That poor kid...
Consider that the end of Stout's trialing for a little while :( Well, I already have him entered in his first NADAC trial in a couple weeks, but I think I will use it as a training opportunity.
But we are going to back-track a little & add more value for working with me. I should be more fun than anything else out there, except maybe the equipment itself. So until I can bring out the fun side of myself (and I'm really not that "fun" by nature), I'm not going to reinforce this behavior by continuing to let him practice it. So we both have some things to work on :)
This was his first time running twice in a day and I don't think he's ready for that either. The second run was not the crazy Stout that I love. He was much more subdued & the personality was lacking. He didn't have any focus. He just "wasn't that into it." So once again, I need to redefine the "fun."
Don't worry, Stout will have this figured out in no time. He is brilliant. And hilarious. Even without visiting bar-setters, I'm pretty sure he will still incur laughter in the ring :)
Stout is definitely the most UN-"reserved with strangers" I think I've seen in a Cardi :-)
ReplyDeleteI know when that behavior of skipping jumps/obstacles happens, my instructor has you go back to rewarding after just two or three obstacles, esp. jumps. We tend to reward like crazy on the contacts/weaves and forget to reward the jumps. It also helps to keep him focused on you because he is looking to see when that next treat is coming...of course throw the treat, don't hand feed or he'll focus too much on you.
I'm sure you already know all of this but I can't help myself :-)
Oh no, I welcome any & all suggestions!
DeleteI think you're right. We train by ourselves, just me & him. So no distractions & I can get all kinds of work out of him...
But when we do go somewhere else, I need to treat more frequently, especially for jumps & handling stuff. We're taking 3 huge steps back when I ask him to do it in public, so I need to reward like we are taking 3 steps back :)
Silvia Trkman said to always reward with thrown stuff. Something like: if the treat comes directly from your pocket to their mouth, why would they run any faster than your pocket? I try to remember that :)
He has potential, we all know that! But we'll be sad we won't get to see our dose of molestation at the trials for a little while... ;-)
ReplyDeleteHysterical! I can totally see Treasure acting the same way (sigh)...
ReplyDeleteWe already know his dad had his moments -- I'd expect no less of his darling baby boy!
ReplyDeleteHis half-sister Smooch was that way when we started. She doesn't visit much but will just be unmotivated and sorta wander around. We have our own equipment so I'll invite folks over to run a course and we try to set up funky scenario's to proof the dogs. We have wacky judges that throw toys, ring crew that are eating lunch etc. It's fun but challenging to get your dog to leave all of that fun alone. A group of us will also take our jumps, tunnels and temp fence to local parks and set up a course there. :) Smooch has mostly grown out of the teenaged "I don't wanna..." phase. She's pretty solid and is working at the Excellent level now. AND she's still the belle of the ball and has lots of friends because she flings herself at people (mostly at her friends now thank doG!) Who can resist such a friendly, silly dog? Good luck!
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