Fun Training Or Classes

[NeylasMom]

Okay, don't know if this will take off or not, but I've been hijacking other people's threads with my enthusiasm over the class I'm currently taking and I know there are other people out there who get stoked about this kind of stuff, so thought I'd try for a place where people can just share about exciting training classes they're taking or training they're doing at home. Even something as simple as your dog finally getting a behavior you've been working on. So what are you doing that you're excited about? Can be anything from learning how to use a clicker to teaching a simple trick to taking an agility class to becoming certified to be a dog trainer.

 

I'm currently enrolled in advanced obedience/shaping with Pat Miller, who rocks my world! If you don't know who she is, check her out, get her books, sign up for a seminar when she's in your area, something! We've had 2 classes so far. We've done some more standard obedience work - adding a big hand signal down, working on verbal only cues for sits, downs, stands, that sort of thing. Then some more advanced stuff like recalls using the premack principle, leave it through distraction alley , but mostly we are working on shaping fun behaviors. Right now I'm focused on getting Zuri to be aware of his back end so we can use that to our advantage and I'm writing up a shaping plan to teach him to carry a donation basket around in his mouth at events. We are also learning a really cool way to get Zuri to "dremel" his own nails, but I'm not sharing details of that one yet because I plan to make a how to video and share it on GT when all is said and done. So you'll just have to wait for that one.

 

This weekend I am also attending a 2-day seminar held by Suzanne Clothier who wrote the awesome article on dog reactivity, He Just Wants to Say Hi. The seminar is on working with fearful, reactive, and anxious dogs. That's right up my alley - I've already done Pat Miller's Reactive Rover 3-day camp with my ex's dog and attended Emma Parson's How to Teach a Reactive Dog Class 2-day seminar. I'm really excited to be learning some new stuff and exposed to so many other positive trainers. It will be an exhausting 2 days, but well worth it.

 

Okay, that's what I'm doing right now. Your turn!

[krissy]

I started training Summit around Christmas. We started with down and moved on to sit and stand. His down/stay is amazing now as well. We just had our first Grade 2 obedience class on Wednesday which was so much fun! And Summit was one of the best in class. We're learning to heel, drop on recall, recall with distractions, and at the end of every class we do an introduction to agility. This week we did the jump which was great because Summit didn't know how to jump so it was nice to finally teach him. We also did the table and the tunnel, but we never did get him through the tunnel.

 

I want to teach him to retrieve, and that's part of grade 2. I've taught him to target a toy, but he has no interest in toys and no prey drive so getting him to grab it has proved challenging even with shaping.

 

We're going to take agility level 1 after we finish obedience, and hopefully will have time to get agility level 2 in as well this summer so that we can start going to trials next year. We'll see how quickly he progresses though!

[kudzu]

OK, I'm stealing this from another thread. Hope very much you don't mind.

 

Zuri and I are in an advanced obedience/shaping class with Pat Miller () ...

Oh, I'm jealous! Did a weekend shaping seminar with her when she came down to NC. After the first day I was so discouraged I wondered why I'd even bothered. At the end of Sunday I was so glad I'd done it. Was very excited & now I really, really want to do the one week level 1 intern. They've jsut started offering it in NC which finally makes it an affordable possibility. Actually, I've started saving all my change & putting it in a big water bottle. No joke. Maybe by the end of 2011 or Spring 2012 I'll be able to do that.

 

Thanks for sharing her thoughts on this subject.

I would love to do either her intern or apprentice program. Unfortunately she is just far enough away from me to make those things impractical. Right now, I am driving over 3 hours round trip for this class. It is so worth it, but it's only once a week. I didn't realize she is offering the courses in other locations, that's great! The Karen Pryor program seems pretty solid as well. That's mostly over the internet, with local weekend workshops sprinkled in. Have you looked into that one? It's also $$$ though, which is why I haven't signed up for it. That one would be totally convenient as the workshops are held at a school where I've also taken classes about 15 minutes from me. I'm actually taking a 2-day seminar with Suzanne Clothier there this weekend.

 

Okay, end hijack. I love it when people know who Pat Miller is!

 

The catch with the NC internship is that you only have Pat for two days. The other 6 are with Lisa Waggoner. Met her at the NC shaping seminar as she was the organizer. Really liked her but have not worked with her or even seen her training. So, I plan to do this weekend training seminar with Lisa before plunking down a wad of money I really should be spending on frivolous things like needed repairs on the house. NC isn't a bad drive for me, I can camp out if I don't have a room mate to share hotel costs & am hoping I can just borrow a Greyhound foster for a week. That is all assuming my dream comes true. I am so jealous that you only have to drive 90 minutes to get to Pat's. [sigh] Once upon a time I lived in MD. If the cost of living weren't so high I'd move back. Um... of course I'd wait until after all the snow melts & the resulting mud dries up.

[NeylasMom]

OK, I'm stealing this from another thread. Hope very much you don't mind.

Perfect that you did. I was feeling bad about my lengthy hijack.

 

That seminar looks like fun! Well having Pat for only 2 days is not as good as the whole time, but honestly I've learned so much in just 2-3 hours with her already, it's amazing. Stuff that seems so obvious once she says it and I'm wondering why I didn't think of it.

 

You know, you could move back to MD. It's not all that expensive if you live in Hagerstown, then you'd be right there. There's just nothing else to do, except shop at the outlet mall.

[kudzu]

OK, so my now 9 yo Grey is dropping out of agility again & once again it is because of an unrelated injury. Next session I do our enrollment as one slot split between two dogs. When she's recovered we'll just let her do the first & last runs so she feels included, getting the fun & rewards but no pressure. She & I need to brush up on a number of things I have let get slack, including recall. Always working on recall, the never ending training of that very important command. In the meantime she's my companion & help mate. Would never have thought I could teach her a retrieve & now she's picking up all sorts of things for me. I'm astounded by her. Krissy, keep at it. Somewhere along the way it will finally click. Are you using any particular method? We tried several but ultimately it was Shirley Chong's that helped break the retrieve barrier.

 

I have never wanted one of those BCs that outruns & out-thinks their handlers making her look like she is completely clueless out of the course. (Meaning it exposes the truth of my handling skills. ) Now enter my Dear-hound who seems to think she's a BC. We are really having way too much fun & also far too much frustration with agility. She is quirky to say the least & I am just too pathetic in my handling skills. I put her at the start, do a lead out & by the time I finish saying "Go" she's at the second obstacle, usually the wrong one. And it is, surprise surprise, always my fault. But when we've worked on attention & done a couple loops around a jump to work on switches & turns she usually at least remembers I exist & sometimes I manage to send her to the correct obstacle & then get the heck out of her way if by some miracle I'm actually in a position to do a front cross. That's not very often. All that work on front crosses with my first Grey is wasted. Now I've got the wild child who needs rear crosses. Still, when we finally manage to get it together for 8 or so obstacles it is pure magic.

 

My newest Grey is just starting obedience. Most will be done at home with occasional group classes. We are not working for competitive obedience. Right now it is mostly just the basic commands, manners & various skills like targeting. Some things he now knows well enough to start work away from home or class & with distractions. Oh & yes, he too needs to learn how to jump. What is it with these Greys? All of mine can jump just fine when it a running jump onto & off of the ramp. Most will even jump up to grab something. Ask them to jump into the car or over a jump & it's a major DUH moment. At least he is finally climbing into & out of the car on his own. So we are now in our first session of Intro agility. He really does not like barking dogs & is still getting used to people leaning over him & putting their faces close to his. That made the first night of class very interesting. Normally he looks pretty confident but not in situations like that. Yet he impressed the instructions because there he was with his tail between his legs & moving away from them when they bent offer him to put treats on the targets, still he would suddenly switch into confident mode & do all the obstacles just as asked even going over the baby-height dog walk. Well, all except the tunnel. Again Krissy, don't give up. Tunnels seem tougher for many of our Greys. I think we were on our 5th class this week & he finally started taking the tunnel on his own without the instructor & I helping him. He's not worried about the barking dogs anymore. Each class I have the instructors just hold a piece of chicken by their faces & let him come eat it. Occasionally after he swallows he gives an instructor a quick kiss. Too cute! The one who helped him through the tunnel has become his favorite since she dispensed the most chicken. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach, you know.

 

Next weekend we have a little pulling clinic with Daphne Lewis who helped get dog scootering started in the USA & was the former owner of DogScooter.com. Am looking forward to it. Will do this clinic with my new Greyhound but have done some scootering with the Deerhound. Ah, nothing quite like the thrill of a fun scooter run down a nice wooded trail only to have a deer cross the trail right in front of your Deerhound. Visions of being dragged through the woods flashed through my head. She obeyed when I said Leave It but I think only because she was too shocked to consider chasing first.

 

Ian Dunbar is coming to town next month. Am planning to go at least one day, maybe two. I think he's an odd bird but am really looking forward to it. That's about it here. OH... except to say that, Krissy, you should pursue the idea of getting your Grey to carry the donation basket. Excellent idea!! My idea of getting my girl to take a dollar bill from a donor & then put it in the donation jar turned out to be a bit misguided. Teaching impulse control is tough for me so that probably explains why rather than waiting for someone to hand her a dollar bill she actually STOLE one right out of someones fingers when they were actually not even trying to make a donation!! Back to the drawing board. Yep, you've got the better idea.

[retiredracers]

Phantom and I started doing basic agility in October. She really enjoys it. We've almost finished our second round of classes. I don't know if we'll continue on to the competition level... I just don't get into competition.

 

We started Rally Obedience last month. It's okay. Phantom finds it boring at times. We have more people in our class so she has to sit still more often. Our agility class only has one other participant and the rally class has 4 others.

 

It's funny about the tunnel thing... I've done agility with 4 greys and all of them have loved the tunnel. They took to it immediately. Even Elphie who is sooooo tall (30+ inches at the shoulder) flies through the tunnel.

[Guest eaglflyt]

Ady Bea and I are continuing with our freestyle classes and rally classes. She's SO GOOD! : ) She's got several freestyle moves down pat ... and we're working on others. She's got forward leg weaves down smoothly, spins (clockwise), jump at heel position, left heeling, right heeling (not quite as good as left yet), circling me, and she continues to have an awesome sit, down, stand ... and rock solid sit stays and down stays!!! Now, if I don't chicken out, our first freestyle performance will be on Saturday evening, March 19th during the banquet of the March Madness training seminar and freestyle competition event in Oklahoma City, OK. We will be performing in a group for our debut ... 4 humans with 4 dogs. The other 3 humans are professional trainers with intermediate and advanced level dogs. How did Ady Bea and I ever get talked into participating in this??? And, to top it off ... our freestyle performance is a *disco* theme required event, wearing disco attire (ACK!!!) and our music is "YMCA" by The Village People. Now, I'm 55 and required to wear bell bottoms and sequins!!! Ady Bea will wear a sequin collar.

 

We're currently working on platform training for exact position work ... which works well in freestyle, rally or any discipline. We will be attending a one day seminar with Michelle Poliout in March! Also, a basic training seminar in March, too.

 

Rally is progressing. We're loving this, too! If I can get the footwork down, Ady Bea may do OK. She's learning quickly and she never fails to make me laugh out loud at least once per class. I'm sure she laughs at me at least once per class, too!!!

[Guest eaglflyt]

Okay, don't know if this will take off or not, but I've been hijacking other people's threads with my enthusiasm over the class I'm currently taking and I know there are other people out there who get stoked about this kind of stuff, so thought I'd try for a place where people can just share about exciting training classes they're taking or training they're doing at home. Even something as simple as your dog finally getting a behavior you've been working on. So what are you doing that you're excited about? Can be anything from learning how to use a clicker to teaching a simple trick to taking an agility class to becoming certified to be a dog trainer.

 

I'm currently enrolled in advanced obedience/shaping with Pat Miller, who rocks my world! If you don't know who she is, check her out, get her books, sign up for a seminar when she's in your area, something! We've had 2 classes so far. We've done some more standard obedience work - adding a big hand signal down, working on verbal only cues for sits, downs, stands, that sort of thing. Then some more advanced stuff like recalls using the premack principle, leave it through distraction alley , but mostly we are working on shaping fun behaviors. Right now I'm focused on getting Zuri to be aware of his back end so we can use that to our advantage and I'm writing up a shaping plan to teach him to carry a donation basket around in his mouth at events. We are also learning a really cool way to get Zuri to "dremel" his own nails, but I'm not sharing details of that one yet because I plan to make a how to video and share it on GT when all is said and done. So you'll just have to wait for that one.

 

This weekend I am also attending a 2-day seminar held by Suzanne Clothier who wrote the awesome article on dog reactivity, He Just Wants to Say Hi. The seminar is on working with fearful, reactive, and anxious dogs. That's right up my alley - I've already done Pat Miller's Reactive Rover 3-day camp with my ex's dog and attended Emma Parson's How to Teach a Reactive Dog Class 2-day seminar. I'm really excited to be learning some new stuff and exposed to so many other positive trainers. It will be an exhausting 2 days, but well worth it.

 

Okay, that's what I'm doing right now. Your turn!

 

I've been waiting to hear how your classes with Pat Miller were going. I'm so happy for you BOTH!!! Keep us posted!!! : )

[Guest mcsheltie]

Trainer's Academy in Detroit has a Greyhound Only clicker class. I've had a ball and drive about an hour each way to attend. Roo was a superstar. She offers behaviors if she even thinks I might look her way. Lira was very shy and it helped bring her out of her shell. The first time we started recalls I thought it was going to take her an hour to crawl across the floor to me. Breeze is a hard nut to crack, because you can't put any pressure on her. So I sit and watch TV at night and click for sits and downs. No GH is going to stand up for long when everyone else is laying down. I throw the treat, she runs to get it and I can get in a lot of repetitions that way.

 

100 things to do with a box is fun for shaping.

 

Here is Roo's graduation picture

 

[Guest freightsmom]

After the holidays, I started working with a trainer at my home with Kai & Cruise. Just working on some rally obedience and maybe will add some agility if they are interested. They both have targeting my hand down pretty solid. Cruise recently learned to touch a clipboard with his paw....once he has something, he has it. The other day I was a little slow with the clicker and treat so Cruise picked up the clip board in his mouth as if to say " for Pete's sake woman I touched the silly clip board, now give me some lamb lung!"

[cleptogrey]

"It's funny about the tunnel thing... I've done agility with 4 greys and all of them have loved the tunnel. They took to it immediately. Even Elphie who is sooooo tall (30+ inches at the shoulder) flies through the tunnel. "

 

emily did that the first time she ever saw the tunnel, i think it reminded her of the starting box. felix who never was on the track went thru standard tunnel training, he did not take to it as well. as a matter of fact, the 2nd time a ball was thrown down the tunnel he figured out that he could out run it by running next to the tunnel and got it before anyone could grab it.

[Guest june]

I love reading about everyone training their greys. First where I live there aren't too many greys and then those that do have them tend to not train them I love it when I see another grey at a competition!

 

Most of our training is done at home. I've found that sometimes classes get to be a bit long and boring for my girls. We do mostly short-short sessions focusing one one behavior and maybe reviewing something they already know at the end to boost their self-confidence.

 

My new girlie (got her just before Thanksgiving) turned 8 in December. She is now doing an automatic sit for her meals. I am so proud of her. She didn't know how to sit at all when I got her and she tends to be very strong-willed!

 

My middle girlie goes to an obedience competition in April. We're starting with beginning novice (on leash) to just give her some experience in the ring.

 

My first girlie is retired from competition as she will soon be turning 9 and although she enjoys Rally she really doesn't like straight obedience. Briefly thought about entering her and my middle girlie in brace, but decided against it as she doesn't seem to be enjoying the practice. For me, training is all about the fun for me and the girls.

 

june

[krissy]

It's so exciting to read about so many people doing some serious training with their greys! Most of the people I know who have greys don't train them. I understand on one hand because they're just so well behaved (most of them) that they really don't require religious obedience. On the other hand I think that regardless of their already good behaviour that it's a fun thing to do for both and really helps to build a relationship. I do need to get my BF to do some training with us though, because at this point Summit won't listen to a word he says. He really has no use for my BF anymore since I'm the one that walks, feeds, and trains him.

 

We will see how he picks up on the agility when we start actual agility classes. I think once he gets through each of the obstacles a couple of times he'll be fine, it's just the initial "you want me to do what?" moment, especially with covered things like the tunnel. He never raced so I don't know if he's ever been in a starting box for training or anything. He also has no interest in toys, so all we have is food to try to entice him.

 

For retrieving I was following the instructions from Never Say Never Greyhounds (neversaynevergreyhounds.net) which are great and will work for any dog that will actually show some interest in a toy. Problem is that my boy will not under any circumstance pick up a toy. The weirdest thing is that his previous owners told me that when he got really excited he would bring a toy and he would chase it and bring it back if they threw it. Yet here he has lots of different toys with different squeakers... rubber toys, plush toys, stuffingless toys, and he hasn't barely looked at one. Go figure. Strange dog!

[AnneGTS]

A while ago I started to teach Spriet some tricks at home. To be honest, I fist thought it would be hopeless. Spriet is the kind of dog that doesn't pay a lot of attention during a walk and just bumps into lampposts and cars on a parking lot Anyway, we started with some simple tricks. She already knew "sit" and "down" (and is recall trained) so I wanted to teach her and Tibbie to spin. And I was very surprised to see Tibbie was the one that didn't know what to do (even now she still doesn't get it) and Spriet knew how to spin within 5 minutes.

 

Then every now and then I taught her new tricks. Give paw, touching my hand, naughty (paw covering her eyes), bow, bark, roach on command and some other things. And she really enjoys it.

 

Last year I went to obedience training with Spriet.. She loved it, but unfortunately she was sick most of the time so we missed a lot.

 

I also went to an agility class once, it was just one day. Spriet loved it, especially the jumps. I would love to go to agility classes with her, but I don't have my drivers license yet (working on it!). And since a few weeks ago she is feeling sick again, so we'll have to wait until she feels much better.

[NeylasMom]

Julie, Zuri is very much like Breeze it sounds like. If he even thinks that you are trying to coerce him into something, he shuts down. That's why I was particularly excited about doing the shaping class with Pat. That, and the fact that it's really fun to watch a dog who doesn't really get the concept of offering behaviors turn into one who will try a bunch of stuff.

 

Briefly thought about entering her and my middle girlie in brace, but decided against it as she doesn't seem to be enjoying the practice. For me, training is all about the fun for me and the girls.

 

june

Exactly! If there is one thing I took from this seminar this weekend, it's that there are apparently a lot of crazy agility people out there who pay no attention to whether their dogs are actually enjoying any of it or not.

 

On the other hand I think that regardless of their already good behaviour that it's a fun thing to do for both and really helps to build a relationship.

Exactly!

 

I have a handout somewhere on making toys desirable, but I don't know where it is right now to see who wrote it/if it's online. But there were a couple of suggestions. One is to soak it in something like meat broth and let it dry. The other, and the one I would try first is to pick a particular toy that you keep out of reach with the exception of when you are working with her. What you do when "working" with her is to act like a crazy fool having a super fun time with the toy by yourself. If she gets interested, you play iwth her for a brief period, tug if she'll do or just flailing it in front of her and having her leap for it, then in the midst of all of this fun, you say "all done" and put it away. Leaves her thinking, "What the heck? I wasn't done with that? Give it back" and will have her much more excited about it the next time. I would be careful not to end all play/training when I put the toy away so she doesn't think you're punishing her. Tell her "all done" so she's clear there's an end to that part and then go on to work on something else, a different fun trick or something.

 

 

The Clothier seminar was really interesting. I got some really interesting new perspectives on how we think of our dogs and basically how little we are in tune with how they are feeling. The "she's fine" attitude when really, the dog is not really enjoying this thing we've dragged them to, but is tolerating it, things like that. And lots of techniques to work with dogs who are fearful/anxious around people, which is something I needed as I was more educated about dog reactivity issues. Suzanne is an interesting person, very funny in a sarcastic crass sort of way, my style of humor, but it's also clear she's got her opinions on things.

[krissy]

I have a handout somewhere on making toys desirable, but I don't know where it is right now to see who wrote it/if it's online. But there were a couple of suggestions. One is to soak it in something like meat broth and let it dry. The other, and the one I would try first is to pick a particular toy that you keep out of reach with the exception of when you are working with her. What you do when "working" with her is to act like a crazy fool having a super fun time with the toy by yourself. If she gets interested, you play iwth her for a brief period, tug if she'll do or just flailing it in front of her and having her leap for it, then in the midst of all of this fun, you say "all done" and put it away. Leaves her thinking, "What the heck? I wasn't done with that? Give it back" and will have her much more excited about it the next time. I would be careful not to end all play/training when I put the toy away so she doesn't think you're punishing her. Tell her "all done" so she's clear there's an end to that part and then go on to work on something else, a different fun trick or something.

 

I'm not sure soaking it would work for Summit. He'd probably just try to lick it... although, come to think about it that requires opening his mouth. Actually, I wonder... I think I just came up with the best idea I've had so far. He's got a stuffingless toy that has a velcro opening to put a water bottle in. I'm going to take the water bottle out and stuff it with food and treats or a chewy. No idea if that'll work but it's worth a try as I have tried everything else so far. I have done the whole keeping toys away from him and taking them out and playing like a mad fool with them, squeaking them in front of him and then putting them away. I picked up a cloth frisbee for $3 yesterday and my BF and I threw it around in the living room together pretending like we were having a grand time and praising Summit every time he followed it's flight with his eyes. I also bought him this bird toy yesterday because I have never seen him show so much interest in a toy. Instead of squeaker it has a mechnical bird chirpping noise. He stared at it so intently with his ears up. Never had any reaction to any other kind of squeaker (and we have lots, the high squeaky ones, and the low honking type), so I'm hoping if this stuffed toy idea works that the next step will be this birdie toy.

[krissy]

Yes! I am a genius. I've already been able to remove the chewies out of the toy and he is still grabbing it. Success!

[kudzu]

Go Summit!!

[Guest mcsheltie]

Julie, Zuri is very much like Breeze it sounds like. If he even thinks that you are trying to coerce him into something, he shuts down. That's why I was particularly excited about doing the shaping class with Pat. That, and the fact that it's really fun to watch a dog who doesn't really get the concept of offering behaviors turn into one who will try a bunch of stuff.

 

I was first introduced to shaping with my first Sheltie. Joey is really another breed in a Sheltie suit. He is stubbornly self-willed and the training I knew at the time, a combo of snatch & jerk plus rewards for good behavior, got nowhere with him. I read all about clicker training, took a couple of classes and decided it was too tedious for me. Fast forward ten years and I could just kick myself. Looking back on what he could done if I hadn't been so closed minded... Now watching any dog turn into a thinking dog is such a joy.

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Just racing right now, but when racing season ends we plan to take some fun classes and go from there. I have a happy, social little hound that I think will excel. I live and breathe for racing season, so I need something to look forward to during the awful long summer!

[NeylasMom]

Yes! I am a genius. I've already been able to remove the chewies out of the toy and he is still grabbing it. Success!

for success!!

 

Julie, Zuri is very much like Breeze it sounds like. If he even thinks that you are trying to coerce him into something, he shuts down. That's why I was particularly excited about doing the shaping class with Pat. That, and the fact that it's really fun to watch a dog who doesn't really get the concept of offering behaviors turn into one who will try a bunch of stuff.

 

I was first introduced to shaping with my first Sheltie. Joey is really another breed in a Sheltie suit. He is stubbornly self-willed and the training I knew at the time, a combo of snatch & jerk plus rewards for good behavior, got nowhere with him. I read all about clicker training, took a couple of classes and decided it was too tedious for me. Fast forward ten years and I could just kick myself. Looking back on what he could done if I hadn't been so closed minded... Now watching any dog turn into a thinking dog is such a joy.

I wish more people were aware that they could do this with their greyhound. Suzanne mentioned to me that she has video of a group of greyhounds that as pups were rescued and raised by another breed of dog b/c the mother was in too bad of shape. The dogs were also socialized like normal pups and were taught to do flyball, agility, etc. (keep in mind I'm relaying this so the details are fuzzy). But basically the point was, they had had a normal dog upbringing instead of a farm/kennel life and she said they couldn't get those dogs adopted because to greyhound owners, they weren't greyhounds. How sad that the accepted norm is that our dogs are unthinking dogs.

[krissy]

How sad that the accepted norm is that our dogs are unthinking dogs.

 

I certainly don't think of the greyhound as a "trick" dog like a border collie or something who pick up random little tricks in a 10 minute training session, but I certainly don't understand why anyone would think they can't be trained to do "normal" activities. Not that they can't learn cute little tricks of course, because they can. It's interesting how people think of greyhounds as dumb. I think it's because most owners don't bother to teach them much because they're so well behaved. I love seeing my dog's "aha!" moments where the lightbulb goes on. And it's so funny to see him offering behaviours in the hope of getting a treat.

[NeylasMom]

How sad that the accepted norm is that our dogs are unthinking dogs.

 

I certainly don't think of the greyhound as a "trick" dog like a border collie or something who pick up random little tricks in a 10 minute training session, but I certainly don't understand why anyone would think they can't be trained to do "normal" activities. Not that they can't learn cute little tricks of course, because they can. It's interesting how people think of greyhounds as dumb. I think it's because most owners don't bother to teach them much because they're so well behaved. I love seeing my dog's "aha!" moments where the lightbulb goes on. And it's so funny to see him offering behaviours in the hope of getting a treat.

That's what I'm currently aiming to turn Zuri into. I'll let you know how that works out. In all seriousness though, I'm not sure if there are limits to "creating" a dog like this or not. I think it's likely more a function of how good of a trainer you are, and more importantly how dedicated.

 

Probably the thing I hate hearing most is "greyhounds can't sit". Give me a break. Also possible to teach them much more complicated things, like a recall that works even when the dog is chasing. Much much harder, but not impossible with most. The day I truly tested Zuri's recall by calling him while he was chasing his lab friend Blake, who was on the hunt (and both running at top speed) and he stopped dead in his tracks, did a u-turn and came charging back to me, that was a proud moment.

[krissy]

Yes, I think you can teach any dog anything.

 

Check out my blog to see some videos of Summit's retrieving training. He's actually doing even better than that last video, but I haven't gotten one of him getting some distance just yet. Next blog entry I'll include that. Still, I'm impressed. In 2 days he learned to retrieve. And this is a dog who didn't even look at toys.

[Jackandgrey]

I really really wish I had done more with Jilly other than the basics. She was smart as a whip and so very willing to learn. She had the best recall of any dog I know. I am doing some beginning work with Jess now. She is doing pretty well but is not quite as focused. Still she enjoys it and so so very food motivated I call her my little trucker .