I'm full of brags today!!!
Some of you may know about my anxiety around the hold command. Never taught it. Never even thought about teaching it until about a year ago when I decided to trial. I was told 97 ways to do it from force to clickers. I would start and stop, trying different methods, getting frustrated mostly because my dog acted like I was going to beat him. At one point my dog shut down. Then he would actually hide from the dumb bell or anything else I'd try to work with him on the hold with. He wasn't getting it and I felt awful. We took a long break from hold training.
Working with my new trainer starting in August, I reintroduced him to the dumb bell taking my sweet time with games and treats. After several months my trainer told me it was time to take the next step and when I balked, she kicked my ass a little and said "Get over it! You HAVE to do it". So we moved to the next step and it wasn't so bad. I also bought a Janice Gunn video and tried some of her games/exercises as well, which were similar and helpful. We got to the point where he could follow me holding it but could not be still with it in his mouth and we were stuck there for a while. Denise Fenzi came to town and showed a woman with a border collie how she does it, which was on par with what I was doing, so I went ahead and added that piece to our training for a few weeks. He started doing an auto sit without asking within about a week and tonight, it clicked! We have a hold!
Ta da! A happy Labrador gladly hanging onto a dumb bell.
Attachment 2943