For Liesel's full story, see this thread .

When I brought Liesel home from bootcamp, I could see a couple of problems with the instructions I got from the trainer. Dog is either in the dog run & able to run at will or inside the house in platz or in the crate. We can't play in the house (and with her temperment, she really can't be allowed to play in the house). Problem: outside of Mom's control=fun/inside of Mom's control=boring. We need to play/work together. Unfortunately, I am having recall problems with her, so she can't be trusted off-lead outside (and making me be boring will only strengthen her association with me being boring). There is no fenced area for us to do regular play.

Does anyone have suggestions for play/work that I can do on a 30 foot lead? Something that would strengthen recall would be an added bonus.

Reward her for sitting in front of you and next to you, for looking at you. Don't try for perfection, just make her happy to be next to you. Have her on a long line and release after 30 seconds or so.

Don't stand still while she's released, move around and come a little closer to her so you can lure her to you with the food, then as she gets the idea that you have the reward start calling her in to you from a few feet away. Keep moving around, don't just stand still except when she's sitting next to or in front of you.

I had the same problem - untrained & unstable dog, no recall, large working breed that needed lots of exercise. Hm what to do?

Here are some things that worked for me.

If she has prey drive, buy or make a flirt pole (like a fishing pole with a stuffed animal on the end). The one I bought a year and a half ago is still in one piece somehow. My dogs love it. The longer you make the pole, the wider diameter of circle your dog can run.

Fetch (just be sure to toss the ball less than the lead length, lol). You have to do a million more throws if the dog can't run that far, but it still really helps. Of course, this won't work if your dog doesn't have much ball drive.

Send-away - we never did get the send away part, but the idea is to send your dog running to a target (even if it's only 10-15 ft away) then run back to you.

Tug games, if the dog has a good out/drop (or, work on your out/drop). Check out the building drive and focus DVD, this work can tire a dog too.

Running with a bicycle - far and away the best way to poop the dog out. I suppose roller blades would work too for this.

Going to the dog park at 2 AM on a work night when the place is completely empty or going to a local fenced baseball diamond and letting the dog drag its long line. If you have other dogs she can play well with, all the better.

Busy toys for unattended times, like frozen Kongs. If the dog is crated don't use those ones that spit out kibbles - the kibbles fall out of the crate or under it and drive the dog mad (well, mine at least lol)

Practise your restrained recall - there are streaming videos of this on the website, if you can't find them I can link them here.

In the end I broke down and built the ugliest ghetto fence ever, made of plywood, around a small area so my dog could have safe off leash time. (he's a climber/fence fighter)

And plenty of short marker sessions ... tire out the brain too. The sky is the limit on what to train.

These are great ideas. Thanks!

Virginia, I didn't notice any mention of it from the previous thread, but if you are not doing marker training (clicker-type training) with this dog, you should be.

There's a free e-book as well as 2 DVD's here that you can buy to help you get started. If you are familiar w/ marker training already, I highly recommend the DVD with Michael Ellis http://leerburg.com/220.htm
This DVD will help you to build a great bond w/ your dog, which is the foundation of good training. This seems to be somewhat lacking in your relationship with your dog...you want your dog to look to you as it's source of fun. I don't get any sense of that from your other post...

Regarding the recall, if she has blown off your recall word ('Come', or whatver it is) pick a new word and start again. In the house would be a great place to start...

And from this point forward, you want to create super positive associations with this word. Recall her (with your new word) for dinner, for a ride in the car, for a game of fetch, etc. DO not recall her for any discipline, or for anything that has a negative connotation to it.

You are always keeping her on a long line when outside, yes? This is a great time to practice your recall; get animated, like Steve describes, and run away from her and recall her to you. Intersperse this with playing and it becomes much more fun for the dog and for you...

And there are many very detailed and good recall threads here. Expand the "search" date range from one week to maybe 6 months or a year.

I used tennis courts when I was working on Roxie's recall

 Quote: virginia wyeth

.... We played & did recall work. She was even playing near the chickens, and though she watched them, she exhibited fantastic self-control. She never took a single step toward them. Go Liesel! (By the way how do you reward a negative --

Well, teaching focus on you as well as the recall and using the chickens as distractions (high-level, so not immediately) lets you reward the dog for exactly what you want to reward her for.


That leads to ....

 Quote: virginia wyeth

... No, I am not doing clicker training with her. Everything I read made me so paranoid about getting the timing wrong on the clicker, that I got overwhelmed.

I really hope you reconsider this. Please don't mix up the importance of the timing with the difficulty of the timing. It's not difficult at all. Also, you can use a verbal marker and not have an item to keep in your hand or fumble for. You can then (if you want) add the clicker later and use both (either-or), which works just fine.

I admit that at first I practiced in front of a mirror keeping my reward hand neutral. I was surprised at just how blatantly I was telegraphing the the reach into the bait bag.



IMO, marker training is far and away the best and easiest way to build or enhance a bond and to turn your dog into one who looooves training. If I work with one of my dogs, or someone else's, my other dogs are standing back but oh-so-eager to be next. ("Pick me! Pick me!") And markers are the only way to incorporate the photographic timing that tells the dog exactly what he was doing to earn the reward. You just can't fumble out a reward with the precision that you can mark a behavior, saying, in effect, "Yes! Reward coming!"

This board is loaded with folks who can help with marker work, too -- not a small consideration!

Have you seen this? http://leerburg.com/996.htm