Charlie's General Training Log

Charlie

Charlie

Location
Argyll & Bute, Scotland
I don't expect anyone to read this as it's a note book for me, but please feel free to comment, offer tips and training advice, as lets face it I need it! :rolleyes:

LAT

Today I took Hattie and Charlie into the front drive as we were working on the hedges so it's a good opportunity to train LAT with passers by. I managed to get quite a few no barking at passers by and 4 dogs which was a bonus. Charlie and Hattie as she has to join in, just looked C&T came back to me for sausage. Really pleased with Charlie as he would bark at a fly going past:rolleyes: :)

A - B

I have been practising this technique in the garden but I still need to get my treat delivery sorted out, but Charlie definitely gets it and spends the whole time watching my left hand! :)

Focus

In our garden Charlie's focus has improved no end, long gone are the days he would run the perimeter of our garden totally ignoring me because he couldn't calm down in order to listen to me. Very slowly but surely he is now by my side waiting for 'fun' which I provide in spades. He of course likes to 'go play' which is OK by me, he is a dog afterall. He has even improved on walks which has always been a struggle. :)

Gundog work for fun

Charlie loves to do this work, he gets very excited when he sees me get my bag of tricks and whistle. He is steady, looks at me for direction, his stop whistle has improved and his retrieving and delivery to hand is excellent. He is also very steady when I take Hattie out to work with him, waiting his turn which I always think must be quite hard :)

Find it

I love doing this training with Charlie as he thrives on it and it works on a walk - hurray!! (y) He astounds me with how he finds the smallest treat under logs, piles of leaves in trees etc. What a nose!!

xx

xxx
 
bird

bird

Well haven't you and Charlie been working hard since we last chatted! Glad the boy is doing so well. Promise me Hattie is as scrumptious as ever!
 
MellowYellow

MellowYellow

Helen, that sounds great! I love hearing about how far Charlie has come thanks to all your hard work. And the lovely Hattie as well, of course! But she is such a good girl, and I know how you struggled with Charlie, so it is doubly fantastic to read such a positive post.
 
Beanwood

Beanwood

Administrator
Loved reading your log, especially the variety of games you employ with Charlie. Sounds like really know each other and have developed an incredible bond built on trust, fun and understanding :) The photo is just gorgeous!
 
Charlie

Charlie

Location
Argyll & Bute, Scotland
Just had a lovely training session with Charlie this afternoon :D

A - B

He did so well today even though my treat delivery still needs improvement :rolleyes: Anyway, he keeps his eye on my left hand with a slack lead trotting beside me, he does a lovely calm controlled turn. I introduced my son today, so I walked round the corner, Joseph appeared walked across the garden, Charlie didn't pay any attention to him which is hard for him as he is a people dog, we did this a few times all successful. I then asked Joseph to walk straight towards us, again Charlie had no interest and kept a watch on my hand :)

Scatter

I just started training this today, he is a smart boy and picked it up no problem. As he did so well I thought I would push my luck and have Joseph sit on the ground which is always very inviting to Charlie, he was having a lovely scratch, I said "scatter" and away he came to hunt up the treats, we did it a few times, success each time. I hope that's the correct way to use it :cautious: I am hoping to employ this with unexpected oncoming dogs.

Retrieving

Charlie did very well with marked retrieves at a good distance. He also did a great one, I sat him up went round the back of our trees, I hid it under some foliage, directed him he retrieved it no problem, his steadiness was really good. Struggling a bit with memories though. I have some success with a food lure but not sure that's correct :cautious:

Ping Pong Recall

Whilst I had Joseph we did some ping pong too, such a great game.

I have been clicking on Charlies uncued returns which I believe is strengthening his recall.

Hand Touch

I have been adding distance with a hand touch which was at a good distance so great today, Charlie had no problem with it so that's a big improvement. Really happy.

Stop Whistle

Much improvement, he hit the spot every time - good boy.

Play

We had such fun playing with his giant tennis ball, his tug toy which he shows great control with only taking it when I cue and drop on cue, bless him. We ran around chasing each other and had a laze around too with lots of cuddles.

He is now snoozing :sleep::sleep:

Very proud of Charlie xx :love:
 
Beanwood

Beanwood

Administrator
Don't you love just love it when it all comes together! I love that connection you feel when you are both on the same wavelength and really enjoying the games!

The same can't be said for my attempt to teach Romeo "middle".....%)
 
Charlie

Charlie

Location
Argyll & Bute, Scotland
Well it's been a very long time since I updated my log. Life has been extremely busy with Scotland, children's Uni and stuff! I have been training, never stop! :)

David has been away for a week and still has one more week until he is home. I have been walking Charlie and doing lots of lead walking practise as I decided I really wanted to improve it. I have transfered him from a harness onto a wide flat collar and grippy lead and the difference is vast. He takes a little while to settle into his stride and focus on me but it happens. He looks round at me regularly for a treat and "good" (easier than C&T) and works the same. I have been doing on lead "catch" he never knows what treat is going to appear, I throw treats on the ground for him. I have also been training A-B which came in handy yesterday when I could see my neighbour heading towards us with his dog, they both bark at each other which I didn't want. I did A-B walked off the road into the trees where Charlie could see the Labrador, he took treats happily and waited for them to pass by NO barking. He is good at "over" to sit on the verge by my side when a car approaches moving on when it's passed. I have been walking him through a gap in the woods which is quite a steep slope, I ask him to "wait" as I don't want to be dragged down, he does and walks very calmly looking at me to see if I'm OK (I'd like to think it's that :rolleyes: ) I walk him on lead round the edge of a very deer populated huge field so this is very exciting for Charlie. As I see him start to stare into the distance I throw a handfull of treats on the ground and say "scatter" this immediately breaks his stare before he can become transfixed, over threshold and can't listen, he then hunts for them looking at me afterwards with a big smiley face and a special treat :)

I am really pleased with Charlie's progress and he now walks on a loose lead for probably 90-95% of the time. I think it is doing him good to focus on this as I don't let him take one step forward if he pulls and these extra bits and pieces are helping him not to become bored, it's also unpredictable which I like, stops me getting bored too! :D xx
 
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