Quote: Solange Boivin

Looking for ideas how to make OB fun and not so regimentary which apparently where I fall in. Sad to admit. I am a visual learner....any videos to suggest anyone?

thanks in advance

The soon-to-be-released Relationship Games dvd will pbly give you some good ideas about fun ways to teach your dog. Youtube has lots of clips about training parlor tricks.

When Sadie gets bored with OB practice, I take a break and do tricks with her. She loves it. Just last night, our TD commented on how much fun it looked like she was having when she did her tricks. Of course, he then asked me if I was training her to be a circus dog.

Focus on the relationship first, behavior second. I tend to be more critical if I'm just looking perfecting the behavior. And I'll echo the trick suggestion. I think part of the reason it works so well is because it's all fun and the dogs really pick up on the *fun* no stress vibe they get from us

what mara said about the relationship . . .

for me , OB is a means to teach the dog behaviours that he needs to learn to be able to be in my company throughout the day . i'm not competing in OB , so while my dogs have been good , i'm not working towards any hard standards and i don't put any pressure on him to have learned something by a certain time .

moreover , to me OB is a reflection of the time you put in with the dog , and the dogs' performance of the behaviours you teach him mirrors your training .

when i am out with henry , i am always looking at ways to incorporate the things we come across as engagement first , obedience second . example , there is a road above my house that leads to a very rich neighborhood . the guardrails on the road are supported by constructed stone cairns with flat tops , about a meter high and 20 meters apart . i get henry to " up " on them , and from there i can do positions , speak , and then move him to next one . the last time we were up there i had him start to walk on the wooden guard rails ( about 6 centimeters wide ) between the cairns .

so i break up the amount of time i spend on OB between any number of venues , which helps to keep him fresh when we are at home doing the routine stuff .

look around , use your surroundings and your imagination .

I am reading all of these very carefully....thank you all

bump

Hello peeps

I have changed my approach on how to do OB with Ziva and today was by far the best session ever. I never seen her drop to a DOWN so quickly and come on a recall running with so much haste to get to me. It was great to see her hears up most of the time and having her eyes on me. She would jump up to me when she would get the mark. It was the best engagement I ever got from her yet.....I am not only happy but defenitely hopeful lol.

Changing the reward to a toy was the best things I could have done. I keep food treats for in between marks. The toy is the ultimate reward and she wants it. Thanks to my friend Remi, the French military dog handler to help me with this....Along with Willie and DAvid, he is a Godsent to Ziva and I.

Yes, for a dog whose highest-value reward is the toy, then pulling out that toy (ball, tug, whatever) is a great event! Good for you!



But food is still very important:

http://leerburg.com/flix/player2.php/206

There's a good reason why "Power of Food" precedes "Power of Tug" in the Ellis series.

Thanks Connie....can't play the video even though we have hight speed internet....will try again later....so without seing this video I remember either reading or hearing about having some good foundation in marker training before to introduce toy in the training and I believe in the ebook Power of Training Dogs with Marker or Clicker I read Ed saying that the dog must be able to bring the toy back to the handler and give it back and that the toy becomes a high reward if the handler plays with the dog.....Ziva brings the toy back and drops it on the OUT command when we play in the yard that is also one reason I tried it in the field in OB.

I hope to view the video and learn more about it.

The food treats I keep for around the house behaviors and on our walks....she is still keen about them.

Ok, well I just viewed the video and I believe I am on the right track