Monday, August 23, 2010

08-23-2010

Just because we haven't blogged it doesn't mean we haven't been training. Okay, we haven't been training enough. I decided that Duece doesn't like the aggressive indication and we won't be changing it as earlier stated. Duece likes to sit at the find and we're going to leave it at that.
One of the problems we've had is when Duece finds the hide, he looks at me for the treat which is okay unless he finds it where he can't see me. I had been purposely falling back away from him when I know he is close to the hide. For awhile he would look around and if I wasn't there he wouldn't indicate and would continue searching.
We went back and did some easy searching and I stayed back a little and would tell him to sit and stay when he was right on the hide. This worked until he got bored.
This evening I put out two hides and stayed out of his sight when I knew he was close. On the first one he did a perfect indication and sat down, looked around and when he saw I wasn't there he got up and headed towards me. I started the praise as soon as he headed my way and encouraged him to "show me" and he went back and sat at the hide. He got his treat and lots of praise. We played a little and then I gave him his command again and got him to start searching again.
I let him circle wherever he wanted unless he paid too much attention to the cat or the neighbors pasture. He got down wind of the 2nd hide and went with the wind for distance and then circled back into the wind to where the hide was placed. This time I was in his sight but about 50 yards away. He did a really nice indication and stayed there once he realized I was on the way to reward him. He got lots of praise, his treat and we rolled around and played for awhile. He got praise and encouragement all the way back to the house and he was pretty proud of himself. (I was pretty proud of him too!)

Saturday, May 1, 2010

05-01-2010

Duece & I attended NASDN spring seminar and although we didn't get any pictures of Duece training we did get a cell phone video of him searching the barracks bay for his ball.

Turn your sound down as I give him a very loud and animated praise when he is returning with the ball.










We learned a lot at the seminar and are changing the way Duece indicates on his cadaver find and how he is rewarded - lots of praise and then the treat once he gets back to the vehicle. It seems to be working.


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Sunday, January 10, 2010

01-10-2010

Almost 2 months without blogging! We slacked off on the training but haven't stopped. Duece has done some work in the basement during the cold weather and we've done some out in the snow as well. We've had some trouble in the basement but it was due to the fan used on the treadmill. Duece worked it out once I didn't believe his indication and he couldn't "Show me!"

This evening we put out two separate scent sources which is something new here at home. After he found the first one and got his treat reward, he was given his command together with an 'arm sweep' and it confused him a little. He went back to the one he had just found a couple of times. Once he worked his way downwind of the second scent he did well and worked out an indication in the soft snow and where it wasn't easy to do a sit & down at the scent.

We're back at agility boot camp at the GF Kennel Club to work on some confidence building. We've been trying to get Duece to climb a step ladder and he isn't too sure about it as it isn't solid enough and moves around a little. We're working on it.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

11-18-2009

We are waaaay behind on blogging. Duece is attending ABC- Agility Boot Camp for basic introduction to agility. We want to build up Duece's self-confidence for new things and work on him being afraid of unstable things. He's played with the see-saw set at an inch or so and the uneven table but haven't done a lot yet. One of the trainers hid some scent at the end of the class and Duece got to search for it. He indicated in an area but I didn't see the container so I screwed up and let him continue searching. The continued searching is okay, but he needs the reward & praise at the scent until his confidence builds. The area didn't let him go into a full indication and we need to have an indication that works better even if he can't sit or down in that area. Duece indicated, I just need to recognize it better.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

10-27-2009

We've been working a little off and on while keeping Duece interested. Yesterday, after Joker worked a trail, our trail runner gloved up and hid some scent for Duece. Duece has been getting a lot better in the traveling department. It takes some bribery (and pleading) to get him to climb into the suburban on his own, but once he gets in he does okay. Even when left in the suburban for awhile.

The scent was hidden in a grill in a park, one of those heavy duty things that are cemented in the ground. It was getting dark and there was a lot of traffic around the park so we didn't let the scent sit long enough to establish much of a scent cone. He did work it pretty good and the light breeze took the scent to a picnic table and Duece barely slowed down and jumped up on the table. He sniffed around it and then did his indication while on top of the picnic table. I asked him to 'show me' and he worked his way over to the grill and when I got him really excited about "show me" he jumped up on the grill and stuck his nose down into the grate. It was really funny and he got his reward and a bunch of praise.

Today we got out the PVC pipe garden to start proofing Duece from indicating on food/treats. His favorite search treat is bologna and he passed right by another treat but did an indication on a piece of bologna. He got a little correction and went on to the correct PVC pipe. We did about 5 more of these and he's starting to ignore the food/treat. It's going to take some more work especially since Duece doesn't like the PVC pipes and would rather run around and search. I guess that means we'll have to leave some food/treats out in his search area until he learns to ignore those distractions.

Friday, October 16, 2009

10-16-2009

We've been searching in the basement the past few days. It's really wet outside and I have to get rid of this cold/cough. He's getting better about working inside and is even starting to pay attention to my 'detailing' with him. He is still afraid of things like a parked, shut off, vacuum cleaner but we're working on it.

On Wednesday we went into town and tried something different. Put a harness on Duece with a long lead and had a trail runner tease him with a treat and then run away and hide behind a tree. He used his eyes instead of his nose but it's a start. Duece had a blast, got a lot of treats and we all got wet in the snow.

Duece's new harness/vest arrived today from Ray Allen. I'd post a picture but he gets too excited if I put it on him as he wants to search and I don't need an excited Aussie in the house this evening.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

10-10-2009

Duece wants/needs to work. He's been pacing around looking for something to do. We've done a couple hides out in the yard and he loves to search. We put some scent in a gravel pile and he found it okay, but had trouble pinpointing it for his indication. I was able to start some 'detailing' with him but he's pretty active and excited which is good in the long run because he wants to work. It's just going to take awhile. I put a jar of teeth in the basement and he knows it's there and is just itching to go and look for it.
After it sat for awhile we went to work it. Duece still can't quite figure out why we are searching inside. He started but then slowed way down and got into his 'frustration mode' so I tried to 'detail' with him. He didn't like that so we just followed each other around the basement until he hit on the correct place. He actually does a pretty good search on his own, we just need to refine it a little bit. He gets so excited (and so do I) when he finds it and wants his treat right away. I'm trying to get him to wait in the sit-down position but right now we'll do anything to keep him fired up and wanting to play the game.