Lesson 1 Cliff Notes

 Retrieve Course     KMODT     Instructor: Roxanne Lee

Transforming yourself into the leader your dog believes, respects and obeys.

★ Be persistent NOT perfect ★ Persistence = Success ★

Lesson 1 Overview: Intro to Item

The Goal:  To introduce the item (paint roller/puppy bumper) to the dog gently and join the commands with the mechanics of “Fetch” and “Give”.   Success Looks Like Opening the dog’s mouth and gently rolling the item into its mouth Caging the jaw and doing conditioned relaxation to help the dog relax Using your right thumb against the roof of the dog’s mouth for the “Give”  EXAM - Due by the end of the week 5 Sequential Retrieves in a HIGH Tunnel of Distractions at dog's eye level

Training Sessions Set-Up Command “Place” on a place stool with a non-skid surface - dog’s head should be at your chest level Dog is on your left side Place stool NEEDS to be on a stable surface and over something soft (i.e. rug or carpet) 6 ft. leash is attached to the chain collar, but let it drop to the floor - It’s not used for this exercise Distractions LOW distractions - beginning of the week MEDIUM distractions - middle of the week HIGH distractions - by the end of the week ★ Success with 80% of repetitions -- increase distractions ★ Failing with distraction level -- decrease distractions

Always end on a high note of success!

Never end on a failure.

The dog remembers the last thing it did,

so always end with a positive 🙂

ITEM INTRODUCTION (paint roller, canvas puppy bumper or wooden dowel)

Repetitions: 

• 20 times per day in 2 different training sessions 

• Use different locations and various distractions

Training Sequence

1. Place the dog on the elevated place stool using the “Place” command

• The dog should be in a sit.

2. Have the item under your right armpit or in your right back pocket.

3. Open the dog’s mouth with your left hand as you command “Fetch” and present the item to the dog’s mouth.

• Make sure you use an open hand so the dog can see through it.

• DO NOT cover the dog’s eyes.

4. GENTLY roll or place the item into the dog’s mouth, just behind the canines.

• Cage* the jaw AT ALL TIMES until the dog relaxes.

5. Praise quietly using Conditioned Relaxation** while continuing to cage the jaw.

6. As soon as the dog relaxes, quickly command “Give” to gently take the item out of the dog’s mouth.

• Use your right thumb against the roof of the dog’s mouth when you command “Give” - This is a gag reflex and the dog will open its mouth.

*Caging the Jaw

• You are essentially holding the dog’s mouth closed while the dog holds the item.

• Your thumb is on top of the dog’s nose and your fingers are under the dog’s jaw.

• DO NOT squeeze your hand tightly - You don’t want the dog to feel uncomfortable or have negative thoughts about retrieving.

**Conditioned Relaxation

• Slowly stroke from the nose to the top of the head and softly say “easy” until the dog relaxes.

• The dog is relaxed when its head lowers and you can feel its body relax.

The point is NOT to wrench your dog’s mouth open, cover the dog’s eyes with your hand, jam an item into your dog’s mouth and then pull out. THAT IS FAILURE on your part.

The point is to set your dog up for success where the sequencing and mechanics for the retrieve are done with a mindset of CCC, PIC, and GENTLY. You want this exercise to be relaxing exactly in the same manner as the Down when it was first taught in the Foundation Course.

Trust = CCC and PIC

     Cool, Calm, Collected

     Persistent, Insistent, Consistent

! IMPORTANT ! 

DO NOT wrap your left arm around the left side of the dog’s face! That is setting you up to be bitten and bitten badly. 

• Besides safety, You are teaching your dog to work a straight line, from your left side forward, to eventually do retrieves at 40 ft. 

• Those retrieves are done with the dog launching at warp speed (as the dog is in Prey Drive) away from you on a straight line to the bumper.

• If you continuously wrap the dog’s head towards you now, you are teaching the dog to curve into you for EVERY retrieve.

• Not only do you NOT want this for safety reasons, BUT you will never get a solid working retrieve AWAY from you on a straight line.

Tips and Words to the Wise

• The tighter the place stool is for the dog to ONLY have room enough for a Tuck Sit, the better for you and your control.

• ALWAYS present the item and take the item away PARALLEL to the ground - NEVER up and away as the dog will go into prey drive (not good).

• DO NOT USE SOUNDS such as ‘AGG’ or ‘NO’ or whatever when the dog is struggling (and they all struggle to learn at this point). INSTEAD, use soft words of ‘Yes’ and ‘Easy’ spoken in a soft, gentle, quiet voice.

• If the dog is being stupid, push them off the stool and immediately correct them back onto the stool (which is why you need a soft surface). Then the item is presented immediately so the dog has NO opportunity to succeed at failing.  

• The dogs that struggle and get pushed off the stool learn quickly there are worse things in life than opening their mouth on command so they can earn praise.

The dog HAS to believe you have the right to handle its mouth at any time. This “Fetch” and "Give" mechanic gives you control and helps to keep the dog from going into Prey, Fight or Defense Drive - it puts the dog into Social Drive. As you know all of KMODT is taught with a dog in Social Drive.