one way of starting the dumb bell
 Some tools of the trade  Clicker, container of small treats, dumb bell, dog. Toys are not really necessary at this stage. I typically incorporate them later. I use the clicker to teach the "take", the "pick up" and the "hold". I don't normally need a clicker to teach the "give" as by then the dog has been reinforced so many times for giving me the dumb bell during the teaching process of take it that they give it readily. Holding tends to be the bigger issue. Liz being the exception as she wasn't keen on giving it back so I had to use toys as a trade to get her excited about giving it back. In the beginning she apparently mistook it for a tug toy Anyway, I sit on the ledge of a bay window. A chair or sofa (or low table) works equally fine. I want to be on level with the dog so that standing she does not have to reach up to get the dumb bell (DB) at this stage, nor do I have to bend down. Sitting, I hold the dumb bell in one hand, the clicker in the other (which you can't see as I don't have three hands so had to use that hand for the camera and use a verbal marker instead for the pictures), hold the dumb bell in front of me and wait for the dog, who is sitting or standing in front of me - her choice - to make some kind of move towards the DB.  Sooner or later she's probably going to bump it with her nose. I click & treat (C&T)  I'll repeat this a few times and then she has to give me a bit more nose action before she gets me to C&T:  With some dogs, you can fly through these steps. With others, progress is much slower. You need to keep upping the critera, but not so fast that the dog loses interest (or puts her efforts into trying to steal the treats instead )  I.e. you want the dog to steadily progress, yet do so in a manner that nets them a high rate of reinforcement. The less interested the dog is in chase or tug games and so on, the more important it is at this stage to get the dog REALLY excited about touching the dumb bell, to the point they get excited just to SEE the dumb bell. Mind you, you only do this for a couple of minutes, 1-3 times a day. Sooner rather than later, most dogs will hit the DB with an open mouth. They might lick it, they might gingerly touch it with their front teeth. They may even experimentally mouth it at this point.   No matter what, any variation of the above is a BIG step. Make a big deal as you click and treat, giving the dog a jack pot (many little treats in rapid succession) at this point. You keep working your way toward dog reaching out for it, taking it in their mouth and closing their mouth on it. At this point you start teaching the hold. I.e. requiring them to hold it, without mouthing it or rolling it, for just a fraction of second longer each time.  Once you've gotten to this point it's time to start getting the dog to pick it up herself. I use the ledge for this so the dog doesn't have to both bend down and pick it up (that comes later), but rather just focus on picking it up. Some dogs are so pattern trained to expect it to come from your hand that they won't look at the dumb bell on the bench (table, chair, whatever) With them I sometimes rest the DB on my lap and start with them picking it up from there first, before I put it on the bench. Otherwise the process is similar to how you teach them to take the dumb bell from your hand. You click movement towards the dumb bell, nosing it, mouthing it, taking it in their mouth, picking it up off the ledge, holding it.    Once I've gotten that far, I put the dumb bell in the floor in front of me, I'm still sitting on the ledge, and then go through the same process with them picking it up off the floor. Questions? Models today were Liz and Mace. If Sybil cooperates tomorrow I'll write a little bit more about some of the next steps. Really the idea of a formal retrieve is to break it down into small pieces and then piece it all together. It's a fascinating process and there's nothing to say you have to do exactly as I described, rather you can do your own trial and error and learn a lot in the process. Fun stuff! Kristine |
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Thanks Kristine, great description with great pictures!   Can you talk a little bit about sizing? I don't have any dumbells yet so will be getting some fairly soon. I think Tiggy will be a Liz, so far anything that goes in her mouth, and that's pretty much everything! is considered a prize and must not be given up for love or money. Or demanding or begging on my behalf! Only a fair exchange is acceptable.  I have almost got her convinced that its a good idea to "give" the tug toy at agility because there'll be treats and more agility fun but she still hesitates some days when the "boredom with the class" versus "the joy of hanging on to tug toy to annoy the handler" ratio is not in my favor.  Every instructor we have tells me I've got to be more fun and exciting than any distractions. Blimey, I have tug toys, I have squeaky balls, I have treats, I give praise, butt scratches and even do a song and dance routine to no avail some classes.  I'm going to have to dress up as a sheep, it's the only thing likely to work. |
Someone, somewhere, has to have created a miniature pocket sheep that you can bring with to class.....  |
| Have you been inside my head lately? I am struggling to teach Harry this. I knew what to do and how to do it. BUT I can't get him to progress to the hold because he is thinking "gosh if I just put it in my mouth then I get a treat so I better hurry up and let go of it so that happens faster." Any suggestions on how to get him to hold onto it and not drop it. Once I do that I think the rest will fly by. He was really quick to learn that I wanted him to put it in his mouth. On a positive note he learned the drop and recall very fast.  I thought I would never get him to down any distance from me but I did.Just a great cosmic question: Why do these immensely intelligent dogs have to be soooooooooo difficult to train? Damn good thing they are cute and in Harry's case a Love Bug. |
| ^^^^^ Because they are so smart that they have their own agendas. "Thank you very much but it's not done like that, it's done like this you fool" is Tiggy's motto. |
Mim wrote: Every instructor we have tells me I've got to be more fun and exciting than any distractions. Blimey, I have tug toys, I have squeaky balls, I have treats, I give praise, butt scratches and even do a song and dance routine to no avail some classes. I'm going to have to dress up as a sheep, it's the only thing likely to work. Let me guess: every instructor so far has a breed that is intellectually limited enough not to realize that owner will still be there no matter what, wearing bells whistle, toys, cookies, what have you, whilst all those delicious distractions have limited windows of opportunities Kristine |
| Any pointers on holding the dumbell? My dog does great taking it...but drops quickly thereafter..or runs with it. Any tips on how to get her to hold once she has it in her mouth? |
| I've talked to a lot of people who use a clicker. But the process is the same whether you clicker train or not. You only reward if they hold it for long enough. It takes practise but someone who is good at training mechanics knows the dogs limit and releases and rewards them before the dog decides to drop it themselves. Easy said, hard to do! If the dog drops it before you ask them to you don't say anything you just don't reward. Sheepies are smart they catch on really quickly and then figure out clever ways to out manouvre you. As for the running away. A better sit stay. And a great reward to make staying and handing the dumb bell back worth it. |
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