Hi everyone

I am interested in furthering Darcys training, nothing too advanced just something that makes her ahve to think a bit more but am struggling at the moment.

She walks to heel very well, off the lead is fantastic and her recall is 99%, the 1% is if a dog is just too interesting, sometimes she just cant help herself.
She does the normal sit, stay, down stuff and will do a retrieve sometimes but I have the problem that she is very very food motivated and so I cant get her to do anything that involves leaving me if she can smell treats on me, like a retrieve or a send away and if she cant smell treats on me then she's just not interested. She just looks at me with a "I'll go and get it but you're not aving it back, you havent got any treats"

Any ideas how I can overcome this

Cheers

Rach

Put your treats into a plastic tub or vitamin pot, something with a screw type lid on but she can get hold of, if

Teach her the treats are in the pot, if she retrieves the pot and brings it back to you, she gets a treat out the pot.

Use the same pot for the sendaway, leave it on a small mat or piece of vetbed, send her to it, give her a treat out of the pot, gradually introduce the down into the sendaway, so she only gets the treat when she goes down.

You can also use this for a fun scent excercise, hide the pot around the house and get her to find it and bring it back to you, then progress onto dropping it in long grass on your walk and send her to find it.  Build this one up very slowly, you need her not to get bored and give up, make a big fuss when she finds it.

Have fun
Sandra

Oh thats a great idea thanks.

I had tried everything (except that of course) but she was just stuck like glue to wherever the treats were. It never occured to me to throw the treats.

Will let you know how we get on.

Thanks again

Rachael

Hi

How about using treats as a sendaway item.

get a flower pot or upturned food bowl, put her in a sit (wait) and walk to the bowl, put some treats underneath and let her see.  Then tap the bowl and say her name and Go/Away (whichever you are going to use) when she arrives praise and give treat.

The next time repeat this but make her lie down next to the bowl before she gets treat.

Extend this so you can stand beside her and say Go or Away and she will go to the bowl, follow her, get her to lie down and then reward with treat or game.

Once she really knows what you want from her she should go to the sendaway point and lie down without you being with her - always go to her to play/reward/release her though.  In Obedience competition you would then walk towards her (following the stewards directions) change direction and call her into heelwork position and carry on walking but make sure you have the basics first.

In Working Trials they have directional changes so you send the dog to a point (across a field generally) and then direct it left or right.

Christine

Using food for the sendaway is great but I would add one caveat.  In Obedience dogs only have to stagger out a few yards to a point usually on a bowling green; in working trials sendaways are a minimum of 50 (usually more like 75 - 100) yards in the lower stakes and can be up to 300 yards.  If you are going to use food always make sure it is in a very large container and that no food gets on the ground otherwise you run the risk of a dog running out to a hedge, tree etc sniffing about looking for the food at the end of the sendaway and not being "controlled".

Thanks for the info but not looking to do anything like trials with Darcy she's far too dizzy.

Just wanted something a bit harder for her to try while we're doing our training each day.
She's too good at the normal stuff, she doesnt have to think about it at all

Although as an aside she's actually started pre-empting (if thats the right word) my commands.
As soon as we start training and she knows cos the treats come out.
She jsut rattles off all the "tricks" she knows one after the other.

If I ask her to do something she'll often do something completely different and then randomly swap between them.

The difference in commands is very clear, she just seems to rush it becasue she wants a treat so much.
How do I get her to concentrate on what I'm saying without jsut repeating the word over and over.

Just say the command once, don't keep repeating it.  If she knows what it means and you have said it clearly that should be enough.  If she goes through all the tricks, let her and ignore her until she does the one you want, then treat her......she will soon get the message that she will get her treat quicker if she does it first time :)

I encourage mine to go through the party tricks first before serously working her, by just saying "what can you do?" This lets her get it out of her system then give a command like "working now" don't forget a switch off command when you have finished, I say "that will do" she now knows that is the end of the session.

Sandra

Yeah I've tried that but she seems to think I'm rewarding her for a "routine" of tricks. I'll ask her to give her paw and she'll lay down, then sit up, then give her paw, so I treat her for the right "trick" (hate using that word, whats a better one) and the next time I give her a command regardless of what it is she'll do the same routine!

This isnt every time and like you said once she's got the nonsense out of her system she starts concentrating. Maybe Each time she gets into routine mode we should take a break and let her get it out of her head.

Hi Rachael,

With Monty, we have a "good" command (which is followed by the treat) and it is used instantly the right behaviour is offered, in the same way as you would use a clicker.  We also have a "wrong" command which means "sorry, wrong trick, try again".  (It does not mean "bad dog" - it is not a telling off, just an incorrect behaviour marker.)  So if he starts to go through his whole repertoire rather than do what I asked for, I can put a stop to it by saying "wrong".  With this he usually stops and looks to me for direction and listens a bit harder to the next command.  However, if he was "trying it on", he will do what I originally asked without me saying it again, :rolleyes:  but if he wasn't listening properly the first time he looks at me with a confused expression on his face, as if to say "what did you say???"

If I want him to do whatever he feels like I say "do a trick... any trick..." and he goes through the whole repertoire until I reward him for a trick.  Then he keeps trying that same trick as it obviously worked the last time!  :D I hope this gives you some ideas to work with. :)

Hi Rachael

My Dobie bitch always liked doing distance control and was the one thing she didnt get bored with (if your looking for a bit of variety in your training) and as she knows all the basic commands she could find it quite easy to pick up.

Nikki

I use the clicker way like Monty's Mum :).

Also, try putting treats in different places - on a seat, on the ground etc so that they do not always literally come from you.

Try to reward only for what you want. Don't let her push you into giving her a reward, as if he does, he will be learning how to manipulate too well :D

HOw about a small search square?

Or to make it even simpler, get him to sit beside you and say Wait, and throw a toy he loves into the wind (so the wind is towards you and the scent is carried towards the dog).

Send him for the toy ..... later start using articles - clothes pegs, bits of welllie, almost anything, and reward him for finding them.

AT the advanced stage, get him to Wait whilst you go into an area about 15 x15 paces, put in 4 articles, and send him in to find them.Make sure the articles are well scented and avoid metal as that can be hard for pet dogs :)

Lindsay