Maya is ten months old now and it seems like anything I throw at her is instantly learned. It is tough to come up with new things to teach her and keep her occupied.
Everyday we wake up and go for an hour long walk in the park. We try to alternate sides and routes to make it a little more interesting, but her main goal is reaching the fetching fields where she can have her FAVORITE BEST THING IN THE WORLD.. a stick.
Maya has very specific rules for fetching. She will NOT fetch anything other than the originally designated stick. This can be problematic when the stick breaks in two and she spends ten minutes trying to decide which side is the TRUE stick, or if it gets stolen by another dog at the dog park or when we fetch at home and I accidentally heave it onto the roof. In the latter case I then HAVE to get it somehow, or deal with the saddest puppy pout ever.
Also, we can only use a specific type of stick. It is hard to explain, but she and I are in agreement that it needs to be as clean as possible, mostly stripped of bark and without sharp points. If I try to give her a stick with the wrong weight or size then no one is happy.
So we fetch and Maya LOVES fetching, it is her purpose for being. At some point a lightbulb went off in my mind and I realized that bribing her with fetching was a GREAT way to get her to learn (and reinforce) tricks and commands. Does your trainer tell you to find what your dog loves? If you have a stick or ball obsessed dog then you have a VERY trainable dog.
THE STICKS CALL TO ME
Our process is something like: three stick throws then a sit stay, two throws and a heel with a 360 left spin, one throw and one speak command, etc etc. She does what I ask BRILLIANTLY and is rewarded instantly by being able to bite the stick... on her best days she is right up there with champion schutzhund dogs with her precision! We have recently started training for Rally-o Novice, which gives me LOTS of good commands to practice for heeling, patience and focus exercises.
It isn't all fun and games though. Fetching can be problematic too.. it is an OBSESSION and she spends every second from the moment I leave for work to the moment I get home, standing over her stick outside on our back deck, staring intently at my mother (sometimes barking or snapping repeatedly in an annoyed way) until she gives in and throws the stick.
The problem is that Maya will NOT STOP... if not forcibly removed from fetching, she would do it until her heart burst I think. Luckily mom is very good about giving the dogs an easy routine. There is fetching and free time and nap time and dinner and then I AM HOME!
As soon as I get home (no matter how tired or sick I may be) we go for a walk. It isn't so much an exercise walk, but just a walk to break up the day and get out to smell new smells and greet the neighbor dogs. It is a nice way for everyone to wind down after a long day of fetching/working.
After our walk is my dinner and then MORE FETCHING! This has only recently become part of the routine as it is now warm and nice out in the evenings. We fetch and do our rally commands (and whatever advanced/ excellent commands I can remember) for about 30 minutes or so. Maya has recently been working on a 1 minute sit (PERFECT!) and 3 minute down. Her "brother" Marco plays the part of the distractor by chasing imaginary things, trying to knock me over and body slamming Maya when she is coming to me.
In the evenings we watch TV, but every couple of nights we reinforce TRICKS! and play games.
Tonight we had a 30 minute trick session. Maya and me in a room with a few props.
We went over:
Sit, Down, Stand (and each of these from each of these different positions aka down from a stand, sit from a down, etc.)
Paw, other paw, slap (both paws)
Touch, double touch
Look, ready (she snaps), speak
Place, double place, sleep (putting down her head on the bed)
Various exposures to things she doesn't like aka being picked up/ having her fur tugged
Turn/ spin
Heel (from all over the room) Down from a heel, heel from front, heel right/ left
Front
Hug
Take/ off (bite and let go of props..ironically her worst subject)
Maya at this point walked over to an overturned bowl, pawed it into the open and looked at me. She wanted to play our newest and her favorite game in which I am teaching her that when I point, it MEANS something.
It is really simple, but I take three props and put them in different places. I sit down and tell Maya to look at me, then I point at one of the props and tell her to "place" (her command to go touch something with her foot) She LOVES this game! Usually she has a bit of trouble, but tonight she was ON THE BALL. We used an overturned bowl, a dog toy and an overturned box on the bed and without fail she managed to touch whatever item I pointed to. I realize of course that she may be using other elements of my body language such as where I am looking, in order to figure it out, but since it is a new trick I am just happy she is enjoying herself!
Lastly I made up a new trick. It is simple, but her success just made me think this dog is SMART.
I sat Maya down and told her to pay attention (she gives me GREAT attention). I once had a trainer who told me that it isn't nice to expect dogs to do a trick until you explain it to them. As a joke I always started explaining what I want in English and giving a demonstration before starting to train my dog. Maybe it is just a matter of taking that moment of calm before starting something new, but it seems like Maya always understands what I am asking of her.
I took the plastic box and put a toy into it.
"Ok Maya pay attention. I want you to take this toy out of the box, it has to be completely out and not touching OK? We can use the command "get it" OK? "
I demonstrated twice by saying the command "GET IT" and taking the toy out of the box. Maya watched me intently and when I asked "Ready?" she air snapped to say "lets do it!"
I set down the box on the bed and put the toy inside. Pointing, I said "Get it."
Maya stood up and looked at the box, she put her snout inside and pulled the toy out, tossing it to the ground.
YES!!!
We practiced again and again with the box in several positions and the toy inside or below it and without fail she was able to move the toy away from the box. Its also worth mentioning that it isn't a toy that Maya is particularly fond of and she generally doesn't like picking it up.
I realize it is a small trick, but the speed at which she mastered exactly what I was asking was seriously impressive and my dog is a GENIUS.
For the end of our night of games, we played a session of "Find it" which every dog should get to play!
I told Maya to sit and stay out in the hallway as I walked through the upstairs rooms (making lots of noise in each one-and touching everything) and hiding a toy somewhere. She LOVES this game and when I come back to her I always say
"Ready? 1.....2...........3 FIND IT!" and she yips happily as she races off, tail held high, to find the toy.
Note to anyone playing this game... the point is to build your dog's confidence, so at first you should make the finds really EASY and give TONS of praise when your dog finds it. When your dog finds it, play with the toy like it is the best thing EVER. Once your dog is intent on the game you can start making it harder and harder and even hiding the toy up high or buried under something.
So Maya is now a happy sleepy dog, ready for tomorrow and the promise of endless fetching, whether or not her people-sheep want to play along.
