- Location
- Isle of Man
It's hard work being good 
Relaxation protocol.
- Thread starter Leanne
- Start date
Leanne
Sniffer Dog
- Location
- Shropshire, UK
Day 5
We really struggled to get started today. That said we have done a fair bit of training today, he is due his walk and it’s really bloody hot.
As a result day 5 was quite tricky so will be repeated again tomorrow... sailed through all the downs... did NOT like me leaving through the doorway to the point I was out of sight - scrabbled up to get to me. I think I did him a disservice in that we had to touch the door of an entry and I touched the outside door. He did NOT like that.
6 attempts later and the speediest walk I have ever done to get back and we did it
We really struggled to get started today. That said we have done a fair bit of training today, he is due his walk and it’s really bloody hot.
As a result day 5 was quite tricky so will be repeated again tomorrow... sailed through all the downs... did NOT like me leaving through the doorway to the point I was out of sight - scrabbled up to get to me. I think I did him a disservice in that we had to touch the door of an entry and I touched the outside door. He did NOT like that.
6 attempts later and the speediest walk I have ever done to get back and we did it
Ace work @Leanne, I’m not sure how we’ll manage leaving the room but hey, small steps (literally - bdm chhhh...)
We did day 3 earlier. We managed a down on a mat, hooray! I wouldn’t have persevered with this if you hadn’t done it it was The Best Toy Ever afterwards, but hey ho. We predictably found the jogging half way round tricky, so did 3 x ‘go back a couple of stages and repeat’ sessions and by the 4th time, bingo.
I love how this is teaching me (and Kipper) the value of repetition, mixing up difficulty levels and stages progress. Still full of beans afterwards, but a frozen Kong is taking the edge off
We did day 3 earlier. We managed a down on a mat, hooray! I wouldn’t have persevered with this if you hadn’t done it
it was The Best Toy Ever afterwards, but hey ho. We predictably found the jogging half way round tricky, so did 3 x ‘go back a couple of stages and repeat’ sessions and by the 4th time, bingo. I love how this is teaching me (and Kipper) the value of repetition, mixing up difficulty levels and stages progress. Still full of beans afterwards, but a frozen Kong is taking the edge off
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
OK, I've actually started doing this too but I'm modifying it a bit so that I can use it to get a really solid "stand-stay" with Ella.
Background - Ella is pretty good a stays and has a reasonably reliable 2min sit stay and 3min down stay. Her stand stay is OK but she's more likely to move her feet.
Day 0 - I shaped a stand on the mat. Getting her on the mat was easy. Getting her to stand instead of sit was more tricky but managed in the one session.
Day 0.5 - I was quite quickly able to send her to the mat (I've sent her to targets before so it wasn't exactly a new behaviour) and started doing some simple stays. 5 x 20 second stays - 4 successes and one fail (the fail was a moved paw rather than a break).
Day 1 officially starts today. I'll let you know how we go!
Background - Ella is pretty good a stays and has a reasonably reliable 2min sit stay and 3min down stay. Her stand stay is OK but she's more likely to move her feet.
Day 0 - I shaped a stand on the mat. Getting her on the mat was easy. Getting her to stand instead of sit was more tricky but managed in the one session.
Day 0.5 - I was quite quickly able to send her to the mat (I've sent her to targets before so it wasn't exactly a new behaviour) and started doing some simple stays. 5 x 20 second stays - 4 successes and one fail (the fail was a moved paw rather than a break).
Day 1 officially starts today. I'll let you know how we go!
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
Short video from day 1. The quality is pretty poor but I'm pleased with how she did
- Location
- Herefordshire, UK
Well done Ella!
What a good Ella! I love her expression and tail wagging This seems a world more advanced to me, in that the capacity for moving is greater in a stand (in a down, the shifting is less of an issue - or maybe that's my lax interpretation so far!). Really impressive.
This seems a world more advanced to me, in that the capacity for moving is greater in a stand (in a down, the shifting is less of an issue - or maybe that's my lax interpretation so far!). Really impressive.
Leanne
Sniffer Dog
- Location
- Shropshire, UK
That’s amazing! I’m so impressed. You can actually see the cogs turning as she tries to figure out what your doing
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
Thanks everyone. Don't forget @HAH and @Leanne Ella is three and, whilst she's definitely not 'well trained' ?, she has done a reasonable amount of obedience work, including stays so this isn't new to her. I've just found her stand-stay to be less than reliable so I'm going back to the start to work on it again?
Day 4 yesterday, in the garden (previously been using the sitting room but its way too small for more than 4 steps away).
Again, suprisingly successful. Kipper recognised what we were doing immediately, and went and lay on his mat with no attempt to chew it first.
The jogging on the spot, clapping and walking to an entrance all were fine, no shifting. Kipper does keep his attention on me the whole time, and is clearly alert; whilst his 'down' is relatively relaxed (legs out to one side) after the first couple of tasks, he does maintain eye contact with ears forward and the odd head movement or squeak saying 'what's next?' This is usually during the counting up to 20, which he still finds more tricky although down throughout now. I think it may be just quite odd for him; I don't count out loud unless the protocol says to, so it's just me looking round the area in a fairly disengaged way - not something we do normally. Walking round him in a circle is lovely, his little head follows to about 240 degrees then he rolls it round to catch me on the flipside. Very sweet.
Another helpful thing is that my OH has started quietly sitting in the wings and reading the instructions to me. I was finding it tricky to scroll through my phone and deliver treats from a pot and do the task (e.g. clapping while jogging backwards 10 paces) all at once. So it's becoming a little group activity!
Again, suprisingly successful. Kipper recognised what we were doing immediately, and went and lay on his mat with no attempt to chew it first.
The jogging on the spot, clapping and walking to an entrance all were fine, no shifting. Kipper does keep his attention on me the whole time, and is clearly alert; whilst his 'down' is relatively relaxed (legs out to one side) after the first couple of tasks, he does maintain eye contact with ears forward and the odd head movement or squeak saying 'what's next?' This is usually during the counting up to 20, which he still finds more tricky although down throughout now. I think it may be just quite odd for him; I don't count out loud unless the protocol says to, so it's just me looking round the area in a fairly disengaged way - not something we do normally. Walking round him in a circle is lovely, his little head follows to about 240 degrees then he rolls it round to catch me on the flipside. Very sweet.
Another helpful thing is that my OH has started quietly sitting in the wings and reading the instructions to me. I was finding it tricky to scroll through my phone and deliver treats from a pot and do the task (e.g. clapping while jogging backwards 10 paces) all at once. So it's becoming a little group activity!
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
Leanne
Sniffer Dog
- Location
- Shropshire, UK
Day 5
We skipped yesterday because we had done lots of training outdoors at a local fete and I didn’t want to push him to far. Plus he was asleep and no way am I waking him ?
Today we did it in the garden.. he was brilliant. Got up once in the entirety and tried to follow me but he no objections when he was taken back to his mat. He has had a lovely walk at a food market today with lots of other dogs and strangers petting him though so energy levels are down.
I pushed my luck today and instead of leaving the door open so when I ‘enter a doorway’ it’s fluid I had to open the door. I opened it, shut it again and then walked back to him... he was interested but not obsessively so.. got a short video but OH rang me half way though so it cut off ? typical.
Attached is the picture that I look 3 minutes after finishing the training. I have to say it is astonishing at getting him to just relax.
We skipped yesterday because we had done lots of training outdoors at a local fete and I didn’t want to push him to far. Plus he was asleep and no way am I waking him ?
Today we did it in the garden.. he was brilliant. Got up once in the entirety and tried to follow me but he no objections when he was taken back to his mat. He has had a lovely walk at a food market today with lots of other dogs and strangers petting him though so energy levels are down.
I pushed my luck today and instead of leaving the door open so when I ‘enter a doorway’ it’s fluid I had to open the door. I opened it, shut it again and then walked back to him... he was interested but not obsessively so.. got a short video but OH rang me half way though so it cut off ? typical.
Attached is the picture that I look 3 minutes after finishing the training. I have to say it is astonishing at getting him to just relax.
Leanne
Sniffer Dog
- Location
- Shropshire, UK
Hi all,
What a great idea for a training thread
I keep meaning to post that Harvey and I have joined you but then never seem to get around to it! Anyway, we've just done Day 4, yesterday (I 'm taking the weekends off though ). The toughest things for Harv have been:
1. Clapping hands. This is because our release cue (from sits and downs for example) is a quick double clap of the hands accompanied by a verbal cue of 'free'. Full marks to Harv though as he battled through - I could see that he was tempted to move though.
2. Counting aloud. No idea why this was particularly interesting but Harv found this a challenge.
Keep up the good work.
What a great idea for a training thread
I keep meaning to post that Harvey and I have joined you but then never seem to get around to it! Anyway, we've just done Day 4, yesterday (I 'm taking the weekends off though
). The toughest things for Harv have been:1. Clapping hands. This is because our release cue (from sits and downs for example) is a quick double clap of the hands accompanied by a verbal cue of 'free'. Full marks to Harv though as he battled through - I could see that he was tempted to move though.
2. Counting aloud. No idea why this was particularly interesting but Harv found this a challenge.
Keep up the good work.
Leanne
Sniffer Dog
- Location
- Shropshire, UK
Great to hear we have more people doing it! The counting out loud one is interesting... as I assume he’s used to the sound of your voice.. I wonder if he is waiting for one, two, three... GO ?
Day 5 done.
I'm finding that I have to improvise with some of the instructions as a result of lack of space. Paraphrasing from Jaws "We're gonna need a biggerboat house!"
Are the rest of you working through each day in one location and then going back to Day 1 in a new location at the end? Or are you alternating venues within each day? (We're just doing one location all the way through)
I'm finding that I have to improvise with some of the instructions as a result of lack of space. Paraphrasing from Jaws "We're gonna need a bigger
Are the rest of you working through each day in one location and then going back to Day 1 in a new location at the end? Or are you alternating venues within each day? (We're just doing one location all the way through)
Nice work on Day 5, thats up next for us. We're also challenged by a lack of space, so moved into the garden. Also it was just nicer to be outside!
I'm planning to go back to the beginning once we reach the end and try different locations, but whether I'll actually do that is another matter... I suppose it depends how well the protocol has worked with relaxation; I quite like the idea of trying it in a pub garden?
I'm planning to go back to the beginning once we reach the end and try different locations, but whether I'll actually do that is another matter... I suppose it depends how well the protocol has worked with relaxation; I quite like the idea of trying it in a pub garden?
Leanne
Sniffer Dog
- Location
- Shropshire, UK
I’m alternating locations - we did day 3 in a field ?
As the days go on I don’t think space is as needed as it’s more about going outside etc.
That said I haven’t done today’s yet as my ankle
Still hurts when I’m standing
As the days go on I don’t think space is as needed as it’s more about going outside etc.
That said I haven’t done today’s yet as my ankle
Still hurts when I’m standing
Leanne
Sniffer Dog
- Location
- Shropshire, UK
So today because of my ankle and frankly the idea of jogging makes me want to weep we did it a bit different.
I put Mas on a mat by the washing machine and attempted to empty the dishwasher (usually he’s a big fan of helping!) I kept to the timings of the RP but instead of clapping etc the noise/distraction was the playes etc - I am aware that I massive upped the anti with this but we have been working on ‘wait’ whilst I do stuff so he had at least a basis from what I was doing.
He did AMAZING. I’m genuinely gobsmacked. Not only did I have to keep leaving the room to put the plates away - he stayed down whilst I refilled it (with dirty plates!!!!!) and then when I washed up 2 pans in the kitchen (at this point he couldn’t even see me! I could see him because I could see his paw ?)
I alternated the treats, sometimes I would give him one every time I put a plate in, other times I isn’t give him any, on a couple of occasions I gave him 3 in a row just to keep him motivated.
He was down for 20 minutes!!!! I should say that he was due a nap so was tired anyway but Mas always follows me. Even when he’s knackered he is laying by my feet.
The funniest bit is afterwards I went into the kitchen to make a coffee and he toddled after me and launched himself into a down on the mat (in the other room) with a ‘yeah I will take my treat now please!’
We are now 10 days in (still on day 6 mind) but really impressed with the protocol. I think at least some of it is because it becomes very ritualistic. You are following a formula so you have to complete it every day. Which means you’re investing the time into teaching a new skill. Not sure about everyone else but I am extremely guilty of teaching a new behaviour and then going ‘done! What’s next?’ As opposed to continually reinforcing it as much as I should.. lessons being learnt me thinks!
Pictures attached of the wonderfully relaxed down we had throughout.
Ps excuse the state of the kitchen!
Leaving the room and entering the kitchen
I put Mas on a mat by the washing machine and attempted to empty the dishwasher (usually he’s a big fan of helping!) I kept to the timings of the RP but instead of clapping etc the noise/distraction was the playes etc - I am aware that I massive upped the anti with this but we have been working on ‘wait’ whilst I do stuff so he had at least a basis from what I was doing.
He did AMAZING. I’m genuinely gobsmacked. Not only did I have to keep leaving the room to put the plates away - he stayed down whilst I refilled it (with dirty plates!!!!!) and then when I washed up 2 pans in the kitchen (at this point he couldn’t even see me! I could see him because I could see his paw ?)
I alternated the treats, sometimes I would give him one every time I put a plate in, other times I isn’t give him any, on a couple of occasions I gave him 3 in a row just to keep him motivated.
He was down for 20 minutes!!!! I should say that he was due a nap so was tired anyway but Mas always follows me. Even when he’s knackered he is laying by my feet.
The funniest bit is afterwards I went into the kitchen to make a coffee and he toddled after me and launched himself into a down on the mat (in the other room) with a ‘yeah I will take my treat now please!’
We are now 10 days in (still on day 6 mind) but really impressed with the protocol. I think at least some of it is because it becomes very ritualistic. You are following a formula so you have to complete it every day. Which means you’re investing the time into teaching a new skill. Not sure about everyone else but I am extremely guilty of teaching a new behaviour and then going ‘done! What’s next?’ As opposed to continually reinforcing it as much as I should.. lessons being learnt me thinks!
Pictures attached of the wonderfully relaxed down we had throughout.
Ps excuse the state of the kitchen!
Leaving the room and entering the kitchen 
