I think we're ready for the next list!
1. see in what situations your dog gets really crazy and exited or runs as mad and name it - my "magic" word is "ajde, ajde" and you can really see how much speed they add when hearing it - in agility or when running in the fields. I got it by saying anytime they would be playing the BC games, chasing each other in full speed or go crazy and run in circles on a wet grass.
2. make the front feet target lower&lower and then smaller&smaller and then fade it completely, still circling away from the dog and have him follow your leg. Then, add movements to the side, forward and backward and reward your dog for being glued to the leg.
3. side version of 2on2off: try to get side legs (the two left or the two right legs) on an object. The easiest is to choose an object that is angled (I put a pillow/plank/drawer under the angle against the sofa or a wall), so that the dog can't climb on it with all 4 feet. Because of 2on2off, they will probably try hind feet on, but position yourself next to an object so that the dog is parallel to it and will probably first try just one hind foot (it helps if you have a pee trick down already!): reward a couple of times so that he keeps it there as opposed to try to put the other hind leg on too and then see if you can get front foot on too. You can tell them to paw touch your hand that you keep close to an object and eventually fade the hand to have both feet on an object. Jackpot if the dog puts both feet on at the same time (vs. first hind, then front). Do it with both sides right from the start, you want to build muscle and balance on both sides.
4. one object into another: shape the dog to pick up an object, then to carry it around, then to carry it in the direction of another object, then to let it go close to it and eventually to actually put it in another object. I usually start directly with two bowls of the same size, but to make it easier, you can also use a toy and a box or something similar. Do try it with a bowl too, though, they require more precision.
5. hug the pole/umbrella trick, first clicking for any paw touch, then for sliding to the side and then for going more&more around the object, the final goal is a firm hug with one or both front feet around the object - see
6. stays with distractions: tell the dog to sit or down and continue with proofing the stay until the release word as we were practicing in 2on2off position already in the last lesson: have them stay in a position with you running passed them, throwing toys and treats, making different hand gestures etc. - then say "go" (sometimes standing still, sometimes while moving) and reward, preferably with a toy as you want a fast start out of the position on "go"
2 side feet training -- first we tried on a diagonal teeter board and then this is her first try on a wall. It is a little difficult to see with little fuzzy feet and the camera position sometimes is really bad, sorry for that.
She leans a lot against the wall, but I guess this is ok. Shall I put it on 2 different cues yet?
Nice! You can start naming it yes and slowly add more duration on a wall. Next step are fences and other objects that don’t allow that much leaning and then slowly fade it. You can also try to have her do it against your legs, Le offered that on her own and then it was very easy to fade it as I could feel really well how much she is leaning and could click when she didn’t lean too much.
Verena, I’m so amazed by all the tricks Bisou can do. And she is so cute. You are a fantastic dog trainer 🙂
Thanks, Carina, it is a lot of fun to train her 🙂 It’s been a long time since I adopted a puppy, usually I only take “second hand dogs” with behavioural deficits, so it seems a gift to me to have a puppy with no fears and no respect and a lot of energy. On top, it became a bit of a mission to prove Tibetians are more than just wash-and-brush-dogs… I’d love to see more different breeds in Dogsports or Tricks 🙂
Sorry if this is a repeat, but I don’t see the comment I wrote yesterday. Maybe I forgot to click Submit…
Dash is now doing well on almost all the tricks, including now putting the ball into a bowl without always jumping into the bowl. 🙂
Now I want to transition him from putting his rear feet on a platform to putting his feet on a wall or on my legs. (To get a handstand later). Right now, he will back up until he arrives at any platform (stacked books, shoes, etc.) and put his feet up… as high as his own back. But if he backs up and feels a wall or my legs, he instantly sits. I’m not getting anything click-able. No foot movement or lifting when his rear is against a wall.
What is the best way to transition to putting feet on a wall instead of on a platform? I think you said NOT to use a slope, like pillows or a tilted board. So how do I do the change from stepping on a platform to placing his feet against a perfectly vertical wall?
Thanks from Sharon & Dash in Istanbul
Hi Silvia, I re-read the Week 4 instructions, and this seems to say using an angled board is “good.” However, I thought your comments for 2 back legs (back up to 2o/2o) said NOT to use an angled board.
Maybe I don’t understand the setup you’re describing for this week. You mention an angle, but with a drawer or pillow under it. Could you please post a photo of the recommended set-up? Also, will the same method work to transition Dash to put 2 back feet up on a wall (instead of a platform)?
Thanks.
Exactly, I use an angled board (see Verena’s video) for side legs (and then raise it to a vertical object and replace it with a wall) but NOT for 2 back feet on as with side legs, there is no danger of teaching them climbing, as it is with back legs. With back legs, you need a push up and I get it with making an object higher (a pile of books for example) or even using “empty” objects like small tables and chairs with dogs who still try to climb. Once a pile of books is so high the dog can’t reach the platform anymore, it should be easy to remove the books and get the same on a wall and then also on your legs.
Thanks for the clarification. The angled board for 2 side legs is working great. I’ll keep stacking books for the 2 back legs.
Hi Silvia, this is how we have progressed on “glue to leg” -- first time without a target 🙂 I’m not sure if I’m doing it right (rewarding correctly) when training the “hug” -- Vini will rather touch pole than hug it. Should I not expect two legs but only one? or how should I progress? Lastly is Vini’s third atempt to do the sideways 2o2o -- shall I continue like this? Unfortunately the sunlight was impacting the quality of the video and some of the recording is quite dark -- unfortunately when training the “get bowl” the recording was all dark, but session was quite fun -- I was sitting down with knees up and had placed the bowl on top of my knees. Vini touches it with a paw but no reward, she gets more eager and bowl ended on floor. She placed a front paw in bowl, still no reward -- then she turned around and placed a rear paw in the bowl -- she sure knows she has rear legs/paws 🙂
Cool, very nice heeling position! To get a real hug, one paw is better yes, she can’t go around well when both legs are in the air. So try to wait one goes down and go for one first. GREAT side legs already, loved those simultaneous lifts!!! You can already raise it some more and then switch to the wall. Looking forward to see the innovative versions of a bowl into bowl trick too 🙂
Silvia, when would be a good timing to proceed to other objects with the hugging trick? Bisou does grab the pole with both paws every time I present it -- but when I used a small cardboard roll today, she kept kicking it away with the front feet.
Do we have to wait until the dogs pull the pole towards themselves?
Yes, I would go for a real, full hug first. It will be easier to get it with one leg though, those that went directly to two legs all got leaning only and never got an independent hug until they didn’t master it with one leg first…
Circling with Garlic :
To give treat in a good position in front of mouth, I must switch treats/clicker from one hand to the other. As you can see, I try not to bend to give treat, with bad consequence : Garlic stand up on hind feet to get treat.
If she only comes up for a treat after a click, then that’s not too bad, I wouldn’t worry about it. Do try to move with very little movements first though, to help her get more precise: move for the smallest part of a circle possible that will still make her correct her position (like 5 or 10 cm) and reward when she has very precise position -- and when not, move a little bit again. Now that you’re moving so fast, it’s hard to work on precision. Focus on closeness and not being too much in front as she tends to be somewhat too much in front sometimes.
Thanks Silvia ! and yes she comes up after a click, when I don’t give her treat fast enough in front of month. I haven’t introduce any cues nor verbal encouragement, but perhaps is it time to do it ? I dress with bermuda and socks but it is really winter with snow here !!!
Yeah, things we do for our dogs! 🙂 I would first spend few more sessions on precision and once there, name it yes, two different names for two different sides.
side 2on2off : is my toolbox suitable for this trick or may I use a wood plank like Carina do ?
stay with distractions : I introduce it with some 2on2off before. Then, I give a very little treat for staying in position ( luring at the beginning only ) and I throw a bigger treat on “Go”.
Silvia, I have still some questions about : do you want the dog waiting release word with pressure, and is it such work on agility table ? Instant before “Go”, do you get focus look at your dog in eyes or do you give dog name then “Go” ?
trying hug an object …
Getting there with side legs! I especially liked left legs up as you got some really nice simultaneous lifts that you definitely want to jackpot. The box seems to work fine, despite I normally go for somewhat lower lifts. But it looks like you’ll soon be able to go to the wall anyway, Garlic seems to have a very good balance!
You can introduce more distractions to her stays now, maybe first your movement (running ahead as she stops), then hand movements with a toy in your hand and finally throwing a cookie or a toy BEFORE you release her -- and if she stays, release her to go get it for her reward. Also, slowly lower the number of rewarding in a position as eventually, you’ll only be rewarding a release (by letting her do agility after a release). I’m not sure if I understand your question well, but I don’t use any pressure at any point of training. I don’t look at them before the release and I don’t use their name either, I’ll just say “go” when I want the to start. I want them to focus on that one word and will always use this particular word for a release.
I noticed that Garlic has a better down position since we started this class : perhaps due to crossing paw trick …
With my other dog Attila, when I ask for stay in position on table, he has no “pressure” looking at spectators or scratching or resting ( or sleeping … ). But fortunately this is not the case with Garlic : during this trick, she is focused/tense expecting ( sometime anticipate ) the release word !
Hi Silvia and classmates! Since I’ve had a hectic couple of weeks, we’re playing catch-up with the lessons now 🙂 So, I’ll just post a video of bits of last weeks’ training:
I know I’m a bit slow with rewarding, but I just don’t notice it while training… Other than that, any other suggestions? 🙂
Thanks,
Davor & Elky
Welcome back! 🙂 Elky sure did some growing meantime! She is playing really nicely too I see! For door slamming, can you find the doors that would make some more noise, to get her used to the noise too? She definitely seems fine with movement! For a sit up, try holding a hand closer to her, so that she is completely vertical and not leaning on you too much. You can also add some duration as for now, I think she thinks it’s about going up to touch and back down. For paw crosses, try to go even further with your hand so that she crosses even more. Your rewarding actually looks pretty good, just for pivots maybe, faster rewards would really help to get more fluency. I would work on that one some more before going to the next step. You also often click too late for pivots -- when she stops already: it’s really important she is still moving when you click! Nice 2on2off too, time to add some distractions to her stays! Happy training!
Perhaps out of context, but I have the oportunity to buy a gymnastic balloon the 2th of january for 8€ : single is 65cm and double is 50cm in the center. Can you tell us what is the appropriated size for Garlic ( small A 31cm ) and for other dog sizes. Thanks for your advice !!!
For her size, both are o.k., but for the same price, I would go for a double one, gives you more options, is easier to fix and doesn’t have the handles in a way, so I think it’s more useful for dog-use.
What happened to everybody? Only 13 people have commented on Lesson 4 out of a starting group of about 60.
Dash is having fun with this lesson. He’s perfecting putting a ball in a tiny basketball basket (made for toy stuffed bears).
He’s doing well with heel, though only when there’s some type of plate still. If I ask for him to find heel with an empty floor, he seems to have NO idea where heel position is. He also tries a lot of “partial cop-cop,” putting one of his feet on my feet. 🙂 But he’ll eventually figure it out.
🙂 Well I don’t know what happened to everyone else but I’m still training but haven’t had time to video 🙂 Busy time of year! And I’m working through some “teenager” issues with my almost 5 month old BC. He’s definitely hitting the BRAT stage with full force! 🙂 Never a dull moment! 🙂
Happy Holidays, everyone!
He was doing so well in your last video! What are the problems, is it harder to work on tricks too? -- Just interested as with my dogs, I never really had any teenager issues other than a recall needing some serious refreshing 🙂
Well, I guess most of the “teenager” issues are Zephyr “pushing the envelope” with his new found independence, confidence & curiousity. And it’s an adjustment for me to catch up with this once timid, thoughtful boy who stuck to me like glue. 🙂 All the socialization we did really helped but now he is a bit full of himself & wants to jump on people to say hello, no longer will let me cut his toenails, thinks a leash is for pulling & kitchen counters are for investigating, that cats are tug toys (my cats are very tolerant!), and sometimes forgets what a recall is…especially with distractions. 🙂 Sooo…lots of our training recently focuses on this stuff & we don’t get to as many tricks as I would like. 🙂 I don’t think his teenager issues are making it harder to work on tricks (he’s doing fine with them), it’s that I sometimes run out of kibble/treats for the day. 🙂 Maybe I should just let him get fat and he might slow down! 🙂 Or maybe just do tricks and forget about the other stuff… 🙂
When you did “serious recall refreshing”, did you do anything specific? Did you put your dogs back on a leash to do this? And do you have any suggestions about cutting toenails? Zephyr used to be fine about toenails but then decided one day that he OWNED his feet & no one was cutting his toenails! 🙂
Thanks!
Oh, that doesn’t sound too bad, it just sounds like a puppy with lots of energy. Most of that (like jumping on people and stuff) will go away as he matures even if you don’t do anything specific. For toenails, you’ll probably have to do something about that… Would he let you do it for treats, meaning if you keep rewarding for touching his paw, nearing the thing, cutting one toenail etc.? With my other dogs, that’s how I did it, but Le is so touch sensitive that it didn’t work with her, so I actually just ave up and she partly wears them off and occasionally bite on them to trim them on her own… Not perfect, but I just didn’t find a way to make it a positive experience and after she ripped off her dewclaw twice, she just got even more sensitive about her paws…
For a recall, I just go back to the puppy phase and use lots of rewarding and practice a lot again in easy environments. And yes, they’re back on a leash in difficult environments that they can’t cope with (agility trials, training with other puppies on a field etc.).
hmm…I’ve been working with treats—touching his paw, putting the clippers next to his paw, etc., but he’ll only let me actually clip one toenail in a session then he gets all goosey again. So I’ve been going through this each time I try & cut one toenail then go back to just touching his paws for treats again. Maybe this will just take a long time until I can do all of them in one sitting?
Good to know the rest is just puppy stuff that he’ll outgrow. 🙂 I’ve never had a BC puppy before & Zephyr is way more energetic than any of my Bernese puppies! Thanks for the advice!
I imagine yes that he is somewhat more energetic as Bernese puppies! But I think you were first complaining about not being energetic and motivated enough 🙂 Doesn’t sound too bad for the toenails, just take it very slowly and reward it with something extra tasty.
I guess it’s bad time of a year for dog training 🙂 Hopefully we hear from all after Christmas though!
If you start heeling on a plate, can you then slowly move away from a target? Will he follow the leg or stay on a target? Try with a piece of paper or something he can’t feel well under his legs, so that he might come with you. Jackpot for leaving the target to follow your leg, but come back to the target to start again if he gets confused and looses the position. It usually only takes a session or two and they realize they don’t really need the target 🙂
This is when I’m regretting being an auditor, because a video would be clearer than my writing. 🙂
When I use a plate, my signal for “heel position” is to stand straight up and pat whichever leg I want him by. I have plates all over the floor of the room. He runs to “my” plate and pivots very beautifully until he is touching my leg and in a straight line. Then I C/T.
Then I try heeling for maybe 70 cm to the next plate. During this short trip, Dash is somewhat in heel position, but usually swings his rear out and steps on my foot in an attempt to make eye contact.
When we arrive at the next plate, I stop walking. When he notices I’ve stopped, he back-tracks a few cm, finds the plate, and pivots until he’s in ideal position again.
I’ve recently tried starting at a plate and heeling 70 cm to “empty floor space.” When I stop, I pat my leg as usual. Without the plate, however, Dash seems totally confused. He looks at me, looks at his feet, tries spinning in circles, and often ends up sitting right across the tops of my shoes looking a bit embarrassed.
I’m not too concerned, because my last dog wasn’t introduced to heeling until he was 18 months old, and never took a class. At 22 months, he got High in Trial at his first obedience show with a 198.5/200. So having a 9 month old that can already find heel position is already a great head-start!
I mean… “that can already find heel position when there is a plate there!”
I just wanted to show people there is no hurry to teach heeling. I used to rush and teach strict heeling to even 8 week old puppies (back in the choke collar days). Now it’s one of the last things I teach before competing, and even starting late, they learn better heeling with the clicker.
I think most people here are not even planning to compete in obedience. We just teach it for fun, it’s a cool rear end awareness trick, that’s why I do it with puppies. But they can of course learn it at any age, it’s very far from truth that old dogs can’t learn new tricks 🙂
I’ll never do or compete in obedience, but I only want the fun part of heeling, like we can see on Silvia’s videos : an happy dog and dynamic heeling that I will use to play. So not a kind of academic heeling !!!
I wouldn’t do straight forward heeling just yet, I introduce it more slowly. Try starting an exercise with some circling on a target and then slowly circle away, meaning keep circling, but in bigger circles, so that he is still doing the circling to the leg that he knows the best, just not on a plate anymore. If he gets confused, return to the plate to start with, but then circle away and have him circling without a target. Once he can do circling without a target, I make circles bigger, with more side movement and only then add forward movement. You can’t introduce two variables at the same time: no target + different movement, so no forward movement for now, you need to get circling without the target first.
Hi Silvia and Classmates, well We are not training as much as I want, this time of the year is dificult, working a lot all day because I´m living next sunday for vacations, and everynigth we have family “parties” They are a tradition on december.
I will be training hard after january 2 🙂 I hope to catch up the class 🙂
Merry Christmas and happy new year to everyone 🙂
See you then! Happy holidays!
I was away for over a week so I’m only now getting caught up in my life, lol. I feel some of the Lesson 3 tricks need more work before I move on to Lesson 4, and I’ve already submitted my Lesson 3 videos so I won’t send any more til I get to Lesson 4, but we’re still plugging away 🙂
I’m still not getting full fluency on the pivots so I want that, in both directions, before I do leg pivoting. I am getting full circles in one direction. We’re making progress.
My release from 2o2o needs a lot more proofing with distractions, as well as my stays (with the puppy anyway).
I’m now starting to add height to the backing into 2o2o but that’s gradual. The pee trick is looking great though. I will start the side 2o2o pretty soon.
As for one bowl into another, that’s going to be difficult for my dogs. They really don’t like touching metal. So I’m going to start with picking up a toy, or a ball to drop in a box.
I also want to get more balance and duration on the sit up before starting hug the pole.
Am I correct in assuming the foundation behaviours should be solid before we move on? Or is it better to challenge the dog with harder tricks, while still perfecting the easier ones?
Welcome back! How did Invitations go?
Well, I don’t really think those are so much harder actually… Side legs are actually pretty easy for a dog who understands hind leg lifting, so you can definitely start with that already. Stacking bowls is so different from everything we’ve done so far that you can start at any point. And a hug, you want to start shaping with a free standing dog and you holding a pole. Once I get decent little hugs that way, I try it in sit position to get a real, full hug and firm grip and it’s only after they can hold an object independently with one paw that I try both too -- if you teach it directly in a sit up position, you often get too much leaning on an object that it is hard to get rid of it when you want an independent hold.
So you’re all set for lesson 4! 🙂 I usually work on more tricks at the time as just mastering one gets boring… So I’m always working on at least three I think, but at different stages (final touches on one, middle stage with another and fresh new with the third one), to not make it too confusing.
My older dog did great, but his stupid handler got lost on the course and sent him to the wrong obstacle :-(. So he ended up 30th out of 110 dogs. TeePee had one great run, finishing 15th out of 130 dogs in that class, but we had some refusals in the other classes. I found myself standing still at some points staring at my dog and afterwards telling my friends “I need to take Silvia’s foundation class so I stop doing that” 🙂
We’ll start working on Lesson 4 this weekend. The Advanced tricks are going to wait a bit though. For now I have to go through all the posts and videos that I missed.
Sounds like some really cool runs, congratulations! You’ll sure have busy holidays, catching up on all the tricks with all the dogs! But I guess that’s why there are holidays 🙂
We are on a little involuntary break, too -- Bisou has some problems with changing teeth. The milk canines didn’t want to fall out although the others were already there and if this wouldn’t be enough, she broke one of the milk canines during playing and the vet says it needs to be removed as soon as possible. It broke right at the teethridge, so she needs surgery tomorrow with general anaesthesia :-/ It really troubles me as she is still such a little girl and I never had a dog with 6 months in anaesthesia…
On top, we are preparing a Christmas trip to Hungary on 26th, bringing donations and helping in the shelters. With some other Animal Rescuers, we will do a little Christmas doggy trick show in a home for disabled people -- I hope little Bisou will be alive and kicking then. This will also be our test for working with distractions 🙂
We will start over in January! I am very happy with this training, I love to see and read everybody around the world having fun with their dogs! Bisou and I learned so much already, she amazes me in both directions, some even challenging tricks work right away, others seem surprisingly difficult for her.
Our best wishes to everybody!
Good luck with Bisou’s surgery tomorrow. Hoping for a speedy recovery.
I’m sure Bisou will be back to her normal herself right away! And definitely star at that show! Have fun! Merry Christmas to you too!
Hi Verena, don’t worry is a very simple procedure, That extraction can be made very fast so Bisou shure needs a little anaesthesia, I’m a Dentist 🙂
Merry christmas 🙂
Sharon, Secret and I are still here!
I’ve had an obedience trial with my Keeshond, Norton, and an agility trial with my Australian Shepherd, Olive, this month. Plus the usual holiday activities of buying and wrapping gifts and eating a boatload of cookies and candy!
Our weather has been unusually rainy here in Cincinnati, OH. After I watched Silvia’s new DVD I have been obsessing on conditioning which involves lots of hard running while chasing balls. Add that into the rainy weather and you have 2 very muddy dogs! So I have been spending an unusual amount of time in the bathtub with my Aussie and Secret trying to undo the effects of all the fun ball chasing in the mud. One night I was too tired to give them a washdown after our muddy play and was quite dismayed to find my new, white bedsheets were dusty and beige!
After this weekend we will return to training tricks and we’ll be playing catch up. I hope it is not possible to “flunk” tricks class because we are seriously behind in our homework!
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Sounds fun! 🙂 Best wishes to you too!
Hi All! Things have been so hectic at work that I haven’t been training as much as I would like. We actually are still doing really well (I taught Vera to jump up into my arms last week which was surprisingly thrilling for me). I feel like I am so behind viewing everyones videos. I guess I will just jump right back in with lesson four.
Hi all! We’re still here and practicing -- just not enough time to edit and post the videos! We’re making good progress with 2on 2off with side legs, but not getting anywhere with hug the object -- Papu just keeps scratching and pushing the thing away. Fading the target from heeling is also bit of a problem, I’ll try to post a video on that soon so you can see…
What are you using for a hugging object? Maybe you could try something slippery, a PVC tube for example, and see if his paw might slide to the side some when scratching it?
I agree that the slippery PVC tube was great at eliciting the “curved paw” action. We got the behavior very quickly with that, though Dash would hug it and slide all the way into a down position. 🙂
Later, we switched to a PVC tube covered with rubber (for gripping), and now we are using a stuffed toy.
Yeap, a slippery object is not so good for two paws hugs as they will slide down on it, but I prefer to teach one paw hugs first anyway. It’s actually harder, they need to hold it more firmly to be able to hold an object with just one paw.
Great! And don’t worry, no problem if you skip a trick or two, you can always work on it later on -- just post whatever you’ve been working on lately, we want to see more of Vera!