Re: Bad relationship

[Anonymous]

Hiya Laura,

bev is right its not the criteria per-se its the “distractions” will he work at low criteria with low distractions (e.g. one of your dogs in the house, or perhaps a friends dog that he knows in your garden) ?  You can build focus during distractions like this to some extent.

when bev was here she did some work on bonnie’s “leaveit” i worked it up the criteria just like you’ve done with dodger (well done) but when she saw rabbits she would just go deaf and chase them unless i (like you) happened to have a ball with me.

it sounds like ball is dodgers highest favouritest reward just like it was for bonnie and you can use this to your advantage still but slightly swap around the way he sees it.

I can now use “leaveit” if she’s focussed on something else before using “come” to get her to come away from rabbits right up to the moment before the chase kicks in (ie when she’s scented them, leaning into them and stiffened ready to go) very reliable and fluent and get her off an actual chase with reliablility but less fluency.

It sounds like this might help you and dodger too ?

The way I did it was to use the clicker and her ball.  Use the clicker normally as your marker but instead of treating with food (which was a lower resource for her than chasing rabbits) reward with the ball (which is a higher resource than rabbit chasing – i didnt condition this, she came with severely obsessive ball behaviours).  You need to wear a coat with a large pocket so you can whip it out quick and do ball throw big reward if he is good.  That way you are using the ball as a reward not as a management tool.

2 vital things which i cannot say how much they help are 1) strong management preparing and during walk before offlead work and 2) getting your cues in early early if you think you are entering an area where dogs might be do some cued heelwork and praise to get the focus, do some sit / down / wait etc … to keep his brain ticking on you not just “idling along on walk mode”

Bev also got my emergency stop behaviour using a ball as the reward too – it is very useful and you dont feel like you arent in control without a ball like you do using a ball to manage if ya get me

I dont know if this is right tho so wait till kiz posts 🙂

Claire x