Now that I have more Saturdays off, we can attend class more often =)
Red was very excited to go, as usual. We warmed up and played a bit before class started. Red is always UP UP UP when we first get there - so quick to obey and almost rips my hand off for the treats.
We did things in a little different order today.
HEELING: Not too bad. There were some points when he wandered and wasn't paying attention, but not too bad for the most part. We did a few different things this time. Moving downs during fast pace, and then going to the opposite side of the room and giving a long-distance sit command. I didn't think Red would do it because its not something we practice, but he did!! It was perfect =) Very happy with that.
SITS/DOWNS: He went down on the 3 minute sit. Dammit. I'm not sure, but I suspect it was because I was chatting to the person next to me and not looking at him. No reward after the sit. He was fine for the 5 minute down - even flopped on his side at one point. Reward after the down.
RECALL: Not as good as last time. He wants to anticipate the recall when the judge says "call your dog". He tenses up and jumps when they say it. I had them say it several times before I actually called him. And when I did call him, his front was not the straightest and I had to lure him and take a couple steps back. Praise but no reward for that. Michelle's advice for the anticipation is to do through the motions of leaving him, and then return to him more than I call him. Currently I am calling him more than returning so each time we do it, he thinks he's going to get called which is why he's itching to go. Makes sense.
STAND FOR EXAM: Moved his head around a lot but didn't move his feet. It was Michelle that did the exam though, so maybe that's why he was moving. I did a few more practice ones with him, running circles around him and giving distractions, and he held it.
FIGURE 8: Better than last time. I went right to start instead of the usual left, and it was ok. A little bumping but much better than last time. I'm not happy with his focus during the figure 8 though. His head is down pretty much the whole time. grrr
DUMBBELL: He was EXCITED for his db today! I got it out several times during the course of class. I had him retrieve it and sit in front, and also just hold it. At one point, he went a retrieved Maisy's db that had just been thrown! I didn't say anything bad to him about it, but he did end up dropping it before I could take it out of his mouth. I'm really happy with how the db work is coming and how he is liking it more and more.
JUMP: Still working with the 16" jump height we have to do for rally. He clearly knows the "over" command now. He was a little lazy at first when he was goofing off and jumping it, tapping it with his back feet, but once we got down to business, he cleared it with no problem.
So not to bad today. Definitely going to work on that anticipation of recall. I can't have him doing that shit in the ring. And coming in straight...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I had the same problem with Katie on recalls when we were out at Steve's place. Michelle gave me the same advice, and ever after that I never call Katie out of a "wait" I always go back to her when I'm here at home training. Now she doesn't anticipate that she's going to get to run and get her treat. In fact I almost have the opposite problem. At two fun matches I had to call her twice because she didn't immediately start for me! LOL! So now I might call her once out of all the recall waits we practice, the rest I go back to her. It should work with Red in about one practice, he's so smart!
Thanks, Dawn! I'm hoping it does work. I started practicing going back to him more last night. But the problem is that he seems to react to the judge when they say "call your dog!". And since I usually train when hubby isn't home, I don't have anyone to say it for me, and I don't have a device to record and play back loud enough...
Post a Comment