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Retrieving and What I’ve learned Along the Way Before writing my usual column this month, I
would like to pause and give tribute to a wonderful golden whose life came to an
end this last week in September. Fred Hulme lost his boy “T” OTCH
Shoreland’s Thrill Chaser UDX 18. “T” was ranked #1 golden for most of
2006, competed at Crufts, and was in the top rankings for 2007. Fred was
actively campaigning “T” when he became ill. I will miss seeing this
wonderful team at our local shows. It is a very sad loss for the obedience
community. Last
month I shared some of my experiences with teaching the retrieve with Echo. I
will pick up this article focusing on the glove retrieve and some of the problem
solving I have been working on to improve this exercise. First
a little background, the gloves were taught close up and on a 6 ft. leash. The
hold and the force retrieve were already in place when I taught the gloves. At
this stage, the retrieve was fairly clean except for a mouthing issue. The next
step was to add distance by using a long line. I would give either a quick
verbal “come” just as the glove was being picked up or giving a pop with
similar timing controlled the pick up. Next
came the real test-doing the gloves off leash. Here is where the problems showed
up: sliding into the glove with his front feet; arcing on the return; surveying
the other gloves on the way out; loss of focus on the way back; shaking the
glove, mouthing the glove. Now
lets go into some detail. The sliding into the glove with the front feet was
primarily the result of one thing: speed and a poor pick up. With the leash on,
I was able to control this part of the exercise but with the leash off I
couldn’t or so I thought. I then started stopping Echo on his way to the
glove. This is best done with only one glove since any looping can cause a sit
too close to the wrong glove. Again, I must give the warning; this was only done
because Echo is a very intense retriever. I would not do this if my dog was a
weak retriever. My concerns about popping were unfounded with the DB so I
decided to try the same strategy with the gloves. It worked very well. Stopping
him midway to the glove caused him to think and gave me some control. From time
to time I still gave a sharp “come” just to keep that idea in his mind.
Anything less than a perfect pick-up was immediately followed up with a recall
correction. The key to this is being consistent, consistent, and consistent!! I
described the recall correction last month and for complete instruction, I would
highly recommend attending a Sandy Ladwig seminar. It was her genius in dog
training that this idea came about. Also a warning-do not do this on wet or damp
grass-I took a nasty fall the other night on my way out to correct for a poor
pick up. Echo took great pleasure in this! If
you choose not to stop your dog on the way out to the glove because it is not
obsessed with gloves or retrieving, I would suggest that you put an obstacle
out, such as a broad jump board on end so the dog had to reach over it to get
the glove. This would then need to be weaned down to a thin leash or string. Next
issue, arcing. I found that the recall correction helped to correct this because
Echo was more intent on getting back to me. I also sometime will hide (if you
can ever really hide anything from your dog!) a toy behind my back and whip it
out as soon as he turned with the glove. I’d make a quick exchange, glove for
the toy and play a tug game. I also use clear plastic corner protectors (used to
protect wallpaper and found at a hardware store) as a guide to come in straight.
I place them on the turning side of the glove and vary the location depending on
where the arc might occur. These are especially useful in the grass as they are
hard to see. A little reminder, pick them up before you mow the grass-as I said
they are hard to see! The
surveying the other gloves on the way out is also helped with the recall
correction as it makes the dog go out, get the glove and come back with a work
ethic instead of going on a sight seeing trip! A quick ear pinch helps also if
needed. Initial training may help to avoid this issue also. I remember Sylvia
Bishop showing how she uses bowls with food in them to teach the gloves. The dog
was motivated to go get the “glove” (food out of the bowl). I also know
people put food right on the glove at the early stages also. Shaking
and mouthing the glove have been an ongoing, never ending training issue for us.
I have used the cookie toss (also described in more detail in last months
article) any time he mouths or shakes the gloves. Sounds like a reward, but it
is meant to break up the retrieve, which for Echo is highly motivating and
self-rewarding. I also use the recall correction for mouthing/shaking at a
distance. For mouthing close up, I have found a quick exchange of a cookie for
the glove to be helpful. I have tried all sorts of nose taps, verbal cues, etc.
with little success. I have found that the more pressure that is used, the more
mouthing I get—not a good thing. So the cookie exchange, adding a delay in the
reward randomly to simulate the timing of the judge telling you to take the
glove has helped. I
hope that these suggestions can help you if you are in the middle of doing some
problem solving with retrieving. Remember, I may not have had these issues if I
had paid closer attention to Echo’s maturity level, intelligence and
independent thinking when I did the force fetch. So I emphasize, know your dog
(puppy) before you doing any force work. Learn from my mistake, I know I sure
am! Until
next time, happy retrieving! |
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