Dumbbell Time

[liamsmom]

Hello all.
well.......as you know we're attending obedience class (since March) and having a ball.
it's now time to introduce a dumbbell and work on the retrieve over a jump. i'd love to hear your stories on learning this exercise. also, if anyone has any ideas on how to get your dog interested in retrieving.....i'd love to hear those stories too. Both Liam and Moby are interested in the dumbbell but i'm not quite sure how the retrieving part will.
and, since Moby is deaf........let me know if any of you have any suggestions on a sign/signal for "hold it". he just wants to take off with the dumbbell at this point........or drop it.

 

[IluvLucy]

I recently went through this with J.C. All I can say is make it as fun as possible. Praise any progress they make towards what you want them to do. If they are not too interested at first, praise any movement they make towards the dumbell. I was actually told to teach the take it/hold it part separate from the retrieve by using a piece of 3/4" wood dowel. That didn't work too well for us but may work for you. J.C. didn't like having to take the dowel in his mouth and hold it, but he would happily chase after a thrown dumbell and pick it up. From there I worked on getting him to hold on to it for longer and longer periods of time. What worked for me was to first get him to walk around with it in his mouth. He was too busy walking and following me around that he didn't realize he still had it in his mouth. Then I worked on having him sit in front of me while holding it. Sometimes it just helps to break the exercise up into small parts, and when they know each part, then try to put it together. For a "hold it" signal for Moby, if you don't already use it for something else, how about holding up your index finger, sort of like a "#1" sign? I would actually do that with J.C. at first and put my finger over the end of his mouth and tell him "hold". Hope some of this helps.

 

[dizzydogmom]

I worked Piper Ann's dumb bell retrieve similarly to IluvLucy. I started by shaping the retrieve-I would click and treat (c/t) when she looked at the dumb bell, then when she went up to it, then when she sniffed it, mouthed it, and picked it up. Once she was picking it up, I would c/t when she moved toward me while holding it (she tried taking it to her bed to chew on it a couple of times-then I would take it away for a few minutes. She figured out pretty quick that if she didn't bring it to me, the game ended and that was no fun at all ). Then when she brought it too me, I started streaching out the length of time before I would c/t and take it from her; I also started making her sit "front" before I would c/t around this time as well.

Piper already had a pretty good "take it" command from playing tug-o-war, so it was a fairly easy transition to learning "take it" for the dumb bell. The trick was getting her to only release it into my hand. So we worked on her taking the dumb bell from me and allowing me to touch the dumb bell while it was in her mouth-not giving it to me necessarily, but waiting until my hand was on the dumb bell for longer and longer periods before taking it from her. She had to release the dumb bell anyway for her treat, so she soon figured out that she couldn't just drop the dumb bell and get a treat-my hand had to be on it first. This also helped her develope a stronger grip on the dumb bell instead of just learning to let go when my hand got near her face. It's kind of hard to describe how I trained the process of "holding it," so if I'm not being clear, please let me know.

As far as retrieving over the jump, we started by just jumping excercises first (returning over a jump, touching a target on the other side of the jump and returning, that sort of thing). That way, the first time I sent her over a jump for a retrieve, she already had a pretty good idea of what was expected of her, and handled it like a pro.

I think that's pretty much how it worked for us, although I'm sure there are a lot of ways to teach these particular exercises. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know!

 

[liamsmom]

great advice!!!!
i just can't use a clicker with Moby since he is deaf. but i can certainly replace the clicker with a hand signal.
thanks so much

 

[Renee&Jake]

also, if anyone has any ideas on how to get your dog interested in retrieving

I play with the DB often, no matter how good or fast my retrieves are, to maintain a high level of drive for the DB. I play alot of "keep away" with it, holding the dogs collar while I kick it just out of reach, wrap the mouth bit in fleece so it's comfortable to tug with, race my dog to it, push them out of the way and snatch it and run - Boxers often like the chase and 'fight' to get it.

Also, once they have it, I let them parade around on leash in circles and let them know how fantastic they are for taking it - if they drop it, I race down and snatch it away.

and, since Moby is deaf........let me know if any of you have any suggestions on a sign/signal for "hold it". he just wants to take off with the dumbbell at this point........or drop it.

I teach the retrieve and the hold separately, and both are up close for several weeks - first the dog learns to take it from really close, working up to from arm's length, and then on the floor... My puppy is a VERY motivated retriever, but in learning the formal retrieve, she's been at it for over a month and I still haven't let go of it yet.

Apart from that, I teach the hold - with my hand on the DB I place it in the dogs mouth with one hand and with my other hand, one finger is touching the soft spot under the chin - if the jaw starts to open, gently tap the spot but don't let go of the DB with the other hand.

For at least a week, I don't ask for a hold longer than a second, and then week 2, 2 seconds...and then see how it goes from there.

Some dogs are natural retrievers - Jakob is one. It was the first thing I ever tried to clicker train, so I didn't realize at the time that the dog was going to take and hold anything I asked him to, regardless of how fantastic I thought my new clicker skills were at the time.