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Posted on 04/20/2006 2:10:46 PM PDT by HairOfTheDog
New verse:
Upon the hearth the fire is red, |
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Still round the corner there may wait |
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Home is behind, the world ahead, |
Just my two cents...
I've always taught the "come", "sit" and "stay" commands while the dog was on a leash.
"Sit" is relatively easy and most dogs pick that one up right away.
"Stay" and "come" are more difficult. Especially with hyper doggies! But it's possible when you have a partner to help!
With "come", I'd have someone (OK, it'll prolly be Hair) hold the dog on a leash while both of you say "Cisco, stay". Repeat the word "stay" sternly over and over, no matter how hard he pulls on the leash or whimpers to get to you.
Hair will have to be the meanie in this scenario and force Cisco to sit and wait.
Then you walk a few feet away, squat down and firmly state the "come" command. No whistling or kissing though. Just the dog's name and the word "come". Pick a hand signal to go with it.
Hair releases the leash and Cisco should naturally come to you and when he does, that's when he gets the kissy-face and "good baby". :-D
Move away farther and farther between exercises until he knows what is expected of him and what to expect when he does it.
Last step, have Hair simply drop the leash while giving the "stay" command, just to see if he gets it. He will fail a few times, but he'll catch on since he's eager to please.
By this time, you should be able to walk a good 12 feet away while he sits in place. (I can imagine his twitchy fidgets already...)
Repeat this as much as possible and be sure to try disappearing around a corner a few times before saying "come".
The hand signals are important because I've found that dogs respond better to them. Also, it's really cool to see them respond solely to hand signals.
My Scruffy wasn't a spaz, but he was timid as a puppy and spooked at anything- made him easily distracted and I was afraid to take him in public for fear he'd get out of his collar and run off.
But I had him trained in both voice and hand signals - to sit, stay, come, lay down, get up and speak - by the time he was a year old.
I could take him ~anywhere~ sans leash. Parades, concerts, parks and he'd stay by my side looking up at my face and hands to watch for a signal.
Hair and Ruthie: These were most excellent posts, We thanks you. We know what to do..implementation with gypsygirl is the hard part. She looks at me with big brown eyes as if to say, "so this is how it starts again?". Natcherly, I melt.
Our lab, Gifford, was trained to sit and stay at dinner time. :-) We could give a 'set', and fix his food, place it on the floor and give him 'go' (boy, did he go). 'Fetch bird' was his favorite, nothing quite as much fun (to a lab) as swimming or running back with a mouth full of recently deceased feathered fowl.
Season 2 or 3 (I can't remember which) had a whole lot of backstory with him in Mexico and the drug stuff.
~sigh~
Jr. left a few minutes ago to take his friend home. Called me from the service station on the corner and said "I can't get the car started." I told him I'd be right there.
Afore I got my keys and headed out the door, he calls back, "I got it."
Apparently he didn't have it in park...sigh...
'nite folks. wife needs theoffice.
Thanks. I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. ;-)
G'nite Corin.
In Cisco's case...he pretty much knows the commands, but he's not consistant about obeying them if and when he thinks I can't stop him. I'm going to do more work with him on a long line. Also I do plan to go to an obedience class of some sort with him this summer - I think it'd be good for both of us. He'd learn to obey in the midst of distractions, I'd get to meet some folks and learn a bit more how to handle him.
My old lab was a totally different character...I was really lucky to have her as a first dog! But this whole cowering thing just gets to me. ;-) We'll learn...and he really does want to please, which is a major help. He's not naturally rotten like the dachsies were...
Hey, at least he figgered it out... bet he never makes that mistake again.
whoops. :-
Heh. The diversity shirt was a hit!
We had a so-so culinary experience. Brother had a relatively new gas grill that he wasn't used to cooking on and I don't do gas grills. All in all, a good day.
Now to check on the weather in Nashville...
I have a plot, I have characters, I have motivations and outcomes. What I'm worried about is that this won't be 50k words.
If I write up a few scenes from a different character's viewpoint, that's still part of the 50k words, right?
Of course it counts!! Iain Pears wrote a fanastic novel An Instance of the Fingerpost which is set in 17th century England and utilizes the viewpoints of four different characters to tell the tale. He was able to add people, places, events, and motives to each recounting while keeping the story moving forward. Go for it!
Glad the shirt was well-received!! I haven't worn mine to the range yet. There are people with guns there who may not have a sense of humor...
I'm sure he'll catch on, chica. Just a matter of time and patience. :-)
Gotta get to bed. I'm exhausted from this "holiday" weekend.
But the house is clean, the laundry's done and I got more boxes packed than I planned. So I feel like I've accomplished something. :-)
That little wild kitten was just mewing at my front door. I opened it slowly (it ran off as soon as I did) and called to it, but it just meows at me from it's hiding spot in the bushes. :-/
Poor thing.
I'm not done with that universe yet, not by a long shot ...!
Poor little kitty...
Did you end up leaving something out for it?
Man...I'm suddenly realizing it's almost June. Where did this month go?
This coming weekend is the one-year anniversary of Smoochmoot. Wow, a lot has happened this year.
Err, Shootmoot, even
Where is my caffeine? I should not post before caffeine.
uh huh... we know where someone's mind is ;-D
Mornin'.
I left out a bit of tuna and it was gone this morning, but I don't know whether the kitten ate it or another cat came by and helped himself. :-/
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