Alternative/Unconventional/ Made-up Training Methods.

Cherry Blossom

Has anyone every used a slightly kookie training method they made-up themselves for parts of their dogs training that just wasn't going anywhere? My dog's difficult areas are her recall and wait/stay. I've incorporated a couple of little things into the training which are really motivators I guess.

The first thing is that she comes running at great speed as soon as she hears the lid of the ceramic treat jar clink, so I've been letting her out in the garden, and going to the opposite side of the house from where she is, call her name and say 'here' and clink the lid and she comes running, the past couple of days she's still comming and the treat jar has stayed on the shelf in the house. She's still getting a treat every time she comes which is now every time

The second thing is that she seems to adore ripping up empty Ribena cartons, so I've taught her to sit and wait while I drink the contents, and advanced to walking round the room drinking it while making her sit and stay, as soon as she hears the gurgly noise you get when you reach the bottom of the carton her head tips to one side and cries at me so now I'm making her wait a bit longer again as I don't really want her associating the reward with the gurgly noise.

I've no idea how these things are going to translate into the 'real' world and I'm drinking an awful lot of Ribena (:p) but at least she is getting the jist of the idea now. Has anyone else incorporated anything mad like this into their training?

TooManyDogs

Funny you should start a thread like this because I did some really unconventional training today. My deaf jrt is obsessed with chasing one of my other dogs, to the point she doesn't relax and have a sniff around and investigate things herself because she's watching every move Wiley makes. I've tried calling her over to me but because calling her depends on her looking at me so there's too much time between the action and the correction. I've tried keeping her on a lead so stop her associating walks with obsessing about Wiley but she walks perfectly on lead and when you let her off again she goes off like the tazmanian devil.

So today I had a brain wave, I tethered her to Wiley!! The way I figured it was she wanted to chase Wiley but if she had no choice but to follow Wiley everywhere Wiley went she'd get pissed off with Wiley and not want to be near her. So I tried that, and very quickly Púca got hacked off being towed around the beach, I let her off and Púca straight away headed in the opposite direction of Wiley, glaring at her all the way!!! I think doing this for a few minutes at the start of each walk will make sure Púca leaves Wiley alone. Fingers crossed anyway.

ISDW

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

Has anyone every used a slightly kookie training method they made-up themselves for parts of their dogs training that just wasn't going anywhere? My dog's difficult areas are her recall and wait/stay. I've incorporated a couple of little things into the training which are really motivators I guess.

The first thing is that she comes running at great speed as soon as she hears the lid of the ceramic treat jar clink, so I've been letting her out in the garden, and going to the opposite side of the house from where she is, call her name and say 'here' and clink the lid and she comes running, the past couple of days she's still comming and the treat jar has stayed on the shelf in the house. She's still getting a treat every time she comes which is now every time

The second thing is that she seems to adore ripping up empty Ribena cartons, so I've taught her to sit and wait while I drink the contents, and advanced to walking round the room drinking it while making her sit and stay, as soon as she hears the gurgly noise you get when you reach the bottom of the carton her head tips to one side and cries at me so now I'm making her wait a bit longer again as I don't really want her associating the reward with the gurgly noise.

I've no idea how these things are going to translate into the 'real' world and I'm drinking an awful lot of Ribena (:p) but at least she is getting the jist of the idea now. Has anyone else incorporated anything mad like this into their training?

Brilliant, and not unconventional at all, you've just adapted the reward system to suit you and your dog. You've found the reward thats high enough in value for your dog to want it.

When I went to my first obedience classes way back in the mists of time with my dog Murphy the trainer advised us to get something like an old tobacco tin and put treats in it, then everytime you worked with the dog, tap on the tin with keys, or a coin, something that would make a really good noise for a dog, then treat, so that the dog heard the noise and knew it meant a treat. This is the same as the clicker training thats so popular now, and in my vets they now sell small tins, very like tobacco tins, with treats in them for training:D Your dog doesn't have a clicker, she has a ceramic jar. You may have difficulty with that though when you're out of the house, do you think you could change it gradually to something that you could carry with you?

carraghsgem

when pandora was about 4mths to7mths old she became very independant and frequently turned a deaf ear when id call her back to me, when she started doing this i started hiding out of her sight behind bushes etc (i could see her) and waited until she started getting worried and looked for me then id call her, we turned this into a game for many months and she would often find me even if i didnt call her. she hasnt let me out of her sight when out on a walk since (shes 9 now!)

Cherry Blossom

ISDW wrote: »

This is the same as the clicker training thats so popular now, and in my vets they now sell small tins, very like tobacco tins, with treats in them for training:D Your dog doesn't have a clicker, she has a ceramic jar. You may have difficulty with that though when you're out of the house, do you think you could change it gradually to something that you could carry with you?

That's just it! I've been clicker training all along as I've always done it with horses and had good results. I don't have a clicker though, I just make the sound with my mouth. With the clicker training I'd been following the line of thought that the click comes after she does the correct action or after she looks like she is going to, whichever is appropriate. With the jar the noise comes before and then she gives the correct action. Think I will get myself a little tin though for out and about as seems to be working even though it's not following the 'correct' procedure so to speak and I can still use the click as I have been doing.