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!