First night at Novice Obedience

[TrishB]

Parkers stays were incredible! :D I was SOOO proud of him. There were several stays, in various positions, at various distances along with various distractions. He broke once when the instructor clapped, but all it took was an 'ah eh!' and he went back into his sit. :D

2 things I'd like to ask:

1) When you're doing a recall for your dog, and another dog breaks - the other owner was correcting his dog and Parker wasn't sure what to do (he was moving towards both as the other dog was beside Parker and saying NO! Sit!). So I kissed to Parker to keep his attention on me and to keep him moving past the other mans corrections. Is that right? What would you have done?

2) We need help for our finishes. Parker will move to my right but sort of fades out / doesn't come around. And when he does, he's typically tipped away from me (shoulder in, butt out).

Any tips would be appreciated! :)

[Judi W]

I'm not sure how this was set up, but I never ever call my dog out of a line up and I never have my classes with off lead dogs while practicing recalls. The only dog off lead during recalls is the dog being called.

If you instructor has dogs in a line up and asks you to do a recall, take several steps forward from the line first. The only time you dog will be in a line will be for stays and you want him to have a picture in his mind that when shoulder to shoulder with other dogs he is not to move.

Re - speeding up the finish. As the dog starts to move to your side take off quickly and smartly forward. He'll learn he can't loggy gag around back there. Do this each time. He predicts that you aren't going anyplace and he can take his own sweet time. Also do numerous left about turns during your heeling as that will teach the dog to get around smartly.

[TrishB]

Originally posted by Judi W
I'm not sure how this was set up, but I never ever call my dog out of a line up and I never have my classes with off lead dogs while practicing recalls. The only dog off lead during recalls is the dog being called.

All dogs were off lead. All dogs were in a line up. We were told to place them in a position (sit or down) and leave our dogs. We were then told who could recall their dogs, one by one.

I called Parker, the other dog beside him broke. So while Parker was still coming, the other guy was correcting his dog, which confused Parker (should I come or listen to this guy that's closer to me? ). That was when I did some kissy sounds to help him along, to ignore the other guy. But I made a point not to repeat the come command. It was all I could think of doing at the time - to help him along.

[LynnS]

I have found over time Bella has learned not to pay any attention to anyone else but me in class. Dogs break down stays or sit stays all the time...I totally agree with Judi W about the off leash thing especially first day of class with a bunch of new dogs!

[Rott-Wiley]

And you did do the right thing. He needed a little encouragement to complete the task he set out to do.

On the return to heel postition, have you considered doing a military finish where he hops to your left and spins around into position? I always prefer that because the dog is never out of my sight and I can keep an eye on them and make sure they don't get into trouble behind my back. To teach that, I take a treat and give them a heel command while I swing my hand from their nose to, high and to my left, arm extended left and swing around in the path the do should take. Once the dog is at my side I lower the treat causing the dog to sit at heel. That usually works real well for me.

[Judi W]

Well, that scenario is a good prescription for a dog fight. These dogs are not at the "proofed" level where to have dogs running in front of them would not trigger a break. Also, it only takes one such happening to make the dog being called reluctant to turn his back and do a confident recall.

[Sansano]

Originally posted by Judi W
Well, that scenario is a good prescription for a dog fight. These dogs are not at the "proofed" level where to have dogs running in front of them would not trigger a break. Also, it only takes one such happening to make the dog being called reluctant to turn his back and do a confident recall.

Agreed. WAY too early for stuff like that. Never heard of trying that in a Novice class let alone in the first few weeks.

[Miabella]

I agree with Judi and Mike, I wouldn't feel comfortable with that scenario. In my Novice classes, one dog does a recall at a time, and the other dogs are on leash in a down-stay.

[LynnS]

agree with Judi and Mike, I wouldn't feel comfortable with that scenario. In my Novice classes, one dog does a recall at a time, and the other dogs are on leash in a down-stay

That is what we do as well.

[Miabella]

I've been thinking more about this, and I also don't like the idea of calling the dog to you while it's lined up with other dogs. I think that might confuse the dog when they are lined up for stays, I want my dog to be able to distinguish that when she is lined up with other dogs, she is to stay put. I don't know if I'm expressing myself well, but I want my dog to be very clear on the difference between a recall situation and a stay situation.

[Sansano]

A couple things I wanted to say here :

1) Lots of people are chiming in and it looks like we are being derogatory about your trainer. That's not the case. Every trainer is different and you don't HAVE to do exactly what the trainer says. In my advanced class we did the exercise you referred to and I was fine with that. However, they also did a recall with dog lines up on either side and your dog recalls through them in the middle. I had Cheyenne with me. Don't think so! I do not need a dog fight while I am trying to train. I just excused myself and did a normal recall.

2) Besides the dog fight issue the big problem I see in the exercise is the problem with the dog not knowing what to do. To recall or to stay. I would work on your own with some very happy recalls to get him coming to you as fast and confident as possible. And remember if he makes the mistake of coming to you before you call him OR if he breaks the stay when another dog is called. Don;t over correct! In fact with my guys I don't say a word. I just put them back in position.

[LynnS]

Miabella I was going to add this thought as well but with a different take. IMO the only time dogs should be lined up off lead is for sit/stays down/stays and then only if dog is reliable.

When Bella was going to be presented with a distraction I did not think she could handle (like tennis ball rolling by) I stood next to her with my foot on the leash.

BTW shouldn't this thread be under training section? :D

[Miabella]

I think it's true that different people do things different ways, and you have to decide what is going to work for you and what isn't.

For example, I just had to switch class nights from Monday to Tuesday because of a course I'm taking for grad school. I have a new instructor, and she likes people to work alot on fronts and finishes, pairing them together. Now, Ilsa has a very nice, straight front and a prompt finish, but I have been very careful from the beginning to not always pair them so that she doesn't anticipate the finish on a recall. So in class, I showed the instructor her front and finish once, and then that was it. We worked on something else while the rest of the class did that exercise, and the instructor didn't object because we already had the best front and finish in the class.

However, even though I didn't agree with her on that aspect, she does have alot to offer. She's helped me improve my footwork more in 2 weeks than my previous instructor did all summer.

[TrishB]

Thanks guys. To be honest, I was surprised at the exercise at this stage (first night) of classes. Strange dogs, strange place - it was tough work to keep attention.

As I said - Parker only broke the one time. He made it through other dog breaks, people walking around him, handlers clapping, me walking down/around him and away again.... I was very proud of my pup. I knew his downstays were good - but this was better than I had hoped! I had never put him through so much.

But because of that, it was surprising that this was done on the first night - because I HADN'T done that before. It's nice that they trusted me that I had (I hadn't been with the club since the spring), but what if I or the others hadn't? I'm just glad we were up to the challenge. :D

Well - onwards, our homework is the finish and heeling closer. Our heel was pretty sloppy last night due to all of the new distractions, but we'll be better next week! ;)