More clicker games with a dummy this time

I'm very good at carrying things around, so this was an easy game. I think Mom was really happy with the way I played the game. And I was really happy because I got lots of biscuits. When we finished playing the game, Mom took away the dummy, and put it up where I could not get it. Too bad, it might have been fun to chew on.

Although hunting dogs are taught to hold a dummy at the middle of the dummy part, I am teaching Emma to favor picking up a retrieving dummy by the rope.

Most of the items used in PWD water work have ropes on them, and are better taken by the rope for various reasons. The gear bag is required to be dragged by the rope; grasping the fabric in the teeth might cause damage. The bouy ball is too huge and can only be taken by the rope. The floats on the float line will fit in a dog's mouth, but I've heard that too much damage to the floats can result. In the case of the dummy, a dog will get less water in her mouth when retrieving by the rope.

I felt it would be a good idea to teach Emma to take by the rope, but I double checked with a question posted on the PWD Pets group. Everyone who responded confirmed and reinforced this decision as being a good one.

This session is the first time since age 1 year that Emma has worked with a dummy. I used Diamond tiny puppy biscuits, broken in half. She was consciously choosing the rope end by the time we quit. I remember that she had a similar dummy when she was small, and chewed the rope off, so I put it out of reach when we were finished.

Kathy, Emma's 2lggd mom

PWD Portie Portuguese Water Dog work waterwork clicker training video