Leon Week 2 Days 1-2 Working Retrieve

Leon working retrieves (beginning work) 1/25/2011:

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SECOND WEEK DAYS 1-2:
STEP 1: Warm up on Novice exercises until the dog is focused and attentive
STEP 2: Leash should be on the dog to prevent fumbling for a stay correction,
if needed, and failing to begin the exercise properly.
STEP 3: Come to a halt in the heel position.
STEP 4: Give the dog the stay command
STEP 5: The left hand is positioned on top of the dog's muzzle at the mid
point. Done correctly the thumb will be pointed towards the trainer, and the
fingers will be on the far side opposite.
STEP 6: Hold the dumbbell by the end, and position the center in front of your dog's mouth.

STEP 7: Say the command "[Dogs' Name] fetch", press the dumbbell firmly against their mouth.
STEP 8: The thumb and fingers of your right hand now gently hold the muzzle closed around the dumbbell, while your left hand moves from the top of the muzzle to scratch places on the dog's head that they enjoy (IE right behind the ears). Praise your dog as you do this "[Dogs' Name] Good [Boy or Girl]" for instance.
STEP 9: Move your right hand from the muzzle as you say "[Dog's Name] give", and take the dumbbell gently from them.
STEP 10: Release your dog with an okay.
STEP 11: Repeat ten times each session by going back to the beginning. Change the location each time you come to a halt. Do this for at least two sessions during the day. Separate the sessions by the hours that you find convenient.
NOTE: IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU HAVE NOVICE SKILLS DOWN ADEQUATELY FIRST BEFORE GOING TO A WORKING RETRIEVE.


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The Working Retrieve-The Beginning

This is a command a started with Jackie CD before he passed away last year.   Jackie and I were planning on competing at AKC Open trials this year.   Life and death are unpredictable fellows though, and they stepped in and ruined our plans.

I just finished Magoo's Companion Dog title.   Although we do not NEED to do any more Novice trials, I will probably keep him in the game until we are pointing in the low 190s.   In the meantime, I will start training the exercises for the Open trials.

Many dog trainers prefer to train their dog to Utility and then start the trials.   I am very new in the competition game, and Magoo is not my dog.   So I don't really know how long I will have complete access to Magoo.   Also, judging by the MANY mistakes I made in preparing for Novice my first times out, I would rather not carry forward such beginner mistakes into the more advanced levels of competing.  Once I finish a dog in Utility, I will most likely move towards training a dog all the way through before even competing at the Novice levels.   Time will tell, and experience sometimes changes the way you do things.  

Leon, a dog that I do not compete with due to his knees, is also going to learn the working retrieve.   He has an auto stand, however, and we will be working from that position instead of the auto sit stay.   Leon has  a play retrieve and loves it, and I would just like to firm up our work.   He will stop when he is "not in the mood" or treats aren't flowing freely.   A working dog, like a working human, needs to understand that it is a job.   Luckily, most dogs enjoy having a job, and just need to learn the rules of that job.   There is a lot of pride and partnership that goes into getting a working level out of a dog.   I am really not close to there yet, compared to other trainers who have been in the business 30-40 years, and were even perhaps reared in a family familiar with the dog profession.   Even us "old dogs" can learn new tricks though.  

The first thing that I will train for (beyond firming up my Novice performance) is the working retrieve.   Sadly, I did not find my own notes on this exercise.  So the first thing I will do is plan out exactly how the first week will go.

I recommend for clients and myself to go through the crating procedures, and then do a fifteen minute warm up on the old stuff before beginning the new exercises for the dog.  Once those are done, you are ready to begin. 

FIRST WEEK:


STEP 1: Warm up on Novice exercises until the dog is focused and attentive.


STEP 2: Leash should be on the dog to prevent fumbling for a stay correction,

if needed, and failing to begin the exercise properly.


STEP 3: Come to a halt in the heel position.


STEP 4: Give the dog the stay command


STEP 5: The left hand is positioned on top of the dog's muzzle at the mid

point. Done correctly the thumb will be pointed towards the trainer, and the

fingers will be on the far side opposite.


STEP 6: Center the dumbell in the palm of your right hand, and bring it against

the dog's mouth.


STEP 7: Say the command "[Dogs' Name] fetch", tighten your fingers and thumb

along the dog's mouth so that it opens, and allow the dumbell to roll into the

mouth so that it is right behind the canine's teeth. Don't allow the dumbbell

to roll to the back of the mouth, as that is something you will need to retrain

later, if you do.


STEP 8: The thumb and fingers of your right hand now gently hold the muzzle

closed around the dumbell, while your left hand moves from the top of the muzzle

to scratch places on the dog's head that they enjoy (ie right behind the ears).

Praise your dog as you do this "[Dogs' Name] Good [Boy or Girl]" for instance.


STEP 9: Move your right hand from the muzzle as you say "[Dog's Name] give",

and take the dumbell gently from them.


STEP 10: Release your dog with an okay.


STEP 11: Repeat ten times each session by going back to the beginning. Change

the location each time you come to a halt. Do this for at least two sessions

during the day. Seperate the sessions by the hours that you find convenient.



Should have video of a practice to follow.   NOTE:   IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU HAVE NOVICE SKILLS DOWN ADEQUATELY FIRST BEFORE GOING TO A WORKING RETRIEVE.


Maine and New Hampshire Dog Trainer
Mannerly Mutts Blog
E-Mail Mannerly Mutts With Questions

Leon is Fetching

The upside to the winter quiet is the amount of time I have to concentrate on my own dogs. Jackie is being readied for spring trials in Open AKC competition. Leon can't trial due to his inability to keep along sit (bad knees), but he is still able to work and play along side me. I have been training him in an auto stand rather than an auto sit for instance. I am working on the long stand stay LOL. Down works too of course.

One thing we have been working on together, is having Leon pick things up for me. Leon can so far pick up the following and give to me:

• Highlighters or pens


• Keys


• Chain collars


• Leather muzzle


• Leashes nylon or leather


• Remote controls


• All his toys


• Gloves


• Dumbbell


• Shoes


• Skarves


• Dog Coats


• Dog Flat Collars


• Mail or Pamphlets (warning, they get damp)

I have been trying to figure out how to get him to pick up a bowl lately. After we go onto bowls and baskets ET, I will teach him a hold when following me, rather than just when bringing the object to me.

Leon and I have been having a lot of fun with this. Leon's always enjoyed the "getting part", but he now enjoys the bringing and giving to me. I wonder if he thinks I have become really clumsy lately (or clumsier than usual)! We were working around my two Great Dane clients on the beach as a distraction the other day. I had left every one's leashes in a pile a bit away from us while the Great Danes played, and Leon and I did a bit of work.

Leon was doing his free style moves, and picking stuff up for his very clumsy owner. At the end, I started over to get the leashes. I did not ask Leon to get the leashes, and I saw him look from me to the leashes and back at me. So I stopped walking. Leon took off, grabbed a leash and brought it back to me! He took his praise, and dashed off two more times until I had all the leashes. I loved this, as he saw a need that I had and solved it on his own. Course he had his trademark Leon grin on as we headed back home.

Leon and the gang even got a business card handed out that day. It wasn't during the fancy work, but in a long down stay. When the dogs go to the bathroom on the beach, I down them while I pick it up and then typically walk about a quarter of a mile away to "deposit it". Then I walk back to the dogs, they are in a down this whole time, and release them. If anyone who has dogs is on the beach, they normally can't believe it. They will say "why are those dogs all in a down"? " You mean they will stay there until you return". There was a lady on the beach beginning to work with her puppy. We talked, the dogs were released to meet the cutey, and I got a card out.

I keep joking with the Great Dane's owners that they need to be put on commission LOL.

Watch the Toes, Leon!!

Leon is a super sweet Doberman boy who turned four this last October. His knees have kept us from competing, but this boy loves to train and work. I have been focusing so much on his compatriot, Jack, that I have neglected his work.

Leon was utterly joyful as we started his "auto stand". I want Leon to do an "auto stand" instead of a sit to put less stress on his knees. I have noted lately that Leon has been doing a lot of sits himself lately without much difficulty and without me giving the command.

So once I got Leon into heeling and doing the auto stand (I still say the command now, so it's not so much auto) I told him "stay" and went and placed the dumbbell. Now I have been using a weight training dumbbell as money is a bit tight, and I didn't want to buy new articles. In teaching Jack the working retrieve, I am still presenting it to his mouth, and so it never hits the floor. So the danger to my toes was not realized until I had Leon go get and then give LOL.

Leon is an incredibly smart dog, or I think so at least. Had he been able to be a competition dog, life would have been much easier. Of course I have learned so much from bringing my problem dog, Jack, along for the ride so I can't complain. Jack is more a serious worker, while Leon is all about fun and pleasing. So this item was much heavier than the others Leon had picked up for his "clumsy owner". Previously we started with a toy, then different toys, then toys mixed in with things like the remote, and finally this two and a half pound dumbbell. So as usual when Leon can't figure out the best way to place it in the hand (he needs to roll this out of his mouth) he will fling it at me . Yes I was fairly dancing a jig to avoid the flying dumbbell.

Thankfully and fairly quickly, Leon figured out to roll it to my hand. The other wonderful thing about Leon is he would work for floor lint if you called it a cookie. I had some sample kibble that was his treat, but once he starts going and learning the exercise, he does it for the express joy of working and doing. Motivating me once again to be sure that Leon is included in the training schedule line up. Dogs actually get bored of "playing" all the time too. You need to mix it up with trick training and training of practical things. They love spending time with you and learning with you. Adventure and walks and mixing up what happens at home helps quite a bit.

Speaking of that, I have started reintroducing the freestyle commands to both Jack and Leon's training. Leon enjoys it much more, and perhaps we can still do freestyle or tracking in our future. I get frustrated with myself for not being a more accomplished trainer with my dogs. I feel like the next ones will benefit more, and I have had such stellar and wonderful dogs. I feel like my inexperience fails them in some way. That if they had another owner, they would be in multiple sports and working all the time. On the other hand, the only thing I can do about that is keep learning and plodding forward.

I am so jealous of those folks lucky enough to have been brought up in a dog training or breeding family!! They got so much knowledge early on, and were possibly born into their dream job. It makes me a bit sad that I have no one (a child of my own) to pass this lifestyle onto as infant as I still am in the industry. That being said, I do reach out to those truly interested to know because of this. Perhaps then they will have an earlier start in their dream dog, and then pay it forward later on with someone else.

I will try to get a little of this work on tape later today.

Leon Beginning Play Retrieve

I am working Leon, pre knee surgery, with a play retrieve here. Missy is a nice young lady who was helping me be able to film this, and I was interested how he would do with someone else playing with him. Apparently with some french fries involved, this was not a problem for him!!

However, this is not a working retrieve. I am training my dog, Jack, on a working retrieve now. It will be interesting to note the differences as I go forward with both methods.

Leon has had to learn, how to pick it up, how to deliver certain toys to hand, then that different toys can be retrieved (and have their own problems as far as delivery), and then that other objects can be delivered for his clumsy owners or handlers, who just can't seem to grasp anything if it's flung or put into the hand clumsily LOL.

Part of Yesterdays Homework

This is Jack's repetitions of Week 1 Day 1 using The Koehler Method of Open Obedience Book as my method of choice for a working retrieve. Check out the bruise on my chin, this is what happens when you don't get dinner on the table top on time (kidding, my husband does all the cooking). Actually this is what happens when you trip carrying your elderly dog down the stairs, and fall on the concrete mudroom floor with no other thought than avoiding your dog hitting it instead. Let's just say that my chin took the brunt of the force, and I am lucky that I have all my teeth and not shattered chin.

It is not only Jack's homework here, but I am trying to create my presentation skills, which in the future will take out the "ums" and my fashion sense will improve once I am ready to commit anything to a permanent sort of tape for my clients. You will notice also that Jack is also a little freaked out by the tripod LOL, and that I can not count when forced to concentrate on the fact that I am being videod.

Regarding Jack's mild freaked out state. I am not going to highlight this for him, as something he should be concerned about. He is not in an overloaded state, as he is used to the fact that sometimes we need to work where there is something that he is not familiar with. He also knows that I am not going to make a big deal that he is scared, and therefore reinforce that state of being. I will go into my treat methology at another time, and my protocol for when I use treats and when I do not. Hopefully, I will remember to talk about fear, stress, and the use of treats involved. For now though, this is a state of being that will disappear as he gets used to the scary three legged thing now on the porch. If I highlight it, I will freeze him there.