[Zumie05]

The reason I can't go get him to bring his attention to me is because that is what I had been trying to do all along before I started Gary's new class, and it wasn't working.

I hadn't been using a spray bottle at all until 2 weeks ago. All along before that, there was nothing I could do to get him to focus on me. Seriously. I remember working on walking him outside my house and there was people getting out of their car down the road unloading groceries. Leave it didnt work, neither did watch me, or getting infront of him. I even walked the other way and he kept his head turned watching and making little barking grunting noises at them. I had treats, yeah he would eat them but he just would NOT keep his focus on me.

There was another time I can remember someone was pulling up in our driveway when we were out front going potty. Yeah right, treats at that time didn't work on getting him to look away. He has a really good recall too, and at that time he didn't come to me either. It is so frustrating, and the bottle for me has been working on getting him to STOP what he is doing.

The first night of class it was the exact same thing as the two instances I had before the bottle. Way too over stimulated. Yeah I had treats, but he would NOT focus on me unless I shoved a treat down his throat every second of the entire 1.5 hour class. It would be *eat a treat, bounce away, eat a treat, look away* That just isn't reasonable. I needed a better way to let him know that he isn't supposed to be doing that.

Last week I had the spray bottle because I needed a way for Gary to understand that I am unhappy when he is focusing on other things. And lets face it, in class you cannot get up and walk away from things. It WORKED. That is why I am so hesitant of quitting the bottle. Based off of everything I'm reading here I want to not have to rely on the bottle. I don't like the idea of needing one all the time. But, for now, it is working on getting him to stop what he is doing and gives me that time cushion to get his attention back on me so I can praise him for doing the right thing.