[marshmonster]

This is the first dog I ever started FF with a paint roller instead of a bumper.

Now, after a good week of hold, a few serious days of solid proofing (knee bumps, false grabs, etc) and a few rounds of my wife and daughter performing hold sessions instead of me, and all looks great. So yesterday I planned on starting walking hold around the house, and I wanted to go outside and work a little as well..

So I get outside and go with a roller a few times, and then switch to the bumper....all heck breaks loose and we regress to spitting and bucking big time after one good hold.

So I open the mouth and check her out and she's got a tooth (I thought she was done) busting through, and is all swollen.

Now my question is, if she's okay with the roller, which she is (we did two sessions after the spitting/bucking incident) should I continue and keep my momentum (she's doing really well with the roller.)

or should I wait it out. We thought she was done, and then this one poked through.

My fear is this:

A) we wait, and she regresses, and we lose a week of hard work and serious accomplishments.

B) I continue, and we knock out a week of walking hold, and further proofing, and then I switch to a bumper and get a fight because we have set a precedence of "I would rather have the roller"

I'm using the smartfetch program, so Evan, your advice is sought as well....since you gave me the paint roller idea anyway;-)

but seriously, any suggestions, advice etc wanted.....

 

[paul young]

i would say keep going. you have to proof on all the various retrieving items anyway.

the "false grab" part caught my attention. please say that you are NOT grabbing the paint roller.....

you should be putting your hand under the roller and the dog should be holding it until you give your release command. the dog should release the object and PULL THEIR HEAD AWAY from it.

get this right and maintain it for the life of the dog. it is a very important part of delivery. the people that grab are the ones that end up with dogs snapping for the bird as they hand off to the judge, stick on birds, and .....worse!-Paul

 

[Evan]

This is the first dog I ever started FF with a paint roller instead of a bumper.

Now, after a good week of hold, a few serious days of solid proofing (knee bumps, false grabs, etc) and a few rounds of my wife and daughter performing hold sessions instead of me, and all looks great. So yesterday I planned on starting walking hold around the house, and I wanted to go outside and work a little as well..

So I get outside and go with a roller a few times, and then switch to the bumper.........

Why?

If you're following SmartFetch you're way ahead of yourself, and the results followed. Whether the book or DVD, you don't switch until you've force fetched (ear pinch) to the ground and are about to start Walking Fetch before you switch to a bumper.

They will sometimes take an early switch forgivingly, but, as you have found out for yourself, not always. Why gamble by changing what was working so nicely, especially when you don't have all the tools to deal with problems yet?

Evan

 

[marshmonster]

When I say false grab, I mean, reach and 'faux grab' not really grab...sometimes I put a hand on it, which at first was perfect, as it forced a correction because she started to release as soon as my hand was near...no, I am not grabbing it and playing tug of war....

ftr, not my first FF, just the first time with a roller.


Evan, I was plannig on the switch to a bumper just because I was trying to keep the roller clean and dry...no other reason. Just figured I'd get more life out of them if I kept them indoors and the bumpers outdoors...my mistake.

I have both the book and the dvd, and while you suggest the roller, or a bumper, I guess it was never clear to me that it should be one or the other, and there are several mentions of "roller or bumper" during the hold chapter so I guess I erroneously assumed they were interchangeable. I don't recall an 'either one or the other' note.

but it sounds as if both of you concur, I should keep going with the rolelr, even though she's got the tooth coming through? She is fine with it, no struggle, perfect compliance, nice hold...etc. And she picks up marks (teal dokkens) still (and there is no delivery issue, so I decided to continue marks for now (just a few a day) and does fun bumpers without a problem, so I assume the roller is providing no discomfort.

 

[Evan]

Sure. You had a successful progression going, and it just makes sense to continue what is working so well. That alone is reason enough to stay with what works.

As you follow the progression on the DVD you will see that we maintain the same progression, and do not switch to a bumper until we're ready to start moving; Walking Fetch. In the early phases of the process you're forming good habits - mouth habits, which includes a proper hold on a fetch object. That is more readily done with a paint roller than a bumper for most dogs.

Evan

 

[marshmonster]

thanks........