Let's See Your Dogs!!

Ya have to start'um young. My wife and I would get at each end of a hallway with cut up hot dog bits. 1/4 inch cubes. WE'd call it the yo yo drill. One would call the dogs name. When the dog came to you, you gave a treat. Then the other person would call, then give a treat. Using a hall way, there's no where else for them to go. Used that for beginning retrieving, as well. Eventually, you go outside for the yo yo drill. The side of the house works well, because, again, theres no where else to wander off.

 

man she has a lot of skin lol slow mo

 

Great, thanks for the suggestions! I started using small bits of hot dogs and she goes crazy for them.

On the way to the dog park, I'd say her name and gave her a treat if she looked up. I did that about 5 times and let her loose at the park. I'd call her name and she came running! I was shocked it was that easy. Now I just need to do that every day

 

Yep Consistency is the main thing with dogs. I taught mine to sit in about 20 min. just using his dog food as treats.

 

lol, dem ears...
Always loved hounds.

 

Gradually keep increasing the distance. Maybe use a special whistle signal. I use a four short blast signal for the longer distances. Incorporate that as you increase the distance.

After a little time, when giving treats for the sit command, or simple things like that, make sure you wait a second. The dog will always look at the treat. Make the dog look at YOU first, then provide the treat. Lets them know that it's you, the Boss, that is providing the treat. You won't have to do anything but wait. They'll look.

 

As the dog does recalls better, start gradually not giving treats at every recall. Start one per session for a few days, then twice, etc. Then only sporadically give treats.

 

Totally agree. I usually hide the treat in my hand so he doesn't know for sure if there is one or not. I hide his tug toy behind my back.

 

Yea all these dog schools are crazy about positive reinforcement and force feed these treats. I stopped going and incorporated my own methods. I don't want her to rely on the treat

 

I get that. As noted above, you slowly wean them off the treat, and just provide positive reinforcement. It works.

 

I have friends that say live by the treat, die by the treat. I do not agree and have used them for years. Eventually you wean off the treats but in the beginning you can lure, bait and shape behavior that is hard to do otherwise.

A month ago when it was time to Force Fetch my Toller I built another FF table but couldn't bring myself to do an ear pinch and cause him pain, getting softer as I get older I guess. I talked to the breeder about it and she said she gave me a clicker for a reason and we had just started clicker training in Rally class. She has raised and trained a number of Master Hunters with a clicker, none of my friends that say live by the treat die by the treat own a Master Hunter. I am pleased so far. I resisted the clicker for years because I didn't understand how it really works.

When in the field or woods the dog wears an Alpha with a TT15 collar. Seldom do I use juice, but will use vibrate to get his attention. Wolves, snakes and porkies can all kill a dog. Here I am standing on the e-collar but the dog still wanted to play with the porky he just treed. 30 seconds after I took this it came back to the ground and I had to turn it up another level to keep the dog from chasing it. So there are times negative stim can be a life saver but I no longer use it for training except aversion training.

 

Mine loves the back of the truck. I can't keep him out of the damn thing. As soon as I open it up, he has to jump in.

Bonus materials: His mom had her 2nd litter 4 days ago and the breeder has a webcam setup
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sophie-puppies

 

Hey! Click it or ticket!

 

Dang! looks like the same setup and issues that I have! If I drop the tailgate they're ready to go. Doesn't matter where.

 

Mine does the same with my wagon. As soon as the trunk opens, he is in. No matter how little space there is.......

 

They look ready for sure, great picture! Most started dogs when put up for sale are labeled tailgate ready, this pic and pruchai's nails that term.

If you don't mind, that looks like a bedrug tailgate mat, if so do you like it? I have (had) a similar setup as pruchai and used gorilla tape to hold down a piece of outdoor rug I cut to fit. But with the heat\cold extremes the tape and rug has pulled off so looking at either a rubber mat or the bedrug. Not a lot of options for prefit tailgate mats for the Tacoma. Does yours hold dog hair and mud\dirt? My dogs blow coats pretty bad so not sure you would have the same issue as me. When I come out of the woods or field I put the dogs on the tailgate to brush the burrs out and check pads and eyes and the metal is too slippery to use without padding. And would like some protection for my knees climbing in and out, something thicker and more padding than the 1/4" rug I had. Thanks!

 

Wife's pup

 

Porkies climb trees? And here I was waiting for them to fly.

 

That pix is my 04 Taco. Had the complete bed rug installed with and by the shell people. Liked it a lot, dogs liked it. Got moldy smelling at times.
In my 2015 that I just got about 6 mos ago I went with a stock rubber bed mat. Much easier to clean and easy on the knees. My problem now is
something for the tailgate. hard on my knees and the dogs have fallen back a few times because when trying to jump into the truck their paws have
no grip on the slick plastic. I also use the tailgate as an exam table. Lowe's has "runner" rug on a roll with a rubber backing. thought I would try using
aluminum strips 1 1/4" wide & 1/8" thick, drill holes to match the existing bolts that hold the plastic tailgate in place. Sandwich the carpet down with the strips?
Don't know if that's clear. When I do it I'll post a pix. May also put some padding underneath if needed.

Carl