There’s a reason why this YouTube clip went viral. Fenton the dog chases a herd of deer to hilarious consequences (with strong language). Dog owners around the world can empathize with the sheer awkwardness of the situation.
While we laugh at Fenton and the various re-makes and parodies of the clip, there are times when your dog just won’t listen to you despite your desperation, shouting, and all the training in the world. In these moments, wouldn’t it be great if they had a pause button? Well, dear reader, they may well do quite soon.
Scientists at Auburn University have published a paper in the International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control that claims to have come up with a novel piece of technology that would empower you “to command your dog with a remote control, or even via your smart phone.” Heal, sit, and roll over at the touch of a button? We truly live in an age of electronic excess.Once upon a time there was Wag the dog, now comes Tivo the dog. No, no, not that Tivo.
I'm talking about a Tivoed dog, with Google glass strapped on, so that not only will you be able to walk the dog remotely, you will be able to also shedule the walk.
OTOH, there is the organic excess, poop detail matter, that still needs to be handled manually, boots on the ground, out on the field.
Pachelbel : Canon - Academy of St. Martins-in-the-Field / Marriner*
18 comments:
Dog whistles are frowned upon at the sheepdog trials.
Damn. That was my situation earlier this week. Luckily it happened in a forest a long way from any humans, and my dog ran out of fuel before the deer did. Still, it took me more than an hour to get her back on leash.
Shopping list: shock collar.
My dog does that with the kids at the daycare, but he stops once he catches one. He's just culling the herd, and we need that. I've trained him to seek out those smelling of granola and patchouli.
Tell him what you want him to do, not to not do.
For instance, sit.
You can't chase deer on a sit.
You get the sit to work by working at close distances with heavy equipment, like a 6 foot leather leash and a choke collar.
Make sure that the command is understood first. Say sit and place the dog for a few days.
Then give the responsibility to the dog. Say sit and correct a failure with an upward thrust of the leash, upward enough to convince the dog that he'd be more comfortable if he sat when asked.
Without ill feeling or malice. It's just a natural law that sitting is more comfortable.
Then, here's the deer chasing part, do the exercise around every distraction you can think of, correcting when the sit is broken, so that every distraction is just another sign that the dog is being tested.
You get a dog that will hold a sit (or heel, or any command that you teach) even when tempted to do otherwise.
Getting this to work off leash is a matter of transferring it all by giving the dog the impression that you can always reach him. Koehler uses a throw chain to create the impression.
Radio collars are too easy and tend to replace training rather than doing training. Very much overused.
Actual training develops character.
Shocks without training develops neurosis.
I go into the woods with the dog I have, not the dog I wish to have.
Sometimes walks in the woods work great, with pleasant obedient dogs.
Then the damn deer show up.
Speaking of remote control. I'm fed up with omnipresent google shit. I researched buying a spa cover and tickets to a Sheryl Crow concert a month ago, and now every page I visit has ads for spa covers and Sheryl Crow. That's just stupid. The decisions are long past. I got the spa cover, didn't buy Sheryl Crow. I didn't buy the cover from a google ad either. I called around local shops, and just used google to get phone numbers and locations. I now make a point of it to never buy anything from an intrusive ad, ever. If I see an ad that gets me thinking, I will buy it from someone else anyway. I hate advertizing. Leave me the fuck alone for one fucking second, could you?
My one exception is Geico insurance. A lot of their ads are so damned funny that I actually had them quote me insurance because of the ads. They also saved me a lot of money and now they have all my home and vehicle policies. They entertained me rather than annoyed me. That's a winning.
Cool, I suddenly turned Italian at the end there.
That is funny.
I knew they had fallow deer, but I did not realize they had herds of red deer in London. Granted they are probably cared for, but red deer are almost the same species as North American elk. We do not have herds of elk in any major North American cities (even in Portland and Vancouver they are more on the outskirts of the city in greenbelt parks and are not in semi tame herds in the downtown parks like that).
They have lyme disease there too.
That dog is having so much fun.
rh is correct, of course.
A group of dogs, owners and a "trainer" come through the market every so often - they got my attention because there were Border Collies in the group.
Then I noticed the shock collars - that is total bullshit, in my opinion. Cruel and stupid and mean and abusive to the animals.
I haven't seen them in a while and that's just as well - I really don't like their deal.
I don't use shock collars, but most of the modern ones just vibrate anyway. I use a paintball gun. At least I used to. I used to bring home stray dogs from the street constantly and would end up with 6 to 10 at one time. I would take them all out as a group into the field behind my house. They were untrained and I didn't have time to train them one on one so I discovered the paintball leash.
What Rh said above is true that once they realize you can reach out and touch them from far away they listen to you. I usually only had to pop them one time with the paintball from a distance as they were running away, then the next time just shoot in the air, then voice command alone would stop them.
I don't bring them home that fast anymore, so my current core pack of 4 dogs tends to train the new ones for me. Besides, Putin convinced me to stop using the paintballs.
The dog in that video is how I imagine I'll behave at the old folks home someday. Pop out the hearing aid and chase 'em down.
rhhardin is correct of course, but he's talking about truly trainable dogs.
For the rest ... owners of working pedigree Beagles and Springer Spaniels have had a cure for run-offs for some time. It is those triple D -Cell size Mag-lite style electronic collar controls you see them afield with now and then. The setting for full recall is "knock'em arse oer' tea kettle" and the indicator is a red button red.
bagoh20 said...
I don't use shock collars ...
Neither do I. Don't believe in them for the kind of dogs I usually deal with...however, I do own one, the mildest one made, with a setting so low it does what you say, mostly vibrates.
I needed to use it only three times, years ago, on a big German Shepherd (Ikey Boy) who adored little kids 8 and under, and hated (adults = food group), all adults with about 6 exceptions.
Problem: in a neighborhood with many little kids there are mothers ... mothers who occasionally must go and fetch up a recalcitrant kid by the ear or something, accompanied by squeals, etc. Naturally "Ikey Boy" wanted to go kill the mom...and started to go over fences to do so.
First time I physically caught him and wrestled him to the ground. Then I went and got a very modest (one 9 volt transistor battery type) e-collar and set it for "medium." Next time Ikey tried to go over the fence, zap. After the third time he quit the fence crossing bit and just growled and barked all ugly nasty menacing at mothers, or fathers, recovering their run off kids.
Ikey Boy would welcome little kids to his yard and play with them for hours (with parental permission ... it is a Muslim neighborhood after all)...one 5 year old little girl could actually walk Ikey on leash around a few blocks, much to the consternation of her old brothers and all neighbors. Ike would lick "Lena" and obey her every hand signal or verbal request. "Lena" was 101% safe with "Ikey" although I always walked along behind.
When "Ikey" died he was visited by every little kid for 3 blocks around, dropping off flowers by his towel covered body. Not one adult other than Judi and me.
I miss him greatly, even after the years pass, for his love of little children and his ability to calm them and attract them without fear...unusual for a big black gorilla of a dog. Our dog "Dera" (little at 85 lbs) is turning out to be the same now ... even waits in the window for the kids to come home from school. In a few minutes, we'll be outside with a few of them.
Reminds me of our dog that would always go after jack-rabbits. Once she finally caught one and did:
Nothing.
Thrill of the chase.
bagoh20 said...
Speaking of remote control. I'm fed up with omnipresent google shit. I researched buying a spa cover and tickets to a Sheryl Crow concert a month ago, and now every page I visit has ads for spa covers and Sheryl Crow. That's just stupid. The decisions are long past. I got the spa cover, didn't buy Sheryl Crow. I didn't buy the cover from a google ad either. I called around local shops, and just used google to get phone numbers and locations. I now make a point of it to never buy anything from an intrusive ad, ever. If I see an ad that gets me thinking, I will buy it from someone else anyway. I hate advertizing. Leave me the fuck alone for one fucking second, could you?
My one exception is Geico insurance. A lot of their ads are so damned funny that I actually had them quote me insurance because of the ads. They also saved me a lot of money and now they have all my home and vehicle policies. They entertained me rather than annoyed me. That's a winning.
If you use firefox there are great addons that will kill that google shit quick. The first one is adblock plus and the second one is DNT (do not track) me. Work very well and I see none of that crap.
The remote needs a "poop now, damnit" button. In my youth I spent entirely too many hours in the rain waiting for the dog to find the perfect spot to fertilize.
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