Ok, ok, so I basically just spun it right in front of his face, but still . . . I'm counting it!!
I don't know why I didn't think of this before. Last night it was really cold so the dogs and I didn't play outside very long. They were still full of energy, so I got out a tug rope to do some tugging with them one by one. Elo was in a crate and was freaking out while I tugged with Lok, and when I let Elo out to put Lok in the crate, he attacked the tug rope! I've never seen him that interested in a game before. (On a side note, what a good boy, he dropped the rope immediately every time I gave him a drop cue. I didn't realize he knew this command so well!) Then I decided, why not try a frisbee again. I got out a hard plastic disc and Elo was not interested at all. But then I thought, maybe he will play with a soft disc?! So I grabbed a softer plastic disc and he was all over it!!! Tugging, chasing rollers, catching tiny little tosses. Oh yeah, and his favorite, laying on his back with his feet in the air while chomping the disc. And in my excitement of course I played WAY to long, but at least I had the presence of mind to quit before he did. So maybe there is hope for Elo to be a disc dog yet. If only he could get the eye-mouth coordination down!
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yay!!! so are you keeping him or is he still a foster? And to answer your question, no I haven't trained the bubbles trick yet. I started with Lance a long time ago and just worked on him sticking his face in the water. I started with no water and taught him to press his nose to the bottom. i then gradually added water. but i got bored with it and never got to the bubbles part.
ReplyDeleteAh! Pressing the nose to the bottom! That may work! I had just been asking for her to put her face in the bowl. With no water, she'll go to the bottom, but when I add water, she only goes to the level of the water. Funny, last night I was dropping treats in the water and she was sticking her nose in to get them and blowing bubbles while her nose was in the water, but without a treat in the bowl she wouldn't touch the water at all.
ReplyDeleteMouth paw coordination? lol. That's an easy one, just work Elo with a flirt pole! Basically if you've never heard of it a flirt pole is a 6 footish long flexible rod with a 4 to 8 foot cord hanging off the end with a 'lure' tied at the end of the rope which can be anything from a rag to a plastic bag to a rabbit skin(I recommend a large tube sock). Then you hold one end of the stick and turn in a circle dragging the lure along the ground, the dog chases it and has to catch it while running, after a while of conditioning and practice you can incorperate jumps while running, turns and all sorts of things such as zig zags and flips. A great way to make a flirt pole is just get a 6'-7' length of 1/2" pvc pipe and run a rope through it, at the handle end knot the rope through a big washer so it doesn't come undone, then tie end of the rope around the sock and the sock around the rope.
ReplyDeleteI love playing with this sort of toy with my dogs just because it really wears them out, I don't let them catch it until I *really* see them trying or if I notice them setting up for a really good jump and I always leave them wanting more. Sudden changes of direction going out and over the dogs shoulder usually induce jumps. It's hard to explain but easy to do once you get the pace and feel of it. Dogs younger than 1 or large dogs younger than 2 shouldn't play with a flirt pole just because it is so high-impact and it's definitely a one dog at a time game.