Congratulations! You got till the last list!
1. add duration and distractions to heeling - try it in different environments, reward a lot there, but apart from that, start adding more duration, reward every couple of steps with a small reward first, then do a really long distance and big jackpot for it - then a couple of steps for a small reward and long distance for a great reward again - vary it a lot for them to be able to see the pattern that the longer there is no reward, the better!
2. pick up the object to hug it - if the dog can already hold an object independently, put it on the floor and see if he can solve the problem and pick it up with a muzzle to get a hold of it with a paw
3. get a ball for kids, hold it with your feet so that it doesn't move too much at first and click for front legs on - then release your feet a little bit so that it starts to move and the dog needs to balance on it. Now click for little steps on the ball, the final goal is the dog walking ahead with hind feet on the ground and front feet rolling the ball. Great for balance and coordination and for getting used to objects moving under the feet.
4. "sit up" to "stand up" and back and "down" to "sit up" and back - great for strength in the back, especially important for those who will be doing agility. Down to sit up and back should go easy, use a hand signal together with your verbal cues. First, reward even if the dog goes into sit for a second, but then try to get rid of it and go for direct transitions from one position to another. Sit up to stand up is easy too, you can use a lure for that one. Going back to sit up (without falling in sit first) is hard, so offer your hand as a support so that the dog can lean on it and then click for any knee bending until actually going into sit up. This is conditioning exercise, so you can help some more with lures if necessary, but as always - don't do it so much that the dog would be sore after, you need to build muscle and balance gradually.
5. another great warming up exercise to stretch the dog before the run: spins to left&right and figure 8 forward. I teach it with a nose touch, putting a hand for a nose touch on the right spot (somewhere at the dog's hip) to get a spin, then getting more&more spins in the same direction in a row, fading the hand and putting it on verbal cue left &right - very useful also on a course! I also do figure 8 forward with a nose touch, putting a hand so that the dog comes between the legs, rewarding at the side and then again the other direction. Fade the hand then into hand signal and then completely, using just a verbal cue. I simply use cik&cap.
And yes, sure, that nose targeting is almost as luring and if you wanted, you can also shape it instead. I will sometimes lure as sometimes, it is the easiest way to the goal. I never lure with a puppy because I want them to understand the concept of shaping first because many things simply can’t be taught by luring, so at one point, you need a dog who will offer behaviors. If you always help with easy tricks and then count on simply going to shaping when needed, you’ll get in trouble. But I don't have a problem with going the other way around: first only shape, but later on do some luring or targeting when teaching something like figure 8, spins or sit up to stand up.
6. limping: click for one paw in the air (front or rear, whatever you prefer), add a little bit duration and then start clicking for any movements or weight shift of other 3 legs. Shape towards a real step and slowly add more&more to get limping on front/rear foot.
You again have 2 weeks to work on those exercises and post videos to comment and give suggestions for improvements. After those 2 weeks, your very last assignment before graduating puppy class is to make a video of everything you learned in this class - so don't post training sessions as such, but finished version of tricks, some breakthrough moments, some playing, city walking and everything else you did with your dog for this class (using what you already taped or taping some more). If you allow, I will then publish your videos on my website. Those videos will be your graduation work, you will get a "LoLaBuLand puppy class graduate" certificate and as a gift, a download link to a training DVD of your choice (see the training videos website to choose one).
For everybody asking for "advanced puppy class" - I will try to think of a good program as it was so cool to work with you that I would sure love to see some more of your dogs in the future 🙂 But I think that won't be doable before autumn, so the plan is to hopefully open advanced tricks class in September or October. Another option is Agility Foundation class that will start end of June - I will put a description on my website soon.
As promised here is our “Boy” act this was not easy as Play keeps wanting to be “Spiderman” and do a handstand. 🙂
It sure looks great now!!! Love how high he is lifting that leg! Did you try the other leg too?
I have not but I surely will.
Here is our 1st session on the ball. The video was not quite in the right place
Very cool! For my BCs, this was pretty difficult trick. PyrSheps on the other hand both did it on a first session, it was funny.
Sylvia I am leaving on the 19th for vacation, going to the Baltic… Do you want my puppy graduation video by then? Will this site stay available for us to reference?
I am also very interested in a continuation of this class or a foundation agility class.
I will post more videos later Thanks Val and Play
You can take the time, enjoy your vacations and post it when you’re back. This site will stay available for at least whole June, probably more.
Wow--This list is really intimidating! With that said I worked on Skateboarding yesterday (no film yet) and decided to try the ball this am as it’s threatening to snow. I couldn’t believe how easily the ball went. We worked for about 5 minutes and then went ahead and set up the camera. I had to edit out some interfering dogs, but otherwise this is relatively uncut. I’ve realized that if I want to shape up something new that the other dogs need to be out of the room.
Nancy and Nero
Never tried it that way! He is doing great, especially as I think it’s harder that way as with the ball on the floor, it looks like it moves more unpredictably when in a bowl.
Oh,You are right (of course). I went outside on grass when the rain stopped and he could really start to move it forward immediately. I realize that with my other dogs I never truly shaped before. What Nero and all the pups in this class can do is just amazing to me.
Nancy
Yeap, you’re all doing GREAT!!! But I’m really sorry we lost some of the participants, maybe the program was too intense? But then, one can always skip some of the tricks, it’s really no big deal, I just wanted to provide enough challenge for those who already knew some of the tricks…
Wow-- I just reviewed our introductions at the beginning of class and realize that we did lose a lot of pups. I have found the program to be very intense yet totally stimulating. The work that we have really pushes us as trainers to get the most out of out dogs. On my own I would never demanded as much as we have done, but we have been able to do it for the most part. It took me at least 4 weeks to get the frog, but I posted my progress in the first session and the advice told me we were going in the correct direction. Now he does it for attention from me, or strangers. Over the years I have instructed a lot of students in agilty, and few ever really did the homework. They all hoped that they could get all their training in in one hour of class a week. Does this mean we get to submit extra video time?
Nancy and Nero
Sure, just post if you have more to show! 🙂
Yes, it’s not an easy class 🙂 The videotaping isn’t easy either, and can be time consuming. I don’t think i am finished with any of the tricks, but my goal was just to learn how to work better with my dog.
But I was surprised to see that some people dropped out.
Did they tell you why?
No, I mostly don’t know the reason, but yes, I think it’s partly because videotaping is so time consuming, so together with teaching all those tricks, it was just hard to find the time for everything. But those pages will stay available for a couple of months, so I hope some are still catching up with us!
We will still try to catch up!!!! We have LOVED this class… But we have had computer problems, video problems, and also busy time of year with Bronagh graduating highschool… we will try to cram now as much as we can
Oh my goodness… I have so many videos to watch, edit and upload for lesson 5 that I might just make a new one with all the exercises that I didn’t publish. And I’m leaving tomorrow and will be away for 3 days so… I hope I’ll be able to fulfill at least half of the assignments for lesson 6 before the end of the class.
Anyway, we started with the ball trick and figure 8. Here’s our first session for both.
And Valori, I’m sorry for your aussie… 🙁
Laura & Shape
Very good for the 1st session! You can stop clicking for being on the ball now and only click for rolling it and slowly fade the hands for figure 8. But as I said, definitely great for 1st session!
Heeling practice with distractions, you can see him looking around a lot for squirrels and he looses position. The driveway is a little small, I prefer to practice on the soccerfield
I see, he often looses focus after the reward -- on those tries that he looks right back again, reward right away again. If he doesn’t, try to do something immediately and really suddenly -- start running, turn, stop -- something to get his attention. Don’t reward right away, if you had to work to get his attention, he needs to work some more to get his reward too. He should figure out the pattern that the faster he looks back, the faster the reward is coming.
Thank you for your advice. How do I make him work if he’s not paying attention?
yep, that’s right, he gets the reward and thinks he’s done, that’s why I like to have more room to move. He pays more attention when we do things fast. I need to try jackpots and varying the reward, too.
He’s paying attention when rewards keep coming, but what about times when I don’t have food and a clicker. I have been training for almost 2 years now, the first 3 months he didn’t want to do anything with me, he ran away when you just looked at him. It can get very frustrating.
Focus and attention is very hard for him, and squirrels trump/overwrite everything else.
Tricks are perfect to work through distractions! I probably didn’t emphasis enough, but it’s very important to take the dog in different environments and do some easy and fun tricks everywhere you go. My puppies learn tricks in so many different environments (agility trials, gas stations on a highway, city center, woods…) that they think people, dogs, deer and noises around are the most normal thing ever: it’s just how things are. Heeling with distractions is much easier than. You of course want to use lots of rewards first, but as I said, if you make distractions “normal”, it shouldn’t be a problem to get the attention even when they’re not present. As I wrote somewhere else: what some people call distractions and make a big theories on it, I simply call life and my puppies are thrown in it the very first day…
Anyway, let’s take his dinner on a road, take him out and spend his dinner on something fun and easy and then go from there. If he wanted to play in those environments, that would help A LOT too. You’ve definitely done a great job with him already, I couldn’t notice he might get so distracted outside, otherwise I would emphasis the importance of taking the tricks on the road more… But well, it’s never too late! It’s probably even easier now that he has some favourite tricks -- just start with those!
Thanks Silvia,
I do some training everyday on walks and runs.
Unfortunately, he missed out on early socialisation and training, he was already 10 months when I got him. He didn’t know anything, only bad experiences. He doesn’t even like to cuddle; someone taught him that it’s bad to interact and be close to humans. He is very comfortable just by himself. Of my 3 rescue dogs that I had he is the most damaged and has trouble trusting and bonding.
So we will just keep working on it. The clicker and tricks training has worked much better than classic obedience ( so boring for him 🙂
He usually works better with me with lots of running, but it’s 35 C and steamy already (Florida), phew, we can only do that early mornings like 6am.
I might need higher value rewards, and keep forgetting about jackpots. need to watch his weight though too. he’s a tank 🙂
Yeap, everything is much easier with the puppy… You sure did great job with him already and I think he’ll just keep progressing, with everything you do with him. But yes, too much weight and high temperatures is never a good combination… Don’t push him for too much in those conditions, it can make working with you less fun.
1st session with ball and from sit up to stand up. how do I tell him to put both feet on the ball? He seems to be switching feet me 🙂 and when he doesn’t know what to do he gets into heel position
To get both feet on the ball, you can either cheat and reward him higher so that he needs to shift his weight back and jump up a little bit as that’s what he will eventually need to do -- or you can shape the weight shift and eventually stop rewarding just one paw in order to get the other one too. Sit up to stand up is again harder for bigger, heavier dogs, so it’s best to give him a hand for a support. You can also start with the other direction, but of course with the help of the hand.
OK, thanks.
I’ll try moving the reward higher to get both feet on, but I also liked him switching feet with me and holding on to the ball, maybe there’s a different trick there…
He is big guy, I call him “Bruiser”, he’s always scratching and bruising me, especially holding on to my arm. I have him on a diet which makes training sessions shorter though.
Here is the continuation of “Boy” Yes he can do it on both sides.
Wow, that was fast!!! 🙂 He uses both legs really well and it’s just too cute how high he lifts them!
Yeah its really scary how smart he is! He loves to learn and work!
Here we are doing figure 8’s
Wow, very independent already!!!
Cik-Cap is coming along but I needed to use a pole with no base or Play was fixated on doing something with the base. 🙂 I will reintroduce the base when he gets more proficient. He does great to the left but has a difficult time to the right so I am trying to have him go right more. I will post more soon….Val and Play
Nice! Good placement of the reward too! You can start naming it!