Thursday, February 5, 2009

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!

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