Training this morning

Another Saturday morning training session with the obedience group... Definitely not Red's best performance, but it could've been worse. Atticus, a humungous Mastiff, wouldn't leave Red alone for some reason, and that started to become an issue as the class progressed.

First of all, the heat is broken in the building and it was 40 degrees when we got there! brrrr good thing I wore long sleeves. Red didn't mind though.

Heeling was subpar - not really focusing much, and roaming out of position ahead of me. Not good. I only rewarded for attention.

Figure 8's were ok. I didn't use any treats at all during our run as this seems to distract him while he is trying to swallow it. He was doing good - good focus and position, quick sits - then as we made our way around the Mastiff, he kind of snapped at Red on our way by. Red didn't react at all but just stayed in heel position. But when we were told to halt in front of Atticus, Red kind of shied away a bit, but did well considering he'd been snapped at. After that, he didn't react nervous around Addison anymore - it only lasted for that one exercise.

Recalls... grrr. Short recalls are ok, but long ones still suck ass. He comes in like an out of control frieght train and is all over the place. I backed up about 10 steps one time to lure him into a straight front. Also, he kept going into a down as I'd walk away - something he's never done before. The second time he did it, I got firm with him and he was cowering after that, though came in a bit straighter. During free time, I did shorter recalls and they were quite good. So I guess distance is the issue... will just have to slowly work up to longer distances.

Long sits/downs. This was probably Red's best performance of sits/downs - considering its his least favorite exercise. The 3 minute long sit was excellent up til the last second and he started to move his front legs out like he was going down. I said "ah ah" and he stopped and stayed that position for the remaining 5 seconds til the exercise was over. He was soooo close to getting an enormous jackpot for that one! The 5 minute long down did earn him a jackpot at the end though. H went down into a sphinx down and held that for about a minute, then popped onto a hip, which I returned and rewarded for. Then the remainder of the time he sat that really good. He got to stick his nose in the treat bag after that exercise was finished =)

Stand for exam - good. He turns slightly to sniff a bit, and sometimes moves a paw oh so slightly, but other times he is really good. No complaints here.

There were 3 dogs that really seemed interested in Red today - the Mastiff, a boxer, and a Rottie. I think it was because I play with Red a lot and he gets excited and worked up, which gets the other dogs riled up. But I like to play and keep things fun and motivating for him.

Another weekend of training next week, then our next Rally trial the week after that! woo hoo =D

Homework:
1. Continue to work on short recalls and slowly build distance.
2. Work on straight downs on the moving down.