My Rally 'stable'

Joy

Location
East Sussex
My friend and I had a jolly time catching up on our trip to the Rally competition today. The competition itself was a bit of a flop for me and Rajah - he was so distracted by everything going on around, not 'bouncing up and down' distracted but standing and staring and then realising I was asking him to do something and just doing the first thing that came into his head. To my surprise we scored 184 at level 1 (which is a qualifying score - you need 6 of these to get your Level 1 title) - I think mostly because he did the bonus correctly and that gives you 10 marks. We entered Level 2 but didn't stop to see the scores as I'm pretty sure we didn't do well enough to qualify and I'll be able to see them online in a day or two.
There were very few entries which surprised me and the ring was the minimum size allowed which adds to difficulty with a big dog.
Anyway I know now that I need to take Rajah to some increasingly busy places to train.
 

Jacqui-S

Moderator
Location
Fife, Scotland
Well done.
Training is all about learning, and in your case, Learning to work as a team which is sooo much harder, as you know.
I'm know you are going to get so much pleasure and enjoyment out of working through things with Rajah, that is what you win, prizes are just the cherry on the cake.
 

Joy

Location
East Sussex
I'm just back from a wonderfully happy evening with Tess. I hired the barn for an hour and we had such a fun time. She raced around in the sand like a lunatic, played on the agility equipment and we did some rally exercises. She has a cracking heel and loves my 'sock-on-a-bungee-cord' (oh yes, I have all the most expensive toys :rofl:) Tess was heeling for 5 yards or so and then I'd take the sock toy out of my pocket for a mad tuggy game. She was so happy doing everything that I couldn't stop smiling. I managed to put 'run around like a maniac' on cue, as a reward for sit. Once she had sat I clapped my hands and called, 'Super-dog!' (as in 'is it a bird, is it a plane.....') and she went racing off. She really understood the game as after a couple of circuits she came back to me for another go. I'll try to get some video of her soon.
 

Joy

Location
East Sussex
Today I worked with Tess on her remaining in a sit while I move. It's very small steps (both metaphorically and literally!) as previously she has moved whenever I have moved at all. She can't manage it at all if at heel so today I worked with her sitting in front position and I was able to move one foot backwards, shift my weight and then bring it back again before releasing her. I could also twist my upper body away from her and back before releasing. She's a quick learner so I hope it won't be long before she's got it.
I do love the way she values play. She is very happy to be offered a game of tug as a reward for a sit.

I took Rajah to a new place, a grassy area at the far end of Eastbourne promenade. I went ready to let him sniff for as long as he wanted (primed by reading 'Focus and Engage' I was prepared for this to take 20 minutes) but after only a couple of minutes he turned and looked at me and then hopped into heel position as if to say, 'Let's get on with it!'
I need to find a place where there are people with dogs on short leads who won't allow them to approach another on-lead dog to practise focusing on me with this as a distraction. Not that easy to find - I might end up booking a training session with someone who has dogs that can be used as stooges. Rajah is not at all reactive but does want to greet other dogs and tends to stare at them if he can't say hello.
 

Joy

Location
East Sussex
Today I did some training with Tess at the barn. She was so engaged with me - we did lots of tug and mad running around as well as the more controlled Rally stuff. Here are a couple of videos. In the first I am clicking and treating for every move while in the second I have no treats on me but she gets them at the end.
I was alone with my ipad propped up on a seat so the video quality isn't very good.


 
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