I was only half awake this morning when I fed Harriet. Maybe not even
half. She was waiting waiting waiting waiting not so very patiently
for me to bring her food. I put it in her bowl. She leaned forward,
ready, set, go! Except I gave her the wrong release word, so she got
stuck at "set." She was not amused by it. I got one of her very
dirtiest looks before I figured out what I'd done wrong. Duh!

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

Shelly wrote:
I was only half awake this morning when I fed Harriet. Maybe not even
half. She was waiting waiting waiting waiting not so very patiently
for me to bring her food. I put it in her bowl. She leaned forward,
ready, set, go! Except I gave her the wrong release word, so she got
stuck at "set." She was not amused by it. I got one of her very
dirtiest looks before I figured out what I'd done wrong. Duh!

Sounds like she really understands her commands!

Now here's a question for all. At what age did your dogs develop
a rock-solid (or even pretty solid) recall, or response to other
commands, especially in the face of distraction, and how much
effort did you put into developing that?

FurPaw

--
The plural of anecdote is not proof.

To reply, unleash the dog.

On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 15:36:19 -0600, FurPaw
wrote:

Now here's a question for all. At what age did your dogs develop
a rock-solid (or even pretty solid) recall, or response to other
commands, especially in the face of distraction, and how much
effort did you put into developing that?

Please, allow me to "bloviate" a bit more.

First, rock-solid recalls (and the immediate and correct response to
commands) are directly related to how much time and effort a dog's
owner is willing to devote to training, including training with
distractions. And how often everything is reinforced.

And second, how effective the training techniques employed are.

It's really not a matter of the dog's age.

And the amount of effort only matters if the technique being used is
any good at achieving rock-solid recalls and immediate responses to
commands.

For example, I would wager a large sum of money that Leah's dog
*still* has a lousy recall, *still* pulls on its leash, and *still*
gives Leah the flying fickle finger of fate at every opportunity.

--
Handsome "Jack" Morrison

Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words.
http://volokh.com/posts/1213390585.shtml

This is what happens when we elect morons to write our laws.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0608/p02s01-usec.htm

Democrats Hire Radical Muslim Group In Latest Dead Voter Drive.
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/20...-group-in.html

Obama and the giant blogosphere conspiracy.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melanieph...nspiracy.thtml

Princess Obama Derangement Syndrome.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melanieph...syndrome.thtml

"Global Warming" and the Price of a Gallon of Gas.
http://www.kusi.com/weather/colemans.../19842304.html

Muslim "No-Go Areas" in Britain. BRITAIN!
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/muslim-...just-go-there/

Everything You Ever Needed to Know about the Gitmo Decision...
http://corner.nationalreview.com/pos...ExOGZlOGEyNWQ=

The moral imperative for drilling.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/06122008...ing_115065.htm

Canada deports cancer patient to save costs.
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/06/1...to-save-costs/

Iraqi sheikh volunteers to help Americans in Afghanistan.
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/06/1...r-afghanistan/

"In short, American policies were driven by public opinion while British ones were shaped by elite
preferences. As a result, victim surveys show that by the late 1990s the British robbery rate was
one-quarter higher and the burglary and assault rates twice as high as those in this country".
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2...tml#1212699333

Obama supports a national fingerprint registry. spit
http://blog.heritage.org/2008/06/09/...rint-registry/

In praise of CO2.
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=569586

Gee. And this guy is better than Bush, how, exactly? sigh
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/20...ding-kids.html

"The Left is very invested in both preemptively delegitimizing criticism of Obama
and framing opponents as de facto bigots." Boy, does that sound familiar. Hi, Melinda!
http://thenextright.com/jon-henke/le...h-2008-tactics

Mexican TB bugs. Doing the jobs that American TB bugs won't do.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24954041/

Global Temperature Dives in May.
http://wattsupwiththat.wordpress.com...-dives-in-may/

Handsome "Jack" Morrison wrote:

First, rock-solid recalls (and the immediate and correct response to
commands) are directly related to how much time and effort a dog's
owner is willing to devote to training, including training with
distractions. And how often everything is reinforced.

And second, how effective the training techniques employed are.

What techniques do you use?

It's really not a matter of the dog's age.

To some extent it must be, no? Do you expect a rock solid recall
(with the best of techniques) in a 3 month old dog? What's the
youngest age a dog you've trained has achieved a rock-solid
recall? And at what age did you begin the training?

And the amount of effort only matters if the technique being used is
any good at achieving rock-solid recalls and immediate responses to
commands.

FurPaw


--
The plural of anecdote is not proof.

To reply, unleash the dog.

On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 18:44:51 -0600, FurPaw
wrote:

Handsome "Jack" Morrison wrote:

First, rock-solid recalls (and the immediate and correct response to
commands) are directly related to how much time and effort a dog's
owner is willing to devote to training, including training with
distractions. And how often everything is reinforced.

And second, how effective the training techniques employed are.

What techniques do you use?

I'm a traditional trainer (training collar and leash), and I use the
e-collar, too.

In other words, I'm a "dog-abusing thug".

It's really not a matter of the dog's age.

To some extent it must be, no?

A dog as young as a few months can have a reasonably reliable recall.

Do you expect a rock solid recall
(with the best of techniques) in a 3 month old dog?

Rock-solid, no. Strong, yes.

What's the
youngest age a dog you've trained has achieved a rock-solid
recall?

6 months.

And at what age did you begin the training?

Formal training starts at 7 weeks. Informal training starts even
earlier than that.

Most dog owners make it much more difficult than it has to be. They do
silly things like chase after their puppy, they pick him up and take
him inside when he comes, they repeat commands ad nauseam, etc.

It's the most important command that a dog will ever learn, it's
relatively easy to teach, yet few dogs will ever have a rock-solid
recall.


--
Handsome "Jack" Morrison

Hate paying $5 for a gallon of gas? You can thank Al "The Goracle" Gore. spit
http://www.kusi.com/weather/colemans.../19842304.html

At the Official Obama Site: 'How the Jewish Lobby Works'
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/arti...sh_Lobby_Works

"Global warming", solved!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...developed.html

So-called "green" taxes are a con. They have absolutely nothing to do with
saving the planet, or changing people's behaviour. It is all about raising
revenue. Governments around the world have realised that environmentalism
gives them an easy way of squeezing yet more tax out of hard-working people.
And if you object, you are supposed to feel guilty about drowning polar bears.
"Green" taxes also impact most heavily on the poor. This isn't an accident,
it is a deliberate policy.--Bill Carmichael, Yorkshire Post, 31 May 2008

Saudi Montana.
http://blogs.dailymail.com/donsurber...saudi-montana/

Skipping science class.
http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/5820.html

So much for "settled science".
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/wor...html?id=525590

The top ten list of things environmentalists need to learn.
http://depletedcranium.com/?p=368

New Jason Satellite Indicates 23-Year Global Cooling.
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/2871

Sorry to ruin the fun, but an ice age cometh.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...6-7583,00.html

A book that every American should read (and NYT #1 bestseller): Liberal Fascism, by Jonah Goldberg
http://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Fascis.../dp/0385511841

FurPaw wrote in
:

Sounds like she really understands her commands!

She usually pretty good. I'm the one who screws up.

Now here's a question for all. At what age did your dogs develop
a rock-solid (or even pretty solid) recall,

Beats me. I really started taking recalls seriously when I was
living out in the country, but those years are all kind of blurred
together for me. Harriet was probably 3-4 years old?

or response to other
commands, especially in the face of distraction, and how much
effort did you put into developing that?

I haven't done much to set up intentional distractions or proofing.
What I *have* done, though, is play simon says. I think that tuned
Harriet's ear pretty well. The other thing I've been careful about
is notnotnot letting her blow off commands. EVAR! So, not a whole
lot of effort, but lots of consistency.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

On Jun 14, 5:36*pm, FurPaw wrote:
Shelly wrote:
I was only half awake this morning when I fed Harriet. *Maybe not even
half. *She was waiting waiting waiting waiting not so very patiently
for me to bring her food. *I put it in her bowl. *She leaned forward,
ready, set, go! *Except I gave her the wrong release word, so she got
stuck at "set." She was not amused by it. *I got one of her very
dirtiest looks before I figured out what I'd done wrong. *Duh!

Sounds like she really understands her commands!

Now here's a question for all. *At what age did your dogs develop
a rock-solid (or even pretty solid) recall, or response to other
commands, especially in the face of distraction, and how much
effort did you put into *developing that?

FurPaw

--
The plural of anecdote is not proof.

To reply, unleash the dog.

Yoda's rock solid recall was finally "finished" at about two and a
half. I got him at one and a half but I didn't really start focusing
on the rock solid recall until the last 3 months or so. Until that
point I used a lot of containment and it wasn't until a minor incident
where containment failed without any consequences that I really
decided I had to get it perfect. In this case, his recall did save
the day, but I knew it was only because of the circumstances so I
really buckled down and got it to where it is now.

Nick

FurPaw spoke these words of wisdom in
:

Shelly wrote:
I was only half awake this morning when I fed Harriet. Maybe not even
half. She was waiting waiting waiting waiting not so very patiently
for me to bring her food. I put it in her bowl. She leaned forward,
ready, set, go! Except I gave her the wrong release word, so she got
stuck at "set." She was not amused by it. I got one of her very
dirtiest looks before I figured out what I'd done wrong. Duh!

Sounds like she really understands her commands!

Now here's a question for all. At what age did your dogs develop
a rock-solid (or even pretty solid) recall, or response to other
commands, especially in the face of distraction, and how much
effort did you put into developing that?

FurPaw

I think Tuck was about a year old when he first tried to ignore a command
to come. He did it twice, and he got an e-collar session. He has given
100% recall success since. He can be in hot pursuit of a rabbit, squirrel,
or whatever, and spin on a dime and return if called.

I follow the basics of recall rules.
I NEVER call him to come that leads to anything unpleasant. If he isn't
going to like it, i go GET him.

For instance: Go and get your dog if you need to cut his nails, don't call
him to come.

When he's playing and generally having a good time, i sometimes call,
reward, and let him go back to playing, so "come" isn't always associated
with "play's over."
Until he's proofed and reliable, I never ask him to come, if i can't
enforce it. For instance, if he's out in an open field, chasing a rabbit,
and I don't think he's going to come, I would not call him, teaching him
it's ok to ignore my command. It is not.

So if I'm teaching a recall, and i have control, such as a dragging long
line, with e-collar , i would then start proofing, where i had control of
him, before correcting for not coming. Then, he would be proofed, and i
could then start calling him off a rabbit. i would choose LEAVE IT , and
then when he let off the charge, ask him to come.
It allows a moment for the brain to reset.

On Jun 14, 9:01*am, Shelly wrote:
I was only half awake this morning when I fed Harriet. *Maybe not even
half. *She was waiting waiting waiting waiting not so very patiently
for me to bring her food. *I put it in her bowl. *She leaned forward,
ready, set, go! *Except I gave her the wrong release word, so she got
stuck at "set." She was not amused by it. *I got one of her very
dirtiest looks before I figured out what I'd done wrong. *Duh!

--
Shellyhttp://www.cat-sidh.net(the Mother Ship)http://esther.cat-sidh.net(Letters to Esther)

Harriet really knows her commands that is fantastic!!!

Jan
http://www.thefineartcafe.com

diddy wrote:

I follow the basics of recall rules.
I NEVER call him to come that leads to anything unpleasant. If he isn't
going to like it, i go GET him.

A good point. Recalls should end in something good, especially when
training, but if possible, even after the dog is reliable. If
nothing else is available, I give Harriet an extra special helping
of praise. Her ego knows no bounds, so being told that she is "The
awesomest dog EVAR!111eleventy!!11!" is motivatory.

i would choose LEAVE IT , and
then when he let off the charge, ask him to come.
It allows a moment for the brain to reset.

Another important point. "Leave it" would have been better than
"wait." For sure, though, I think having an intermediary "stop
right this minute and listen" command can be helpful in calling a
dog off a high ticket item.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)