We did some more tricks today and yesterday :) We're all so happy to be back in the routine!
Yesterday I continued training the sit-up trick with Wall-e (sitting up on his haunches, a.k.a. "begging"). Like so many of our tricks-in-progress, we've trained this trick off-and-on for a while. I know that I really should just commit to it and train this trick exclusively for a while, or else my dogs won't develop the muscles necessary for staying in the position.
I've been thinking about what cue to use for this trick after I train it. I don't want to use "Sit-up" because it sounds too much like Sit. Likewise, I don't want to use "Beg" because it sounds too much like "Back" (which is Wall-e's new back-up cue, long story that I'll explain another time). I was reading a trick book yesterday and it gave the suggestion of "Did you wash your paws?". I think that's super cute, so I might end up using that!
Today I did some more disc dog foundation training with Mika. Poor Wall-e had to be "retired" from disc before he really even began, to save his knees.
Anyway, today we had a very short session on building disc drive. Mika likes discs, but not enough to consistently bring them back when I toss them. So for a while I've just been wiggling the disc on the ground (we're using the soft floppy disc at the moment) and do some light tugging when Mika grabs it. After about 30 seconds of wiggling and tugging, I threw a bunch of kibble on the ground to jackpot, and then ended the session by saying "Free Dog!" (our end-of-session release cue).
Yesterday I continued training the sit-up trick with Wall-e (sitting up on his haunches, a.k.a. "begging"). Like so many of our tricks-in-progress, we've trained this trick off-and-on for a while. I know that I really should just commit to it and train this trick exclusively for a while, or else my dogs won't develop the muscles necessary for staying in the position.
I've been thinking about what cue to use for this trick after I train it. I don't want to use "Sit-up" because it sounds too much like Sit. Likewise, I don't want to use "Beg" because it sounds too much like "Back" (which is Wall-e's new back-up cue, long story that I'll explain another time). I was reading a trick book yesterday and it gave the suggestion of "Did you wash your paws?". I think that's super cute, so I might end up using that!
Today I did some more disc dog foundation training with Mika. Poor Wall-e had to be "retired" from disc before he really even began, to save his knees.
Anyway, today we had a very short session on building disc drive. Mika likes discs, but not enough to consistently bring them back when I toss them. So for a while I've just been wiggling the disc on the ground (we're using the soft floppy disc at the moment) and do some light tugging when Mika grabs it. After about 30 seconds of wiggling and tugging, I threw a bunch of kibble on the ground to jackpot, and then ended the session by saying "Free Dog!" (our end-of-session release cue).
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I meant to say in my last post, thanks for everyone who gave input on whether to get the balance disc or the sport harness. I think for now I'll just get the trial sounds CD and get the other stuff later :)
I like "Did you wash your paws?". It is much much better than 'beg' and it is so cute too!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of using more unique cues for tricks, it really does make them more fun, my one friend used to say Whose your Queen? when she wanted her to bow, and the dog had a great bow, it was always funny, another friend has a border collie and she taught him to lift his back leg when she says What do yout think of that? So she usually puts him next to someone or something and gives the command, anyway, I never feel that creative coming up with good cues ;-)
ReplyDeleteWow! I was watching your end of the year training and both dogs are FAST!!!!
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