Me And The Pom

[TiggerBabe]

Hello Everyone,

I became disabled 3 years ago and have to use a walking stick and sometimes a wheelchair. I thought long and hard before I got my wee Pomeranian, as I wanted ensure she had a good quality life. Hence we are here.

Poppy is 15 months old and has been my companion for 11 months. We have taken training slowly, as she was very, very nervous of everything when I first got her. Thankfully, she is now confident with people and other dogs. So now we want to learn other fun things.

Im always open to ideas, suggestions, tips on training with a disability.

Many thanks and big licks from Poppy

 

[Bosun]

You dog's gonna love you!!!! It's so much fun for dogs to have to learn things. They get to use those little brains for good rather than for "up-to-no-good"

I had a friend who's pom would shake your finger... her little paw was too tiny to do anything else!!!! She was super smart and easy to have around for sure! Good choice in companion animal!!!! Have you been to the "classroom" yet? Tigerlily already pointed you there... buy I second the opinion! It's an excellent place for both of you to start!

 

[TiggerBabe]

Thanks Tigerlily and Bosun, for your warm welcome and advice.

Poppy and I are eager to make a start, so we will bow to your experience and pop to the classroom

Hopefully we will see you around

Thanks for me and big licks from Poppy

 

[Bosun]

How are things going? Any new tricks to brag about?

 

[Dogster]

You have a very inspiring story. You can teach Poppy to clean up her toys off of the floor, so you don't have to. That's something I want to teach my dog as well. Have fun!!!

 

[tigerlily46514]

Dogster, i also *thought* teaching "PIck Up toys" would be super hard trick,
but, i found it very easy to teach, my dog got this tricks in just a few days. Wasn't hard at all, and my dog LOVES LOVES LOVES this trick, he'll do this for hours....and hours....and hours...
The way some dogs will play fetch for hours,
my dog will pick up his toys for hours!!
(my dog thinks "fetch" is dumb game, and does not like it, and begins to look at us with disdain, like, "Ey, if you reeeally don't want this toy, i'll quit bringing it to you..." rofl.)

But he LOVES pick up, loves it. Just quivers with excitement if he realizes we are going to play "pick up", even jazzes up the trick with fancy move of his own, lil twirls and stuff, as he is doing the trick.
http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forums/threads/training-put-your-toys-away.2741/


^^^we did have to tweak a few misunderstandings, such as my dog got the idea he should only pick one (1)toy,
and then he thought he should wait for command to pick up 2nd toy, but even the tweaks were not that hard to fix..

 

[Dlilly]

I also thought teaching Shiloh to pick items up would be hard, but it actually wasn't! It took her a day to pick up a sock and to drop it in my hand, and 3 days to pick it up and drop it in a basket.

This is the first trick where Shiloh wants to just keep on going!! I call it her job now. She really does loves it!

I've tried a few other methods for teaching her to drop a sock into a basket, and this was the only one that worked for us. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=iv&v=7Nm4goEuBt4&src_vid=L7eRPlJ4CiU&annotation_id=annotation_538195

 

[tigerlily46514]

Dilly, that is so funny that YOUR dog also just LOVES this trick, too! and wants to play it over........and over...........and over, too!!!


wow, Kikopup uses a different method than i did, in link in my above post,

I sat down on floor, facing my dog, with toybox in between of us.

I just started with toys he loves to mouth anyway,
gave the toy to the dog, who almost automatically mouthed it/took it, as these ARE toys he carries around in his mouth anyway....
and had toybox DIRECTLY UNDER his face, then asked for drop it,
and rewarded the toy falling INTO the toybox.

My dog almost immediately came to understand, "ohhhhhh, mom likes the toy falling into the toybox". then i moved toybox out a lil bit, so he had to turn his head to hit the toybox....and then, further out, and further out...

at same time, i began to hold toys lower to the floor,
and then i had toy sitting on floor NEXT TO my hand/no longer in my hand.

then i faded *my* presence next to the toy on the floor.

All this took only a lil while to train. DOG LOVES IT.

But, i'm glad to see the Kikopup video for learning how to get dogs to pick up items they don't normally "like" to mouth, like cans.