yr old Female King Charles Spaniel cross ?
Woonie - 1yr old Female English Cocker Spaniel

Danny-Rad, Daphne, Celeste, Honey, Isobel & Lilly-Lion the rabbits!

Fatso & Word the Syrian Hamsters (named by my partner)


I currently run Beginners, Advanced, Continuation & Trick Training Classes! I found this forum whilst searching for tricks for inspiration for my classes.
Your dogs are all amazing, everything i have seen so far is really inspiring and makes me want to run for my clicker to teach the dogs more

 

[running_dog]

I currently run Beginners, Advanced, Continuation & Trick Training Classes! I found this forum whilst searching for tricks for inspiration for my classes.
Your dogs are all amazing, everything i have seen so far is really inspiring and makes me want to run for my clicker to teach the dogs more

What a lot of dogs, it must be a real challenge to keep up with training, I struggle with 2! But oh how I'd love to have more!

It's great to have you on the forum, hopefully as well as being inspired you'll be able to give us lots of tips when we get stuck!

What tricks do your dogs already know? Have you looked at our Trick Challenges? They can be good fun if you want to join in.

 

[southerngirl]

Hi, and welcome.
Wow that is a lot of dogs. Like R_dog I stuggle with two dogs I can't imagine training six.
I'm looking forward to your input on training. It'll be great to have a trainer on here.

 

[ellieh]

So far the tricks they know:

Pudgey: Paw, Other, Spin, Twist, Bums-Up, Say Your Prayers (two versions), On-It, Weave, 8's, Rollover, Bang, Go, Away, Up-sit, Touch, Paw & Nose Targeting objects, Get-In (the box/item) & Through (hoop/tunnel)

Mackeson: Paw, Other, On-it, Touch, Go, Through (Hoop), Hit object - Mackeson can't do too much because of his spine, so movement is limited.

Bosun: Paw, Other, Spin, Twist, Rollover, Bang, 8's, Back-Up, On-it, Get-in, Up-Sit, Back-Around, Weave, Touch, Bums-Up, Kisses, Sit-Pretty, Back-Up, Reverse and his amazing 'GO-HIT'

Woonie: Paw, Other, Touch, Bums-Up, Weave, 8's, Object Targeting, Kisses, Sit-Pretty....Woonie bless her is pretty but dim! She enjoys training but needs quite a bit of luring and 'showing' her what you want as she is much slower than the rest and will just watch me for ages completely non-plussed waiting to be given the food.

Missy: Paw, Other, Say Your Prayers (one version), On-It, Touch, Rollover, Up-sit and Kisses. - I have had Missy less than a year, she was an abused dog so gets scared easily all training has to be with no words, lots of calm praise and patience or she gets worried and cowers.

Little Kiba: Bums-Up, Back-Up, Up-Sit, Touch, Paw. - Had Kiba for less than a month, again she is an abused dog who was left in a cage for 3yrs with limited food/water, so when training she gets extremely excited and runs around barking, this is getting better but we have a long way to go!


Any other suggestions i would love to give them a go!!
I am trying to teach Bosun how to 'bounce' but i don't know how?!

 

[running_dog]

Any other suggestions i would love to give them a go!!
I am trying to teach Bosun how to 'bounce' but i don't know how?!

That's an impressive selection of tricks seeing as you are working with such a lot of dogs from tough backgrounds! Wow!

There are so many possibilities for training tricks I don't know where to begin suggesting, my own wish list is probably a couple of pages long . In the Trick Challenges (on the Training Challenges Forum) we've recently done:
"You got my back?" that's great for working on proofing and you can do it either as a sit pretty or stand tall version.
"Limp"
"Crawl"
Leg weave and variations (some of the variations are really unusual and imaginative)
We're working on Shy/Shame at the moment.
Any of those could be good to work through with one or other of your dogs and there are how to train videos posted and fairly recent discussions (which you can revive ).

For "bounce" I taught hand target and then kept raising my hand higher until Zac was jumping. Then I started to give the cue a second or two before the hand target so he started to predict. Then I had to be careful to reward only really good bounces or they become rather half hearted! It is still a trick I need to be really upbeat about and reward with active play rather than a static treat. I'm sure I don't need to tell you but as I don't know who might read this training outline I'll also mention that it is a trick that you need to be really aware of your dog's physical state on the day, if he has tummy ache or the slightest soreness in his legs he won't offer you his best, be considerate, he might not be being lazy he might be in pain and just can't explain.

So... please do share... what is Bosun's "go-hit"?

 

[elissa]

Chewie has just about mastered 'Fetch Mr Giraffe' ... Feeling quite embarrassed now... lol

 

[ellieh]

There are so many possibilities for training tricks I don't know where to begin suggesting, my own wish list is probably a couple of pages long . In the Trick Challenges (on the Training Challenges Forum) we've recently done:
"You got my back?" that's great for working on proofing and you can do it either as a sit pretty or stand tall version.
"Limp"
"Crawl"
Leg weave and variations (some of the variations are really unusual and imaginative)
We're working on Shy/Shame at the moment.
Any of those could be good to work through with one or other of your dogs and there are how to train videos posted and fairly recent discussions (which you can revive ).

I have taught Limp, Crawl, Leg weaves and 8's at Trick Class.
I wanted to do the 'shy' but i have a couple of rescue dogs again who have been abused and are just gaining confidence. So far the only methods i have seen for teaching this is either putting a post-it-note on the dogs nose or a loose hair scrunchy?
So i don't want to frighten some of the more timid dogs, are there other methods of teaching this trick?

For "bounce" I taught hand target and then kept raising my hand higher until Zac was jumping. Then I started to give the cue a second or two before the hand target so he started to predict. Then I had to be careful to reward only really good bounces or they become rather half hearted! It is still a trick I need to be really upbeat about and reward with active play rather than a static treat. I'm sure I don't need to tell you but as I don't know who might read this training outline I'll also mention that it is a trick that you need to be really aware of your dog's physical state on the day, if he has tummy ache or the slightest soreness in his legs he won't offer you his best, be considerate, he might not be being lazy he might be in pain and just can't explain.

Very interesting way of teaching Bounce, i will give this a go and upload our progress!
I have tried getting him to jump on the sofa from a distance and clicking as he leaves the ground, the same for jumping off the sofa - but that didn't work. Also tried bouncing a tennis ball which he is mad for, but he wouldn't even slightly bounce he just stared at it
I like your idea better than mine!!

So... please do share... what is Bosun's "go-hit"?

Now, prepare yourselves to be amazed
Bosun was a huge jumper when he came to us, whenever he was excited he would jump up. So to eliminate the behaviour we put it on cue, with a big hair scrunchie around my wrist and my arms on my chest. So he knew when that came out on my wrist he could jump up and target the scrunchie when asked and if it wasn't there he wouldn't. That fixed the jumping problem.

Then i had an idea, because of the laws surrounding dog bites and the amount of 'dodgy' dogs i have and work with, i thought i would have a go at teaching an alternative to running and biting. This is sort of where the 'Go-Hit' idea came from.
With Bosun already targeting the hair scrunchie, I started to practice sending him to my partner Adam to hit the scrunchie then run back to me. LONG story cut short we kept raising the criteria to be Adam turned around, running in the other direction with is hands in a normal running position, Bosun will wait at my side until i send him to 'GO-HIT' then he runs at full speed after Adam, jumps all four feet off the ground and will hit Adam in the middle of his back which knocks him over. Then Bosun runs back to me for reward game.

It was a thought about training non-rehomable rescue dogs who are known biters and dislike people, to use a different way of targeting their 'victims' on cue without biting. I need to try it out with many (friendly) dogs and volunteers first before putting into practice.
Weren't expecting that were you

 

[running_dog]

I have taught Limp, Crawl, Leg weaves and 8's at Trick Class.
I wanted to do the 'shy' but i have a couple of rescue dogs again who have been abused and are just gaining confidence. So far the only methods i have seen for teaching this is either putting a post-it-note on the dogs nose or a loose hair scrunchy?
So i don't want to frighten some of the more timid dogs, are there other methods of teaching this trick?

Have you trained the alternative versions of leg weave... reverse, lateral, leg weave with twirls, leg weave forwards while you walk backwards, backwards while you go forwards, jumping leg weave, crawling leg weave...

Have you done backwards crawl?

Then there is lift each leg on cue. Someone on here had a dog that they then taught to lift two legs at once (both on the same side)

A couple of us are working on hand targeting and shaping Shy. You might be able to do that. I also wondered about putting a spot of a liquid treat under the joint of the dogs leg and seeing if there was a response that could be shaped on to make shy. There a lots of suggestions about how to train shy in a thread that is linked on to from the first post in the trick challenge thread (I'd look it up for you now but I'm really pushed for time).

 

[running_dog]

It was a thought about training non-rehomable rescue dogs who are known biters and dislike people, to use a different way of targeting their 'victims' on cue without biting. I need to try it out with many (friendly) dogs and volunteers first before putting into practice.
Weren't expecting that were you

Interesting, still sounds a little violent somehow... I love it as a trick but the rehab element will need a lot of experimenting as you say. How would you know for sure when the dog was running full tilt at the person that they weren't going to forget and bite?

 

[ellieh]

Exactly my worry!! That is why i haven't really put it to anything yet, that and the fact i haven't had time

Bosun is kind of my practice dog, i let him do as he likes then make stuff up to build on what he is offering. He is great for my learning as he is so unusual in his behaviours.

Oh i forgot to add to the things they know, Bosun also knows 'speak to mummy' which is just chatting to me, 'are you excited' which is his screaming/whining noise he used to make when meeting other dogs, 'still' which means stop and do not move any paws at all and 'I'm coming to get-ya' which means run away!
He never used to like going out for a wee, so we kind of made it into a game of 'I'm coming to get-ya' this makes him wag his tail like mad and run into the garden

Pudgey is also whistle trained to recall, instant downs and left & right.

 

[ellieh]

Have you trained the alternative versions of leg weave... reverse, lateral, leg weave with twirls, leg weave forwards while you walk backwards, backwards while you go forwards, jumping leg weave, crawling leg weave...

Have you done backwards crawl?

Then there is lift each leg on cue. Someone on here had a dog that they then taught to lift two legs at once (both on the same side)

A couple of us are working on hand targeting and shaping Shy. You might be able to do that. I also wondered about putting a spot of a liquid treat under the joint of the dogs leg and seeing if there was a response that could be shaped on to make shy. There a lots of suggestions about how to train shy in a thread that is linked on to from the first post in the trick challenge thread (I'd look it up for you now but I'm really pushed for time).

The only leg weaves i have done so far are lateral and weave forwards whilst i walk forwards - the rest i am going to try!! All these variations are amazing!

I haven't done much backwards work apart from basic back up, backing up with me at my side and back around. All of the rest is new to me!

The liquid idea for 'shy' sounds promising, not sure if they would lift their paw over their face or just put their face under their leg, but either could be shaped. xx

 

[MaryK]

Welcome! You're dogs all sound amazing and kudos to you for taking in the unwanted rescues! I have two dogs, one youngster and the other a golden oldie, and will only take rescues!

 

[running_dog]

not sure if they would lift their paw over their face or just put their face under their leg

That was what I couldn't guess either, I think it might depend on the dog. Still as you say either provide a start for shaping the desired behaviour.

 

[running_dog]

Bosun is kind of my practice dog, i let him do as he likes then make stuff up to build on what he is offering. He is great for my learning as he is so unusual in his behaviours.

He sounds really good fun though maybe a little too high drive for me personally... sometimes I wish Zac had more drive and then I work with high drive for a while and I am just happy to get back to my sleepy deliberately obtuse best buddy.

 

[Ripleygirl]

Chewie has just about mastered 'Fetch Mr Giraffe' ... Feeling quite embarrassed now... lol

Love it... You crack me up Elissa! (in a very good way)

 

[Ripleygirl]

That's an impressive selection of tricks seeing as you are working with such a lot of dogs from tough backgrounds! Wow!

There are so many possibilities for training tricks I don't know where to begin suggesting, my own wish list is probably a couple of pages long . In the Trick Challenges (on the Training Challenges Forum) we've recently done:
"You got my back?" that's great for working on proofing and you can do it either as a sit pretty or stand tall version.
"Limp"
"Crawl"
Leg weave and variations (some of the variations are really unusual and imaginative)
We're working on Shy/Shame at the moment.
Any of those could be good to work through with one or other of your dogs and there are how to train videos posted and fairly recent discussions (which you can revive ).

For "bounce" I taught hand target and then kept raising my hand higher until Zac was jumping. Then I started to give the cue a second or two before the hand target so he started to predict. Then I had to be careful to reward only really good bounces or they become rather half hearted! It is still a trick I need to be really upbeat about and reward with active play rather than a static treat. I'm sure I don't need to tell you but as I don't know who might read this training outline I'll also mention that it is a trick that you need to be really aware of your dog's physical state on the day, if he has tummy ache or the slightest soreness in his legs he won't offer you his best, be considerate, he might not be being lazy he might be in pain and just can't explain.

So... please do share... what is Bosun's "go-hit"?

I love your explanation for 'Bounce', I have tried to 'capture' bounce when Ripley see's a squirrel up a tree and she turn into a jack in the box but never managed to. Will definately try this way...

 

[Ripleygirl]

Hiya,

My name is Ellie Haines, I live in Milton Keynes and I am lucky enough to be a positive reinforcement Dog Trainer

I am currently owned by six dogs (two from a breeder, four are rescues), six rabbits (all rescues) and two hamsters (again rescued), we also foster lots of dogs so there is always about 9 or 10 in the house:

Mackeson - 8yr old Male Chocolate Labrador
Pudgey - 7yr old Male English Springer Spaniel (with a bit of Border Collie we think)
Missy - 6yr old Female German epherd cross ?
Bosun - 5yr old Male Alaunt x Whippet (we think, he is odd looking! Photo below)
Little Kiba - 3yr old Female King Charles Spaniel cross ?
Woonie - 1yr old Female English Cocker Spaniel

Danny-Rad, Daphne, Celeste, Honey, Isobel & Lilly-Lion the rabbits!

Fatso & Word the Syrian Hamsters (named by my partner)


I currently run Beginners, Advanced, Continuation & Trick Training Classes! I found this forum whilst searching for tricks for inspiration for my classes.
Your dogs are all amazing, everything i have seen so far is really inspiring and makes me want to run for my clicker to teach the dogs more


View attachment 2940

Hi and welcome - sorry I am bit late! Impressive list of companions you have there. Great to see the amount of rescues too - Kudos to you!

I grew up near Milton Keynes... small world... live in South Wales now.

Great to have on the forum, hope you stick around!

 

[Ripleygirl]

I have taught Limp, Crawl, Leg weaves and 8's at Trick Class.
I wanted to do the 'shy' but i have a couple of rescue dogs again who have been abused and are just gaining confidence. So far the only methods i have seen for teaching this is either putting a post-it-note on the dogs nose or a loose hair scrunchy?
So i don't want to frighten some of the more timid dogs, are there other methods of teaching this trick?

Don't know if this would work but could you try 'paw' and then taking a treat from beneath their leg whilst they are giving paw, so their muzzle is under their leg when they are clicked and cued at that point? Hope that makes sense?

 

[Ripleygirl]

Now, prepare yourselves to be amazed
Bosun was a huge jumper when he came to us, whenever he was excited he would jump up. So to eliminate the behaviour we put it on cue, with a big hair scrunchie around my wrist and my arms on my chest. So he knew when that came out on my wrist he could jump up and target the scrunchie when asked and if it wasn't there he wouldn't. That fixed the jumping problem.

Then i had an idea, because of the laws surrounding dog bites and the amount of 'dodgy' dogs i have and work with, i thought i would have a go at teaching an alternative to running and biting. This is sort of where the 'Go-Hit' idea came from.
With Bosun already targeting the hair scrunchie, I started to practice sending him to my partner Adam to hit the scrunchie then run back to me. LONG story cut short we kept raising the criteria to be Adam turned around, running in the other direction with is hands in a normal running position, Bosun will wait at my side until i send him to 'GO-HIT' then he runs at full speed after Adam, jumps all four feet off the ground and will hit Adam in the middle of his back which knocks him over. Then Bosun runs back to me for reward game.

It was a thought about training non-rehomable rescue dogs who are known biters and dislike people, to use a different way of targeting their 'victims' on cue without biting. I need to try it out with many (friendly) dogs and volunteers first before putting into practice.
Weren't expecting that were you

Wow, that sounds pretty full on but very interesting in the right environment... Great trick with a dog you trust though!