Lusi and Remy start crate games!

The weather is again forcing us to do more indoor training!
Today Lusi sits happily and watches from her open crate as Remy gets his 5 minute training session.

Lusi watches from her open crate as
Remy gets his 5 minute training session!

She waits until I say the "Break!"command before she comes out of her crate.


Remy did well too! He did a few puppy push-ups, (the sit-stand-down transitions). 


Crate Games:
Then we worked on the command for Remy to race into his crate, "Remy in the house!" This was the first time we have done this with Remy, and I was delighted when in he popped as quick as a flash! He cannot sustain the stay in the open crate for long when there are distractions; but we are coming along nicely with the crate games. He certainly liked to be released from the crate with the "Break!" command and he reached me faster than Lusi did..so that was our first crate game race!

How I messed up our crate game with a short retrieve.

We have just had two short training sessions with Lusi. One has been a game of retrieve the Kong from the sofa and the other a crate game.


The retrieve is not something that has been easily adopted by Lusi. I think I expected her to "get it" sooner; she is such a smart dog and learns so quickly. I clearly have not been setting up the training in a way that is both fail proof and fun. I made the distances too great so that Lusi would run to the toy but then ran away with the toy and played with it on her own and I somehow expected her to comprehend the chaining of parts in the retrieve; going out to get the toy, picking it up and then bringing it back. I would not say that her drive to retrieve was especially great at this point. So going to our sofa retrieve game where the distance is barely a metre away and having Lusi engaged in a game seems to be working and she is getting the idea that the kong comes to me and we have a tug game or food reward.


The crate game today was also simple: Stay in the crate with distraction.
I ask Lusi to go "in the house" or I vary this with a hand signal to the same effect. With a distance of a few feet I then toss the Kong towards the open door as a distraction: Lusi must stay in the crate. After two or three throws I get Lusi to come to me. We repeat the game as I gradually increase the distance that I move away from the crate door.


All this went successfully! I was pleased to have reclaimed our earlier training that I had messed up by asking too much too quickly. How many times have I done this in the past when training my horse I cannot remember...countless, but I am a great deal more patient these days than I used to be when I was younger! Still, I have to constantly remind myself especially when everything is going incredibly well not to push things too quickly because the inevitable always happens...the setback! So what exactly had I done? Well, remarkably little really and that is precisely the point. One little change and everything is different!


The game that set us back was the one I had written about earlier. It was setting up a short retrieve from the crate. It seemed to work magically the first time! Then I changed the game by changing the toy from a Kong to an open grab ball..and everything fell apart. I also started the game without the gradual build up from just catch the kong so there was no progression.


Note to self: Do not link commands until each individual one is consolidated!

Crate game: a short retrieve

We have restarted our "crate games" this morning but with a short retrieve.


"Lusi in the house" command (where upon Lusi goes into her crate and sits), is followed by me throwing the "kong" toy towards the crate so that it lands somewhere between me and the crate door. Lusi must not leave the crate even when the distracting kong lands close to her or bounces across the floor.


When I say "Break" Lusi gets to leave the crate, retrieve the kong and get a food reward when she brings it to me. This is the first time we have included a short retrieve into our crate game.