Author Topic: Stop whistle  (Read 3398 times)

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Offline MUDDYBOOTS

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Stop whistle
« on: December 31, 2013, 09:51:39 AM »
Gabby is seven months old and to get her to stop on the whistle when she is away from me say ten meters I have tried blowing the whistle then throwing a dummy when she sits.Done this a few times and it has worked very well :D,but she runs in as soon as I throw the dummy(OK because she hasn't been trained not to yet).
Do you think this is a good idea or will running in then become a habit that's difficult to stop.Would it be better to teach her not to run in first.

Offline Nicola

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Re: Stop whistle
« Reply #1 on: December 31, 2013, 05:01:53 PM »
Why are you throwing the dummy? What is it you're trying to teach her, is she learning stop to whistle or are you doing steadiness to dummy fall? If you're teaching and proofing the stop whistle then stop throwing the dummy and concentrate on getting the stop in place and gradually proofed; at the moment you're setting her up to fail as her stop is obviously not yet proofed sufficiently to ensure she won't move until told to. Throwing the dummy is only making her break her stop and if you keep letting her run in that will become hard to break. It's infinitely better not to let bad habits form in the first place than to try to fix them once they're established. You also need to work on her steadiness but I would treat this as a separate exercise, go right down to basics and set her up to succeed every time. Reinforce 'sit-means-sit-until-you're-told-to-move' and make the distances very small to begin with - literally just dropping items in front of you to start and at all times make sure that you are in control so that if she did run in you or a helper can get the dummy before she does so there's no reward and you can get her back into place again.
Nicola, Tilly, Rodaidh and Caoimhe x



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Offline MUDDYBOOTS

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Re: Stop whistle
« Reply #2 on: December 31, 2013, 06:50:22 PM »
I was throwing the dummy as a reward for sitting when I blew the whistle  ph34r. What you said makes good sense thanks.Sometimes when she retrieves she runs around me so to get her to bring the dummy to hand I have been holding a second dummy and throwing it as a reward when she fetches the first one,I give her three or four retrieves like this in quick succession.Once I start to steady her will I have to stop doing this. :shades:

Offline Nicola

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Re: Stop whistle
« Reply #3 on: December 31, 2013, 07:25:29 PM »
Ah ok, no, dispense with the throwing as a reward at that particular moment, if you want a steady dog it's not compatible with what you're trying to teach her. I would verbally praise her for the stop then ask her to do something else that you can also praise/reward her for. If you've done some direction work with her how about hiding a dummy in advance (don't let her see you do this) and stopping her in an appropriate position so you can then direct her to find it - keep the distance between her and the hidden object very short to begin with. This way she gets a fun find and retrieve but you're in control and she's learning from it.

If she's messing around with retrieves again keep the distances short and don't overdo it. It's really common for people to do far too much retrieving when training a pup; better to do a few and get them spot on than loads of sloppy ones. Start in an easily controlled environment - your hallway, your garden, an alleyway down the side of the house etc. Position yourself with your back to a hedge, fence or wall so she can't run around or past you and really encourage her to come in to you - you can also sit down with your legs out to form a channel and encourage her right up to stand on you making it really exciting and making a huge fuss of her - I do this with all puppies at the beginning, I want them to be jumping all over me every time they have something in their mouths so that bringing things to me is the most fun ever. However don't be too quick to take the dummy from her. Let her hold on to it and even walk a little way with her at heel still holding it before gently taking it from her, again with loads of praise.
Nicola, Tilly, Rodaidh and Caoimhe x



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Offline JeffD

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Re: Stop whistle
« Reply #4 on: December 31, 2013, 07:32:38 PM »
Excellent advice from Nicola
Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly

Offline woolie

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Re: Stop whistle
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2014, 09:47:16 AM »
Ditto