Wed 30 Apr 2008
Did someone train Chopper in German? Either she was already trained for German and Dutch commands, or she really CAN read my mind! I think the errors we sometimes make in rally are because I am inconsistent with my commands and tone of voice, so I decided to go for a new level of precision and switch to a conglomeration of German and Dutch words I’d previously chosen. It took all of about 5 minutes. Wow, she is smart. I think she reads minds…
2 Responses to “ Hmmm…. ”
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May 1st, 2008 at 7:44 am
I bet she can read your mind!
I did teach Chopper plotz, sitz, foos; all when she was under 1 year of age. I believe Kim re-taught her cues in English?
Right now I am working with Allie, Kira, and Kayla. I have not yet started naming things with Kayla yet. Kira I am working with German cues, Allie I am working with English cues. Ironically Allie is the one suffering from my inconsistency the most as I often give her German cues instead of the English one she knows—you would think I would error more in the favor of saying the English cue instead of the German cue….nope not me…backwards again.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:52 am
Haha so it WAS you! Her “platz!” is spot on, she SLAMS her legs down and drops to her belly like she’s getting extra treats for doing it fast and hard (well, she does…). I’ve only started a few new words b/c I have to decide what I want to use and how. For now, “platz” will be a down, ANY down (moving or stationary) and she is expected to stay down until released. “Sitz” is sit of course….”hup” is a Dutch word and what I will use like “heel” or “come along!” while “fuess” will refer to her getting into the heel position from front or wherever. “Hier” will mean “come here and sit in front”, so I used it as a recall and and a rally front. I hope I can show her that it simply refers to sitting in front of me from wherever she was.
Chopper does so well with hand signals and luring I think this will be an easy transition. Often I only use hand signals and lures, but I want to be able to only use vocal commands as well.
I’ll try to make a video. You should see her left finish. I always wondered how people trained their dogs to do that jumpy left finish. Now I know they just DO it. I never taught her, but when I say “Fuess!” and point left she leaps about 5 feet in the air and then flips her butt around. It’s so funny. Sometimes she hits me a little but I don’t care, as long as she has some attitude she can knock me down. Whenever I call for “hier” or a front sit I can see in her eyes she is thinking “please mom let me do the left finish PLEASE!!” It’s so nice to have a dog that thinks doing the commands IS the reward, lol.