Bear's Teenage Training Log
- Thread starter Natalie
- Start date
- Location
- Herefordshire, UK
Can they be shared here too? I'd be interested to read them. A lot of the issues I had with Cassie between 12 and 18 months was due to her being overstimulated by the environment she was in, now that I know and understand her better it would be intriguing to see what I could have done better. Her brains must have been blown away by all the scents she was exposed too, I can see that now.
That, on top of all those hormones coursing around.
I'll check with my trainer and see if they are ok to share
.
Didn't see this thread until today, but Toffee is another ball obsessed dog. I never use a thrower, and, although I always carry a ball (emergency recall) , I now do a lot of walks where I don’t use it at all. I also do a lot of find it with the ball, it did take a while to get Toffee interested in that, and he was pretty useless at first so I spent a lot of time 'finding it' myself, but now he’s much better at it.
It’s brilliant that your trainer can see how much you’ve done already
, you’re obviously doing really well with Bear and this extra work should help you move on to the next step.
It’s brilliant that your trainer can see how much you’ve done already
, you’re obviously doing really well with Bear and this extra work should help you move on to the next step.
Atemas
UK Tour Guide
- Location
- North Cambridgeshire
Red too is ball 
obsessed but it has toned down as she’s got older. I never use a thrower either. I find having the ball in my pocket useful to for emergency recall/quick diverter. She knows it’s there in my pocket and it always comes out at some point on our walk and is part of our play. F never takes a ball so it’s the one walk of the day with me, we play with it. When she was younger she was reluctant to give it up at the end of play but now she’s much more relaxed about it all. When the weather is better, I will go back to ball play in the garden - it’s fun for both of us.
Seems like you have a good plan with Bear’s training
obsessed but it has toned down as she’s got older. I never use a thrower either. I find having the ball in my pocket useful to for emergency recall/quick diverter. She knows it’s there in my pocket and it always comes out at some point on our walk and is part of our play. F never takes a ball so it’s the one walk of the day with me, we play with it. When she was younger she was reluctant to give it up at the end of play but now she’s much more relaxed about it all. When the weather is better, I will go back to ball play in the garden - it’s fun for both of us. Seems like you have a good plan with Bear’s training
This is the bit I'm struggling with, how do I:
- get him interested in a non moving object
- get him to pick it up?
I can just about do this in the house - hiding those catnip foam fishes around the lounge, they will happily search those out, but even then only pick them up for a few seconds and then drop them. I tried taking them out on a walk yesterday and hiding them in hedges, but I could get barely any interest.
Cath
MLF Sales Coordinator
I did cheat a bit to start with by pretending to throw the ball then dropping it into long grass behind me, and then being wildly excited about where it was. It's taken him a while to work it out (he's not as bright as Ripple
) but now he knows if I start jumping up and down and shouting 'find it , find it' his ball will be in the direction I'm pointing.Its actually been hugely frustrating because Ripple is brilliant at retrieves, and the trainer used to send him out to find the dummies that his dogs couldn't find, but of course that all stopped because of the 'eating' issues. Then there's Toffee who sometimes takes forever to find something under his nose
.Monty
Brodie is ball obsessed too - though he is just as excited by finding a static ball (maybe even more so) than chasing a thrown ball, so I don't have any ideas about how to build that interest @Natalie
I used to think that ball-obsessed dogs are created by their owners constantly throwing balls for them, but Brodie came to us that way- maybe it started with the breeder, or maybe it is actually innate. I stopped using a ball for months after we were advised it was too exciting for him but this thread is making me realise that I have actually built up to using a ball on almost every walk now. I only throw it for a short time and then put it away, but it is hugely hugely exciting for him. I don't know how I feel about it really. I can definitely see that it might be making him anxious to constantly be anticipating and hoping for a ball, and he does relax and sniff more when he knows that's not going to happen. But when it is so massively rewarding for him it is also quite hard to deprive him of it completely.
I do different things on our different walk routes - in one, there is an open field and I only throw the ball for him there and not the rest of the walk. On another circuit, he always gets a few throws at the very end of the walk. I also do a lot of hide-it, where I drop the ball without him seeing and then send him back to hunt for it, or I throw the ball and then walk him quite far away and send him back for it. And I sometimes just let him carry it in his mouth too without throwing it at all.
It's not all repetitive throwing but I do wish he had a more diverse set of interests! Jess couldn't care less about balls, on the other hand, and she might half-heartedly jog after a ball if it's thrown but usually changes her mind halfway through and gives up. She is amazing at finding balls though - on the rare occasion that Brodie can't find a ball or loses it, Jess goes in and saves the day. I think she quite enjoys her status as senior-ball-finder. She knows she is needed, she's just not going to demean herself by running around every time a ball is thrown. She is more of the "fetch it yourself" school of hooman-training
I used to think that ball-obsessed dogs are created by their owners constantly throwing balls for them, but Brodie came to us that way- maybe it started with the breeder, or maybe it is actually innate. I stopped using a ball for months after we were advised it was too exciting for him but this thread is making me realise that I have actually built up to using a ball on almost every walk now. I only throw it for a short time and then put it away, but it is hugely hugely exciting for him. I don't know how I feel about it really. I can definitely see that it might be making him anxious to constantly be anticipating and hoping for a ball, and he does relax and sniff more when he knows that's not going to happen. But when it is so massively rewarding for him it is also quite hard to deprive him of it completely.
I do different things on our different walk routes - in one, there is an open field and I only throw the ball for him there and not the rest of the walk. On another circuit, he always gets a few throws at the very end of the walk. I also do a lot of hide-it, where I drop the ball without him seeing and then send him back to hunt for it, or I throw the ball and then walk him quite far away and send him back for it. And I sometimes just let him carry it in his mouth too without throwing it at all.
It's not all repetitive throwing but I do wish he had a more diverse set of interests! Jess couldn't care less about balls, on the other hand, and she might half-heartedly jog after a ball if it's thrown but usually changes her mind halfway through and gives up. She is amazing at finding balls though - on the rare occasion that Brodie can't find a ball or loses it, Jess goes in and saves the day. I think she quite enjoys her status as senior-ball-finder. She knows she is needed, she's just not going to demean herself by running around every time a ball is thrown. She is more of the "fetch it yourself" school of hooman-training
My trainer was happy for me to share these - though probably not massively different from all the things we knew anyway. As they are multi page PDF's I've created a link here - hope you can open it (and not actually see my entire Google Drive at the same time!)
drive.google.com
Recognise, remove, rebalance and relax – Google Drive
drive.google.com
Got these today from dog walker, he said he's going to try the same thing on his next walk, and all the dogs did a lot more sniffing and digging on this walk ' just dogs being dogs'. So pleased they are taking my request on board and understanding... He even said he had noticed Bear licks his lips to touch his nose a lot, I hadn't noticed that . I guess holes in the lawn are going to be the next fun game 
Attachments
Thanks for this I better brush up on my acting skills!I did cheat a bit to start with by pretending to throw the ball then dropping it into long grass behind me, and then being wildly excited about where it was. It's taken him a while to work it out (he's not as bright as Ripple
Its actually been hugely frustrating because Ripple is brilliant at retrieves, and the trainer used to send him out to find the dummies that his dogs couldn't find, but of course that all stopped because of the 'eating' issues. Then there's Toffee who sometimes takes forever to find something under his nose
Thanks Natalie, it's interesting to see. I wish I'd seen more training advice like this when I first got Jess, when I thought the priority was more socialisation and new experiences and I didn't understand when it was too much for her. It's definitely helpful to think about prioritising calm and relaxed feelings.My trainer was happy for me to share these - though probably not massively different from all the things we knew anyway. As they are multi page PDF's I've created a link here - hope you can open it (and not actually see my entire Google Drive at the same time!)
Recognise, remove, rebalance and relax – Google Drive
I was also just thinking more about our training 'journey' around balls with Brodie, as we did stop using balls for quite a while but he kept finding balls or bits of balls on our walks and then wouldn't give them up. He also started stealing other dogs' balls, and that's when I reintroduced them for our walks. So deprivation didn't really work for us. And now that I think about it, he is also less crazed and panicky about balls now that he gets them more frequently and at reasonably predictable times.
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
As I mentioned above, Willow isn't keen on frisbees. She used to love them but then nearly DIED standing on a stick when picking one up some time ago. 
If I throw one now, she'll just look at me like I'm bonkers. I've done some stuff with playing tug with the fabric ones a while back, and she was starting to get the idea, but then I stopped doing it for some reason. I just got a couple of free rubber ones from an order I made, and so it's brought it back to mind. What I'm doing is just working on her picking it up the floor and delivering it to my hand. For this, she gets the throw of a ball as a reinforcer, as my idea is to transfer the excitement of the ball onto the frisbee. Then I'll just work at slowly adding distance so she has to move to pick it up and then return to me.
If you don't have a pick up behaviour at all, then that is where to start, and you can do it with a whole range of items at home to get it generalised. Toys, balled socks, oven gloves, pens, coins...
If I throw one now, she'll just look at me like I'm bonkers. I've done some stuff with playing tug with the fabric ones a while back, and she was starting to get the idea, but then I stopped doing it for some reason. I just got a couple of free rubber ones from an order I made, and so it's brought it back to mind. What I'm doing is just working on her picking it up the floor and delivering it to my hand. For this, she gets the throw of a ball as a reinforcer, as my idea is to transfer the excitement of the ball onto the frisbee. Then I'll just work at slowly adding distance so she has to move to pick it up and then return to me.
If you don't have a pick up behaviour at all, then that is where to start, and you can do it with a whole range of items at home to get it generalised. Toys, balled socks, oven gloves, pens, coins...
I know I'm nuts but I 'accidentally" drop a ball when I'm out walking. Then I ask them the find it. It's not too exciting it makes them keep an eye on me for falling balls I mean you never know, it keeps them close. They both enjoy handing the ball back and finding it's not so hard on their joints. I do sometimes throw a ball but not much. I need them to handle the balls and give he them back nicely because I'm wobbly
Beanwood
Administrator
Having a think here...
How many times a week does your dog walker take Monty out? Are this usually group walks?
four to five days a week, a small group of him and Monty, the dog walker's dog usually, and one other. The dog walkers hasn't used any toys at all on walks now for two weeks, and when I spoke to him yesterday , he said he was really pleased with how it was going - for him the walks are now much more enjoyable as he's not hunting around for lost toys, and he feels like the dogs are behaving a bit more naturally - Bear has become a digger, and Monty's a sniffer (though he always was!) They are off lead the whole time apart from the minute to and from the van - fortunately there are almost empty fields nearby and they always walk in these. He's even extended this to some of his other walks.
Unfortunately, this hasn't translated into any less mouthing from Bear - yesterday was horrible and at one point i was ready to re-home him (only joking, but he was a complete dick). Still grabbing my wrists, my jumpers, the pockets of my jeans - and it's really hard to see any triggers when he goes from zero to maniac within a split second. If he's not too over excited and I catch him really early, a leave it or drop does now work... but not if he's in full on mode. (In his defence, one of the neighbour's houses was being cleared yesterday, there was lots of banging and shouting as furniture got broken up and thrown around, it upset Monty too who marked on and off all day... we normally have a quiet front aspect to the house apart from deliveries. ) The jumping up has lessened just a little bit, or at least it stops more quickly now but the mouthing is horrible
It's a long shot - but wondered if there could be any physical problem - Could he have a baby tooth that never came out and it's causing him tooth ache?
- Location
- The Hague, The Netherlands
Out of curiosity, is Bear only "mouthing" just with you or does he also do it to your OH??
- Location
- Malvern Worcestershire
@Natalie, did you see the programme "Dogs Behaving Badly" on Thursday? There was a young dog there mouthing/biting the woman but not the husband. The trainer pointed out that for the dog it was a game as the women kept pulling her hands back and to the dog, squeaking excitedly as she was saying no. The answer was, to keep your hand still and push the dog away with your other hand, be calm, so that it wasn't a game any more to the dog. I can't quite remember exactly as I was reading MLF at the same time!