Ok, call me mad, but I intend to write a book(let) on Greyhound/Lurcher PET training . It is in the very early stages! What prompted the idea was that there are many people who live too far away to attend classes who would love to start some fun training. The step by step guide may be of some help.
I would like to include photographs of 'our' dogs doing their thing(!) which may illustrate the topics which will be included in the book(let).
Suggested pic's so far.
front end down & full down
dog touching target stick with full view of handler
dog doing hand touch
sit or stand stay with owner in view
dog with full sausage/whole chicken, etc in front of nose - leaving it! ha ha
dog doing both finishes
dag walking backwards
dog touching/pawing object
dog giving paw
Try to get handlers in view. Any 'unique' pics you have may be worth consideration for the cover!!
We were very lucky that Vegas was already well trained when we got him from GAL, but he could always learn more. Now I'll have to take him out to the field with the camera to see if I can get some good shots of him doing his stuff.
Im sure i can get a piccie of Murphy with a sausage in front of him 'leaving' it - he can sit for ages like that !! but you eventually have to give him the "Murphy paid for" command before he drowns in the puddle of dribble he has produced!! Bless him....
will have to lock Maisie away for that photo shoot tho...forgot about her the last time we tried that trick....Murf was so focused on the bit of meat in front of his nose that neither of us had a chance of seeing sneeky little sister sprint in & nab it from right in front of him....whoops...
so yes - your book would come in VERY handy for a certain little madam!!
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They say owners look like their dogs...Im still waiting to morph into a super fit, lean machine with legs up to my armpits...
Not quite on topic, but related to the leave-it thing....
The other night, Harry nabbed a toast crust off my plate. It was my own fault cos I'd set the plate down and it must have been magnetic to him because I'd had mackerel fillets on tomato sauce on toast. Anyway, I see him do it and immediately say "Leave it" very firmly. The poor lamb stops stock still and looks at me with his head down. I thought he'd just crunch and swallow quickly (as Pearly certainly would) but then I notice the puddles of drool trailing from his gob. He stood there holding that toast crust in his mouth so gently for a good 15 seconds because I'd told him to leave it. Is that sweet, or is that sweet? Bless him.
Not quite on topic, but related to the leave-it thing.... The other night, Harry nabbed a toast crust off my plate. It was my own fault cos I'd set the plate down and it must have been magnetic to him because I'd had mackerel fillets on tomato sauce on toast. Anyway, I see him do it and immediately say "Leave it" very firmly. The poor lamb stops stock still and looks at me with his head down. I thought he'd just crunch and swallow quickly (as Pearly certainly would) but then I notice the puddles of drool trailing from his gob. He stood there holding that toast crust in his mouth so gently for a good 15 seconds because I'd told him to leave it. Is that sweet, or is that sweet? Bless him. Fiona ps: I let him have it.
What a good boy!!! Freddy did this once ,....... only problem was that it was a hamster not a piece of toast! The daft thing had escaped from its ball, ran across Freddy's bed and it was only when Wilma cried with fright that we noticed anything amiss! There's Fred with the hamster in his mouth. "Leave it" I cried in as stern a voice as I could, and God love him he dropped it! I was waiting for the swallow and "what?" look!
he's been wary of hamsters ever since!!!!
On the subject of the original post ...... yes, I'd love a copy of this too! Viv, I don't think sales will be too much of a problem!!
-- Edited by greyflintstone at 16:38, 2005-08-13
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Who's more foolish - the fool, or the one who follows him?
The poor lamb stops stock still and looks at me with his head down. I thought he'd just crunch and swallow quickly (as Pearly certainly would) but then I notice the puddles of drool trailing from his gob. He stood there holding that toast crust in his mouth so gently for a good 15 seconds because I'd told him to leave it. Is that sweet, or is that sweet? Bless him. Fiona ps: I let him have it.
What a good boy. There's no way Belle would have done that, it would be inhaled before I finished saying "leave it".
Viv Well Done ! What a fabulous book. Thank you for rising to the challenge of the "Leave It" with Missy today. Guess you proved me WRONG ! Oh and thank you for signing my copy of the book. Katrina
It wasn't me who proved you wrong Katrina...........................................It was MISSY!
She's a star isn't she?
Hope you enjoy working your way through the booklet.
damn! never got a chance to find where the booklets were at....
could do with one aswell as wee Maisie just looks very perplexed when you try & teach her anything - forget sit/down - not danger is she doing that on command as Im sure she thinks she is going to get battered as the wee lamb cowers away.
At least her recall is good i suppose & she knows the meaning of NO & come...
its early days still....
Loved the demos Viv - a lot of hard work by all has really paid off & hopefully inspired others to do some training too.
Well done
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They say owners look like their dogs...Im still waiting to morph into a super fit, lean machine with legs up to my armpits...
Thanks. We all thoroughly enjoyed doing the demos. Superstar dogs eh?
The GAL shop has the books in stock..........panic over!
A wee tip on training Maisie. Don't try too hard to 'teach' her anything, allow her to learn in her own time. (I am hoping someone who has gone through both the novice and advanced classes will take this one up and explain what I mean!!)......anyone?
I've kept going with the "Leave it" and its amazing how quickly Missy forgot but now she gets NO treats unless we use the "leave it" training.
It will have results. When we got home we tried it on all the dogs and Zak and the others are doing really well. I guess Missy is still being stubborn !
This reminds me of the battle of wills with my kids !!!
Have now made a firm decision that we will NOT put up with her antics anymore.... She can learn and she will learn given time and patience from us.
Secret..............Missy hasn't forgot, she might just be 'at it'!. I confess that the boys made the demo look easy, but they have had a lot of training to achieve that. There is a technique to this exercise, it's in the book! Great that it worked on the others.
I wonder how many other dogs were doing 'leave it' over the weekend?!
stick at it Katrina, I'm really glad the demo has inspired you (and hopefully others) When I was doing 'leave it' with Missy on Sunday you could see that stubborn look in her eyes but as Viv says she's defo 'at it'. Maybe just me but I defo saw a wee smile behind her eyes as the demo progressed, I think she was actually enjoying the challenge and training!
I challenged Viv and Missy as normal showed her TRUE colours - a Stubborn Ass ! She AIN'T gonna beat me. As I could see that SHE CAN do it with your help and Viv's there is NO going back now. She is going to be seriously trained by me - She will learn !!! This is DO or DIE with Missy. Zak and the others are going to be a doddle compaired to Missy. Zak is doing really well with the leave it. I even did the leave it with their breakfasts this morning ---- THAT DEFINATELY SHOWED AN IMPROVEMENT WITH MISSY !!!!! (HA HA HA)