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Dog training
Aug. 1st, 2010 09:47 pmI introduced a new concept, the send-out, to Coba, Bliss and Rogue today. It's something none of my dogs have ever been trained to do, and I have never trained any dog to do this. (This isn't the kind of thing you would ask of a wolfdog). It will be interesting to see how well and how quickly the four of us can get it.
The final goal is a dog who will go "Out" to a place that I'm pointing, leaving my side and moving away until I tell her to "Stop." If they become comfortable with the basic sendout, I'll start asking other simple behaviors that they already know at distance. This won't be necessary for novice obedience, but does start to come up in open and utility, the levels after, and I may as well start now.
The challenge is for me to explain how to do this clearly and keep it fun for the dogs, always the hardest part of teaching a new behavior. The first step involves having the dog on a thin long-line threaded through an object several feet away, so that I can pull him away from me as I excitedly tell him to "Out!" Then ask for "Stop", praise him verbally the minute he does, go over and treat him effusively. Go away, call him back (recall has to be really solid before you can teach sendout). Repeat.
So far, they all did fine for a first introduction to a potentially difficult and unpopular task; they don't understand what I'm asking yet, but aren't disturbed by being pulled away from me by the long line. I suspect that working at a distance is going to be a somewhat difficult thing for all three of them...we'll see. It's pretty exciting.
The final goal is a dog who will go "Out" to a place that I'm pointing, leaving my side and moving away until I tell her to "Stop." If they become comfortable with the basic sendout, I'll start asking other simple behaviors that they already know at distance. This won't be necessary for novice obedience, but does start to come up in open and utility, the levels after, and I may as well start now.
The challenge is for me to explain how to do this clearly and keep it fun for the dogs, always the hardest part of teaching a new behavior. The first step involves having the dog on a thin long-line threaded through an object several feet away, so that I can pull him away from me as I excitedly tell him to "Out!" Then ask for "Stop", praise him verbally the minute he does, go over and treat him effusively. Go away, call him back (recall has to be really solid before you can teach sendout). Repeat.
So far, they all did fine for a first introduction to a potentially difficult and unpopular task; they don't understand what I'm asking yet, but aren't disturbed by being pulled away from me by the long line. I suspect that working at a distance is going to be a somewhat difficult thing for all three of them...we'll see. It's pretty exciting.
