Doggy brags

[edzbird]

My Sparkle! At Dog School tonight we had a brand new exercise. Five of us in a row, dogs in a SIT, leads dropped, reasonable space between them. We had Coco on one side & Ruby, a lovely black Lab who Meg hates on the other side. Then we had to take 5 steps away and stand side on to our dog, forming a corridor of dogs/people. Then the other 5 class members had to walk down the corridor with their dogs on leads. Inside I was bricking it. Meg was an utter Star. She sat, looking at me while they all traipsed past. Boy oh boy did she get massive praise & dried duck.

And another triumph. When she did her long recall, I left her in a sit, usually the trainer holds onto the dogs for this. Not today. She sat so nicely, all on her own, while I walked away then length of the arena and came belting down when I called her.

 

[Stacia]

@edzbird, Meg has certainly come on very well, you must be thrilled to bits, lot of hard work on your part which is lovely to read.

 

[Selina27]

Well done Meg

That must feel terrific @edzbird , your hard work and commitment paying off, great stuff

 

[edzbird]

Thanks. It is a huge achievement for her. She's still very difficult in public, but hey, who needs to go out in public? I'm chuffed to bits with her in this little controlled group. Love my silly, freaky little black & white girl.

 

[Selina27]

but hey, who needs to go out in public?

Who indeed!

If she's safe and happy not doing so, why put her though it.

 

[Atemas]

Well done @Lab_adore and @edzbird with Maxx and Meg

 

[Selina27]

This morning I decided to take a dummy on our walk and do some retrieving, it was good to see Cassie's evident excitement when I got it out of my pocket, I must do more!

I've been working on improving her delivery to hand quietly, since we stopped formal training, by using handtouch which she loves to do and making a game of chucking a dummy and this has worked really well. I've also used it in the house when she brings me my slippers -- what used to be a game of "keep away" is now a nice hand delivery !

The thing to brag about this morning is that for the first time in a outdoor setting she was actively looking for my hand to put the dummy in -- she's never done that before . It really brightens up a dull foggy lockdown November morning

 

[HAH]

Oh well DONE that gorgeous Cassie-oooo!! Brilliant work paying into the hand touch @Selina27 , that’s very clever - you’ve inspired me to step up our game with this. Onwards and upwards! X

 

[Selina27]

Brilliant work paying into the hand touch

Haha, well, not my own original idea, I saw a video by RAO, for teaching puppies. I think @Beanwood might have posted it on here at some point.

The thing about it is is that it makes it a game and stopped me putting pressure on, which I was inadvertently doing.

 

[Atemas]

she was actively looking for my hand to put the dummy in

Brilliant, well done both of you

 

[Stacia]

Great to read that @Selina27, I am so pleased for you. I have rather let Rourke go, must polish him up again, I have been very lazy!

 

[Selina27]

I have rather let Rourke go, must polish him up again, I have been very lazy!

Are well, we must get together .... when we can

 

[Cath]

Great work Maxx and you

Great work Miss Sparkle , I bet you were so proud of her @edzbird

 

[Stacia]

Are well, we must get together .... when we can

Look forward to that.

 

[FayRose]

Well done Cassie - you are right to be proud of your girl @Selina27

 

[Candy]

Not really a brag, but we met the sweetest little Staffie girl in the world today, just 7 months old and she absolutely loved Joy. I was chatting to her hooman, who was also lovely and because Joy knew I had a ball in my pocket and we were very nearly at the field where ball games happen, she was doing what she always does when she really really wants something, which is sitting very hard and staring very hard. Lovely woman with the Staffie said ' Oh my God, she's sitting so politely while we talk! That's just gorgeous! How did you train that?' I had to admit that I didn't train it, but I thought 'Let's not let the side down completely ' so I added, 'It's just something she does of her own accord'. Now, whilst that is the truth, it is not strictly speaking the whole truth. I rather like the thought that someone went away thinking I have the most gorgeous and perfect little black dog though! Which actually isn't too far from the whole truth!

 

[snowbunny]

Oh, I know that black dog sit and stare! On hunting days we stay on our land, so we play games with the ball. Steadiness, hunting, taking turns etc. Willow will run ahead to get to the field we start these games in, then sit and stare at me while we catch up. There is nothing more deliberate in the whole world than a deliberate sit and stare from a black Labrador

 

[Candy]

Oh, I know that black dog sit and stare! On hunting days we stay on our land, so we play games with the ball. Steadiness, hunting, taking turns etc. Willow will run ahead to get to the field we start these games in, then sit and stare at me while we catch up. There is nothing more deliberate in the whole world than a deliberate sit and stare from a black Labrador

Never a truer word spoken!

 

[HAH]

Not really a brag, more a “I’m finally getting it!”. This morning on our walk we met a lovely year old lab bitch called Dora. We’ve met her before on this walk, and she’s very exuberant - huge bowling greeting, flies straight in with shoulder charges and just ramps up from there. Kipper says hello then looks increasingly less keen as her energy grows - last time I didn’t want to be rude so left it too long before saying ‘enough now’, and OH rightly called me on it after we’d walked away.
This morning, I was a better advocate and called a halt early on so both dogs went on the lead and were very good. Kipper was hugely relieved. Dora’s owner was sharing her struggles and saying she’d tried a citronella collar ‘to get her to behave’ which worked for a bit but then made Dora fearful of everything
She did say she recognized now that the collar wasn’t kind, and was working on reinforcing the good things. I did say it will come, just keep at it! (Also told her about the forum but she just nodded politely )
So that’s a long way of saying I’m becoming a better advocate for Kipper.

 

[Candy]

Not really a brag, more a “I’m finally getting it!”. This morning on our walk we met a lovely year old lab bitch called Dora. We’ve met her before on this walk, and she’s very exuberant - huge bowling greeting, flies straight in with shoulder charges and just ramps up from there. Kipper says hello then looks increasingly less keen as her energy grows - last time I didn’t want to be rude so left it too long before saying ‘enough now’, and OH rightly called me on it after we’d walked away.
This morning, I was a better advocate and called a halt early on so both dogs went on the lead and were very good. Kipper was hugely relieved. Dora’s owner was sharing her struggles and saying she’d tried a citronella collar ‘to get her to behave’ which worked for a bit but then made Dora fearful of everything
She did say she recognized now that the collar wasn’t kind, and was working on reinforcing the good things. I did say it will come, just keep at it! (Also told her about the forum but she just nodded politely )
So that’s a long way of saying I’m becoming a better advocate for Kipper.

Well done! I feel it's taken me a while to learn this as well. I think I used to worry about being seen as a spoilsport or over protective of my dog. Joy also looks so relieved when I do step in though, which shows how much she needs me to do this, and I think that she is a bit more inclined to join in with play now as a result. It's not something I've felt the need to do with previous dogs, they always seemed to sort it out for themselves but GGJ is just that little bit different.