Tonight's class started with ALL of us walking loose leash around the room. Eeek! It is a big class.
The exercise went surprisingly well, although I began to get dizzy! To up the ante Joyce had one student at a time walk the opposite direction in the center of the circle. The only time we had an issue was when the intact Lab was walking in the center. He and Bug really want to go head to head. Yuck. I made sure I had a hand full of delectable treats ready to stuff in Bug's face when we passed Buster.
The next exercise we worked on were Stays with distractions. Joyce asked us to pick a toy and toss it or drop it near our dog. Luckily for me, not so luckily for Bug, Joyce had two toys that are favorites of Bug's at home. Cue evil laughter. Given how toy crazy Bug is, and the fact that we haven't moved beyond me picking up and moving objects at home I did not have the highest hopes. Ha! Bug had no problem with this exercise. Sweet surprise. Now I need to practice at home with his favorite rabbit tug!
Next we worked on out of sight recalls. There is a small kitchen room beside the training room we use. Joyce opened the door and had us go into that room and call our dog. It was set up depending upon your dog's skill level. The 5 month old Lab was set-up in front of the door so even though her mum was out of sight she had less to be distracted by. Bug was set-up toward the end of the room, away from the door. As I walked into the room. I made a fair amount of noise, and apparently Bug came flying as one classmate commented on how funny it is to watch his little legs go!
We ended class working on polite greeting - exercise 8 (Reaction to Another Dog) from the CGC test. Our only issue with this was the woman we were paired with walks her dog on her right - so rather than the two of us being side-by-side, she and Bug were. Other than being awkward there was no issue with it.
One thing I am really noticing while doing this class is how much Bug hates sitting. He will ALWAYS choose to lie down if given the option. He never sits. I find it really funny. I don't know if part of it is that a sit doesn't feel as good to him or if it is just that sit hasn't been re-enforced highly enough. Either way we will keep working on it.
2 months ago
1 comment:
That's very interesting about sits. Opal also doesn't like to sit. For the first year we didn't teach her and now she has a sit command but would still rather down. Long back, probably.
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