Even though this is part 2, you do not need to have completed part 1 to take this course as you can jump in wherever you and your dog are as we want to problem solve parts of your dog's retrieve. Some students are repeating the class and will be working on different sections of the retrieve. New students may want to focus on shaping the take and hold or some other area that challenges them and their dog.
Whether you are a serious obedience competitor, training your own service dog (or someone else's), training your own bird dog, or want it for tricks (bring me a drink), the foundations of a solid hand-delivered retrieve are the same - yet very different than a play retrieve. Learn the steps to training this behavior so it is solid no matter how and where you need it. Even non-natural retrieving breeds can learn to do it happily!
Once you understand the pieces of a retrieve and how it can be back-chained, you can tease apart the pieces and retrain the parts that the dog is having challenges with, retrain those to perfection, then put the whole chain back together to get a fast, precise hand-delivered retrieve.
Whether too enthusiastic (pouncing, pawing or sliding) or disinterested (slow or distracted), chomping (chewing or throwing around in her mouth), refuses to take metal objects in her mouth, or not bringing the object close enough into your personal space is your dog's issue, your classmates and I will give it our best training ideas to solve it. We'll use a variety of different objects to train an enthusiastic retrieve from its basic foundations. Learn how to fine tune the retrieve to pick up small items like credit cards and coins.
Learn how to apply positive reinforcement training principles to create this challenging multi-step behavior. This is a problem solving class so bring your problems and solutions and share them with other Gold and Silver students.
All handlers and dogs must have a basic understanding of how a marker sound works for shaping as we will be shaping the problem pieces of the chain. You can spend more time on fine tuning and problem solving if your dog already has a strong nose touch to your palm, can sit and lay down in front of you, sit beside you and go around behind you back to heel position.
Excerpt from the Introduction:
Most problems in teaching a retrieve arise due to unclear expectations of the dog during training. That is what this class is about: clarifying the unexpressed criteria for the dog at each step of the training process so she understands what is expected of her during each part of this complicated behaviour chain. In many cases, training using this approach will prevent unwanted behaviours before they ever start and certainly before they are added to the entire behaviour. Some of the unwanted behaviours are due to arousal level and equipment and we will deal with each separately.
In this course, I am going to post all of the information for all weeks at the beginning. This is to allow those who are already familiar with the chaining process to select the section your dog is having problems with and you can start work on that immediately.
For those who have not trained their dog to retrieve this way yet, you can start training from the very beginning and progress as your dog is able to. Each dog will progress through each step and criteria at a different rate in part due to previous training in that specific behaviour. Fixing the challenging bits will also vary depending on how much previous practice (and reinforcement) the dog has had in doing the unwanted behaviour.
Registration
Next class session starts: August 01, 2014
Registration starts: July 22, 2014 12pm PST
Registration ends: August 15, 2014 9am PST
Enrollment limits: Gold: 15 students, Silver: 25 students, Bronze: unlimited. If you are interested in bronze level, you can sign up any time during the registration period.
For answers to commonly asked questions see our FAQ page.
Syllabus
There is much material to cover in this class as not only do we cover how to train the basic retrieve, but also how to problem solve existing habits as well as issues that come up during the training. Happily, many of the problems can be prevented if you train using this methodical approach. Sprinkled throughout the text are games to play with your dog to practice the new behaviours and solve problems.
Introduction
Lecture 1
Back-chaining a Retrieve
Lecture 2
Shaping (training plan for teaching the take)
Lecture 3
Collecting Objects to Use for Training
Practical Training Part 1
6 Steps to Teaching a Take
1A. nose target
1B. nose touch different objects
1C. shaping take
1D. proper placement of object in mouth
1E. teaching approach from different angles
1F. adding cue for take
Practical Training Part 2
6 Ways to Teach a Hold
a) Cue a stay after taking it into her mouth
b) Ask for two holds
c) Ask the dog to lift it
d) Ask dog to tug it
e) Ask the dog to carry it
f) Using a nose or chin target
g) Adding a cue
Proofing the Hold
Problem Solving 1: Dog delivers dumbbell too far away (has issues with being in your space)
Problem Solving 2: Lack of Interest in or Enthusiasm for Object
Practical Training Part 3 Changing Position with Object in Mouth
Lecture 4: Shaping How Dog Holds Object in a Specific Way
Lecture 5: Proper Fit of the Dumbbell
Problem Solving 3: Dog Doesn't Like Metal Objects
Practical Training Part 4
4A. Dog picks up object, runs towards the handler and gives it to her hand
4B. Adding Distance
4C. Adding Delivery Position into chain (using additive adduction)
4D. Adding hold time in
Problem Solving 4: Rolling, Chewing Object
Lecture 6: Starting to Generalize the Behavior to Other Locations
Practical Training Part 5
Dog Picks up Object and Turns Back to Handler
Problem Solving 5: Pawing or Stabbing the Object
Problem Solving 6: Slow Speed
a. Picking up Object
b. Coming Back
c. Going Out
Problem Solving 7: Low Enthusiasm for Retrieve Overall
a. Technical Training Issues
b. Communication issues
c. Your General Approach
(The most common reason-Drilling the behavior)
Practical Training Part 6
Dog picks up object in his mouth, turns towards handler and moves towards the handler with the object in his mouth. Dog delivers object to her hand on cue.
Practical Training Part 7 Adding Distance
Problem Solving 8: Over Arousal During Training
Lecture 7: Practicing Your Dumbbell Throwing Skills
Practical Training Part 8
Adding Other Parts of the Behavior Chain in
Practical Training Part 9
Carrying Objects while Jumping Over
Practical Training Part 10
Teaching Dog to Pick up Smaller and More Delicate Objects
Problem Solving 9: Head Shake
Lecture 8: Generalizing to Real Life and Trials
Lecture 9: Holding Object in a Specific Way
Prerequisites and Equipment
Even though this is part 2, you do not need to have completed part 1 to take this course as you can jump in wherever you and your dog are as we want to problem solve parts of your dog's retrieve. Some students are repeating the class and will be working on different sections of the retrieve. New students may want to focus on shaping the take and hold or some other area that challenges them and their dog. In this 6 week course, it is unlikely that your dog will learn the enture behavior chain. Plan to complete just a section of it. Training is not a race. Good training requires a good foundation of repetition of behaviors (done in several different ways).
This is an advanced class that requires previous shaping experience on both your part and the dog's (note the 515 level). A good idea is to take Sue Ailsby's Shaping course before this one.http://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/94 Make sure you have successfully shaped at least 5 different behaviors (nose touch, paw target, shutting the door, chin hold etc) including 2 where you have added duration to the behavior. This behavior is actually a complicated one that requires long term committment to get the details correct but it needs to be balanced with fun to keep the dog motivated. Good timing is essential for shaping the hold especially. Good clicker mechanics are needed for this course.
Clicker (optional but recommended as timing is key when shaping some of the behaviors)
Soft small training treats for each training session (real meat or cheese recommended, nothing crumbly or chewy)
a treat pouch is handy to keep treats on you for fast delivery
A collection of at least 20 different objects that can fit comfortably and safely (non-toxic) in your dog's mouth (make sure they are easily replaceable in case they get bitten):
made of different materials (wood, plastic, fabric, metal etc)
different sizes
shapes
textures
Some examples:
wood dowel plastic tube (piece of hula hoop or garden hose) tightly rolled newspaper wooden long-handled spoon dumbbell plastic yogurt lid plastic dvd case old glasses case toilet paper roll old sock metal canning jar lid metal spoon
