1. Mia is still struggling with her stays. She's pretty good for one or two at first, and then quickly gets bored. I really think this is what is happening with her. She also still has trouble popping up if I walk back towards her. Releases to me work a lot better than me trying to walk back and have her hold a stay. Feeding her fast and down very low helps some.
Start line stays are having the same problem. It's getting to actually be a problem since we're doing more complicated exercises. I spend more time trying to get her to set up and wait than actually do the exercise. First few are good and then she's off doing the jumps by herself repeatedly, looking at me and wondering why no treats. Or she's doing the Mia version of the cheater/creeper and she pops up and takes a few steps or runs then remembers she's supposed to be staying and freezes.
My instructor suggested trying to do a standing stay for her instead and see if she does better. I would have thought that would be more likely for her to move and 'cheat'.
She also can't stay if I move out of her line of sight. I've been taking baby steps but it feels like we're going very very slow to nowhere. The first couple are good then she regresses to where I can only go a couple feet away.
I've been working her stays EXTENSIVELY the past three weeks. I'm seeing minor improvement but not as much as I'd like. Stays are the hardest thing to teach her. My trainer said it was because she's so action oriented and getting to go do something is incredibly rewarding. My problem is that I don't have anything more rewarding than her getting to go do the exercise. Any new suggestions? I think my method is just not right for her.
2. Is it possible to teach an old dog that has never played in her life save once or twice to like toys? My trainer likes to train with toys or have the option for it but Summer has zero interest in them and zero prey drive. Trainer thinks she has enough food drive to do what we need but wanted me to see if I could get any interest out of her in regards to toys.
So today our 'training' was to play with toys. I got them all riled up and let Mia at the toy and was giving food for any interest in it. Summer gets excited when Mia is so she was acting goofy and I got her to right away start batting at the toy with her paws. I really think she was just trying to target it with her paws but I treated any interaction with the toy for her and by the end she had even mouthed it a couple times.
Going about this the right way? Any ideas or suggestions for that? I actually think she had a lot of fun 'playing' but it was mostly targeting behavior, not play. Is there a chance it could turn into play?
I remember when I first got her I bought her all kinds of toys and she never even looked at them. I'd love it if I could get her to play.
Start line stays are having the same problem. It's getting to actually be a problem since we're doing more complicated exercises. I spend more time trying to get her to set up and wait than actually do the exercise. First few are good and then she's off doing the jumps by herself repeatedly, looking at me and wondering why no treats. Or she's doing the Mia version of the cheater/creeper and she pops up and takes a few steps or runs then remembers she's supposed to be staying and freezes.
My instructor suggested trying to do a standing stay for her instead and see if she does better. I would have thought that would be more likely for her to move and 'cheat'.
She also can't stay if I move out of her line of sight. I've been taking baby steps but it feels like we're going very very slow to nowhere. The first couple are good then she regresses to where I can only go a couple feet away.
I've been working her stays EXTENSIVELY the past three weeks. I'm seeing minor improvement but not as much as I'd like. Stays are the hardest thing to teach her. My trainer said it was because she's so action oriented and getting to go do something is incredibly rewarding. My problem is that I don't have anything more rewarding than her getting to go do the exercise. Any new suggestions? I think my method is just not right for her.
2. Is it possible to teach an old dog that has never played in her life save once or twice to like toys? My trainer likes to train with toys or have the option for it but Summer has zero interest in them and zero prey drive. Trainer thinks she has enough food drive to do what we need but wanted me to see if I could get any interest out of her in regards to toys.
So today our 'training' was to play with toys. I got them all riled up and let Mia at the toy and was giving food for any interest in it. Summer gets excited when Mia is so she was acting goofy and I got her to right away start batting at the toy with her paws. I really think she was just trying to target it with her paws but I treated any interaction with the toy for her and by the end she had even mouthed it a couple times.
Going about this the right way? Any ideas or suggestions for that? I actually think she had a lot of fun 'playing' but it was mostly targeting behavior, not play. Is there a chance it could turn into play?
I remember when I first got her I bought her all kinds of toys and she never even looked at them. I'd love it if I could get her to play.