More dumbell questions

[Silvermarten]

A while back I posted about introducing the dumbell .
Now we have a Henry who's gone from thinking holding the 'plastic thing' is stupid to being way excited and barking to have me offer it to him .
He's VERY excited to have it now . We've worked on me holding it in different places & levels to 'take it' , also slowly moving it away from him and having him go to it and 'take it' .
New problem is if it is placed on the floor he pounces on it snarling . Doesn't matter how close to him it is . Yes, he picks it up and sits with it for me .
I'm glad he's thinking the dumbell is fun but do we need to curb his enthusiasm ? Or not worry about it for now ? With his enthusiasm and playful attitude I can envision this escalating into a smack the dumbell across the ring , pick up , return to mom growling the whole way

Is it faulted in the ring if the dog leaps on the dumbell , maybe knocking it several feet before picking it up and bringing it back ? How about being vocal ? ( because is having fun )

I know we are still very early in training . He's not so enthusiastic in class but I'll also check with my trainer about this behaviour at home .

Anyone else delt with this ?
All thoughts/comments are welcome

[MontanaRott]

Guerin pops it with his paw, and sort of flips it up and is a bit vocal with it at times, he is VERY enthusiatic with the DB, Phil just ignores it, because to tamper with that enthusiasm could hurt the retrieve. And hey, they got a leg, so it must not be an issue!

[Luvs]

Originally Posted by MontanaRott

Guerin pops it with his paw, and sort of flips it up and is a bit vocal with it at times, he is VERY enthusiatic with the DB, Phil just ignores it, because to tamper with that enthusiasm could hurt the retrieve. And hey, they got a leg, so it must not be an issue!

I agree with Shirley.
Akasha and Keil both love the dumbell and usually pounce on it. They were really bad in the beginning, but have since toned it down a little bit. When we first started teaching dumbell, I decided I was NOT going to discourage their enthusiasm in any way, so if they pounce on it and we lose a few points, oh well, at least they enjoy what they are doing. It was really important to me not to make the dumbell a negative exercise.

Akasha was able to get her CDX in spite of her pouncing
She did kick it out of the ring one time tho and she jumped out to go get it, but thought she was in trouble for leaving the ring, so went and sat by my daughter instead of bringing it back to me.

The more trials and training we have done, the better they get about not pouncing quite as much. At our trial yesterday, Akasha pounced a little bit and Keil didn't pounce at all.

[Silvermarten]

Thankyou Carol & Shirley

Glad to know they can be enthusiastic without being disqualified .
This is my first time training a dog for competative obedience so there's a lot to learn . Heck , we've not even entered our first Novice A class yet so the dumbell in a trial is a long , long way off for us .
Just wanted to be sure I wasn't heading for a training disaster with "way too happy" Henry

[damp]

I too agree to keep up the enthusiasm but sooner or later, you will have to teach him, that retrieve is not only a great game but also an exercise and you demand some obedience.
A good way to keep the drives, joy, and avoid pouncing, leaping etc. is:
Put on the leash and hold the dog on the collar. Place the dumbbell on the ground. Kick it a few feet away and keep him out of reach, go forward, still holding him back and out of reach of the dumbbell. Kick again and so on and so fort. Do so until he is nearly exploding of desire to get the dumbbell and first then let him go for it. As soon as he picks it up, praise and catch the leash and run backwards and have a big game playing tug.
If he still pounces or leaps, (I doubt he will) place your foot on the dumbbell for 5 – 10 sec., then kick it a few feet away, and only praise for picking up fast.
He will soon find out that it’s only “his” when it’s in his mouth and it’s much more fun to quickly bring the dumbbell back to you and play tug, than it is to play by himself.