I was just reminded of another reason today. If, because of your own general lack of athleticism and attentiveness, you move in the wrong direction after your rather large dog has targeted the tug and jumped to grab it, your dog might grab your bicep instead. He might realize the problem right away, and let go very quickly, but still…
…OUCH.
I would post a picture of the rather impressive bruises, but I wouldn’t want someone to use it against Rottweilers or dogs in general.
This warning probably does not apply to you. Only to me, because I am a klutz like that.
I’ve mentioned in a few prior posts that we’re doing Susan Garrett’s “The Five Minute Formula to a Brilliant Recall.” I’ve mentioned before that Freya and Axel seem to have different learning styles as well.
One thing in particular that surprises me is that Freya is still reluctant to do anything to my right, even when rewarded for being there. Freya will be seven and Axel will be four in November, so I definitely expected both of them to be more accustomed to being on my left in the usual heel position. That’s quite a few years of being on the left, including casual walking, basic classes, show training, showing in American and German-style shows, obedience classes, and rally obedience classes and trials.
Axel was a little confused at first, but with the possibility of a food treat or toy reward on my right, he decided pretty quickly that he would go with the program. I can now call or signal him to either heel or right, which is more useful than I thought it would be.
Freya still thinks it has to be a trick. She isn’t sure why I’d try to trick her after over six years, but she makes it clear that she is not going to be the one to fall for it. We’re still working on it. I still can’t get her to willingly come to my right side unless I create a barrier to my left side with a wall or fence.
I am sure we’ll get past it, as we have almost everything else. It’s just interesting how different Freya and Axel can be sometimes.
I read quite a few dog-related blogs and forums. Some are Rottweiler-specific, some are specific to training for certain dog sports, and others are more general. The large amount of good information out there, much of it free, is amazing. The even larger amount of poor quality information out there is amazing in a more depressing way. Sometimes I wonder how any first-time dog adopter or purchaser, or anyone attempting to train their first dog, manages to sort out the information at all. Sometimes I find it difficult, and I’m on year 16 and Rottweilers number 5 and 6 (which, by the way, means I’m still very much a novice owner and trainer).
I realize I tend to be judgmental in many areas myself, but I know I would be very happy to not see quite as much judgmental writing on dog training topics. If I see fewer statements saying that shock collars automatically equate to dog abuse, or that clickers are only good for training tricks, or that those who train with food are all too permissive, that would be fine by me.
Personally, I think that the success of any training method relies on the ability of the handler to learn good timing. Timing of rewards and corrections are both hugely important, or you are not communicating the right message to your dog. Timing has been a very difficult thing for me to learn. You’ve seen me or someone just like me at your classes: I’m the one who who has trouble managing leash, clicker, and treats at the same time without sticking the clicker into the dog’s mouth or tripping myself on the leash.
Dogs are amazing creatures. Mine have managed to learn a lot despite me.
But there’s still only one thing I think we can all agree on. I saw it first way back when Rottweiler number one was just a puppy and I still see it now:
The only thing that two dog trainers can agree on is that the third dog trainer is doing it all wrong!
After a full week of oppressive heat and humidity, today was a gift with a high of “only” 83°F. It’s been a wonderfully cool and breezy night as well. Not quite cool enough to be “Rottweiler weather” yet, though!
There was one very unexpected benefit to last week’s heat. For our “Brilliant Recall” lessons, I have been aiming to do very short, more frequent training sessions with both dogs. I’ve been trying to shorten our rally and obedience training sessions as well, since I’m not always good at stopping at the right time before boredom sets in, and at a point where we can end on a high note. But the heat guaranteed that all of the outdoor training sessions would in fact be short and sweet. Continue reading
As we work through the games and lessons for Susan Garrett’s “Brilliant Recall” course, I’m learning other things not directly related to recalls, brilliant or otherwise.
First, I have been reminded daily as to why I’ve generally avoided using tugging as a training reward (other than not being an agility person and feeling forced into it, that is). Freya doesn’t like to play tug with me unless I spend a lot of time convincing her it will be fun. By that time, it doesn’t seem like big fun to me and it’s still less motivating to her than cheese. Continue reading
I had to think about whether I wanted to tell this story or not, because it is full of dog handler FAILs. Those would be my fails. So here it is, because the training WINs and dog WINs outweigh my fails.
As you know from somepreviousposts, I’m trying to improve both dogs’ recalls by taking Susan Garrett’s online “Brilliant Recall” course.
On Saturday morning, Axel and I were playing one of the pre-course recall games in the back yard. He did very well, especially considering that he’d just finished breakfast about an hour before. Handler FAIL: Since this game involved food rewards, we should have played before breakfast. After we were done, I released him to run around the back yard and “help” me pick up dog toys before the lawn maintenance crew arrived.
Unfortunately, while he was “helping” by grabbing a Jolly Ball and not bringing it to me, Axe spotted a jogger running past the front of the house and went to charge the gate. Handler FAIL: I know I shouldn’t let him do this, but I am always torn between wanting the dogs to ignore passers-by, or letting them go off on strangers in hopes that bad people will then bypass our property for one with no Rottweilers. I am right behind him, but a step too slow. He hit the gate, which shouldn’t have popped open, but it did. Homeowner FAIL: My husband and I try to remember to check the gates at least once a week to make sure the latches are closing and holding properly. Apparently neither of us did that recently enough.
Axe didn’t expect that either, but given the opportunity for freedom, he starts to go through the open gate. I call his name. He stops halfway through the gate and turns his head towards me. Just like he did for the game we’d just got done playing. Just like he was supposed to do.
I was not confident enough to wait to see if he’d keep coming back to me; I called “Axel, HIER” to make sure of it. And just like that, he was back where I could grab his collar, tell him he was a good boy, close the gate, and give him some play and love for not chasing the jogger and not turning into roadkill on the busy street we live on. Dog WIN. Susan Garrett recall course WIN. I honestly believe the reason he came back so quickly is because of the recall games we had just finished playing, and the games we had worked on during the week before.
I should say the journey is the reward for me. The dogs probably don’t see it that way.
A couple of months ago, when Freya and I first started having our training difficulties, one of the suggestions I got was to switch off more between food, toy, activity, and praise rewards. It’s good that I looked into having more reward options in my toolbox, since I also need to know what both dogs consider to be high-value rewards for Susan Garrett’s “The Five Minute Formula to a Brilliant Recall” online course that we’ve just started.
Freya is very food-motivated, so admittedly I was getting stuck in a rut with food rewards. I really hadn’t put much time into experimenting with toy, activity, and praise rewards until then. I found out that Freya’s favorite toy to play with by herself is not her favorite toy for playing with me. And neither of those toys is the one she’ll bring to Dan to play with him. I expected her to enjoy tugging more; maybe it’s just me she doesn’t like to tug with.
Axel is also very food-motivated. He likes a larger variety of toys than Freya does, and definitely responds to them. The problem with Axel and toys is that he is very interested in taking them away from the human, especially if the human is me. If the toy doesn’t have a handle or rope attached, I have no prayer of holding onto it. So I have never used toys much for training Axel.
This reminds me of a Heidi story. Heidi was ball crazy, a great catcher, and a natural retriever. Dan taught her all kinds of catch and chase games. “Heidi Go Long” was always cute. He’d tell her to “go long” and she’d lead out, he’d throw her a mini football, and she’d catch it over her shoulder. We’ve never gotten any of the Rottweilers who came after her to do that.
But as ball crazy as she was, Heidi would not play ball with me. I throw like a girl, and Heidi just did not like that. Even if I threw the ball, she’d bring it back to Dan. If he wasn’t there, she’d go and play with it by herself. If he was not home, or didn’t come outside after a while, she’d eventually bring it back to me. The look on her face made it very clear that I was a last resort. I miss her and that disdainful look so much.
The reward of choice at the moment for both dogs seems to be SPAM, with cheddar and mozzarella string cheese following close behind.
