On our way in to the park I met this strange critter! I once had a stuffy that looked like that but momma said it was no stuffy and i should leave it alone!
Then we go into the big pup area and it is EMPTY! I was worried that momma had forgotten to let our friends know that I was coming and this is when I find out about her plan! She planned to bring me to the park when it would be empty so that we could work on her latest obsession... a 'reliable recall'! So let me get this straight you promised to bring me to the DOG park and instead brought me to school?
From Moose's Momma: Some of you may 'recall' our first post about training Moose to come when he is called. We got some very helpful pointers from Honey's human about using a more exciting tone of voice and encouraging words once Moose has turned around and that has made a big difference. She also suggested using a training lead (a really long leash or rope) so that he is not able to ignore me when things are distracting.
So I did not get around to making our own training lead until a week or so ago and tried to use it on a walk with kind of disastrous results (lots of tangled arms and legs). So we shortened it (from 50 to 30) and went to the park with it yesterday. It definitely took some learning on my part but I think I am getting the hang of it. I have figured out that you need to keep it loose enough so that they forget they are leashed but tight enough that you aren't fumbling for awhile before you can effectively tug as a reminder. I took some video showing our past 2 training sessions and we used the training lead in the 2nd session. It is impossible to handle the camera at the same time as you are handling the lead though so the video does not really capture how I am doing it.
I have also been working on having him let me grab his collar and that has also improved things greatly. He is learning that when I call him and grab his collar, not only is he given treats, but he is released to continue along off leash a lot of the time (i.e. 'Come' does not mean his fun is over!). That is another thing that is hard to show with a camera in my hand but you can kind of see it at the end of the clip. So what I do is let Moose off leash and once he is walking away I will say "Moose, come!", he will turn around and look at me and then I start saying 'good boy', when he gets back to me I grab his collar, click, treat + praise, release collar... repeat! We need to practice a lot more with the training lead because I think I am going faster than he is ready to go and as I understand it every time you call and they don't come it reinforces ignoring you and it will slow things down in the long run. As always questions and suggestions are welcome! We are making progress but I think it is in spite of my not knowing what I am doing!
p.s. Contrary to his story he was allowed to romp off leash and explore the park for a good 15 minutes before school was in session!
Moose, you seem to have a very determined owner.
ReplyDeleteSorry:(
In the classes I have taught, I begin with a lead of 15' so it can be reeled in quickly. I also suggest that the human bend down and open arms wide and welcoming when the dog is called in order to guide him to come and sit directly in front of you. Of course, lots and lots of praise and a treat.
ReplyDeleteOh please keep us posted. Momma is so happy to see that she is not the only one who struggles with the recall thing. She says I always know when she has foodables. Well, duh! So she tried carrying foodables even when she doesn't plan on training, but then I am just so darn cute that we do some training anyway but once she runs out I go deaf. Hehehe.
ReplyDeleteKisses,
Dexter
Excellent! Jack does the same thing - he seems to come when he wants to. Please let us know how it's going so we try the things you've shown!
ReplyDeleteAahh Moose, poor baby. Do mommas ever forget anything? Well better to get checked I guess to make sure you are ok. Thank goodness she made up for it. What a nice way to end the day..relaxin in the pool.
ReplyDeleteLuv,
Benny & Lily
Yeah, my Mom has started making noises about me coming back to her when she calls me. But the last few days the weather has "not been conducive" to her wanting to stay out and freeze. Unfortunately it is supposed to warm up next week! :-(
ReplyDelete*kissey face*
-Fiona
Well, at least you got some Noseventures Moose. That's the important thing right?
ReplyDeleteBolo
Pei-Ess, glad the V E T thing was quick.
Oh that was brilliant!! I think Moose (*and you) is doing SO well - really - am so impressed. Especially the bit where he is closer to the dog behind the fence and still comes back to you...I love your praise as well - so nice & excited - so many people just can't seem to do the excited, high pitched praise and that's a shame coz that is probably the single most effective thing!
ReplyDeleteAlso - I want to say I am so sorry that I hadn't replied to your question yet about using the long line with a Halti or not: I asked Flip and he said he prefers to hook it just onto a normal collar - as opposed to a head halter but that does not mean you can't do it with a head halter. It's more if the dog runs off at great speed and hits the end of the long line, there is less of a jolt on a normal collar than if its head is whipped around by the Halti/Gentle Leader (because of the way that device works) - or especially if the long line is running under the dog, through his legs, you can end up flipping him completely forwards.
However, Moose doesn't seem to be moving at speed anyway so these issues probably don't apply! And you seem to be doing fine with the long line just attached to a normal collar.
A few suggestions - in the park, when he is sniffing & ignoring you (and before you start reeling him in) you can try stamping your feet and running backwards, waving your arms and making funny noises to get his attention. Dogs will pretty much always chase you if you start running so that is a very good way to encourage the recall if he is ignoring you. Once he has started running towards you, then crouch down and open your arms and make a big fuss when he reaches you. If running backwards doesn't work, then the next step would be tugging gently and reeling him in on the long line, (still running backwards - you don't want to have to reel him in all the way - you want to just use the long line to give little tugs to encourage him to start moving towards you and then once you have his attention, you can stop and crouch down & verbally encourage/do all the things you were doing before).
I agree also that it would be easier to start with a shorter long line, so you have less rope to deal with and get tangled with!
(By the way, if you look at the video of the pup Raffy doing her training in our latest post, you might be able to see that she also has a long line on her during the Recall training and when she was ignoring Flip calling her and continuing to play with Honey, he just ran forward and stepped on the long line, to stop her running away - and that sensation itself was enough to interrupt her playing with Honey and respond to his call. It's the last scene in the recall section of the video...)
I have some other video footage I took of Flip working with a long line which I specially filmed for you - I will email it through to you separately.
Hsin-Yi
Moose, my ma ape is very impressed with your recall especially with another dog in the vicinity. I had the most reliable recall in the world in doggy class but when there is another dog involved when I am out in the world fuggit about it. She says I should go back to school but I say I am too old for that crap! Just because she was in school for a million years doesn't mean I should be.
ReplyDeletewally t.
What a good and bad day! So great to meet you! Please stop by and meet my Africa!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.trainingboerboels.blogspot.com
She is always happy to meet a new friend.
Wooos!Training day at the dog park? What a bummmer, I remember those days of long leash lines and recall, Mom always used something really good to get me to come, better than any treats I get for anything else I do for her. Usually chicken or steak.... yum! Try not to work Mom too hard, they get tired quick....
ReplyDelete-Kira The BeaWootiful
I'm covering my mom' eyes on this... I don't want to give her any ideas that I can do what you can do! BOL!
ReplyDeleteParker has a mind of his own too!!!
ReplyDelete