# Nibby & half Beagle !



## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

How to make yourself the best of the best where they do NOT want to wonder off to smell other goodies around the room ???? I baited the walk last night & each time I went to run the course........... right over to the walk he headed & bull headed Shadow WAS determined to get the GOODIES. He must have been a trash picker as a stray or something.

I just find keeping me (I always have goodies) the MAIN focus hard at times. We have a great *here* at home, right to me they all run, but get elsewhere & they don't do as good................  We need work away from home on this I guess. Just hate to always have to go grab the dog to lead him back to the start line etc !

Fight this from time to time in rally. Good on lead, lead comes off & they wonder. What's that piece of whatever on the floor, yum I smell a bag of treats over there, etc................. I want them staying right with me, their Shepherds, aren't they supposed to be velco dogs ! 

Tips, Tips


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Many of us can't let our dogs see us bait the contacts. I just pass off some treats to another person in class or the instructor, they bait it when my pups not looking. They are SO surprised when they are coming down and the bait magically is there!

It really doesn't work for us if they are rewarded (accidentally) by leaving us and then finding the treat. So we have to be more clever so they don't know it's there!

ALSO, I toss food on the floor around me when I'm walking around to get Glory to stay with me. Call her name and either drop it by my feet when she looks or a bit of a toss in the direction I'm going. So being with me, listening to me, and coming to me means treats are falling all around me! She doesn't have to leave me to go looking for treats, just being with me means they are falling everywhere!


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## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

K, tried the whole trainer baiting while NOT to let him see, but his NOSE......... he can smell it & off of me his focus goes !  

Also, on the floor = food, I always thought they should *leave it* when it comes to stuff on the floor & that good things *only* come from your hand.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

LuvourGSDs said:


> K, tried the whole trainer baiting while NOT to let him see, but his NOSE......... he can smell it & off of me his focus goes !
> 
> Also, on the floor = food, I always thought they should *leave it* when it comes to stuff on the floor & that good things *only* come from your hand.


If he will really leave you from afar to reward himself at the contact, then ask either your instructor or classmate to stage themselves there so if he darts off, they pick up the treat. So he starts to NOT be rewarded for leaving you even if you are calling. 

My instructor uses treats in our hands when we want handler focus, and treats any where else (on the target?) when we want the focus somewhere else. I don't always want my dogs face staring at me or my hands, sometime I just need their periferal vision to keep me in view, but their main focus can be the jump/tunnel/treat rolling past me and away. It's not that 'good things only come from my *hand*' it's that 'good things come from *ME*!'

I'm using the same method when Glory exits the weavepoles, I toss the treat low, away and on the ground as she exits correctly. She runs off to eat it and comes right back to do them again (and back to ME to do them again) cause she knows where I am, the treats are coming.

The thing about 'leave it' is I teach it by asking them not to get what they want, and when they look at me they get something better. So they will 'leave it' because the higher reward (and for sure award) is coming from me. I'm in a puppy class right now and by the end of class there are bits of food EVERYWHERE, so all our dogs have a tendency to wander a bit to look for a scrap. But the BIG and real treats are coming from me and my treat bag, the teeny leftover they found isn't as rewarding. So they start to fade the wandering and get better at the listening.


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## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

K, good info................. 

Will have to condition them to treats on the floor. I just thought this would make them want to surf the floor way more though looking for treats.  I see your point, treats always coming from you. I need to block him more from stealing the treat off of walk, etc ! I normally do, but something he's good. :shocked:

There are little pieces of things from time to time (wood off of A-frame) on the floor & they always go over to it to ckeck it out (nibby) & this is what I was wanting them to stop.

~Thanks~


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I know it would be hard for me to race either Bretta or Glory if they left me to go run for a treats. Much better if I manage the situation ahead of time and 'use' my instructor or classmate for the contact issue/treat. Just have them put their hand over it while you call your dog back and get another treat (for the 'come' ) from you, then do the equipment in the proper sequence with the treat exposed.

You may be the only one with this issue in your class, but in my ADVANCED class with Bretta I've got 2 dogs that will do the same thing if allowed. 

Make sure you are really taking high value treats to class, so it's worth getting back to you over sniffing for teeny bits. You may also want to do this treat on the floor, treat as you walk quite a bit initially, then start randomly reinforcing. When I drop the treats and they bounce a bit, it's exciting. Or toss them the direction I'm going (away from where my pup may want to go) that rolling treat is also exciting and motivates them to go WITH ME!

You watch the one jump training videos I've been putting up? I always have to treat on the floor for that! So Glory's more than used to food being on the floor, when it's gone she has to do something and gets more. Trying to gradually eliminate the 'free' treats and get her into the mindset of WANTING to 'work' and do something cause she knows that gets her the best/biggest treats the fastest. She shouldn't really have time to get bored and wander off sniffing cause she should be trying to figure out how she can MAKE me reach into my treat bag!


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## lylol (Feb 18, 2009)

This doesnt really address the question you have (and I love the raining food idea) but for my food focused guy I also use a treat tube (an inexpenisve plastic tube from Home Depot designed to store screws that has a plastic top with a slit on it)... its full of treats that he can smell, when you squeeze the tube the slit opens enuf to allow the treat to quickly come out in your hand. He targets to the treat tube but doesnt get to self reward by eating it until I get there. I can also throw it a ways in front as he works an obstacle as part of the reward. Of course it works best if your dog doesnt crunch it open... I trained a nose touch to the tube... not teeth Just another tool you might want to add to your agility "tool bag".


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

*Lysa*, the treat tube is a great idea for the contact targeting! I heard that Home Depot/Lowes sell a similar clear tube with plastic caps for holding screws that's a bit less expensive then our 'dog' tubes.

You have a picture of the one you like/use that you can share?


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## lylol (Feb 18, 2009)

Welcome to Viewtainer

I like the smaller ones (about 4" long)... I get them at Home Depot cause thats where I usually shop... I get a couple in diff colors so I can separate the really high value rewards and for different dogs (I have a variety of size dogs in training ). I have had them "stolen" out of the training bag by an adventurous pup and they wont hold up to chewing... luckily they arent very expensive to replace.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)




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