Malli wrote:I only got time to watch the first one, but I always remember when I see it, how crazy I think the object guard is. The level of training involved for the dog to do that, and the "concept" that the dog has to grasp.
Does training like this ever backfire? i.e. the dog utilizes this skill to hoard something that they don't want to give up? Or, is it sort of seperate in the dog's mind?
I think it depends...Greg has told me the story of someone who bought a trained dog (one that knew the object guard) and he only had the dog for a short time....and the dog was in the yard and had a stick...well, I guess in this dog's mind the entire yard was his...and the guy came in the yard and as soon as he left the porch, he was bit...
However, I can tell you that Cy will let me take things from him...granted he's not that good at the object guard, yet....but he doesn't go into a natural guard, even when he has important things like his kongs...even when we're training and he's on his object, I can walk up on him to get his leash untangled, and I reach right in, etc, and he's never once moved an inch towards me...
Even when Jerry had Ricardo imported, Ricardo was PH1 titled (where they have to do an object guard) - and Ricardo never came after Jerry for trying to take things....
I think part of it is how clear it is in the dog's head. I remember when we were training TJ, there was no consistency in the training - and every time I put him on an object, he turned it into an object guard - so the decoy would get near him, and he'd bite. With Cy, we're making it very clear, and we've done stuff with him where I send him to other objects (like a send away onto a table, for example) and he understands it's not the same command as the one I give for the object guard...
So...I guess my answer is that it has to be clear for the dog and there has to be a clear command that you give to tell the dog that it's to guard the object....
Mickle wrote:Im going to try my hand at PSA but I think mondio looks like its a lot more fun than French Ring!
Cy broke a tooth when a decoy esquived him...so, I'm rather hesitant to try anything with an esquive again - and I know it was probably just a fluke...but still. Trust me, I'm sticking with PSA...but I was thinking that I'd like to do some cross training with Nemo...and I was thinking MR and Sch were the ways to go...
And any questions you may have about PSA, just ask....if I don't know the answer, I'll ask Greg and Jerry (Jerry is the co-founder and judge, and Greg is a judge and decoy)....