A moan

[edzbird]

I shouldn't...but I am. I had Coco at Dog school last night, they didn't get a run around first which burns some energy. Why not? Because Coco was "shouting" at the trainer, "demanding" the ball. So no-one got go. I walked Coco up and down the arena while everyone socialised. Then we started. He pulled, he fixated on the trainer instead of me, he fixated on OH & Meg, he fixated on Ernie the Cocker-pup. He DID do a handful of exercises well, I'll give him that. Then his piece de resistance, his favourite exercise, the Long Recall - he ran half way the turned 180 & ran to OH & Meg on the opposite side. He ran to another dog. I called again, he ran to me then changed his mind again, he was having fun. I pipped my whistle (we don't use whistles there), he came but not directly and not quickly. He was truly awful. Tomorrow's another day.

 

[Jacqui-S]

Urrgh!
I feel your pain.
Do you think his "behaviour" is worse since Meg came?

 

[snowbunny]

I know this made you feel horrible, but try to take a step back and think "what is this telling me?". Then come up with a plan for yourself and your own dogs. Don't leave it in the hands of the teacher; work out what is best for them.
For me, I don't want my dogs to burn energy before training, but I do want them to be relaxed and focussed in their environment, so that might mean a perimeter sweep, some figure-8 walking, some orientation games. And if they can't manage that, then I can't expect them to manage anything else.
It sounds like he was struggling from the outset. What do you think you could have done differently to make things better for him? Sometimes this might even mean taking him away entirely and just sitting and sharing an ice cream (or bowl of warm soup, depending on your weather). Remove the pressure from yourself - this isn't life or death, it's supposed to be enjoyable for both of you, The minute that's not the case, find a way of making it so

 

[Charlie]

Sue, I agree with Jac, could Meg be the big distraction? Write it off as a bad training session, everyone has them. Tomorrow is another day and even our dogs have bad days! xx

 

[edzbird]

Do you think his "behaviour" is worse since Meg came?

No, I don't think so. She was just a distraction on this day (as was OH!)

For me, I don't want my dogs to burn energy before training, but I do want them to be relaxed and focussed in their environment, so that might mean a perimeter sweep, some figure-8 walking, some orientation games. And if they can't manage that, then I can't expect them to manage anything else.
It sounds like he was struggling from the outset.

Coco definitely needs to burn energy before we start. Due to his difficult nature, we rarely meet dogs, and Coco loves meeting dogs. An off lead run before class starts definitely calms him down (and the other dogs too). Coco expects the initial off lead run but, we don't always get it, so I need to try other things. I should have stayed at the far end of the arena instead of walking up and down, given him a bit more distance. I'll remember figure-of-eight next time. I think we were both struggling to relax.

Oh, and I'd forgotten his super-high value Bonios! He had to make do with pizza crust, sausage & roast beef!

Onward and upwards..