Distraction class graduation!

[frontierrots]

Well we made it through all 6 weeks!

I thought you'd like our final night recall distractions <BG>

Dog left on opposite side of the room. In the dog's path were 2 people, toys and a wire covered dish containing an open can of cat food!

The first recall most of the dogs never even looked at the food they just flew to the owners. Then you took them to the dish and gave them a finger of cat food. Then recall again, repeat with the cat food and recall again. This repetition went 4 times in a row.

1st recall Bea never looked at anything just flew (and I mean flew) to me LOL The assistant had asked if we wanted her on a long line and the trainer laughed and said Bea would be going so fast she'd never stop. The assistant did not look like she believed but...

Taste of cat food and people closer in her path and second recall. She was just a tad slower and as she went by the food she turned her head to look but never stopped, veered off course, or went to it
third recall she just tipped her head at it and forth she just looked at it out of the corners of her eyes.

It was very funny to watch her brain turn,but I was well pleased that she stayed on task!

Down stays were done with a smelly commercial treat 6" from her feet, with me (and the other owners) walking around the room moving equipment , toys and fast food bags. Then we stepped out the door shut it and came back in. Walked around the dogs, gave them a treat and left the room again. Then back and release

Heeling with all the distractions we have had throughout class- toys all over the floor, jumps, boxes, fast food bags also on the floor, open jar of peanut butter, people tossing balls, rolling balls and squeaking squeakies.. Plus they brought in a small pit type dog with a birth defect to her pasterns. She hops in the front to move and her tags go jingle jingle each bounce. She walked around with her handler opposite to our direction

Plus more but these were the biggest distractions
Bea did well but I start to lose her focus about 40-45 min into the 1 hour class. I expect that though because she's still an 11 month old baby. We did a couple stand for exams and a heeling pattern at the very end of class and she did pretty well considering this was 60 min into the class

Anyone in NH , Mass or Vt that is within decent driving time of Keene/Swanzey that wants to compete would have a blast at this class. It is at the Monadnock Humane Society and is called Reliable Rover 2. Instructor is Denise Mazzolla

It was WELL worth the money and the driving 1 hour each way in crappy weather

Wish us luck, our 3 trials are in March as we start our quest for an obedience title

Diane & Bea

[spidey]

That's very cool! I love the sounds of that class. Sounds like you and Bea are off to a great start. Good luck next month! :)

[MontanaRott]

That sounds like a great class! Good luck to you and Bea! Guerin and Phil start their quest for a CD this spring. Good luck to all!
Make Frol proud Bea!

[Brooke&Ryan]

Sounds like a wonderful class & so much fun!!!

:)
Brooke

[LynnS]

Good job!

In most of my classes we have worked around some of these distractions and we have just made significant progress in the last few months (Bella is 20 mnths old). I am very very impressed!

[carib]

Sounds cool, Diane, you must be so proud. I wish I could find a class like that but I can't but thanks for posting so many details , I got a lot of ideas for my home-made training!

[trackermom]

Anyone in NH , Mass or Vt that is within decent driving time of Keene/Swanzey that wants to compete would have a blast at this class. It is at the Monadnock Humane Society and is called Reliable Rover 2. Instructor is Denise Mazzolla


Diane, I didn't realize you were driving all the way down there to train with your girl, i've been wanting to get Tracker into something other then tracking and i'm not sure what direction to go?

[frontierrots]

Originally Posted by trackermom

Diane, I didn't realize you were driving all the way down there to train with your girl, i've been wanting to get Tracker into something other then tracking and i'm not sure what direction to go?

It's tough for you here in New England because mix opportunities are limited here. In other parts of the U.S there is a strong AMBOR following and many mixes get titles through them


IF you want to title him, you could try getting him an ILP as a Dane, he looks more like Dane than either brother. Hemingway looks like a big brindle Rottweiler now. Their mom's genes are coming through after all :)

If you don't want to title him, you can train in agility and obedience.

I can't remember where you are now, but you're not real close to any facility are you? North Springfield is a haul from everywhere I think

Monadnock was a haul that's for sure. If we don't get a CD leg this weekend we are going back to Monadnock starting the first sat in April for their Roaming Rover class. They meet all over Keene and train at different locations outdoors in town for 6 weeks. Outdoors? in town? wheels? this should be "interesting" with Bea! :o

[Judi W]

Diane,
Congratulations and what great fun you've had. I would offer one tiny caution and that is (as you very well know) these dogs are so darn smart. They learn to spot a "setup" and work past it, but they are also fairly quick to learn to spot when it is not a setup in different settings so make sure you hit as many matches as possible. Even at a sanctioned match, don't hesitate to offer a quick verbal reminder if needed during the work if she tries drifting off task. As long as you are subtle........... so that she doesn't learn that when entering a ring, all those distractions proofings don't apply. I think you are going to have such fun with this pup and you will be so proud you'll probably stand a couple of inches taller and we'll have to scrub to wipe the happy grin off your face.

[frontierrots]

Well as seen in my chit chat post :) you can't proof for everything! LOL fishy mud being one

Bea's a very smart girl and she should do well. The first trial "I" messed us up and then the Samoyed did. Bea was perfect in all she did. The second trial the muck and singer got us

This week we have run throughs Thur pm and a trial in the same place/ room/ floor etc Sat. If we can't get a leg there then it's going to take us a LONG tme LOL :p

[Judi W]

It if goes in the toilet (in spite of the run throughs and all), you plaster a big grin on your face and explain to any and all that they should wish you well, as you are not going away!!!!!!!!!!!!

Relax and enjoy. If it was that darn easy, every dog out there would have an obedience title! It is in the trial ring where the rubber meets the road. The title is a testiment to the owner's belief and joy in their dog even more than the "amount" of training. Of course, you can't get there without the training, but it is the handler that is the one who says "we'll get there darlin" this just means we'll be trying again. You will be joining a fraternity of people who just plain love their dogs.

[frontierrots]

Originally Posted by Judi W

It if goes in the toilet (in spite of the run throughs and all), you plaster a big grin on your face and explain to any and all that they should wish you well, as you are not going away!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL

I told Miss Bea that we had one year to finish our CD. Most people aim for doing it in 3-6 trials LOL not us :p I'm giving us a WHOLE year because knowing Bea and her sense of humour, it may well take us 20 trials <BG>
My clients think she is such a perfect angel, ha ha ha. Bea is the scheming practical joker from hell :o

But she has sooo much fun, I never get mad at her. Not even when she puts a stuffed ram in my dish water to see if he'll float !!!! (note from Bea: stuffed rams absorb water quite readily and make a good floor sopper after 10 min soak in dish water)