Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:50 pm Post subject: I think this is brill..... (Now with Video action!!!!)
Having confessed long ago that I'm not the patient sort of girl, and being as I can't help but meddle and 'just give it a try' and push things too far etc etc, I have to say that I'm really pleased/excited/enthralled at how quickly Mouse is progressing with gun-dogging type stuff through using the clicker.
Having used the clicker from the minute Mouse set foot in my back garden, I've really concentrated a lot on a good hold and good hunting. Mouse responds very keenly to the clicker, and the thing that I've always liked about clicker training is that it's all hands-off, all fun, all teaching the dog to think and problem-solve, and the dog cannot 'fail'. I think that this has been a really useful way to start Mouse off, and it's also they method that I'm most comfortable and confident about using.
Soooooooooo......... (and this is where proper-khaki's are likely to tell me I'm rushing things and on track to ruin Mouse's will to retrieve and be an ol' gundog forever:oops:) this is what we did tonight. Zorro came with us, (which was a one-off as I usually train them seperately but, for one reason and another, I took them both) and so, after doing some heelwork, stop-whistles and recalls with them both, I sat them off lead together, walked away from them about 10 metres and then threw 3 furry rabbit-skin balls into the overgrown side of the field in a line going across, with about 7 metres between each ball. Then I walk back to the dogs. Zorro had dozed off(!) but Mouse is sitting straight up and is watching the area that I threw the balls.
First I sent Mouse, just on her name. She goes out nice and straight, gets her nose down in the right area and hunts the first ball and retrieves it to hand.
I sit her back at heel and send Zorro back to fetch the next one. It takes him longer ( ) but he returns with one. Mouse is very good and doesn't move from her 'sit' beside me when Zorro returns with the ball.
So then I sit Zorro back down, and send Mouse back for the last one. It takes her a bit longer to hunt it because she first scents where the first ball had been, but using 'lost' she keeps hunting the area and then retrieves the 3rd ball back to hand.
Now I think that's brilliantly clever for a not-yet-4-month-old pup, and I'm absolutely chuffed to bits that she is so bright and biddable and trainable and brilliant and smart and I could go on!
She loves it. That's all I did apart from heelwork and recalls, and I don't do it every night (because we have to practice our dance steps too! )
So, is there really any harm in it? Can training that is such a pleasure and a joy to both Mouse and I really be such a bad thing?
Answers please (but be gentle!)
Becs and The Gang
Last edited by Becs on Tue Jul 21, 2009 9:33 pm; edited 1 time in total
I don;t know about the gundog stuff Becs, but it sounds like she;s doing great. I;m very impressed with clickers(having never used one before)..I;m using one for ALfie and OMG the boy has stunned me with how quick he picks up everything.
I can`t see it being a problem Becs, you did a couple of retrieves and left it at that apart from the sits and heels, Mouse is at the age where she`ll soak everything up like a sponge and your making it fun for her and not boring by doing the same thing over and over.
Of course not being a khaki type person (have worn DPM in the past though but not for dog training ) I could be totally wrong but I`m sure one of the shooting/field people will tell you
Coal is such a clicker dog and its invaluable for teaching him new things. i've managed to repair his delivery using the clicker in only a few sessions. he comes alive when i get the clicker out.
I wish i'd done more with finn when he was a pup clicker wise.
is the book helping???
____________ Sam, Coal & Finn
It�s never too late to be what you might have been
All photographs remain copyrighted to me with al
I think you are doing way too much with her Becs, I've read all your posts, and not responded so far, but I really do think you could come to regret pushing on with her so quickly in years to come.
A lot depends on what your aspirations are.
I know we all do things differently, but with a not yet four month old pup, I would hardly have done any retrieving at all, I'd "work" mainly on recall, and the stop whistle. but most of all, I would just let them run, and enjoy being pups. I certainly would n't have been anywhere near a class of any description.
Hate to be the boring old proper khaki type, but I also hate to stand by and watch someone potentially ruin a dog.
Someone said to me years ago, just because they can, does n't mean they should. I think that's well worth bearing in mind with young dogs.
Just some thoughts, from someone who knows nothing in this area.
I remember you saying with the DftD pups, you would get all the basic taskwork under their belt really early, then you would put it on a back burner until just before they were about to go into Training and then they picked it back up so easily and they were really eager about it.
Now I'm thinking....Maybe.....Just maybe, it would be an idea to do the same with this khaki stuff. Put it on a back burner for a while, just have fun socialising Mouse and letting her be a pup.....then in a few months time when she has matured a bit more, she'll be ready to carry on learning and be even more eager about it.
I know you don't want to ruin her chances of doing Field Sports things, so why not listen to the people who have been doing it for years, rather than risk doing too much too soon and having Mouse get bored of it....or switching off, eh. I've seen too many people do too much with young horses too soon....and they peak so early and then everything goes downhill. I don't want the same to happen to you and Mouse....you are both too good for that.
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) but he returns with one. Mouse is very good and doesn't move from her 'sit' beside me when Zorro returns with the ball.
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