Rio comes with Deuce and me sheepherding and waits in the car until we are done. This morning she and I took a walk while Deuce rested in the car. Besides, I like to do different things with each one of my dogs on occasion.
Rioja is so good at recall that I can let her free to explore without much worry that she will not check in or take off. So we walked on a wash and headed to an open area for me to throw some rocks and have her chase them. In the process I came up with a new game to encourage her to check in with me when off-leash as well as for her to continue thinking of me as a major reinforcement on our walks and with other distractions present.
Not only is the manipulation of the environment a “trainer thing” but it really helps in teaching the dogs to stay somewhat close to us when needed and, besides this engagement is fun for both parties.
The name of the game is Recall (with a Twist) in essence it consists of engaging with the dog in such a manner that they are happy to run back at you just before being sent off for more exploring. There are three basic behaviors that the dog must have learned: come when called (at least some recall is needed!) Sit /stay or just stay and drop it. By playing this game they get to practice all these behaviors a ton and we all know that practice makes… permanent.
Here is how the game works:
With Rio in my proximity, I start to egg her on with anticipation as I have a rock or a stick in my hand. After a few seconds of this I throw the item for her to go get… as she is returning to me, I begin to run away from her, engaging her predatory instinct of chasing. Once she gets to me, I ask her to drop the object. When she does, I take the object and ask her to stay (sometimes I ask for a sit too but not always). Stay for me and my dogs means keep your butt on the ground.
I proceed to move a few steps sideways while watching her. As I am saying r-ee-aad-yyy??? And I see her anticipating… I throw the item always in a different direction. Now she has learned that if she comes to me quickly we get to do it all over again. It only took her two trials to drop the item on the ground before I even asked her to do so. A clear indication that she is enjoying the game and has learned the "rules of engagement."
We played this game for a while and the proceeded to the car. Rioja was still off-leash smelling here and there and grabbing the occasional cow patty… No damage done... I let her carry the patty and have her drop it just before getting into the car (I thought) as I saw her happily prancing with her special find.
On our way to the car my mind wandered. I was thinking about what I needed to do next or… who knows – I sure have a "monkey-mind." My voice brought me back as I heard myself calling Rioja’s name once, twice… and then I stopped. Feeling a little bit embarrassed as if I had done something “bad” and was caught red-handed.
Ah… mindlessness. I don’t know about you all, but I am aware now that it is often that I fall into a mindless mode and I begin to ask my dogs to do something - most of the time to come to me without really needing them to do so because they are “right there”! This morning as I called her name I realized that this type of mindlessness dilutes not only our recall cue (which is bad enough) but in some way it points to a lack of connection with the dog.
Food for thought: Instead of just repeating cues as monotonous mantras or prayers why not remain quiet, observant and connected with the dog and only ask them to do something when is really needed? Besides, we must be ready to follow up with a consequence if our (mindful) request falls unattended otherwise our verbal cues will become irrelevant to our dog.
Rioja is so good at recall that I can let her free to explore without much worry that she will not check in or take off. So we walked on a wash and headed to an open area for me to throw some rocks and have her chase them. In the process I came up with a new game to encourage her to check in with me when off-leash as well as for her to continue thinking of me as a major reinforcement on our walks and with other distractions present.
Not only is the manipulation of the environment a “trainer thing” but it really helps in teaching the dogs to stay somewhat close to us when needed and, besides this engagement is fun for both parties.
The name of the game is Recall (with a Twist) in essence it consists of engaging with the dog in such a manner that they are happy to run back at you just before being sent off for more exploring. There are three basic behaviors that the dog must have learned: come when called (at least some recall is needed!) Sit /stay or just stay and drop it. By playing this game they get to practice all these behaviors a ton and we all know that practice makes… permanent.
Here is how the game works:
With Rio in my proximity, I start to egg her on with anticipation as I have a rock or a stick in my hand. After a few seconds of this I throw the item for her to go get… as she is returning to me, I begin to run away from her, engaging her predatory instinct of chasing. Once she gets to me, I ask her to drop the object. When she does, I take the object and ask her to stay (sometimes I ask for a sit too but not always). Stay for me and my dogs means keep your butt on the ground.
I proceed to move a few steps sideways while watching her. As I am saying r-ee-aad-yyy??? And I see her anticipating… I throw the item always in a different direction. Now she has learned that if she comes to me quickly we get to do it all over again. It only took her two trials to drop the item on the ground before I even asked her to do so. A clear indication that she is enjoying the game and has learned the "rules of engagement."
We played this game for a while and the proceeded to the car. Rioja was still off-leash smelling here and there and grabbing the occasional cow patty… No damage done... I let her carry the patty and have her drop it just before getting into the car (I thought) as I saw her happily prancing with her special find.
On our way to the car my mind wandered. I was thinking about what I needed to do next or… who knows – I sure have a "monkey-mind." My voice brought me back as I heard myself calling Rioja’s name once, twice… and then I stopped. Feeling a little bit embarrassed as if I had done something “bad” and was caught red-handed.
Ah… mindlessness. I don’t know about you all, but I am aware now that it is often that I fall into a mindless mode and I begin to ask my dogs to do something - most of the time to come to me without really needing them to do so because they are “right there”! This morning as I called her name I realized that this type of mindlessness dilutes not only our recall cue (which is bad enough) but in some way it points to a lack of connection with the dog.
Food for thought: Instead of just repeating cues as monotonous mantras or prayers why not remain quiet, observant and connected with the dog and only ask them to do something when is really needed? Besides, we must be ready to follow up with a consequence if our (mindful) request falls unattended otherwise our verbal cues will become irrelevant to our dog.
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