Class 4

Last night we started with more "take-its" like usual. Annie is resisting this but I think we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Last night she was a little quicker to open her mouth. Gotta get the dumbell ordered....

Next thing for her once she takes it...is to put my hand down lower in front of her...take-it. Then when she does that...sweep my hand from in front of her...around to in front of me...then take-it.

I think we're aways from that lesson yet!

Did downs on mat. Put dog on stay. Walked to behind mat...come, down. Then take-it throw treat to get dog to get up quickly. When doing this well, we will progress to the handler backing away from the mat...and downing the dog on the mat. Remember to throw a treat straight away so the dog knows to get up straight away after the down.

Jumping: Put dog on stay. Walked to other side. Come jump. Also did a send...jump, take-it, jump, front. Annie is liking the jumping. Worked on broad jump, with handler in front and to the side. Annie, over -do not move, do not look back (as shortens dogs jump)...when I didn't move..Annie did it right! Yeah...

More out of sight stays. Dogs are pretty comfortable with this.

Class 2

Well here's the update:

Class 2: Introduced what I call the "Heimlich Maneuver" for "take-it". Put cloth or leather collar on dog for this one. Say "take it" . If the dog doesn't take it lift the collar to put pressure under throat, keep pulling until dog is forced to open mouth. Then release "good dog"

Played the "down game" - Annie liked this one. Play with the dog, go here go there...and then issue the command "down" (no cheating with hand signals). Fun way to teach dog to down on command.

Jumping: Start idea of take it with the jump. Put dog on stay. Walk to jump..say jump, throw piece of food, take it, and then jump again, repeat several times.

Group Stays: Practiced leaving the room. Started first class with just walking to side of room. Then returning. Teach the dog you will be back! Then moved to leaving the room, and coming right back. Then progressively increase the amount of time out of the room.

Show N Go

Annie and I went to Flower Mound for a show n go today.   It was a small turnout for novice so we didn't have to wait long for our turn.  Our on leash heel was pretty good - I didn't have Annie quite warmed up enough so she got a little bit ahead of me on the sits but was nice and perky for the rest (other than being distracted oggling at the audience). Our figure eight she lagged ( judge said "hurry, hury").  Next was our stand for examination.  I hurried Annie on this -she was standing so I pulled on her to sit. Judge told me that was a no no. Oops.  Then Annie was just a bit restless for some reason, figdeting with her feet. For our recall, I made yet another handler error.  I set her on her sit and then walked back with my hands clasped together in front of me. I remembered I need them by my side so when I turned around I moved them, Annie saw that and zoomed over to me. We did a redo, and she did it quite nicely.  Then on to our offleash heel.  Annie was actually quite good for this (best to date).  So all in all...a decent learning experience.

Started Open Obedience: Class 1

Annie and I started our open obedience class ltonight.  This class will certainly present some challenges.

Areas covered:

Introduction to Dumbell (well actually a rope to start off).  Put in mouth, say "take it" holding their jaw shut with the flap of skin under their jaw.  Don't make them  hold very long, take it out, and repeat 5 times.  Annie was less than enthused about taking a rope in her mouth, but didn't have much say in the matter. Hopefully over time she'll learn that it has its rewards!

Introduction to Jumps: First thing give each jump a name...say "jump" for the vertical, and "over" for the broad jump (or whatever you want to call them).  We started the dogs by going over with them (knocked the jump down to a size we could step over), and then recalling them over.  Annie with her agility background had no issues with this exercise.  

Down: The dogs have to learn the comman "down" without all sorts of posturing. Down means down.  So we practices with them in a heel position, "down"...if they failed to down put the leash under your foot and pull them down.  Annie just needed a gentle tug to remind her where she was supposed to go.

Next week we get measured for our very own dumbell!