Here is a video of my attempt at teaching my 100 day old Rajapalayam puppy "Vaithy" to hold an object.

I have been working with him to run out and pick up things I throw.

Next step is to train him to hold objects in his mouth.

All these are trained independently and with out verbal cues.

The idea is that when I start the formal training, he will have all the building blocks and it will be much easier for him to perform the chain of behaviours.


I use very minimal compulsion (namely, using my left hand to support his lower jaw a few times). He is a very forgiving little boy and caught on very quickly.

I am trying hard to find a good home for him. I hope he gets a good owner because he is a really sweet, smart, playful and loving pup.

Marker training vaithy to hold an object.

I so enjoyed watching this video! The captions on it were great. I cannot believe how fast Vaithy is growing. I have been working on trying to build a short retrieve too...just happy to get a touch on the toy in some instances! ( it makes a great winter sofa game). I like how you are keeping each part of the sequence separate and marker training that before chaining the sequences. I love the change in your intonation too when you want more engagement- your voice pitch becomes much higher!

Edited by Lisabet Measures (01/11/2012 07:14 AM)
Edit reason: typo

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement.


Yes, he is growing fast and is a very quick learner. I start the hold behaviour with a drinking straw. Some thing very small that the dog has no qualms about taking it in his mouth. Then I graduate to a small pencil or a bic pen. then to a bigger object.

Try the drinking straw and see if that works out.

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Following your suggestions, I just tried Lusi with a plastic straw...a "large" straw, about twice the diameter of a regular one, (Lusi is really teething and chewing at the moment, so I did not think that a small one would take us very far!). Even the larger straw, Lusi thought was a great 'chewing toy" at first but after a few tries she got the idea of holding it momentarily and then allowing me to take it back in a "give".

One thing your videos show is your endless patience! I shall keep our routine going and let you know later how we are doing! Thanks for the tips.

I don't have any advice, but I just wanted to say that I'm very jealous that your dog is able to control himself when there's food around. I can't use food to train Radar because he loses his mind, can't focus on the task at hand, and eventually starts screaming at me for the food.

I can't believe there's no perfect home for this puppy....how could someone NOT want him? Seriously he's awesome!!!

The truth is that he is a native indian breed. And many people think that it is unsophisticated to own a native breed.

They see only the glamour value and not the dog. But I have not lost hope, I will keep training him till I find a good home for him , no matter how long it takes.

I went through a phase of that too Samantha when I first started puppy foundation agility classes with Lusi. Part of it seemed to be the excitement of the venue because the demanding behaviour did wear off as the classes progressed and we did not seem to have that problem at home.

When I was out walking one day with Lusi we were accosted by a large retriever. It turned out I had liver treats in my pocket/hand and according to the retriever's owner this was like "dog crack" to the retriever!

Hi Ram,
Thought I would let you know that we are working well on the retrieve from the sofa! It is a great indoor exercise when the temperatures have dropped to minus eighteen!

So the straw did not work for Lusi....she kept chewing it! But we continued with the kong toy..actually it is a Kong Wubba , so it is a kong wrapped in a heavy twill cloth and has streamers about five inches in length so that you can use it as a tug.

Everyday we have had two or three very short sessions, maybe five minutes or so. I am really pleased with the progress we are making.

I just watched Cindy teaching Raine the retrieve with a piece of plastic pipe, (Connie had just posted a series of video suggestions for engagement and this one was on the same page link). Free Shaping Raine to retrieve a PVC pipe I think we were on the right track with the
free shaping...getting closer to what we want as a retrieve.

I am wondering whether to stay with the kong wubba or to use a variety of different objects, including a piece of pipe. I don't want to have a setback on the progress we have been making this past week, but equally I realize that we cannot stay with just the wubba forever!!