Author Topic: Agility training has gone wrong :( Venting  (Read 9444 times)

Offline People Whisperer

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Agility training has gone wrong :( Venting
« on: January 15, 2009, 04:11:07 am »
I haven't been posted much since Lily and I are back to school three times a week  :P On Wed we have an agility class.
We started agility last year and took two classes and Lily did great! until she almost fell from a "walk" and refused to use ANY equipment. I gave her 6 months break and we were back to agility kindergarten last fall. She did fantastic and I have decided to enroll her in more detail oriented class this winter...that was BIG mistake!

Pyr people will know what I mean  ::)
We had two classes so far and have NOT used any equipment. We have been working on teaching "touch hand", FAST sit and FAST down. Now, please, tell me how fast do Pyrs can be? In order to teach it with a clicker we have to do about 15 repetitions of sits and downs...Do you see Pyrs doing that many exersises and still be excited???
Oh, and the best one...the dog MUST DIVE for hand touch. DIVE??? Are you kidding me? I can see lab dive for it or weim but not Pyr.
The teacher is totally ignoring the fact that I work with Pyr and only ONE dog in the whole US gets NOVICE agility title each year.
Now, our homework for the week is to teach a dog to put BOTH paws on a target (plastic plate)  :o :o :o
Any advise? LOL

Knowing Lily, I believe all this will be very discouraging for her and she might stop enjoying the training  :'(
« Last Edit: January 15, 2009, 04:50:38 am by People Whisperer »
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Offline maxsmom

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Re: Agility training has gone wrong :( Venting
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2009, 04:17:31 am »
Jake will give me a high five and a high "ten", with both front paws.   We did it with treats.  He learned very quickly, but then he is highly food motivated, if it is dehydrated chicken feet, chicken liver, chicken gizzard, or something along those lines.  We started with the high five, since he used his paws to pet us, (to get us to pet him).  He got that really quickly, then I started asking for high ten and lifting the paw he wasn't.  It only took a couple of days for him to do it.  The key with him was to only do it once or twice and then wait a few hours and try it again.  All of my dogs will shut down if I repeat something more than a couple of times, so I am used to taking 5 minutes here and there and working with them to teach anything.  The only thing they mastered quickly was place.  They could lay down and totally ignore me and that was fine with me, as long as they were in their place.  I let them choose their places, so it went fast.  Good luck.
Kathy
Max  2 Irish Wolfhound
Jake  2 Great Pyrenees
Cody   3 Tibetan Mastiff
ChiChi 1.5 Caucasian Ovcharka
John and Nicki Maine Coon cats

Offline People Whisperer

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Re: Agility training has gone wrong :( Venting
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2009, 04:22:22 am »
Lily can do "hand touch" and "high five", it's just she doesn do it fast enough...she is not DIVING for it! HAHAHAHA
"To once own a Great Pyrenees is to love and want one always."
Mary W. Crane

I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it :)


jesday

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Re: Agility training has gone wrong :( Venting
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2009, 04:24:58 am »
Are there any other kinds of training in your area that may be more suited to her breed? Shepherding for example. I know they have huge competitions in the UK for this.

Or how about search and rescue training. Lily would still need some agility training to learn to walk through rough terrain, crumbled buildings etc. but it is a slower - determined type of training.

When I had my Newfs in puppy class, two sit-downs were all they had in them. Luckily my instructor was aware of the reasons and had me really mix up the training so it didn't required so much up and down at one time.

Perhaps your instructor needs to get her head out of the Jack Russel frame of mind. :D Can you get a refund?

Offline People Whisperer

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Re: Agility training has gone wrong :( Venting
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2009, 04:29:55 am »

Perhaps your instructor needs to get her head out of the Jack Russel frame of mind. :D Can you get a refund?
She trains Corgis  :-\ They vacuume floors for food  ::)
Anyways, I don't want to stop but will talk to her at the next class and tell her that I will be training Lily at my own pace in order to keep her interest  :)
"To once own a Great Pyrenees is to love and want one always."
Mary W. Crane

I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it :)


Offline London_Pyr_Lover

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Re: Agility training has gone wrong :( Venting
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2009, 04:37:01 am »
I gotta say, I applaud you for making an attempt at agility training, it's something that I'd like to do with Naja.  (I say as my beastie lays snoring beside me!  ::) :D) But your instructer needs to wrap her head around the personality of a Pyr, instead of ignoring the differences that such a unique and special breed.  Lilly is not nor will she ever be a Border Collie, and will therefore need some help to get motivated.  I don't really know what might help though, Naja is very treat motivated, especially cheese...  She will also come arunnin if I make my voice out to be in distress, but I don't know if I'd want to be doing that during an entire agility course...   :-\

If you do figure out what works, please update us with her progress, it might help motivate me to get off my butt and do something like that with Miss Priss over here.   ::) ;) :D
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Offline People Whisperer

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Re: Agility training has gone wrong :( Venting
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2009, 05:23:25 am »
I'm sure you've tried all the different foods out there for picky Miss Lil Pill. But, just in case you haven't, have you tried dehyrdrated liver?  So gross but even Tilly the Evil Kitty loves it. And she's the most picky animal I've ever seen.

Does three days a week seem like it's maybe too much for her?  Maybe she's worn out?
Always have dehydrated liver handy, string cheese, smoked sausage, broiled hot dogs!  ;) and about 15 bags of treats from the pet store  :P ::)
I don't think she is worn out as she LOVES going for classes and you can totally see her smiling when she jumps out of the car in front of the club's building  ;D
« Last Edit: January 15, 2009, 05:25:51 am by People Whisperer »
"To once own a Great Pyrenees is to love and want one always."
Mary W. Crane

I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it :)


Offline FXgirl

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Re: Agility training has gone wrong :( Venting
« Reply #7 on: January 15, 2009, 08:34:34 am »
Your instructor is a wanker.  Who cares if she's not the fastest or the most agile.  People get so wrapped up in the competition instead of focusing on having fun and bonding.  You know the best way to get results from your dog.  There's no way I could do repetition with my guys either.  Most of the time instructors think I'm just standing there and not practicing a training exercise.  I give plenty of breaks when training and there are some things I opt not to do because I know my dog.

All the instructors at the place I have always gone to with my three pups have suggested we teach the "wash, rinse, repeat" trick which consists of holding a treat out and getting the dog to follow it, fast, in a tight circle then changing direction then changing direction again.  Kinda like clothes being spun in the washing machine.  YEAH RIGHT.  I always stand there during that exercise.

I start rally-o tonight.  I paid the money so I'll train at my own pace.

As far as suggestions for getting her to put both paws on the target, I have one.  I would change your target from a plate, or lid or whatever you're using and cut out a round piece of cardboard.  That way you can cut it to a "big paw" size.  You can have her walk onto it by luring her and when her two front feet touch it, click it.  You can start off with a big target and cut it down to a smaller size as she gets better.



Offline People Whisperer

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Re: Agility training has gone wrong :( Venting
« Reply #8 on: January 15, 2009, 09:27:29 am »

As far as suggestions for getting her to put both paws on the target, I have one.  I would change your target from a plate, or lid or whatever you're using and cut out a round piece of cardboard.  That way you can cut it to a "big paw" size.  You can have her walk onto it by luring her and when her two front feet touch it, click it.  You can start off with a big target and cut it down to a smaller size as she gets better.

That's a great idea! However, the instructor told us that we shouldn't lure or help the dog to touch the target. The dog HAS to offer the behavior and then you click and treat.
We started by rewarding head movement or look towards target. She got that  :P but now she stares at it expecting a treat and would not offer anything more! LOL
I might have to help her a little  :D :D
"To once own a Great Pyrenees is to love and want one always."
Mary W. Crane

I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it :)


Offline maxsmom

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Re: Agility training has gone wrong :( Venting
« Reply #9 on: January 15, 2009, 12:32:40 pm »
I've often thought about taking Cody to obedience classes.  I don't want to do anything but the stay.  He is so good at that one.  Once his body hits the floor, he is pretty much an immovable object.  He has not clue what stay means, but he "stays" wherever he happens to be, unless you lure him away with food.
Kathy
Max  2 Irish Wolfhound
Jake  2 Great Pyrenees
Cody   3 Tibetan Mastiff
ChiChi 1.5 Caucasian Ovcharka
John and Nicki Maine Coon cats

Offline Ursa

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Re: Agility training has gone wrong :( Venting
« Reply #10 on: January 15, 2009, 03:00:49 pm »
I so feel your pain!  Ursa is not now and will never be the fastest dog in obedience.  We never win the "who can do the most puppy push ups" contest or any of the events that require speed.   :D

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Offline kathryn

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Re: Agility training has gone wrong :( Venting
« Reply #11 on: January 15, 2009, 04:13:14 pm »
I taught Kaila and Marty (Boston Terrier) to target a plastic yogurt lid for agility.  I put it down on the floor in front of them and then tapped my foot on the floor just in front of the lid.  (The tapping foot is a sign for pickup the crumbs or you missed a cookie that I dropped.)  Anyway, once they walked across the lid and a foot touched it then they got a click and a treat.  It didn't take them long to pick up on touching the lid.  You can also place a treat on the lid and let her touch her nose to it and then slowly work up to one foot and both feet. 

I hate trainers that try and use the one training method fits all.  So lure away if it works for Lily.  By the way, Kaila and Shiner can't stand to do repitions of behaviors for very long.  We have to change it up and do other stuff or they become bored and shut down. 
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Offline kathryn

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Re: Agility training has gone wrong :( Venting
« Reply #12 on: January 16, 2009, 03:54:22 pm »
Maybe there is an agility place that isn't quite so caught up in the competition.  The place I was going had people who were gung ho on competition and then there were folks like me.  I started with my one eyed Boston and she always missed the first weave pole.  What I really liked about it was when I first went out to check it out, they had an ancient Greyhound out there doing agility and everytime they asked her for the tunnel she would go in and take a little nap.  The instructor thought it was funny. 
Kaila - Belgian Malinois
Shiner - Malinois x Ridgeback
Toulouse, Cayenne, Raven - DSH



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