What Tricks Are You Working on?

[Tanya]

I haven't been as good about teaching Penny new things lately. I suspect she hit a wall a few weeks ago as training sessions seemed to stress her out so I took a break.

Working on her jumping thru my arms but that is going slowly. I hope to try things like jumping over me (when I am crouched!) and jumping up on my legs (me on my back legs up so she can stand on my feet) and maybe rebounds on me (still questionning the possible downsies of that). I am thinking she is too big for me to "catch her" (trick where the dogs jumps into your arms).

But for the next week we borrowed a skateboard so we are working on desensitizin her to that - I wanted to see if it was worth tracking down/buying one her size (the one I borrowed I now realize is a bigger than recommended). She jumps up and on it and has no fear with it not moving. I slowly am moving the board with her on it with lots of treats. again for now it's all about makign her like being on it, making it a good place and then having her used to it moving slowly/controlled. We'll see how that goes, still researching the best "next steps" in the process - and I need to find a size appropriate skateboard for her.

This is on top of agility and dock diving, which have taken precedent in training. I should work more on rally-o but I am thinking i will pass on the rally-o trial in three weeks (there will be more). Unless I find the time to work her a bit every few days again and decide to give it a shot (need to see when the entries close).

what is everyoen else working on?

[Labradorks]

Fun!

All of our tricks at this point are training related.

* High-five, but not with his paw, it's with his mouth on my palm. He likes to jump on me for a reward but he's too "hands-on" and I'm usually pretty scratched up, so I am teaching him to jump up away from me and touch his nose to my palm.
* Touch with the disc for go-outs which he does, but still working on it.
* Platform for fronts. His fronts are good, but not so much with the dumb bell. Nagging and correcting him for being not close enough or crooked stresses him out, so we're doing it this way.
* "Fly" which is an exercise that Denise Fenzi uses. It's being able to direct your dog around a cone. It's a fun game that you also use in training.
* Backing up, but not necessarily like in Rally. We used the back up on command to help him with the drop on recall and the stand for exam. However, since I taught it to him (me facing him, clicker training) his back-up at the heel is beautiful -- quick, straight, and in perfect position not to mention he thinks it's fun. I wasn't expecting that!
* I'm working on spin as an alternative to the jumping because he's a really big dog.
* And, I know it's not a trick, but sometimes we have fun with the dumb bell. The other day I put it on the sofa, sprinkled toys and a treat in his path, then sent him to get. Like an obstacle course. It's pretty fun.

[Tanya]

good!

high five with nose sounds like my touch (mouth bumps my open hand). it's definately one i train even fosters for! it's a nice go to to redirect a dog if you get it solid enough (and most dogs like it). I used it once with a hound because we were getting no where with sit - and I wanted to get SOME behaviour before releasing to eat. so touch is what worked for her. from there we were able to bond and work onto other commands (she was a foster).

targets - oops we should keep that in our rotation too

Fronts - we need to work on those too, i did one short session but something i shouild keep in rotation especially if we do rally-o. i just realized there is a fun run (for rally-o) before our agility class next week so I can see how that goes. how does the platform work? you put the platform in front of you and have him go up on that? Pens fronts used to be very good but for some reason they went bad over time! (she had a good natural front! then nothing)

fly - is that like "go around the cone"? we worked on that for agility

spin is fun, even rocky seems to like that one

[Labradorks]

We do the front with the platform with a clicker and shaping. It has to be big enough for the dog, but not too big as to allow a crooked sit or a sit that is too far away. Some people use floor mats wrapped in duct tape and people with little dogs use a phone book wrapped in duct tape. I happened to have some leftover materials from a kitchen remodel! Basically, a strong piece of wood for him to sit on topped with some non-skid material (drawer liner from Ikea), and something to raise it just a little bit so it's clear if he is hanging off of it. I found some nonskid rubber things that you put on furniture and I made sure to put some in the middle as well so it doesn't sag or break.

I let him figure it out on his own, working through the "problem" which for him, is important as it really boosts his confidence. I never tell him "no" or that what he is doing is wrong and sometimes when he's stuck I will just toss a treat, a "do over", to encourage him to keep trying.

[Jeff]

Sit believe it or not. Hemi's sitter seems to be broken for some reason. Since we got back from camp he seems to have forgot sit means sit right where you are. Stay there until released. Also when in heel position he needs to sit when I stop. Not stand there being a goof. While I love the goof, it's not good. Then when I tell him to sit his butt swings way away from me and sometimes I get a sit sometimes I get a down. So for right now Hemi's sitter is broken. We are trying to fix it.

I for the life of me can't figure out what I did with Hemi's platforms for platform training but I need to find them he needs to remember where to sit in heel position.