Oberhund

This fall I was invited by Elsie from Pawzitive Attitudes in Regina to participate in a pilot class for an emerging dog sport called Treibball (pronounced “tribe-ball”).  Elsie recognized that winter is especially tough on dogs who become housebound.  “Exercising the mind is as important or even more so with some dogs because all the physical exercise in the world won’t calm a dog who is mentally underworked.”  Last year, with great success, Elsie introduced indoor scent games (now called Canine Brain Games).  This year, as an additional option to help stave off cabin fever – both for dogs and their two-legged friends – Elsie is offering Treibball and two easier versions: Puppy Treibball and DogBall (an offshoot of Treibball).

 

If you’ve never heard of Treibball before, it’s best to look up some videos on the Internet to understand it.  The dog sport was developed in Germany and can be described as a combination of herding and billiards, but instead of herding sheep into a pen, the dogs have ten minutes to push, in a certain order, eight large exercise balls into a goal.  The eight balls are worth different points and are set up in a triangle like billiards; the handler directs the dog to specific balls using herding commands. The dogs cannot push the balls with their paws but must move the ball using their snouts or other body parts. The handler can use a herding staff to help move the balls into the goal but must remain within arm’s reach (18 to 24 inches) of the goal and off the playing field.  As I mentioned earlier, it’s best to see it.  Treibball is open to any breed and any size (smaller dogs use smaller balls) and is great for dogs that like to chase or herd.  It’s fun and can provide various levels of exercise depending on the abilities of each dog, but most importantly, it stimulates the mind and can be played indoors.

I was thrilled at the chance to participate in the pilot class even though I don’t have my own dog.  Thankfully, a kind friend graciously offered to let me borrow Ripley, one of her four dogs – dogs she lovingly refers to as the Four Dogs of the Apocalypse.  Ripley, an exuberant two and a half year old Portuguese Water Dog still in the throes of perpetual adolescence, was in dire need of something to channel his energy and stimulate his mind.  The Treibball class seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Week One:

Ripley surprised me.  Based on his usual behaviour while on walks in the neighbourhood, I anticipated that he would be over-stimulated by the presence of other dogs in the class, but instead he focused entirely on me, the two-legged treat dispenser.  Even the stressed dog beside us couldn’t draw Ripley’s attention away from the wiener pieces I was doling out as we began the basics of Clicker Training.

Ripley was new to Clicker Training, but he picked it up almost immediately.  The hand touch was easy for him to figure out, and the target stick was mastered once I put a treat on the end of it.   Ripley was “on fire” and I tried to match his pace.  He eventually became a little frustrated with me as I fumbled along, trying to get the order of things and my timing of the clicks right while managing the numerous items in my hands: clicker, treats, leash, target stick.  We took a break – as much for me as for Ripley.  My hands were covered in hot dog slime, but I petted him anyway and he didn’t seem to mind.  The short break helped me and we spent the rest of the lesson practicing and having a blast.  I brought Ripley back to his home happy and smelling of hotdog, something I’m sure his fellow four-legs appreciated.  

Week Two:

I was a bad student.  Borrowing someone else’s dog isn’t the ideal situation, and despite my best intentions, I had not made time to practice at all during the week.  Reminding myself that the class was just for fun, I rationalized that it would be an interesting experiment to see how much Ripley could learn without any practice during the week. 

Just like the previous week, Ripley was unconcerned with the other dogs and was ready to work for hog dog pieces.  We reviewed the skills from last week, and Ripley surprised me again by performing as if we had been practicing all week.  When Elsie had us move on to new skills, “The Amazing Ripley” performed as if he could read my mind.  He oriented himself directly opposite me (like 6 and 12 on a clock face) and adjusted his position as I moved in an arc to the left and the right  (8 and 2, 4 and 10).  When we added the big exercise ball, setting it in between us, it became obvious that Ripley did not want the ball to get between him and his two-legged treat dispenser.  It didn’t help matters either when the ball wouldn’t stop rolling on the slanted floor.  Treat delivery was slowing down and Ripley wasn’t sure how to speed things up again.  He became frustrated and learning was not happening.  Earlier that day Ripley had been out for a two-hour romp with the other dogs, so he was probably a bit tired and over-stimulated.  We decided change to some easier skills and end class early on a good note.  We’d run out of treats anyway.  It seems I need more work on dropping one treat at a time instead of ten. 

 Week Three:

Ripley was a rock star again.  There was no class the previous week, so it had been two weeks since Ripley’s last training session.  This combined with the distraction of having his mom there to watch the class could have been too much, but it wasn’t.  Maybe he was extra motivated by the yummy premium sausage pieces his mom brought for him.  During the review of the skills learned so far, it was obvious that the lack of practice was my problem.  I fumbled again with the items in my hands and I sometimes mixed up the order of cue-click-treat.  I saw that other participants were stepping on the leash instead of holding it, and I found that helped a lot.

We started to work on directing our dogs to move to the left and the right, and we used a small orange cone to serve as an obstacle.  The leash tipped over the cone and tangled around me and had to be “sorted out” constantly.  This was slowing down the treat delivery and Ripley was not pleased.  He became frustrated as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to do to get me to click and drop a treat, and he began to jump and do air snaps with his jaws.  I slowed things down and broke the task into smaller segments.  I lured him to the front.  Click-treat. I cued him to sit.  Click-treat. I had him stay while I moved to the other side of the orange cone and got into position.  I gestured for Ripley to move around the cone.   Instead he barreled right over it, knocking it over as if it were a target to hit.  Well, it was the shortest distance between two points, so I couldn’t blame him.  I was becoming a tad frustrated, too, and I wondered if I was doing something wrong.  But I looked at Ripley: his tail wagging, his mouth smiling, and his eyes sparkling with anticipation of the next “treat delivery opportunity” and I knew I was doing it right.  Ripley was having fun.  That was all that mattered.

After a short break for me to get things straight in my head, we got back to the fun.  I’m not sure what I did differently, but Ripley moved around the cone.  We practiced it again and again.  I hoped Ripley would remember it for next week.

During another short break while Elsie explained something new, I knelt on the mat while Ripley sniffed around our little area.  I felt his nose by my right shoulder and when I turned we were eye-to-eye and he was wearing his doggy grin.  He then looked to his right, directly at the bag of sausage pieces resting on the chair, and turned to look at me again as if to say, “Well? What are you waiting for? Let’s get to work.”  To make sure I understood his message, Ripley released a sausage belch. 

Week Four:

Our lack of practice was starting to show.  We were supposed to combine multiple skills into a sequence, but Ripley hadn’t learned some of them well enough.  And neither had I as I struggled to remember that “Come By” is clockwise and “Away to Me” is counter clockwise.  At one point in the lesson, I tried to get Ripley to move from my side, out and around until he was lined up directly behind the ball, and then lie down (or at least stand and stay).  Ripley and I were having quite a bit of trouble, mainly due to our lack of practice during the weeks, and I asked Elsie for some help.  We divided the sequence into smaller segments to help Ripley understand and that helped a lot.  Later, during a break while Elsie explained the next exercise, Ripley decided it was time to get back to work and walked over to the exact position and stood there expectantly.  I had to click and reward him exuberantly.  No way was I going to miss the opportunity.  I hoped Elsie didn’t think I was being rude. 

Thanks to Ripley’s motivation and mindreading skills we’ve managed to keep up with the class fairly well without any practice during the week.  Now if only I could improve my accuracy and stop tossing treats into Ripley’s fur.

 Week Five:

This week Ripley showed a lot of improvement.  He seemed much calmer and was able to wait longer between treats and during breaks while Elsie gave instructions.  It helped that we didn’t learn any new behaviours this week but practiced last week’s sequences instead.  This gave Ripley and I some much needed practice time. 

One thing I knew Ripley needed to practice was the “push” cue.  We didn’t have much room in class so Ripley had only ever pushed the ball once rather than a series of pushes.  He’s a big dog and one push was all that was needed to get the ball to roll a couple feet to the goal.  He also pushes the ball with his chest rather than his snout, a technique I’m sure he chose to ensure he could keep his eyes on the treats coming out of my hand.  I asked Elsie about this and she said it was legal, as long as he didn’t use his paws.  If I had time I could train him to roll the ball with his snout by placing treats under the ball, but I figured I’d be happy with what I got.  Why fix what isn’t broken? 

 Week Six:

Ripley proved to be a master at reading human body language.  We worked on a new skill: getting the dog to back up in a straight line.  In the centre of the room Elsie placed rails on the floor wide enough apart for the dog and the handler to work between.  The rails were to encourage each dog to “back up” in a straight line away from his handler. Ripley figured out right away that I was asking him to back up, but this was not what I found amazing.  It happened while practicing on the sidelines as we waited our turn to work inside the rails. Ripley, several feet way, backed up slightly crooked; I unconsciously jutted out my left hip and angled my body slightly – as if I were trying to nudge him into position.  To my complete surprise Ripley straightened out.  It was not something I had planned, just an instinctive movement on my part. I knew dogs were good as reading human body language but I had no idea how good.

Week Seven:

 Today was the final class and we worked on back chaining:  combining all the pieces together bit-by-bit but starting at the end and working our way slowly to the beginning of the chain of behaviours.  After connecting all the pieces, we each took turns working in the centre of the room; this allowed more space to work from a distance and more space to push the ball across the goal.  I watched the other teams, pleased by their progress and fascinated by how different each dog’s style was.  When it came to our turn, I wasn’t sure how Ripley would perform, but we worked with what he could do at a distance he was comfortable with.  Two exercise balls were set up about eight feet away from the goal line.  Using “Back Up” and “Come By” and “Stay” I managed to line him up behind one of the balls.  It was time for Ripley to push the ball across the goal and I wondered if I could line him up again for a second push of the same ball. I gave the push cue and Ripley bumped the ball firmly with his chest.  It rolled across the goal and we all cheered.  No second push was needed.  As required in Treibball, I gave the “Down” cue and Ripley thumped happily to the ground, wagging his tail and wearing his wide doggy grin as he waited for his piece of hotdog.  I gave him a jackpot of several pieces and released him with a happy “That’ll Do!” 

 

Ripley and I had a lot of fun in the Treibball class, and I wonder what he could have accomplished had I been able to practice with him during the week.  I’m sure we’ll play Treibball at home when we can, especially when the weather is intolerable.  Who knows, maybe you’ll see “The Amazing Ripley” on the Treibball circuit one day.

For more information on Elsie’s Treibball classes call 345-2475, email pawzdogzone@gmail.com or visit www.pawzitiveattitudes.com