Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Rottweilers.
Computers. Cameras.
World Domination.
Not necessarily in that order.

Is there a Learning Style Inventory for dogs?

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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.

(NaBloPoMo | August ’10: 20 of 31)

Random dog training notes

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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.
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Other things I’m learning as the dogs and I learn better recalls

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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. [Read more…]

Rewards: dog toys

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Yesterday, as part of the discussion on different things to use for rewards in dog training, I talked about our favorite food treats.

Now for toys. I haven’t had much success in the past using toys as either rewards or motivators. The human half of the team is supposed to control access to the toys. The canine half of my team is always a Rottweiler. If said Rottweiler is also male, he usually outweighs me. This makes toy selection pretty important if I expect to have any chance at all of getting the toy back.

This is a favorite toy of both dogs. It’s also very hard to retrieve from a dog that wants to keep it without dismembering the poor turtle.
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Rewards: favorite commercial dog training treats

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You read earlier this week about how I’m trying to switch off more between food, toy, activity, and praise rewards during dog training. Here are some more details about the food treats I’m using.

I’ve mentioned before that I usually prefer to use “people food” for my dog training treats. I am still using cut-up string cheese, SPAM, and frozen meatballs. But on really hot days, it’s nice to have something that doesn’t melt, squish, or disintegrate in your pocket. Sorry, once again I do not mean to gross you out!

The dogs have three favorite low-calorie natural commercial treats, and I’m currently using two of them for training. I reviewed the third type, Pet Botanics Healthy Omega treats earlier this year. Although they are still a favorite, I’m not using them for training right now simply because they are chewier and harder to break into smaller pieces, making them less suitable for rapid delivery of treats for some of the things we’re doing right now.

I have given up trying to keep Oliver Kittyweiler out of any dog treat home photo shoots. At least he adds some perspective, so you can see the small size of the treats.
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