Link retrieving a dummy during the gun dog course we attended this summer
I finally brought home my newly purchased pheasant wings today. I'm going to use them to train Link to retrieve fowl and not just dummies. I figured it would be fun to see what his spontaneous reaction would be to them, seeing as he has never seen nor smelled anything like it before. So I set up the camera, grabbed some treats and put the wing on the floor.
A pheasant wing.
His reaction surprised me. He was afraid of it! He was very interested and wanted to check it out, but something about it spooked him so he decided to try barking at it...
Not exactly a desired behavior for a future working gun dog, but as perseverance is key to success, I was not about to let this slight setback deter me. I tried using the clicker at first, but Link gets a bit too eager when he hears the click, so instead I decided to use a verbal "good" ("bra" in Norwegian) and treat. I did 6 sessions with 10-15 repetitions per session, where I praised and rewarded him for smelling/pointing at the wing with his nose. In the 6th session I felt the behavior was reliable enough for me to add the cue "bird" (or "fugl" in Norwegian). The goal is that he will find and retrieve the wings, but in the beginning I will settle for him showing me where the wing is by pointing at it.
Link pointing at the pheasant wing.
Being a Golden Retriever and not a Pointer, pointing is something he has to learn, it does not come naturally for him. This is where his hesitant behavior actually comes in handy. He will stop and smell it before doing anything else, which gives me ample opportunity to mark and reward the pointing behavior. Another positive side of Link's hesitation it is that Link most likely never will try to tear a bird to pieces, at least not if I do the training right. Right now he has way too much respect (or probably fear, not respect) for the "bird" even to dare to mouth it, let alone chew on it.
I've also bought a "pheasant dummy", i.e. a dummy with the plumage of a pheasant on it, but I think I will train Link with the wing for a while before I introduce it. When we've gotten further in the training I will make a video about it and show you all.
Two weeks ago, Link and I participated in the second weekend of the therapy dog course I've mentioned before. Friday and Sunday were normal lecture days, and the big test, or rather mentality assessment, was done on Saturday. You find the post about the first weekend here.
To get an idea of how the dogs were tested/assessed check out this video from Link's test.
The test was between 15-20 minutes, and I've cut it down to four and a half minutes, so clearly the test is more comprehensive than what is shown in the video. It is not meant to be a thorough description of the test, it is just meant to give you an idea of what kind of things a therapy dog has to be able to handle to get approved. And again, like I mentioned in the first post about this course, Link is not a terapihund (literally "therapy dog", but in Norway that is a dog that works with a professional, and that is paid work), he is a "besøkshund" (directly translated "visitation dog"), something that is done by a volunteer.
Loke, a Flatcoated retriever/poodle mix who were approved for therapy dog work.
Link showed us that he still is a bit uncertain of what the right course of action is when he gets scared/insecure. In the video you see him barking at the person in the wheelchair, that is definitely not desired behavior for a therapy dog! What is good was that he clearly wasn't so scared that he was overwhelmed by the situation, seeing as he still listened to cues and both ate treats and played with the "test person" (in lack of a better word), even though she had been "scary" just moments earlier. He never "shut down", and he showed that he didn't have issues with resource guarding or guarding and area (when there was a knock at the door). What he needs is more training and time to grow up. So I'm going to test him again next year. He was approved for some kinds of work, but not with people that can have erratic or aggressive behavior (like some patients that have certain diseases that cause their behavior to change, e.g. some forms of dementia), but with calm patients or visits to one patient at a time, he should not have any trouble. I don't know how many visits we will do before the next test, for now I feel we should have more training first.
One of the dogs that was approved for therapy dog work, the Samoyed Sara.
On Sunday we had time for some training sessions too. Many of us had discovered things that we had to work on with our dogs. The Samoyed Sara needed to learn to not steal food that she could reach. The instructor showed us how to teach our dog to "leave it".
Sara not stealing food :)
Another one of the dogs, Ziwa, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, needed to practice playing. So the instructor gave us some really helpful tips on how to increase a dog's willingness to play.
The instructor puts small pieces of hot dog in a tug toy, and Ziwa is definitely interested now!
Ziwa about to try to grab the toy, stuffing it with treats really helped :)
Ziwa going for the toy!
Another thing we were told to do is teach our dogs tricks. First of all, it is good for our relationship with the dog, but also it is good to have some tricks on the therapy dog's repertoire. When visiting patients with your dog, some will not want to touch the dog, but like watching it. For those patients it can be more fun to see a dog do something, than a dog just lying there. Also it is good for the dog, when it gets insecure in an new environment, to be asked to preform a behavior it likes doing and that it knows well. A trick is often better than a "sit" or "down" in these situations, since those cues are often told to dogs when we want to stop what they are doing and to remain passive(so in a way the cue means that the fun is over), while a trick is just fun for the dog. It will feel happier when asked to perform a trick than it would following a cue for a "normal" behavior. Of course, if you are a really talented trainer who are very good at reinforcing the wanted behavior, than a "sit" cue can be just as calming and fun as a cue for a trick. But for the rest of us, this trick training can really come in handy.
Loke, a poodle/flatcoated retriever mix, learning how to "sit pretty" (or "sit like a bear").
One of the attendants of the course had gotten a new puppy since we last met, a Pyrenean shepherd called Easy. She was adorable!
Little Easy, with her "sister" Minni the Rottweiler and with Varg the Siberian Husky.
The reason why I haven't written about this sooner is that Link has been really ill lately, he is getting a lot better now, but during the last week most of my energy has gone to taking care of Link. Due to this I haven't done any training with Link nor any writing on the blog. Hopefully Link will stay healthy now so that I can commence both the training and writing.
