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Now that the temperature is finally above zero and Juno is almost 17 months old we will be starting to do a little more training at home. Most of our training so far has been informal and done while walking in the woods. We do recalls, sit, stay, wait, fetch, down, walk by me,and a little heeling. This training has been going very well but in the backyard I seem to run out of ideas and land up only training for 5 or 10 minutes if that. I am the type of person who likes a bit of structure and I was wondering if anyone has a type of training protocol that I might have a look at. I remember when we first got Juno and we took her to puppy class we got homework that listed 5 or 6 activities and how many repetitions were required for each. I was wondering if someone had something like that that I could look at. Juno won't be competing at anything but I still want to keep her brain going.

 

Thanks in advance

Bill

 

 

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5 - 10 minutes is plenty for a training session.

 

Can't help you with a formal structure as I don't work like that. I train when my dogs and I feel like it and if they aren't keen to do what I planned we do something else.

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If you have done most of the obedience stuff (and you have) I'd start playing with fun stuff. That can be dumb tricks (there are TONS), agility foundations (which is stuff like sending out to the left and right, asking the dog to 'switch' as in change directions rapidly, paw targets, nose targets and the like) and just fun stuff like leg weaves, and high fives. Targets can easily be turned into closing doors, turning on lights and so on. Spinning to the left and right. Jumping over your arms. Just - whatever.

 

You can find a list of tricks at domorewithyourdog.com - don't worry about the book or the titles, just grab the application and work your way down the list if you need something like that.

 

The biggest and most important thing, IMO, is to keep the dog LEARNING. That way when you come up with something you really want hte dog to know, the dog's used to learning new things and isn't as likely to get frustrated by the process and thinking they 'know it all'.


That said, it's rare that I do more than 5-10 minutes of training at a time. Might do 2-3 sessions within a day per dog, but short and sweet and ending on a high note is where it's at. (And that might up there is pretty big. Many days that's IT, unless we're working on something specific, and even then. Meh.)

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It sounds like I am on the right track. Right now we are working on 'Bow' and 'up up off' as suggested by Root Beer but I will look up domorewithyourdog.com and start doing other stuff.

 

CPT Jack - Juno is pretty good with hand targets and nose targets but I have had no luck with the left and the right. How would you go about teaching go left and go right and how long (ballpark figure) do you think it should take to learn it.

 

Thanks

Bill

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I start teaching it by having them go around a bucket or cone to the left or right. Which means I start, on leash, and luring them around with food. Then drop the lure and reward, then up the distance, then drop the bucket and send out to/around other things. Then eventually stop asking them to go AROUND and asking them to do something else when they're on their way to that landmark. My familiarity with it comes from sending to agility equipment, so that's what I have them 'do' out there (ie: send to the right via body language or verbal then interrupt with 'jump' or 'tunnel' or whatever). Your application may very well be different, but it's still just a send-out in a particular direction.

 

 

This video's pretty good. Note: It's circling to the left or right. You can build that into a true 'go left' and 'go right' based on the direction they leave away from you.


They should figure out what you're looking for with the bucket and directions pretty fast, but building distance and losing the bucket takes some time, too. I'm not sure how much time to tell you the truth, because it's going to depend on what your final criteria is. All I can really say is mine are pretty well where I need them after 7 weeks of foundations agility class.

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You might want to check out the original version of Sue Ailsby's Training Levels.

 

Level 1 is described here:

 

http://sue-eh.ca/page24/page26/styled/

 

I did these with my first three dogs and it was incredibly helpful.

 

You could probably print the Levels info to make yourself "handouts". Some of it might be a repeat of what you have already done, but it can't hurt to review and then take it to the next step . . .

 

Waaaay at the bottom of the page is the link to go to the next Level. These are very thorough and could probably keep you busy for quite some time!

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You might want to check out the original version of Sue Ailsby's Training Levels.

 

Level 1 is described here:

 

http://sue-eh.ca/page24/page26/styled/

 

I did these with my first three dogs and it was incredibly helpful.

 

You could probably print the Levels info to make yourself "handouts". Some of it might be a repeat of what you have already done, but it can't hurt to review and then take it to the next step . . .

 

Waaaay at the bottom of the page is the link to go to the next Level. These are very thorough and could probably keep you busy for quite some time!

I was just about to post that. Great info in a structured format.

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Hi Root Beer

I have just gone through Sue Ailsbury's seven levels. This is pretty well what I was asking for. Juno and I are all over the place. We can do many of the things at the higher levels yet there are some things in Level 1 that we are still working on.I don't think I will do everything but it will give me some guidance.

 

Your comment re the 'real world and specific skills' is what I am striving for. As a beginner, I am taking advice from all over the place and trying to put it all together. I need a lot of guidance because I have very little experience to base my actions on. Juno and I go out every day for hours and we enjoy ourselves but we are not at the point where I have complete confidence in her. Every day gets better but I don't want to leave things to chance.

 

Thanks again

Bill

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Hi Root Beer

Thanks again for the Sue Ailsbury link. I have just printed out the whole 7 levels and I have typed out the testing criteria for all seven levels. As you said there are quite a few things that I have already done, even some at level 6 and 7 but there are big gaps from level two on. For me, these training levels are really encouraging because I am happy to put the time in, and now I know that I am on a proven path. My preference would be to take Juno to school but the cost, for me anyway, is very prohibitive. I went to two sessions of puppy school last year and they were $250 each. These levels may not be as good as first hand instruction and all that goes with it but I think it will get us to where we want to go! A sincere thanks. By the way, the up up off is going really well.

Bill

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Juno has just passed level two! It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be considering there are seven levels. We are working on level three now and it promises to be a challenge but it is really helping to keep us focused. I have also discovered some good utube videos by Donna Hill that go through each of the levels in good detail. It is pretty clear also that a lot of the stuff from Control Unleashed is involved. For anyone back at the early puppy stage these resources would really be useful.

 

Bill

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well Juno has only one more task to do for level 3. I ordered a clicker stick to help my progress and it is a big improvement over the simple clicker. It has an extendable rod with a little yellow ball on the end. It is great for targeting and I have been using it for teaching Juno to go round a pole and for her to walk along a board. My last level 3 task is walking the board so this is really my first attempt at shaping a behaviour. I think by tomorrow we will have completed this task and then we will move onto level 4. I am probably sounding like a broken record but these levels are really helping me and I would recommend them highly to beginners to keep them focused.

Bill

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We came home from our walk this morning and the board for the final level 3 test was on the deck so without any aids I asked Juno to go on the board. She got on, walked down the board and stopped at the end. Level 3 passed! I was looking at level 4 and there are only a couple of activities that we have already done. I imagine this level is going to take quite a while. If I remember Sue Ailsbury said the levels were taking her about a month each so I am going to aim for the end of April.

 

Aandi - I too am very excited about these levels. Juno and I are having a lot of fun with them. For beginners, like me, they give a great base to work from. Don't forget the Donna Hill videos. They are really helpful and if you don't have a clicker I would recommend the clicker stick by Karen Pryor (about $12 from Amazon). I am not really a clicker person but I can see that they are well suited to some of the tests. I used the stick for going around the pole, walking the board, and the "bow" trick. It was really effective.

 

Good Luck

Bill

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Thanks, Bill. I will check out the clicker stick. Curious about the Donna Hill videos, too. I feel like a "knowledge addict". Love learning.
I'm definitely a beginner and excited to put these in to practice. Starting at step one with the basic commands, for sure. Brick has a pretty good recall, sit and "leave it", but only if there aren't other distractions. I'm looking forward to really solidifying the basics. I think with those solid, it will make anything and everything else flow much smoother.

I'm also enjoying reading your progress with Juno. It's encouraging :)

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I'm on level 4 now and one of the tasks is to do all the level 2 tasks in a different place so yesterday I took Juno to some tennis courts and did most of the tasks. It really showed me how much she has learned. I'm doing the easy tasks first so I have done 4 of the 25 tasks so far. Some of the others look pretty daunting so we will be hard at work. Thank goodness we both enjoy it!!

Bill

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That is fantastic!! :)

 

I am taking Sue Ailsby's Rally class through the Fenzi Academy right now and the class is fantastic!! Although I've been doing Rally for years, I have picked up some good little training "nuggets" from her that I will be able to apply to all of my training!!

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Well we are up to 10 tests on level four but the remaining ones are getting harder. I have been busy getting my motorcycle ready and playing a lot of hockey so I have let the training slip a bit. I have noticed, however, that if I use really good treats (chicken) the training really goes well. Nothing gets Juno's attention more than a little bit of cooked meat.

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Right now we are struggling a bit with one of the tests that requires Juno to jump over a board 2 inches high. Juno is a great jumper but she would rather walk over the board than jump it. The advice with the levels is to click just for crossing the board and I have been doing this but I don't think it is working. I think I might have to raise the board to make her jump. I have also been using the same board that she has to walk along so maybe I will change the board as well. We'll see.

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I love the link for the levels, might consider joining you on this Ourwully!

 

I tend to just pick stuff the dog likes and stuff that is important to me, and then each dog ends up knowing different things and having 'patchy' areas where one or both of us didn't care enough for me to work on it.

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Thanks for the encouragement. Now I will really have to see it through. I got a two by four and raised it by 8 inches and that solved the problem. So now I have Juno walking a board for about 8ft (one test), stopping at the end of the board and sitting (one test), and then moving on to jump over a two by four (one test). The clicker stick is really helpful with these tasks.

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