Woof! Bark! And also Whiiiiiiiiiine.

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Alice the Camel Aug 2016 8:45am, 3 Aug 2016 2,879 posts	0 Alice the Camel Yup, same here too! Our classes finished for the summer at the beginning of July and I've just about stopped daily training. You're reminding me that it would be worthwhile to keep practicing the basics! I wonder how long you can go before they start to forget?
Sharkie Aug 2016 9:14am, 3 Aug 2016 9,546 posts	0 Sharkie Once you stop regular classes - for whatever reason - you quickly discover which commands are really useful and which (not many to be fair) you will never have to use in a real life situation. Recall is invaluable and should be regularly practiced ... remembering not to use dog's name to no avail! Arm /hand signal used for this one a LOT. Most dogs remember sit because we use it all the time... but far more useful (we've found) are: wait stop leave 'Stay' we don't use that often, but probably should practice more than we do! We don't leave Jess outside shops for various reasons but I know LD does (quite right too!) and STAY is probably invaluable there. Never forget Flossie is the QUEEN of training awards. She did far better than the supposedly clever and trainable (ha ha) Jess!
Sharkie Aug 2016 9:16am, 3 Aug 2016 9,547 posts	0 Sharkie A command that's not always taught but is brilliant especially for big dogs is 'back' - dog walks backwards. This is really useful and Jess picked it up very quickly.
halfpint Aug 2016 9:23am, 3 Aug 2016 21,102 posts	0 halfpint We will hopefully be buying a training lead at the weekend which will help with the recall training. Ernie can recall beautifully as long as there isn't a fun dog, interesting adult, playful child, cat or any other number of fascinating things around. He was brilliant at the beach when I did the training exercise we were taught to stop them approaching unknown people.
BaronessBL Aug 2016 9:47am, 3 Aug 2016 5,700 posts	0 BaronessBL Well done Ernie (& hp too of course!) We have carried on taking Wanda to training even though we've been going for 3 years because she really enjoys it and likes to learn. Strangely enough, agility which I thought she would also enjoy and which we'd thought might replace obedience as our regular 'thing' she is fairly uninterested in. She does it, but without enthusiasm - whereas training classes she thinks are great. I build a bit of practice in every day (when I am on walking duties) on the useful things - stop the dog, recall to handler's side off lead for a few paces although both of these are elements of the gold test which we have yet to pass so I'm practicing them from that point of view too!
LazyDaisy Aug 2016 10:10am, 3 Aug 2016 15,180 posts	0 LazyDaisy Haha at the Queen . I use Come, Wait, Stay, Over (for crossing the road), Leave, With me (when she's off lead but I want her to walk close but not necessarily to heel) Sit and Heel. That's more than I realised! 'Find it!' is my phrase for any 'retrieve' games though at Copse Hill they used Fetch! A big +1 on not using the dog's name too much. The other day we were walking with a group of other regular dog walkers - a mix of Spaniels and Labs we meet regularly and came across a chap with 2 Labs. He was sitting on a bench and using a 'flinger' to throw a ball which one was happily running after and retrieving. We never heard him use that dog's name. The other Lab was clearly not at all interested in the game and ran over and attached himself to our group. The man just called out 'Bailey No' repeatedly while the dog took not a jot of notice. I've never heard a dog's name used so much to so little effect! The dog had learned to completely disregard it
halfpint Aug 2016 10:19am, 3 Aug 2016 21,104 posts	0 halfpint I am probably guilty of yelling Ernie repeatedly, mostly when he has taken off to say hello to someone. I am now sticking him back on the lead preemptively to avoid the situation arising - until we have a more consistent recall.
Rosehip Aug 2016 11:27am, 3 Aug 2016 7,602 posts	0 Rosehip Ralph will recall better to me whistling than calling his name, although "Ralph come" between two whistles is useful when he's charging between rows of spuds. I use an excited "this way" if I react quick enough when he's just thinking of running off after something - it usually works.
Helegant Aug 2016 11:52am, 3 Aug 2016 3,326 posts	0 Helegant I did the exciting 'look at this treat' thing with Jet's medicine this morning. He was a bit half-hearted, and when I offered the 'treat' he sniffed it and walked away. So I had to add a couple of treats and rub it all together in my hand to transfer the smell, then 'accientally' drop one treat... then offer my hand, and he ate the lot. We are a bout a third of the way through the treatment and I can see myself mixing powdered tablets into cream cheese before too long
Haggis Aug 2016 12:58pm, 3 Aug 2016 1,393 posts	0 Haggis I tend to use 'this way' when out a walk with the woofhounds off the lead and while not wanting them to come back to me, I do want them to not charge off down a different path... Seems to work well. 'back' has a specific meaning in the gundog world - namely go further out to search for the bird / dummy / item. Our old gundog trainer used to question why anyone used 'sit', 'wait' and 'stay'? 'Sit' covers all the requirements, namely sit until I tell you to do something else...