# Training Games Videos



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

When I started training for obedience with Lily I was entirely too serious much of the time and neither of us was loving what we were doing. Happily I learned how to be much more about the fun and Lily now is a much happier dance partner. We have two entries for Rally Masters next week, so today I spent most of my working time with her playing games that are actually rally sign type behaviors. That is Javelin barking his silly head off in the background. As you can see Lily's ability to ignore the distractions on the floor (that are there in the Javelin videos I put in his ring ready thread a few minutes ago) and the barking in the background are much better than Javelin's ability to leave just the junk on the floor alone. He will get there, but she is wonderful. I am thrilled that I finally seem to be able to get her to do spins in both directions at my side with no cookie! For reasons unbeknownst to me this is a trick that has evaded her for ages! She has always done spin when I have a cookie and will do it many times, but never until today without one. There are several Masters signs that involve spins so I am happy she seems to be getting the hang of it.


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## Click-N-Treat (Nov 9, 2015)

I loved this. It's an example of what I am striving toward with my silly poodle. Spin and twist are my cues for spin right, spin left. I faded the reward early and figured Noelle would just leap in a circle for the sheer poodle joy of it. Watching this makes me really, really, want to get involved in Rally. Lily is your dance partner. Thank you so much for sharing your dance.


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## Asta's Mom (Aug 20, 2014)

So good to see you and Lily working together. I'm amazed that she can do so well with Javvy barking his head off - silly boy. Talk about distractions. You and Lily have a special bond.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Click, she is a ton of fun and Asta's Mom we got to this point after playing games like this for ages and ages. But honestly it just needs a few minutes a day of quality fun and games to do things that truly deepen one's relationship with their dog. One of the people who came to novice yesterday works at the front desk at my vet's office. We have known each other for many years. We were talking about the craziness that sometimes happens in the lobby there and we both noted that probably most of the dogs who act nutty there never do much serious training with their people after they graduate from puppy class. If only the truly embarrassed people realized what a little time every day could do to relieve the stress of those times in the vet's waiting room!


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## mashaphan (Sep 4, 2014)

Spins are a key part of the puppy aerobics Dottie/Holly stress,so we are good on that part. So glad Her Majesty has gotten it,and I was glad to see some of the new signs in action.

Martha et al


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Martha, her highness couldn't have timed spinning better if she tried since we have entries next week!


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## mashaphan (Sep 4, 2014)

Well,Ms Lily comes through again! can't wait to know how she does!

Martha et al


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## Vita (Sep 23, 2017)

First, congrats on the spin.

I love how she never takes her eyes off you; it's actually rather amazing to me. In many past threads I've read where you'd talk about having a relationship with your dog. I never really got that b/c it seems like everyone who loves their dog and pays attention to it has a relationship with it. But I can see what you mean watching you and Lily; it's like _adoration_, like she only has eyes for you and only you and you are her world and she loves every second of it. Amazing. I get it now.

Also are their universal hand signals for Rally? If so, where is the best place to find these?


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Vita, there are no universal signals or orders for anything. If you want the word banana to mean spin then that it just fine. Someone I see every now and again at shows tells his utility dog "this one" and "the other one" for the jumps.

I am glad you could see what I mean by relationship in that video. I know everybody here and on any dog forum in the world loves their dog and nearly every dog the world over has deep affection for their owners, but when I say relationship I mean something transformative beyond the typical experience most dogs and people have with each other. In the epilogue of the Monks of New Skete's book on puppy raising the talk about that kind of relationship and when I first read it before we got Lily and Peeves I didn't really appreciate what they were saying but now I do.

Getting to that level of understanding with a dog is just about the most honest experience I think anyone can experience and I don't think I would have reached it with any of our dogs if I hadn't done things with them in performance sports to build on the basics. I was in the ring for all of the titles that all three dogs have other than Peeves' CGC which BF did with him. We all have unique and special relationships as a result. While I have retired Peeves (out of respect for his age and how he felt about the show ring) Lily and I still have many things to work on together, but I am also starting to be really excited by Javelin's development and the maturation of our relationship. BF and I were just talking over coffee the other day about how great a dog he will be and how far I may be able to take him (standing on Lily's shoulders in many ways). If you want to read/watch how a deep relationship with a dog starts and builds look at the Javelin's Road to Ring Ready thread that I have linked to in my signature.

If you are intrigued by rally I would suggest that you either download the AKC rally signs and descriptions from their website or go to the AKC store and get a rally rule book which will have all of the signs, the descriptions of what you do and explanations of the requirements for titles. Rally is a super fun sport that was designed to help people who weren't already familiar with performance obedience get their feet wet.


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## Aberdeen00 (Jan 8, 2018)

W


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Aberdeen00 said:


> W
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Huh????


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## Aberdeen00 (Jan 8, 2018)

lily cd re said:


> Huh????




Lol sorry, Tapatalk is always messing me up. 

We had the same issues with my lab. About 4 years ago we brought him home with ZERO training at 3yrs. I felt I had so much to catch up on that I took his training much to seriously. Thankfully he is (mostly ) well behaved now, but I’m sure I frustrated myself, and him, far more than necessary. I hoping to enjoy our new pup as much as possible and take that to heart. Lily did a fabulous job and really looks like she is enjoying herself! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I sort of figured that was an unintended post but figured you had something you really wanted to say. I always try to get my training students who are new and serious to loosen up. It is so much better if everyone has fun!


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## Vita (Sep 23, 2017)

Catherine, thank you. I found the AKC Rally info on a PDF; it's so long that it's a bit overwhelming, but the videos on YouTube make it very understandable - a lot of these I and others already do unconsciously. 

the AKC Obedience & Rally channel is here; sure you know about it but this is for others who may not. They break it down in a lot of 30 second videos to make it ultra easy to understand.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOmnrKKiM2kcaowVl3SXeVQ

As pre-newbie, this video was understandable:


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Vita, yes, the AKC has been doing a lot of nice videos lately. They have all of the new signs being demoed with people who are rally judges (at least some of them I recognize). You are also right that many people already do a lot of the rally tricks with their dogs. When you do a rally trial it is all about stringing a bunch of them together and not having any cookies to pay along the way.


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