Shylah

[Rosa]

Well, I decided to make a thread all for Shylah to see what happened. Since, I have no idea how to get a video attached, I will try in pictures...I'm here for advice, opinions, suggestions...I'm overall happy with her heel. It has been challenging finding high motivation treats or toys for her. She is, unfortunately, very picky about what she likes and what she doesn't. Now, what I ended up using for her; I'm amazed she hasn't broken my pinkie yet. I am happy to say that she is now starting to heel without the treat in front of her. This morning, she wanted a treat, and I suddenly had a dog heeling next to me (she got the treat). What my brother did not catch in the video (now in pictures) was that I showed her my empty treat hand, but she stayed on heel (she got a different treat).

P.S. Pardon my bare feet...slippers are such a pain, and I was feeling lazy and didn't put on my boots which is what I usually wear.

 

[Doberman Gang]

From what I see in the pictures you need to keep your lure hand back. Think of it as your left wrist touching your hip. As you start to remove the lure you just raise your hand vertically up and back down to reward. This keeps your dog’s head looking up to where your face is. With your hand drifting out in front of your body your dog is looking up but when you remove the lure the head will either turn in front to see you or your dog will need to change position to see you. Hope that makes sense, sorry hopefully I am not sounding to critical just seeing what can become something that you will have to retrain later.

 

[Rosa]

From what I see in the pictures you need to keep your lure hand back. Think of it as your left wrist touching your hip. As you start to remove the lure you just raise your hand vertically up and back down to reward. This keeps your dog’s head looking up to where your face is. With your hand drifting out in front of your body your dog is looking up but when you remove the lure the head will either turn in front to see you or your dog will need to change position to see you. Hope that makes sense, sorry hopefully I am not sounding to critical just seeing what can become something that you will have to retrain later.

Nope, that was helpful. I think my hand ended up there because she had a tendency to lag. We had been working on sitting for so long that she constantly wanted to sit. So, she would sit before I had stopped totally; therefore farther back than she should be...but yes, that makes sense.

 

[Ravenbird]

Hope that makes sense, sorry hopefully I am not sounding to critical just seeing what can become something that you will have to retrain later.

I made that same mistake, lure hand too far forward. Pain to have to retrain anything!

@Rosa Good start with Shylah, it will be fun to watch the progress.

I think the only way to put videos on here is to upload to YouTube, then copy the YouTube link to your post.

 

[Rosa]

I made that same mistake, lure hand too far forward. Pain to have to retrain anything!

@Rosa Good start with Shylah, it will be fun to watch the progress.

I think the only way to put videos on here is to upload to YouTube, then copy the YouTube link to your post.

That's what I thought...difficulty...but I will look at it as she improves. That way, I can get more specific advice.

 

[Doberman Gang]

Heeling is one of the most consistently trained exercises. Training and practices continues though out the dogs life. I still spend over half of our training on it, pretty much every exercise requires it so there is always a way to loose points if your dog is incorrect. Here is a video of Blaze abs I from just a few weeks ago. Still trying to get things perfected.

 

[Rosa]

I'm not sure that Shylah will ever put that much enthusiasm in it, but we will try.

 

[Rosa]

I'm hoping that my family will see the benefit of this training and continue after I leave. It is my intention, as well, to get a puppy from Shylah in the future to preserve both her and Twilight's line. This time breeding for working instead of simply family companions. Although I want to get into Dobermans, I don't want to lose the line of my first two best doggie friends when my parents stop breeding (probably after all the kids are gone).

 

[Oh Little Oji]

Hey, that's awesome, Rosa!!

 

[Rosa]

@Doberman Gang, thanks for the advice! I was working on that yesterday, and it significantly improved both her heel and her sit. As Ravenbird said though, retraining is annoying. Shylah is a little unsure about exactly what she is supposed to be doing, but she seems to be getting the idea. A little more rewarding does the trick. Once she becomes more confident with this new twist to the plot, I will try for some more pictures. I think the hand position now helps her stick closer to my leg too.

 

[Marinegeekswife]

I'm not sure that Shylah will ever put that much enthusiasm in it, but we will try.

The best way to get an enthusiastic heel is to have a quick play session and then immediately move into heeling. This is easier to do with a tug, though.

 

[Rosa]

Hmm, I was talking to the owner of one of our puppies, and she said that he loved people, but hated other animals and would constantly try to go after them. What kind of drive would that be?? She also said that he was more energetic than any of her other dogs and sometimes a handful. I guess the working line is still coming through.

 

[Doberman Gang]

Hmm, I was talking to the owner of one of our puppies, and she said that he loved people, but hated other animals and would constantly try to go after them. What kind of drive would that be?? She also said that he was more energetic than any of her other dogs and sometimes a handful. I guess the working line is still coming through.

Maybe just prey drive but more on the side of poor training and should be fixed immediately. Poor socializing skills, the puppy should be ok with people and dogs but ignore them not seek them out or act aggressively.

 

[Rosa]

Maybe just prey drive but more on the side of poor training and should be fixed immediately. Poor socializing skills, the puppy should be ok with people and dogs but ignore them not seek them out or act aggressively.

Okay, our dogs tend to be very driven when it comes to foreign animals...and ours people as well...but that's what happens when people taunt the dogs...to say nothing about poking them with sticks and throwing stones at them. I think her puppy is fine with people because she says they live in a quiet place without a lot of people bothering their dogs.

 

[Rosa]

I suspect the animal part is because our dogs are confined to our yard; they only see what comes in...I wanted to take Shylah outside the yard when she was more prepared, but my parents told me not to...so that's that for now.

 

[Rosa]

Oh, I will havê to get some pictures eventually, but Shylah has significantly improved in bite work. I think while I was trying to figure out the best object to use as a tug, she came up with the idea that being a good dog meant not biting. I've been spending the past two or three weeks trying to change her mind on that. So, back to the beginning where biting while playing was a good thing...more scratches and bruises for me...but she did really well today. I hope it will last. Now, I shall have to make a more permanent tug for her since this temporary one seems to be working.

Her heel is doing well, but it is time to put on the leash and use that as well...that way when distractions come she can't wander off...she went off chasing a young bird that couldn't fly very well the other day when she was supposed to be heeling. Other than that, she has been doing well.

 

[Ravenbird]

she said that he loved people, but hated other animals and would constantly try to go after them. What kind of drive would that be?

As @Doberman Gang said, this is a sign of improper exposure to outside stimulation. Dogs don't "hate" other animals or people, but they do learn what brings them rewards. A short chase after a squirrel, the squirrel runs, the dog feels confident that it won and is emboldened by that win, so will do it more and more often. Whether a rat, a cat or dog or person, if the dog makes move toward the subject and the subject flees this builds drive & confidence. It's great with careful training in IGP, but not in everyday life. A good working dog should ignore everything except you.

I wanted to take Shylah outside the yard when she was more prepared, but my parents told me not to...so that's that for now.

I think your training on Shylah is great, but if she has not been outside the yard at 7 months for exposure to the outside world, it may take a lot of baby steps. If she has a pretty good mind & she has plenty of confidence in you as her leader you should be alright. I might be misunderstanding this statement, forgive me if that's the case. Keep up the training no matter the case. Begin work on sit & down with stays and recall if you haven't started that yet. So important when you have outside distractions.

 

[Rosa]

As @Doberman Gang said, this is a sign of improper exposure to outside stimulation. Dogs don't "hate" other animals or people, but they do learn what brings them rewards. A short chase after a squirrel, the squirrel runs, the dog feels confident that it won and is emboldened by that win, so will do it more and more often. Whether a rat, a cat or dog or person, if the dog makes move toward the subject and the subject flees this builds drive & confidence. It's great with careful training in IGP, but not in everyday life. A good working dog should ignore everything except you.


I think your training on Shylah is great, but if she has not been outside the yard at 7 months for exposure to the outside world, it may take a lot of baby steps. If she has a pretty good mind & she has plenty of confidence in you as her leader you should be alright. I might be misunderstanding this statement, forgive me if that's the case. Keep up the training no matter the case. Begin work on sit & down with stays and recall if you haven't started that yet. So important when you have outside distractions.

Oh, I wanted to take her out by 7 months, but I don't think I'll be able to convince my parents that it would be okay. With animals, she is usually fine when I'm around, but we are working on her getting distracted less...she seems to be improving, but who can say. The real test for me is taking her out...something I wouldn't want to do with our older dogs just because I think it would be very stressful, but she is still willing to learn about new things. Her confidence in me is excellent at least here...but again, what can I say.

 

[Rosa]

Here we go again: Yesterday was not her greatest day, but I did get some pics. I'll start with bite work that she is definitely enjoying now. She usually gives a very fully bite but can't always hold the full bite for a long time. Now, what I'm using in the pictures, and what I used to get her into this was a towel folded in half length-wise and wrapped around a somewhat flattened soft bottle. She liked the crunch which helped her get more interested at the time. I don't think she needs that anymore, but I'm not sure where to go from here. The folded towel gave her something to grip...all in all, it was a win-win situation. Suggestions?? Opinions?

 

[Rosa]

Now heel, I'm looking for any advice I can get; it is difficult to know exactly how we're doing because I try to avoid watching her every move. Trying to do everything according to how it feels. This little photo shoot was handy. Now, it wasn't her best day as far as concentration went, but I think that was mainly because we had been working on various other things for the past 45 min, but I needed to finish up so I could do the rest of my work. I am really trying to figure out the best way to use the leash. Any suggestions? The leash keeps her from really wandering when she gets distracted (like in the one pic), but I'm not sure what else I can do with it. The last pic is just a random one; unfortunately, my brother didn't get her sitting all the way.