IMDT Partnership Grade 1

Leanne

Leanne

Sniffer Dog
Location
Shropshire, UK
So this is what we are currently working towards - it’s the equivalent of the the KC bronze good citizen award!

We had our first session tonight - it was in a bloody field! Totally different scenario to what we are used too, people walking their dogs on the other side, kids playing football etc. Fair play to the trainer who basically takes the attitude of ‘you want your dogs trained, then they need to be in the real world’. He class is considered ‘advanced’ which freaked me out slightly but I was reassured that Mas kept up on the majority!

Heel work seems to be working really well, we need to work on the sit aspect no matter what I do he automiacially spins his body to face me when he does a sit - practise this week will be on getting a sit to the side of me.

Recall was fab, no issues - which considering the distraction levels I was really pleased with.

Down/stay was no issue thanks to the relaxation protocol training we have been doing :giggl:

Scent work is quite easy as he only has to ‘find’ a toy and then retrieve it. We have been doing this for a while now so fairly confident. I feel for the woman with the dashand who looked horrified at this one ?

My biggest concern is the physical check - He’s ‘ok’ at it but he’s not massively reliable - and he’s just as likely to lick your face as he is to roll over ??

We are doing each bit each week and having the test the start of the following week so next week is the test for sit/stay - which is annoying because his down stay is much stronger ?
 
Joy

Joy

Location
East Sussex
I'm really interested to hear about this as I'm hoping to qualify as an IMDT trainer. I know they're big on training outside, mainly I think because they like everyone to have their own space and work at very once, rather than taking it on turns ( which is really often forced on you by space restrictions indoors). It sounds as if it all went very well.
 
snowbunny

snowbunny

Location
Andorra and Spain
Leanne said:
we need to work on the sit aspect no matter what I do he automiacially spins his body to face me when he does a sit - practise this week will be on getting a sit to the side of me.
Click to expand...
Hah, I remember when I first had Willow and I asked the "what would you do differently?" question. One thing I was told was to get the puppy sitting in different positions. She was my first puppy and I hadn't quite grasped the idea that a sit in front was different to a sit at my side. She could sit, that was it, right? Yeah, I feel your pain :D
 
Leanne

Leanne

Sniffer Dog
Location
Shropshire, UK
Worryingly Mas has developed a limp in his front leg tonight. I spotted it earlier but it was so slight I thought I was imagining it (paranoia!) but I’ve just let him out for bed and it’s now a significant limp with him trying to avoid using it. I’ve crated him and will see how he is in the morning ?

Maybe he just overdid it today? Really worried
 
UncleBob

UncleBob

Administrator
Staff member
I agree with @Jacqui-S . Our dogs often continue training through these little niggles because of the excitement that they are feeling at the time - then it catches up with them later. Hopefully a good night's keep will sort him out.
 
Leanne

Leanne

Sniffer Dog
Location
Shropshire, UK
Session 2 and our first test!

2 things are relevant here..... 1. The pup is back to chewing like a demon. Yesterday alone he chewed through my sanitary towels (on the day I’m due on! Cheers! 🙄) yet another handbag (my fault) and an entire tub of fish food (yet another phone call to the vets who basically laughed and said wait for rainbow poo!)

The second that is that the limp is still present. Not all the time but I get a glimpse of it every now and again... as a result I’ve treated the bugger like he is made out of glass... which means he’s been an utter git lol

So... first off we have to do our relaxation protocol, we are good at this so that was no hardship.... then we had to do our sit stay part of our test.. Mas has a tendency to go into the down for this... I blame too much practise with RP but he was AWESOME.... did the whole duration of 30 seconds and then waited a further 10 seconds before reattaching his lead. He was QUIVERING... it was so cute!

Then we did our loose lead work... I don’t understand why he is so fabulous is a training environment at loose lead but he really gets it, the trainer has us doing figure of 8’s left and right turns, auto sits and he breezed it.

Then we had retrieve! This was the bit I have been practising like mad! Now bear in mind he’s not even 6 months old yet.. he had to go into a sit... I had to take his toy accross to field, leaving him in the sit... come back, wait 5 seconds and then release him.

Oh my god.. he FLEW. He hasn’t been off lead for a week due to the limp so I was really nervous that he would bolt off after the other dogs but he was amazing. Ran past all he distractions, grabbed the toy and bought it straight back... perfect sit and dropped at my feet.

Then when I did a happy dance got very excited and buggered off again and brought back a cone 😂😂😂😂😂

And no limp this morning so whoop!!!
 
Leanne

Leanne

Sniffer Dog
Location
Shropshire, UK
Week 3

Today was going to be tricky - due to our ongoing stomach issues, no treats available so I had to rely on lots of praise and toys, luckily the boy is having a big love of tug at the moment so we had something to work with!

We did our relaxation protocol as normal, then went straight into retrieve. Today we had to sit them down, walk 20 meters and place a toy of our choosing behind one of the cones... then walk back, wait 10 seconds and release them to go get it. All without physical touch or treats.

this is mas’s kryptonite - he LOVES grabbing the cones... first time predictably he retrieved a cone but I sent him off again and he bought the toy back.. second and 3rd retrieves then went perfectly... our next mission is to ‘fake’ a drop behind a cone and then drop it someone else. We also practised throwing the toy to increase the chase drive - Mas didn’t break it once which I was really impressed with.

Then we did our down/stay test - put into the down, 20 metres away and hold for 60 seconds - then walk back and stand for 10 seconds before release.... despite another dog barking, 3 kids playing football and my son rolling around on the floor we did it perfectly first try.

Then we did the vet inspection... teeth, eyes, tail, paws and stomach.... has to be checked by the inspector - this was a lot more tricky.. Mas licked her face, and used the paw check to have a chew on her watch... luckily she was lovely and said to give him a 5 minute break and then try again - second time round he did everything perfectly apart from the teeth whereby he kept licking and trying to chew her - trainer recognised that he has teeth still coming through so we just have to do that bit next week so lots of practise needed this week!

Finally we did our trick training - 3 tricks in quick succession with no food reward... I was tempted to go for middle as it is one of Mas’s favourites but eventually went for twist so it was an easy pass.

Next week is recall - release to play with the other dogs and have to call back and have back in a sit by my heel on a lead within 20 seconds... I wouldn’t worry about this normally but with the complete lack of treats being used I’m nervous about the recall being ‘unrewarded’ hopefully he will be ok by next week!!

Next week is also our heel work mock test!
 
UncleBob

UncleBob

Administrator
Staff member
Well done.

For many dogs the use of toys can actually be preferable to treats. I know that, these days, a lot of police dog handlers use a tennis ball as their reward for their dogs.

Lovely write-up too - thanks for sharing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top