Listen to the 'rough command given when Fanfan picks up the toy: http://www.sculpadog.nl/blog9/images/apport/voice.MPG note: ---this one is a little illustration about the bodylanguage/voice and command difference---
Sculpadog, nice clips and a very eager dog . Got any tips for a dog who apports quite willingly, but tends to drop out the apport when coming back to me? That system worked perfectly fine when fetching tennis balls during walks, but when training for IPO I his spitting out isn't very welcome, as you can imagine...
If anybody has any kind of advice for me, I would be very happy to read about it.
Ursa
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''If sometimes you feel a little useless, offended and depressed, always remember that you were once the fastest and victorious sperm in your group.''
Bambi- start training apport when dog is in front of you. Apport shoul kind of mean "hold the apportthing" dont know what its called in english, the piece of wood or metal or whatever you use.
In the beginning, put the "thing" in the dogs mouth, he probably tihnk its discusting and wants to spit it out. Hold your hand under the jaw so the dog doesnt drop it. I usually pinch a bit in the dogs ear and say no if she wants to chew or drop.
say "apport" or whatever commando you use when you put it in the dogs mouth. Loosen your hand when you tell the dog to drop it and give him a candy. After a while dog learns that if he has the thing in mouth for a while, ge gets candy.
When the dog can hold the "thing" without chewing or dropping, then train so he can carry it without dropping, like walking with it in the mouth. When the dog can do this, he has to learn to pick it up from the groud and come to you. If he starts chewing or dropping it, go back in the training.
I do agree with the advice Hoppsan gave: positive reinforcement on the particular problem your dog does have. So take your time on the actual problem which is the hold of the dumbbell. The reinforcer has to be strong thus seek for the correct reward which can be a candy but also a tennis ball or anything else your dog goes nuts for.
When your dog has a soft mouth it might be an advice also to soften the dumbbell with a cotton cord or a towel. When the dog comes back -seems she does the apport well- you then run backwards, grab dumbbell and play {soft !!!} with her before she actually has to sit in front of you. Thus bring in some more joy in between the whole exercise.
Most people forgets all exercises can be split into particles. Train each particle separate from all others if you see your dog performs well enough but has problems with one little part in the whole exercise. In other words: if your dog can't jump, it would be weird to train the full A-frame apport exercise then.
Hoppsan, thx for the advice, as I started telling you last time on the chat before you had to go, I mostly agree with you. Backwards training can be very effective, and sculpadog, I usually disect the exercise in order to practise it by parts; this way I think you have better control of what's happening and you can correct each mistake at the exact time it's being done without affecting the dog's willingness on the other parts of the exercise.
However, I see one defect in hoppsan's advice. I usually prefer to find a way to teach a particular exercise in a way that suits my dog in the sense of his eagerness to do it. How are we trainig apport at the moment: I play with the Sambo, get his excited, hold him by the collar and throw the apport. I encourage him to go get it and let him loose. He usually runs very fast towards it, picks it up and brings it back and when he's almost back to me, I make a few steps back, praise him and tell him Here apport and tap my chest. This (again, usually, as we are only beginning with the exercise) results in my dog looking up while holding the apport and sitting in front of me. At his point I praise a lot and start running with him, encouraging him to still hold the apport; stop again, say Here apport, when the dog sits run again etc. I repeat this a few times and then play tug with the apport.
Now, the defect I mentioned before is this - if I want my dog to WANT to hold the apport (best results come from voluntary actions, don't they?), then this system kind of isn't right, as I force the dog to hold it. However, when running like hell and making a big fuss, my dog gets excited and runs with the thing in his mouth. Most often I practise in the way I mention and I started including more and more the method hoppsan wrote about.
So you can see I'm actually already doing both things you two mentioned, but as I tend to complicate my life , I'm still wondering if there is another method that would convince my dog that apporting rocks and thus getting him to hold it no mather what and doing it with pleasure.
After a short break we have our obedience training on Thursday anyway, so I'll see how he will do. And if you have any more tips for me, bring them on.
Ursa
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''If sometimes you feel a little useless, offended and depressed, always remember that you were once the fastest and victorious sperm in your group.''
With my other dog who chewed the apport a lot, I started from the beginning and my vision was (she wasnt interested in playing) that she should always think "candy" and then she couldnt have time to think about chewing.
I held my hands in front of her, one hand with the apport and the other with a candy. She had to figure out everything herself. If she touched the apport, she got candy. Mals learn fast... so after a while she had to take the apport in her mouth (figure that out herself) before she got candy. Also that she learned quickly. Next step she had to take it up from the ground before she got candy. She didnt have time to drop the apport because she had from the beginning learned that there was no idea dropping the apport: drop- no candy. After a while she had to hold the apport longer and longer.
This took a while to tech but it was very succesful for that dog.
Hoppsan, interesting and very logical advice! I had a vague idea of doing something similar, it just didn't occur to me how to do it in a concrete way. Will try!
Sculpa, your didactical abilities never stop to astonish me . Your explanation of 'inherent motivation' the other day was excelent, and this tip is as graphical as it can be . Joking a little bit, but really - you're totally right. The last 6 months I have been busting my behind with a RR puppy and spent so much energy on her, that I trully almost stopped playing with Sambo. So from now on, I will try to play with him as much as possible - the last week I've already started and a friend of mine told me the same as you did, so definitely - it's play time! I will report on how are doing.
Ursa
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''If sometimes you feel a little useless, offended and depressed, always remember that you were once the fastest and victorious sperm in your group.''
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. Got any tips for a dog who apports quite willingly, but tends to drop out the apport when coming back to me? That system worked perfectly fine when fetching tennis balls during walks, but when training for IPO I his spitting out isn't very welcome, as you can imagine...
. Your explanation of 'inherent motivation' the other day was excelent, and this tip is as graphical as it can be 
