Looking For A Good Dvd. Please Help With Recommendations Please. Much Appreciated Help! :)

[dereksmagic]

Hi everyone, This is my first post, So let me start off by saying HELLO! My name is Derek. And I have a 1 year 2 month old boarder collie mix rescue dog named Magic.

Id also like to apologise in advance if I may be a big confusing or repeat myself, beacuse I am not quite sure how to describe what I am looking for. So please bare with me.

Anyway, He is a HUGE jumper. and I have been wanting to teach him how to do tricks.. Right now he knows basic commands like sit, stay, high-five, Jump, and I have been working on having him jump though a hula-hoop.. His hoop jump is about 3-4 feet high, and his vertical jump is about 5-6 feet high as of now. And he runs as fast a a bullet. This dog can run like the wind. Which works out great because I have an acre back yard with a nice inclined hill for him to fly up and down.

I intend to get into some agility classes with him, but due to health reason for myself, that is going to have to wait. (I have crohns disease, almost died back in Nov, and have been confined to laying in bed ever since then, and this dog has been my crutch to lean on this entire time, My girlfriend had left me, lost my job, moved back to my parents, and just had my life ripped out form under me. And this dog has stepped up to the plate and been there for me like no other. I love this dog more than anything in this world. and Id love to start to work with him more now that I am starting to get back onto my feet.

For now I really want to work on some cool kinda "Show-off" tricks with him out in my back yard on my own. Again, Im not really looking for basic tricks, but more "cool" kinda cocky-showing-off tricks...

So I was hoping that someone could recommend some good videos / DVD's (Better yet a whole series or course) that will help train me, to train him to do some pretty amazing tricks.. Id love for him to be able to catch flying disks, Jump on my back when I hunch over, Play dead, Roll over, all the way up to doing extreme tricks. (lots of tricks that involve running and jumping and burning energy, I am guessing this would be the best for him and his breed because he s a herding dog and needs the physical and mental stimulation to burn off his extreme amount of energy.

I have watched a "leerburg" training dvd set my friend gave me, that covered a lot of basics as far as explaining different collars, and tools, and basic obedience things... which was great, but im trying to get my hands on something a little more "Entertaining".

Would anyone have some recommendations on a good DVD that has some great training advice for show-off tricks?

Thanks a ton to any help that anyone can provide!

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[brody_smom]

I can't recommend any dvds, but I have a border collie mix the same age as yours. Mine isn't nearly as high energy as your boy, but I still have to be very careful with what extreme tricks I teach. His bones and joints are still young and you don't want to injure him, so make sure anything you do teach is done with safety and health of your dog first, before entertainment value.

 

[southerngirl]

Hi and welcome. I would suggest going on youtube. There are a ton of tutorials on tricks.(Just make sure the person is using a fun and rewarding way to train) Here is one. You can find the videos by searching How to teach your dog... in the youtube search bar.

 

[brody_smom]

Hi and welcome. I would suggest going on youtube. There are a ton of tutorials on tricks.(Just make sure the person is using a fun and rewarding way to train) Here is one. You can find the videos by searching How to teach your dog... in the youtube search bar.

Wow, that looks much easier to train than I thought it would! I'm going to teach Brody this one tomorrow!

 

[dereksmagic]

Thanks for the replies so far. I dont know why I didnt even think of youtube. Ill def do some browsing around and see what I come across. What I was hoping for was more of a comprehensive DVD series that takes you from beginning to advanced tricks in sequence, kinda how the basic tricks you learn, help the process in learning the more advanced trick.

But Ill take the youtube videos as well.. so beisdes the DVD recommendations. If people would like to post their favorite YouTube videos for cool tricks that would be awesome!

I also have a pool, and he LOVES water. sprinkers, the hose, digging in his water bowl, and likes to stand on the first step of the pool. However I cant get him to actually jump into the water, so if someone might know a dvd or youtube video that goes in depth step-by-step of teaching a dog (without scaring him) to like to jump into the pool. That would be a help also.


thanks for helping so far!!! I appreciate it.

 

[dereksmagic]

Ill be sure to take a couple pics and videos of magic working on some of the tricks!

Oh one more thing, does anyone know the trick where you place a treat on the tip of the pups nose, and tell him to wait, and then say GET IT and they would flick it up and catch it out of the air? Is there a name for this trick or can someone share a youtube video that teaches this in depth as well..

I dont really know HOW to train.. iv just been playing around and getting lucky with the stuff he already knows... Maybe there is a video (dvd or youtube) that talks about how to teach dogs. or better yet, Teaches you the process of teaching animals tricks. That might help me along the way.

I had put up a few post on a couple other forums, I thought for sure there would be tons of stunt dvds for purchase or download. but from the responses so far.. that doesn't seem to be that case. Which is a bit shocking. Hmmm.

 

[southerngirl]

First you need to get him to enjoy swimming in the pool before you get him to jump. You may find this thread helpful. http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/forum/threads/teaching-your-dog-to-swim.4651/

 

[southerngirl]

I'll post some more tomorrow, got to go to bed.

 

[kassidybc]

Kikopups videos on youtube are great. Is Magic clicker trained? This method of training works wonders!

 

[Dlilly]

Before you buy any DVDs check out Youtube! There are so many great tutorials on there, and they are free!

Here are links to some training channels that have videos I think will be useful to you:

http://www.youtube.com/Kikopup

http://www.youtube.com/user/pamelamarxsen

http://www.youtube.com/user/tab289


http://www.youtube.com/user/zsianz1


http://www.youtube.com/user/supernaturalbc2009

http://www.youtube.com/user/zakgeorge21

Do More With Your Dog has some great books and a few DVDs on trick training. I bet this book would be cheaper than a DVD, and it is the best I've seen so far! They might also have some DVDs, you would have to check their website. http://www.amazon.com/101-Dog-Tricks-Activities-Challenge/dp/1592533256

Silvia Trkman is a 14-time national champion in agility from Slovenia. She is not only an incredible agility trainer, but she's also a suburb trick trainer! Her DVDs tend to get pricey, but they are worth it if you're serious about trick training! http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=3173

 

[Dlilly]

And here's a video on how to teach the trick you were asking about. This method has worked great with my Shepherd! I spent extra time teaching her to stay still when I place the cap on her nose (I use a cap instead of a treat) since she didn't like the cap near he face, which is understandable. This video is from Tab289's channel. I hope it helps you!

http://youtu.be/hUYAEhm8YiI

 

[MaryK]

Hi and Welcome I'm a little late, have had a very sick older dog, so apologies

I see everyone has jumped in (no pun intended ) and given you very good help.

But one thing, I see your doggy is only two months old. Please, please, please, do NOT allow Magic to jump 5/6 feet in trick work (I know what you mean I have a Kelpie and she's got an awesome jump) it's much too high for such a young dog. Magic's shoulder joints etc. haven't any where near developed, so keep the hoop jump to just an inch of the ground, no more, raising it to a bit higher in a few months time. Don't panic is she jumps that high normally, but do keep an eye on her just the same.

With Agility work a reputable club will not allow a dog to start until they are a year old. Again, because of the physical formation, and they will require a vet check to ensure the dog is fit, even with a dog a year old. So plenty of time for you to recover

Please also watch Kikkopups video on safety with tricks. She goes into what is safe and what isn't safe - a lot of 'show off tricks' can be highly dangerous to the dog and whilst the dog may appear healthy, it's later life, or in some cases, not so later in their lives that arthritis, hip problems and other like dis-eases will show up. Even with agility one of the people at my vets has withdrawn from competition work as the jumps were getting too high and too many dogs were suffering injuries, some of which cause permanent damage.

I don't won't to sound like a spoil sport, far from it, but I've had working dogs all my life and know just how tempting it is to teach them (a) tricks which are not suitable for their age and (b) tricks which look showy but are down right dangerous to their long term health. There are heaps of 'show off tricks' though which are not detrimental to the dogs well being, so go for those, especially while Magic is still such a baby, he needs to develop fully before attempting much of the jumping tricks. You could use a modified version, but it will not be that long before he's fully developed, so just hold off and teach him loads of good, safe tricks, people are impressed with what we know to be 'easy' tricks as well.

And don't forget, a good 'burn off' of energy is to play 'mental' games with Magic. Mental games burn huge amounts of energy and are great if the weather is ghastly, you're feeling sick or whatever.

Have fun, take care Magic, he sounds an absolutely fabulous puppy!

 

[MaryK]

Oops sorry, my puppy was distracting me, I didn't see the 1 year before the two months. Please accept my apologies, Magic is old enough for the big boy tricks, but do heed Kikkopups warning about the unsafe tricks.

 

[dereksmagic]

Thanks for the all reply's everyone! Im a bit groggy from a medical treatment I had today that leaves me a bit loopy, but I noticed that someone (somewhere) was talking about "Mental Games" to help burn some of your dogs energy? This is something id really like to look into. As for now. Im going to start with browsing kikopup's youtube videos, and move down the list of other youtube channels that were mentioned.... But if someone can guide me in the right direction for Mental games youtube clips that would be helpful.

Thanks again!

 

[dereksmagic]

And here's a video on how to teach the trick you were asking about. This method has worked great with my Shepherd! I spent extra time teaching her to stay still when I place the cap on her nose (I use a cap instead of a treat) since she didn't like the cap near he face, which is understandable. This video is from Tab289's channel. I hope it helps you!

http://youtu.be/hUYAEhm8YiI

Thanks for the link!

 

[dereksmagic]

A couple more requests if you guys dont mind. (I know that I could just browse and wants tons of youtube clips until I stumble across the ones im looking for, but in asking on here, im hoping to eliminate some of that time, by hopfully someone already knowing a good video for the specific thing I am looking for)

Information walkthough on how to get him to start to catch flying disks. This is a big one that id really love to teach him. So if anyone knows a great easy to fallow, super informative youtube video for this that would be awesome!

Also, I have noticed a lot of people using clickers, When he was a puppy, I had tried using a clicker, but half the time I couldn't get the thing to make the click noise, or it wasn't loud enough, it was more of a pain than anything else. I also noticed that people use the word "Yes" instead of the clicker... Well I have been using Goodboy! since he was a puppy.. is there anything wrong with using goodboy? He is already use to it, so im not sure if changing it at this point is a good idea or not.

Lastly, Any recommendations on training treats? Iv noticed that in some of the videos that people give a lot of treats. or rapid fire type of treat giving. Iv been buying blue buffalo treats, but that can get a big pricey. Does anyone have any good sources for either like a site to buy training treats in bulk? treats that are healthy, and cost-effective? = I saw somone cut up some deli ham into little squares, I tried that but found it hard to pull them apart, especially if I want to give him single treats back to back quickly for doing something, so I would really like to try and stay with small solid hard training treats, for a cheap price. But not so cheap that they are crappy and unhealthy to be giving him so many of them.

sorry for all the random questions lol

Thanks!

 

[dereksmagic]

haha ok so its late and im just over thinking at this point lol.. but does anyone have a list of tricks to train your dog in order? Sort of like, one trick leads into the other, progressively helping them do more advanced tricks.. Just an in order list. kinda like.. First sit, then lay down, then roll over, then play dead. etc.. Or does the order in which your puppy learns tricks really matter? - or maybe a compiled list of "beginner tricks" and then another list of "intermediate tricks"... Im also partly asking this, cus now that im actually trying to research this stuff. Im blanking out on tricks that I can train him. Like I totally forgot about roll over and play dead until just now. So im sure there are a TON of other easy to train or beginner tricks that im not even realizing that I could be working on right now.

lol again, sorry for all the questions, id rather be spending more of my time training and playing with my dog then researching and watching videos on my computer. I only get a limited amount of time to really do anything due to medical conditions, so time is money... er... time is training? hah.

 

[brody_smom]

Not to discourage you from asking questions, but there is a search feature on the forum (top right corner)where you can find answers to your questions asked by other people. I have found some really great older threads and answers from trainers who are no longer active here, but were very knowledgeable. I really wish some of them would come back!(That means you Tigerlily and Collie Man, if you're listening!) If you re-open the old thread, you can start up some interesting discussions as well.

 

[kassidybc]

Also, I have noticed a lot of people using clickers, When he was a puppy, I had tried using a clicker, but half the time I couldn't get the thing to make the click noise, or it wasn't loud enough, it was more of a pain than anything else. I also noticed that people use the word "Yes" instead of the clicker... Well I have been using Goodboy! since he was a puppy.. is there anything wrong with using goodboy? He is already use to it, so im not sure if changing it at this point is a good idea

You may want to get a different clicker. I have never had any issues with my clicker, it makes the noise every time, and is always loud enough. The difference between the clicker and "goodboy" is how long it is. The click captures the EXACT second that he did what you want, where as goodboy is more general. You may not notice it, but in the time you say goodboy he may have sat, sniffed, and looked to his left, and even though you meant to praise the sit, he wouldn't know which he was getting rewarded for. With a clicker you can click the exact moment he sat (obviously sitting is just an example).

Don't worry, switching won't be a problem! I didn't start clicker training until Chloe was 6, until then we used good girl, but she adapted to clicker training really quick! And she's learning tricks twice as fast with this method! Make sure to load the clicker first (do you know what that means?)

 

[kassidybc]

As far as treats go, is he a picky eater? I use canned green beans as treats for Chloe, they're super cheap, super healthy and low calorie, and she loves them!! Although many dogs don't like them. You'll have to try and see.