OK, I am having a little issue with focus work outside of my backyard. I guess my pup (18 months) has nothing better to do in the yard except play the 'focus game' with me. I have added distractions in slowly ie. someone calling him in the yard and he is fine. On to the next level doing a little drive work out the front of my house or a little down the street and he could not care less about the ball.... I take the ball away and all other toys apart from a couple of chew toys at all times but he is still not interested outside of the back yard. I am very patient with my little friend however we have been doing this work for almost a year now and it is still the same. We do short, sharp sessions but when we are out, if I bring the ball out he just doesn't want to know about it.

Below is a url that I uploaded as I am seeking feedback, PLEASE! I know he has got drive, just when there are no distractions...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1ODhOwcn-E

Have a look. I welcome your thoughts (I threw in some music for light entertainment also....)
Many thanks

German showline dog right?

He works like my boy Cujo does, and I'll bet if you took a video of him out in public away from the yard that he would do exactly the same thing Cujo does when he's not in the yard. Couldn't care less about the ball, takes it with a "fine, if I really have to" attitude and spends more time looking around at other people and sniffing things.

Its just the way they are. All you can do is work at it and work at it, but unless you make him as comfortable in every location in Australia as he is in your back yard, he'll likely act that way anytime he's in a new location with new things to distract him.

However, at 18 months he is still young and immature. It'll get better toward 3 years old, but still might not be perfect. He seems to lack that intense "I WANT IT and I'll do ANYTHING to get it" attitude. You can see it in his willingness to drop it, and his willingness to look away from the toy.

For Cujo the only solution was to introduce compulsion. He still gets the reward, but there is also an element of "you MUST pay attention to me" in the work.

I personally feel this is a nerve issue with these dogs. Because we both know they are capable of focusing, but its almost like they are "worried" about their surroundings, and don't want to miss whatever it is they are worried about by playing with a ball. It's kinda like a kid doing great at rehearsal but totally blanking when he goes out on stage and sees the whole school watching them.

Keep at it, he looks nice and alot of fun to be with, you might get past it, you might not, but I wouldn't worry about it either way. The more you focus on these things the less chance it has of resolving itself, so just take him out ALOT, EVERYWHERE, and bring his favorite toy. Take him to alot of different places, but also alot of the same places so there's certain public areas where he is as comfortable as he is at home in the back yard.

What a fun clip. I loved the music you put with it. Looks like you have done a lot of work on a young dog.

Thanks Mike. You seem to understand what I am going through very well. You are dead right, as soon as we are elsewhere everything else takes first place. I understand Ed's position of Drive Compulsion Drive but the corrections I give seem to have little impact. I have Ed's dealing with Danderous dogs DVD and focuses on prong collars a lot. I feel my last mode of correction is an electric collar as prong collars are illegal here and the check chain has virtually no effect and I don't want to give him permenant neck damage. I am patient and I think you're right he is still not mature.
Thanks for your help. Any other tips would be greatly appreciated but I think I just need to be patient.
Cheers

It's too bad you can't use a prong collar. Used a certain way you could get a really nice prancing focused heel from him away from the house.

Keep at it, patience really is the key. Oddly, when I stopped focusing on Cujo's training and spent more time with my Dutch Shepherd bitch, one day I went back to Cujo's OB and it was like a lightbulb had slowly started to illuminate right around 2.5 years old. Suddenly he "got it." It was only a 15w bulb, but damnit, it shone like a 17w bulb!! I think he's up to about 45w now.... it's no floodlight, but he has fun and that's what counts

Dale;
I am traveling today, but I really want to respond to your email.
Thank you for sending the video. It really helps. I have a number of ideas. I will try and send them from the airport.
Roni

Mike,
If I read your post right, you're saying it's a socialization issue? Get the dog out any and every where, let the dog learn what the outside world is, and that it's okay. After he learns that lesson, he can start focusing on his assigned task.


If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

Well yes and no. Socialization helps, but some dogs just are never comfortable enough to bring out their full drive potential when they are away from home, or their "comfort zone". Socializing to a new place doesn't translate into "everywhere." For example, you can take the dog to your kids school playground, and in a few days he might LOVE it there and have all the drive in the world, play comfortably, focus properly etc. But then take him to the playground at the park and he'll go back to being a dork until he's comfortable there. Take him to a 3rd playground and once again he'll go back to square one. Which is why I said, its kinda difficult (impossible) to get the dog to feel comfortable EVERYWHERE, but thats what it would take. The best you can do is work at it and hope the lightbulb comes on.

I'm going to guess that if Dale took his dog to a boarding facility that the dog won't eat for the first few days, maybe even more than week and then still not the entire meal. The dog needs comfort to work. He gets comfort from being in a familiar place with a person he loves.

Acting like a complete happy hyper goofball in public also helps, but it can be kinda embarassing to act like a complete nutjob in front of people

Ah,
I think I must be thinking about socialization in too broad of terms. I quess I rather stretched it to mean, all the sights, sounds, and smells of the outside world away from the known safety of home turf.
Could it could be viewed as a trust building exercise?

Laugh lol. I long ago stopped caring what people I don't know and will never see again think about my silly antics with my dogs.

If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

Dale,

I am such a novice I hesitate to post, but have you tried using a super high value food reward in the "outside" world? One of my dogs is ball crazy in the house and yard, but outside those two places the only thing that gets him going is knowing that I have some really really good stuff in the treat pouch. I use compulsion with the prong, too, but when carrying the treats so far it seems like I rarely have to.

Just a thought- you may have a reason why not to use food, but you hadn't mentioned it (that I saw).

Thanks for sharing the video clip! Your dog is beautiful