huski

I know who he is and I don't think food rewards are the be all and end all but I don't understand why you'd rule out what is a really useful tool. What about using the method that is best for the dog? You don't need food rewards to train all dogs but not all dogs can be trained without them.

There are loads of ways to motivate a dog that doesn't involve food but you would have to be pretty short sighted to think all dogs can be trained without it. I would be asking them why there is a no food rule for the class before signing up. I don't understand why you wouldn't use a dogs strongest drive to your advantage if you have a very food driven dog.

A little bit, but in big chunks. Think like onion rings. There are a few layers of fish (that is flavoured like crab) and they can come apart. But I've found some brands to be better than others. Otherwise you can buy seafood sticks which don't fall apart. Cool! Will check them out next time I am in Woolies

Thanks Nik! Do they fall apart easily or are they pretty solid? I don't like using treats that fall apart or crumb like roast chicken can.

I use those imitation crab pieces Ahsoka goes mental for them. And then on other days I use cheese, uncooked skinless beef sausages or good ol' devon. Where do you get those from Nik?? They look great, I've never seen them before.

I use a huge range of things. Anything soft and smelly and easy for the dog to swallow I.e. Sausage, chicken, cheese, luncheon roll etc. Really depends on what the dog likes too. I often pull out a doggy gingerbread man at trial as Daisy has a real sweet tooth and it is like beagle crack Little brag from me tonight. We have just moved house and I've had no net (am posting from my phone!). I have recently been trying to train Mish to do the elephant trick and he has been very reluctant to get on the box. The best I've been able to get is one paw on it whilst he is sitting down, using food as a reward as he is quite food driven. Anyway tonight I tried shaping it with his ball as the reward. He was standing up with two front paws on the box within minutes This is a dog who is almost eight and hasn't really done much shaping. Small things, but I was so happy with him and he was having a great time! Eta: I was also chuffed as it's the first time I've ever shaped anything with a toy.

I agree but keep in mind that a dog doesn't need to have the beejesus beaten out of it with a newspaper to shy away from it - just like the spray bottle, it is the dog who decides what it finds aversive not the tool. Some dogs might like being sprayed in the face with a bottle, some might cower just at the sight of it.

I tend to agree with lovemesideways. I'm not saying the spray bottle never works effectively or shouldn't be used, I have used one myself on my adult dog although I didn't find it neccesary to spray her in the face. Ellz what is the difference between a puppy/dog who cowers away from or avoids a rolled up newspaper and one who does the same at the sight of a spray bottle? It's important to rememer what is aversive to one dog may not be to another and if spraying a dog in the face works to stop the behaviour then the dog obviously finds it aversive. I'm not saying using aversives is wrong - but you need to really think about whether or not spraying a baby puppy in the face is really the best method to use.

I don't have a problem with punishment or corrections but as a general rule I don't use it to teach a new behaviour - and spraying a puppy in the face is pretty extreme - why not teach them the behaviour you want to see first? I have a hard time believing that is the only or best option. And I've used a spray bottle once or twice - never in the face though! Sometimes when my dogs get crazy full of beans zoomies I call them over for a training session so we can do something constructive with their energy.

I dont think it's a pack thing. Often dogs don't even consciously growl when they are suddenly woken - just like when we wake with a jolt when suddenly woken or disturbed by a bad dream it's the same for dogs. I totally agree with Poodlefan - get him a crate or pen so it's not an issue when your kids walk past and so he can have his own space to escape to. When you need to move him only wake him up by gently calling him so he doesn't get startled.

Double post

Why on earth would you squirt a baby puppy in the face with a water bottle for simply being over excited

I personally wouldn't be taking a baby puppy anywhere near a dog park. When you get home from a walk have you tried doing a short training session instead? Utilise the crazy energy instead of ignoring it or attempting to calm her?

How did this thread get bumped it's more than six months old.

Does everybody use a hand signal for stay/wait? I don't apart from stepping off on a different foot and giving a voice command and all the judges I've had have mentioned it and advised me to use a hand signal. I know it can be an issue in signals if you get up to UD but I do have a stay signal I can use if I need to.

I agree - get rid of the bloody stays Just saw one of the vids - Ruby looked like she worked really well :D You too as I imagine doing rally takes a bit of thought to get through the course well Thanks so much Maree, I couldn't have done it without you, I appreciate all that you have done (and continue to do) for me more than you know ;)

That's problem one of the most common problems (dog does switches off/is not interested in reward under distraction) that I hear from people training their dog. And it's the exact problem that I had too My first question is always, when the dog is at home or in another really low distraction environment, how driven are they about food/toys? A lot of people will say "Oh he LOVES food/tugging/chasing the ball/etc at home!" To me that says the dog has that drive there to be developed, it's a case of building it and slowly introducing distractions (easier said than done, assuming too that the dog has no other underlying issues).

I think just about any dog is capable of doing it but not as many dogs have the potential to be really good at it, excel at it and get through to all the higher levels. In saying that I see way too many people who write their dogs off because they don't know how to harness their potential and don't think the dog is capable of good work. I see this often in dogs with higher drive and therefore dogs who can be quite easily distracted, the owners often don't know what to do with them and get stuck in the rut of thinking they need to lessen their dogs drive instead of making it work for them. I also see certain people who will write dogs off because of their breed as they simply don't know how to train them.

God no I wanted to but I wasn't sure she was ready, hopefully next year! I think the Ekka only has from Novice anyway - and I definitely don't think she could do an extra minute on her down stays at the moment

LOL at least that might make it a bit easier for us if we ever trial in another state :rofl: Ness a few judges here do the Figure 8 at the start of the heeling pattern.

Awww thanks Ness, that's so lovely of you to say. We have definitely come a long way, I am very happy with her, and my handling is ever so slowly improving (it was still pretty atrocious today LOL).

LOL blowing two quallies and a first place within two days is a perfect example :rofl: Thanks It's pretty average work from the both of us (when I know Daisy is capable of much better work) but it is the best we've done at a trial so far so I am super proud of her After last night I suspected she would blow her down stay today as there's obviously a problem there so all I wanted from this morning was to go into stays on a good quallie and that's what we did ;) We got some lovely comments after our run out today (and even some last night) so I am very pleased with her as we are both such trialling newbies! ETA: I was SO happy she passed her SFE - we don't have much if any opportunity to have men practice one for us, so I was a bit nervous trialling under a male judge for the first time... but she was fine

Here's the vid from today's trial for anyone who is interested - not our best work but definitely our best work in the trials we've done so far! And here's the Evil Beagle with her first ever trophy and sash ETA: our scores were 23/30 for heelwork; 8/10 for SFE and 20/20 for recall (amazing as I think she came in really crooked!) and 20/20 for the sit and of course 0/20 for down stay

Great vid Nic - she did brilliant work last night

Thanks Ness - uploading vid now Thanks, I am really pleased with her especially as it is the best work we've done at a trial (we only started trialling two weeks ago) Luckily Daisy's sits are really solid - she scored full marks for them in all the trials we've done. It's just that bloody down!! Ptolomy, she lasted about 1 minute 30 last night and probably just over a minute today. Must be that minute mark! Happy to hear any suggestions for training down stays... might go back to basics, we won't have another trial till August most likely so have loads of time to work on it and get it really solid before entering the ring again. She's such a bugger!! There aren't many more trials in July so probably nothing till next month