Spit the dummy.

Andrew B · Spit the dummy.

Help required if posible.Bo, after a great start with her retreving,has just started to drop the dummy about a yard away from me.It's as though she's saying "if i can't have it neither can you!".Shes only seven months old and has been great up untill now.She has always been given a treat and highly praised when she has gotten it right.Should i go back to the start and retrieve in an inclosed space?.But then again she doesn't run in other directions,she comes straight back to me.Frustrating or what!

johnhod

After thinking I'd got over this problem with Moss, he's started doing it again, so I've gone back to using a ruse I had explained to me.

If you have an idea of roughly where your dog is going to spit out the dummy encourage it back to you, then as it nears to place that you expect it to drop the dummy, turn your back on it. if it runs round in front of you, with the dummy SUCCESS (only partial though). It doesn't always work first time and sometimes not at all, but may be worth a try

If you are successful in enticing the dog, complete with dummy, to you the sequence from here is to start to reduce the size of the turn until you reach the point wheere you are just turning your shoulder towards the returning dog and eventualy to the point where you don't need to turn at all. It's not the fastest way of dealing with the problem but the best ways rarely are.

Hope this help

John

Victoria

Puppy is seven months old!!! I reckon the 7th and 8th month of my boys life were the most interesting; he was just so full of himself! Pushed all the boundaries there were to push and some we didnt even know existed!!
Then his 9th month coincided with the start of the shooting season and he had better things to think about!

guy

Andrew - only seven months - does it matter? it s a game - keep it a game.

however here is how i solved exactly the same problem. clicker. in the kitchen.

Assuming you dog is aware what a clicker is - bear in mind there are a lot of different ones out there - Jan does a nice line in rechargeable ones for instance.

you have to work back from the end point.
step one - you hold the dummy and click and reward when Bo sniffs it
2 C + R when Bo mouths it
3 CR when Bo takes it from your hand
4.C+R when Bo holds it
5 extend the hold time
6 picks it from floor
7 picks it from floor a few feet away from you
8 as 7 but further
etc - you get the idea

just break up the behaviour you want into small bits and then join all the bits together.

Topaz would spit out at my feet - one session in the kitchen and he sits in front and holds until told to give. Works nearly 100% of the time in private!

there are a number of very good sites on clicker training out there.

Ghilliegumdrop

And some very nice coloured ones shaped like crocodiles!!

guy

like crocodiles ? could i afford them - can you post one out to me?

Ghilliegumdrop

Possibly! You thought I was joking about the battery operated ones, didn't you? Well go to clickertraining.com and have a look!! That will learn you not to mock.
Jan

mcelkek

Hi Andrew a tip that worked for me was to allow the dog to approach with the dummy. As it neared the point where it drops it keep walking backwards and get lower to the ground incouraging it in towards you. As it gets closer step forward and straighten up as you take the dummy from your dog. Longer term the dog should approach you and then as he comes close he will raise his head with dummy in a anticipation of you straightening up over him. Worked for me.

Keith.

Andrew B

Thanks very much for your tips.