[nagdu] Training the Retrieve/find, I did it!

Thu Aug 13 10:25:43 UTC 2015

Raven, that is awesome, and thank you for the tips!

Steve & Benny

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Raven Tolliver
via nagdu
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2015 11:32 PM
To: nagdu
Cc: Raven Tolliver
Subject: [nagdu] Training the Retrieve/find, I did it!

Off and on, someone asks how to teach their dog how to find certain objects
or retrieve dropped objects. Fortunately, I've attempted and been successful
at this with my dog.
Before I get into details, I taught my dog how to locate dropped objects. I
do not want him retrieving things, so I did not focus on that behavior,
though if you need your dog to do that, I explain a bit about how to do so
below.
Below are 3 days of journal entries detailing how I trained the Golden Guy
to locate dropped objects in the house.

Day 1.
My mother gifted me a decorated silk or satin purse from Japan, a souvenir
from her recent trip. this is a small purse with no straps or handle. It is
about 5 by 3.5 inches.
The Golden Guy fixated on soft things, as most goldens are, was naturally
attracted to this purse. He's never retrieved socks, shoes, slippers,
clothes, or anything outside of toys and stuffed animals.
He's displayed attraction toward small pillows, but nothing else really.
While I was holding this purse, he started sniffing it and put his mouth on
it. It was extra soft because it has a wool insert in it to keep its shape.
Instantly, an idea popped into my head. I took the purse from his mouth and
dropped it. Just as I thought, the Golden Guy picked it up.
I could use this purse to train a retrieve! I really could.

I put several objects in the purse to make it weighted. My mom had also
given me some yin and a heavy metal key ring, and I added them to the purse
to get the Golden Guy used to grabbing something with weight.
So the training began. I started tossing the purse a short distance from me.
And the Golden Guy went after it, putting his mouth on it.
Not the best treatment for a gift from Mom, but hey, it's productive.
I did this several times. And each time, I said "yes!" when he dove after
the purse and grabbed it in his mouth; I praised him up for holding his
position rather than leaving the purse; and I asked him to "drop it" in my
hand. The Golden Guy was very excited by this, because at this point, he
still thought the purse was a toy. He brought the purse back to me, likely
to play tug, but I asked him to "drop it"
each time before tossing it again.
After several repetitions, I gave the command "Get it!" in an excited voice
each time I tossed the purse. This put a command to what he was already
naturally inclined to do. Several repetitions of using the command with this
behavior, and I ended the training session with lots of hugs and praise.
This training session was ideal for both of us. It only lasted 10-15
minutes. I took steps toward teaching a behavior by capitalizing on my dog's
natural inclination to play with and carry soft objects, and the behavior is
self-rewarding because by going after the object, my dog thinks this is
playtime rather than a set-up training session, which stresses some dogs
out. The Golden Guy gets a bit stressed by set-up training sessions because
he's one of those dogs who needs to know upfront what you expect, rather
than taking steps to show him, which obviously isn't always possible.

Day 2.
Tonight, we worked for another 10-15 minutes. I took a step back in the
process first. This way, I started the session with something I knew he was
familiar with and successful at. This allows the dog to have expectations
and understanding of what is being asked of him, and it allows you to
successfully add steps and build on the behavior.
I tossed the purse a short distance from me, giving the command "Get it!"
Just as he did last night, he went after the purse. However, he made some
connections in his brain last night because rather than grabbing the purse
in his mouth, he simply dove for it and put his paws on it. Very nice. I
would rather him do this than retrieve it in his mouth. It was clear that he
understood this was a training session rather than a pure play session.
After several repetitions of this, I told him to heel off-leash. As he
walked beside me, I tossed the purse a short distance from us. "Get it!" I
commanded. He went after it and put his paws on the purse. Yes!
Several repetitions of this.
Next, I took the heavy key ring out of the purse. Hiding the purse in my
shirt, I stood still and tossed the key ring a short distance. I cued him
"Get it!" And yes, he dove after it, just as he did with the purse. I
repeated this several times, before I added the walking in again. So again,
I had him heel, off-leash, and tossed the key ring several times. Each time,
he went for it. Great!
After this, the Golden Guy actually wanted to play and abandoned the purse
for one of his stuffed animals for a good game of tug and fetch.
Even though he likes the purse a lot, it's good that he understands it is
not a toy. But I think the purse got him excited for a real play session.
I decided to end the training session when he grabbed his toy. That was the
Golden Guy's signal that he was done with the set-up training session, and
he wanted to play. He likes to play for 15 minutes after he works to unwind.

If I wanted him to find and retrieve the objects, I would have done things
differently the previous day. I would have concentrated more on him holding
the object in his mouth, praising him for carrying it back to me, and
eventually matching a command like "bring it" to that behavior. But I don't
want the Golden Guy to pick things up, I just want him to find them.
The golden Guy might go back to grabbing the purse in his mouth, which is
fine. As long as he doesn't try to play with it or chew on it, I am okay
with him grabbing softer objects. I don't expect him to grab hard objects
like keys, coins, or my credit card.

If you want your dog to retrieve the objects, I suggest training for 3
behaviors, "Get it," where they locate and grab the object, "bring it,"
where they carry the object in their mouth back to you, and "drop it" where
your dog returns the object to your lap or outstretched hand.
If your dog does not naturally grab the object in their mouth, do not force
them to. Praise them for locating the object for you. If you're trying
something metal, dogs are less likely to pick it up, so make an attempt with
something soft like a wallet or fabric coin purse.
If your dog automatically grabs the object, this is the dog you can easily
train to retrieve, as they are naturally inclined to perform that behavior.

Day 3.
Again, I started with tossing the purse several times, giving the cue "get
it." He found it successfully for me each time, putting his paws on it,
hovering his head over it, or laying down with the purse between his paws.
He did pick it up in his mouth a couple times.
Next, I repeated the same thing with the key ring. He indicated this object
in the same ways as the purse, though he never tried to pick the key ring
up.
I walked with him heeling by my side off-leash, and dropped the key ring
while walking. When I cued "get it," he indicated the key ring.
I then tried this with my credit card. We were golden. He indicated the
credit card each time I dropped it by stepping on it or hovering his head
over it.

As a nice bonus, I actually did drop my credit card as he and I were playing
after the training session. I didn't know where it fell, so I said "get it."
He looked around for a moment, then moved forward a bit and indicated the
credit card by stepping on it. I praised him up.

So far, I've only worked on this in the basement apartment and upstairs
living room, so I will continue training this behavior in different parts of
the house. I'm sure he'll be successful.
I don't plan to work on this in public, as this behavior is more useful at
home for me personally.

If you want to use it in public though, I suggest starting from the basics
again. This immediately rings a bell in the dog's mind, and communicates to
them what is expected of them. It enables them to generalize performing the
behavior in a variety of locations. Start somewhere with little to no
distractions, and work your way up from there.
If you choose to use treats as a reward, that's fine, too. I simply used
physical and verbal praise each time he found the objects, and this was
reinforcement enough for him to continue with the behavior.
He is a praise-motivated dog, so this worked for us perfectly.

I hope this made sense and helped someone. Even if you don't need this
behavior, it's still great to teach our dogs new things. If I was too vague
somewhere, let me know.
--
Raven
Founder of 1AM Editing & Research
www.1am-editing.com

You are valuable because of your potential, not because of what you have or
what you do.

Naturally-reared guide dogs
https://groups.google.com/d/forum/nrguidedogs

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