Increasing Drive/Speed for... ANYTHING

mrose_s

BusterLove
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#1
Okay. I want to increase Busters speed in basic obediance. Sure he sits as soon as say to, but he sorta looks around as he does, and slowly lowers himself to the ground. I want to see if I can get it to BANG DOWN NOW.

He is super fast if he's hungry and I have a good treat in my hand. But other than that its like he's doing me a favour.
 

houndlove

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#2
You need to get the treat out of your hand, first of all. Buster should learn that treats (or other rewards) could come from anywhere, at any time, and could be anything. When I'm really working on something at home, I put little caches of treats up on bookshelves or counters all around the house so wherever I am, I can produce a reward for an excellent performance and from the dog's perspective, it's pretty much out of thin air.

Even when Marlowe knows we're working and he knows I've got treats somewhere on my person, I keep them hidden either in a pocket (or bait bag) or in my hand behind my back until it's time to reinforce him.
 

Herschel

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#3
Have you tried using a tug or something to build his drive as a reward instead of treats? I've definitely noticed that Herschel slows down and thinks about things a lot more when I use treats (which has its place), but if I want him to speed up a tennis ball works a lot better.
 

corgipower

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#4
work him in many different places and keep the commands and the rewards random, so he doesn't know what to expect or when to expect it.

don't reward slow responses.

sometimes rapid fire training can help, where you go through a series of commands one immediately after the other as fast as you can. it teaches the dog to react faster. but keep an eye on your dog because for some this can be overwhelming.
 

mrose_s

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#5
I'll go stash some treats now (god help me when mum finds them) I do hide them behind my back or out of sight and he reacts, but unless he knows they are there he's just slow.
He also has a little routine I put him throgh pretty regularily. I mix around "sit, drop, sit up, high five and stand up"

I've tried with a tug but he doesn't get into games unless i spend a good 5 minutes getting him stirred up about it.

Will go stash some treats though.
 

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