After running Tara through several Public training sessions it has come to our attention that we should take a step back and do some obedience training. She gets distracted very easily by other dogs and runners.
Over the last month I have been working on her personal skills, she can now:
Sit
Sit/Stay
Down
Down/stay
Walk on loose leash (most of the time with no correction)
Quiet (stops her in the middle of a bark)
Watch me (keeps her attention on me when another dog/runner is present)
Over the next two weeks we will be strengthening these skills and perfecting them.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
CAN SHE DO IT?
Tara tried her first 1/4 mile run!!!
Precious played the missing pet, with Joe. They took a walk in the park and went missing!!!
I get the phone call, get Tara in the car and head to the park.
I am given a starting point and that is it....
With Tara in the Park, I give her the scent of Precious, "find it". She takes off running, hot on the trail, nose down and running for the save.
Then a dog came into view and Tara lost her concentration. I got her to sit and wait for our friend to leave the scene.
We walked back a ways, until Tara found the scent again. She is running again toward a bridge, nose down, tail straight and not moving, running toward the bridge.
We get to the bridge and she stops and circles back, "find it", she finds the scent again and goes accross the bridge, running into a grassy area and toward the outside of the park.
She pulls us out of the park and runs into a residential neighborhood. Tara runs for a 4 foot high brick wall. Once she hits the wall she jumps up, putting her front paws on the wall sniffing the air.
Nose back on the ground she goes around the wall. There is Precious and Joe sitting in the grass.
Both dogs get their treats, belly rubs and a run in the park.
Good job Tara!
Precious played the missing pet, with Joe. They took a walk in the park and went missing!!!
I get the phone call, get Tara in the car and head to the park.
I am given a starting point and that is it....
With Tara in the Park, I give her the scent of Precious, "find it". She takes off running, hot on the trail, nose down and running for the save.
Then a dog came into view and Tara lost her concentration. I got her to sit and wait for our friend to leave the scene.
We walked back a ways, until Tara found the scent again. She is running again toward a bridge, nose down, tail straight and not moving, running toward the bridge.
We get to the bridge and she stops and circles back, "find it", she finds the scent again and goes accross the bridge, running into a grassy area and toward the outside of the park.
She pulls us out of the park and runs into a residential neighborhood. Tara runs for a 4 foot high brick wall. Once she hits the wall she jumps up, putting her front paws on the wall sniffing the air.
Nose back on the ground she goes around the wall. There is Precious and Joe sitting in the grass.
Both dogs get their treats, belly rubs and a run in the park.
Good job Tara!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Who is it?
Over the last 2 weeks we have been training Tara to distinguish between smells.
We did several runs:
1. We took the cat and poodle outside walked to the left of the back door. Put the Cat under a towel hidden behind the pool. The poodle was put in the shed, hidden behind a toy kitchen. Tara was brought out given the cat's smell. "Find it" She ran straight for the cat (approx 50 feet).
2. Second run, same day. Gave Tara the poodle's scent. "Find it", Tara ran straight for the Poodle.
3. Third run, same day. Moved the cat and dog to the front of the house. Gave the poodle's smell. Tara ran through the back door, ran through the gate and straight for Precious (poodle) who was hiding behind our garbage cans on the left side of the house.
4. Fourth run, same day. Gave Tara the Cat's scent. She ran through the back door, ran through the gate and straight for Precious, again. Reset Tara at back door, gave scent and she did the same thing. Tara is not interested in finding them again. We stop for the day, give plenty of praise.
DAY TWO:
1. We are still working on finding and differentiating between scents of cats or dogs. We set up O' Malley in the shed this time and Precious under a bush. This time we will have Tara going out the back door, straight to our back fence and then deciding on left or right depending on the animal. Precious is further out than the cat to the right, the cat is on the left in the shed.
FIRST RUN:
Tara is given the scent of Precious (toy poodle), "find it". She run's straight for Precious. Given her treat and praised.
SECOND RUN:
Tara is given the scent of O'Malley (cat), "find it". She runs straight in the middle of the back yard and makes a sharp left turn toward the shed. She runs past the shed and makes a quick u-turn finding the cat. Finding him and getting her treat and rewarded.
THIRD RUN:
Moved the animals to front yard, cat on left side front and dog on right side sidewalk hiding behind fence. Tara is given the dog's scent. "Find it" she runs for the back fence, follows the outlining area and chases birds. She is clearly bored and not cooperating. She gets a short play time and is taken in the house.
DAY 3
1. Cat hiden behind gate on left side in back yard. Precious hiden under a bush and towel. Tara is Given Precious' scent. She runs through the back door, straight for the back fence and makes a quick turn to the right, looks under the bush and find Precious. Given a treat and praise.
2. Tara is given O'Malley's scent. "Find it", she runs straight for the cat, getting her treat and praise.
3. Leaving the animals where they are I give Tara the cat's scent again. She runs straight for the cat. Given treat and praise.
4. Tara is given Precious' scent. "find it" she runs straight for the cat....game over it is play time and time to end.
I believe she is getting bored and not challenged enough. We are going to have to move to the Park.
We did several runs:
1. We took the cat and poodle outside walked to the left of the back door. Put the Cat under a towel hidden behind the pool. The poodle was put in the shed, hidden behind a toy kitchen. Tara was brought out given the cat's smell. "Find it" She ran straight for the cat (approx 50 feet).
2. Second run, same day. Gave Tara the poodle's scent. "Find it", Tara ran straight for the Poodle.
3. Third run, same day. Moved the cat and dog to the front of the house. Gave the poodle's smell. Tara ran through the back door, ran through the gate and straight for Precious (poodle) who was hiding behind our garbage cans on the left side of the house.
4. Fourth run, same day. Gave Tara the Cat's scent. She ran through the back door, ran through the gate and straight for Precious, again. Reset Tara at back door, gave scent and she did the same thing. Tara is not interested in finding them again. We stop for the day, give plenty of praise.
DAY TWO:
1. We are still working on finding and differentiating between scents of cats or dogs. We set up O' Malley in the shed this time and Precious under a bush. This time we will have Tara going out the back door, straight to our back fence and then deciding on left or right depending on the animal. Precious is further out than the cat to the right, the cat is on the left in the shed.
FIRST RUN:
Tara is given the scent of Precious (toy poodle), "find it". She run's straight for Precious. Given her treat and praised.
SECOND RUN:
Tara is given the scent of O'Malley (cat), "find it". She runs straight in the middle of the back yard and makes a sharp left turn toward the shed. She runs past the shed and makes a quick u-turn finding the cat. Finding him and getting her treat and rewarded.
THIRD RUN:
Moved the animals to front yard, cat on left side front and dog on right side sidewalk hiding behind fence. Tara is given the dog's scent. "Find it" she runs for the back fence, follows the outlining area and chases birds. She is clearly bored and not cooperating. She gets a short play time and is taken in the house.
DAY 3
1. Cat hiden behind gate on left side in back yard. Precious hiden under a bush and towel. Tara is Given Precious' scent. She runs through the back door, straight for the back fence and makes a quick turn to the right, looks under the bush and find Precious. Given a treat and praise.
2. Tara is given O'Malley's scent. "Find it", she runs straight for the cat, getting her treat and praise.
3. Leaving the animals where they are I give Tara the cat's scent again. She runs straight for the cat. Given treat and praise.
4. Tara is given Precious' scent. "find it" she runs straight for the cat....game over it is play time and time to end.
I believe she is getting bored and not challenged enough. We are going to have to move to the Park.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
2nd TRAINING SESSION TODAY
Time: 2:30pm
Weather: 81 degrees, no breeze
Animal: Dog, Precious our toy poodle.
1. With Tara in the house I walk our toy poodle out of the garage. I walk her behind a tree and put her in the Carrier, hot dogs on top and one hot dog for Precious. I get Tara out of the house, Smell and 'find it', she runs straight for Precious (approx 25 ft). Both dogs get a treat. Tara goes back into the house.
2. I move precious another 15 feet or so, I hide Precious inside of our slide play structure, further from the house. Tara is on lead, smell and 'find it'. She run's straight for the 1st spot and then proceeds toward the new spot. She looks inside our shed, but is not interested in going in. She the heads straight for precious, finding her. Both dogs again get a treat. Tara goes back into the house.
3. I then move Precious through the yard, zig zagging from one side to the next 2x. I hide precious near our back fence under thick brush. I get Tara. Lead on, smell and 'find it'. She heads again for the first spot, then the second, then she surprised me. She ran straight for the bush and found precious. She did not zig zag through the yard, I'm so proud of her.
Tara seems to be enjoying our game, she did not want to stop this time. I wanted to keep it short since it was getting warm outside and I did not want to overheat her or Precious.
Weather: 81 degrees, no breeze
Animal: Dog, Precious our toy poodle.
1. With Tara in the house I walk our toy poodle out of the garage. I walk her behind a tree and put her in the Carrier, hot dogs on top and one hot dog for Precious. I get Tara out of the house, Smell and 'find it', she runs straight for Precious (approx 25 ft). Both dogs get a treat. Tara goes back into the house.
2. I move precious another 15 feet or so, I hide Precious inside of our slide play structure, further from the house. Tara is on lead, smell and 'find it'. She run's straight for the 1st spot and then proceeds toward the new spot. She looks inside our shed, but is not interested in going in. She the heads straight for precious, finding her. Both dogs again get a treat. Tara goes back into the house.
3. I then move Precious through the yard, zig zagging from one side to the next 2x. I hide precious near our back fence under thick brush. I get Tara. Lead on, smell and 'find it'. She heads again for the first spot, then the second, then she surprised me. She ran straight for the bush and found precious. She did not zig zag through the yard, I'm so proud of her.
Tara seems to be enjoying our game, she did not want to stop this time. I wanted to keep it short since it was getting warm outside and I did not want to overheat her or Precious.
First Day Of Training
O'Malley is our training kitty. He sits quietly in the carrier so Tara doesn't get any tips.
Precious has not helped train yet, she gets her chance next time we train. She will actually walk and be put into the carrier. Hopefully she will be quiet too!
Here is Tara! She will be saving animals some day. With her nose down all the time she is perfect for the job, plus she has more energy than most big dogs!
TODAY'S TRAINING:
Time: 10:00am
Weather: 70 degrees, slight breeze
We started by rubbing the cat with a paper towel and sticking it in a plastic bag. Then we placed the cat in the carrier.
We then headed outside.
1. We put the cat 10 feet away, with hot dog on top. Let Tara sniff the bag and 'find it'. She ran toward the cat, then got distracted by a bird. So I let her run a little to see what she would do. She came back to me and sat down and looked at me. I gave her the bag to sniff, she put her nose fully in the bag, 'find it', and she ran straight for the cat, finding it and getting her treat.
2. Now the cat goes 15 feet away, hot dog on top. Let Tara sniff and 'find it'. This time she goes straight for the cat. Good girl :).
3. Now the cat goes 30 feet away, hot dog on top. Sniff and 'find it', Tara runs right to the cat getting her treats. We now feel it is time to hide the cat from view and not let her see where he is.
4. Tara and I go by our back door and Joe hides the cat. Tara sniff's the bag and 'find it', she uses her nose up to the last spot the cat was. She looks at me (confused?), she sits again, I give her the bag and she puts her nose all the way in. 'find it' and she gets her nose working again on the ground, finding the cat :).
5. We do the same thing, but put the cat in a different location, where she cannot see it. Sniff and 'find it' she goes off running to the back fence. She is sniffing but not finding, she goes along the fence (the cat was not out this far) and back toward the house. She goes back through all the places the cat was, but then attempts to go out the back gate (cat was never there), I got her to come back. I moved her to the middle of the yard and let her sniff again 'find it'. She goes to all the places the cat had been, this time staying on track and finding the cat behind our shed in the middle of the yard. Good girl.
We decided this was enough, she did not seem that interested in our game anymore.
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