First day for Gigi in Freestyle class - HELP
I know Gigi can do this but I need her attention consitently and all the time. HELP I NEED SUGGESTIONS. Maybe hotdog pieces ( i had training treats she likes ) The instructor did mention that OESes are clowns, silly and do not possess great attention but can and will learn. I will be practicing off leash with her. But need tricks of the trade. Gigi does great at agility - loves to run and be moving. Maybe she is not a freestyle girl. Maybe I am not a freestyle handler. No not giving up. Will keep on and see if Gigi likes it (and me). The most important thing for us to learn is having Gigi's eyes on me. That is our problem. She learns the moves quickly but we need to be off leash and me in control. The other dogs have all been involved in agility and obedience trials. so they are way ahead of Gigi. i feel the class is too advanced for her/me. I was told this was for beginners but guess for beginners to freestyle. The others were very nice to me as well as the instructor. sorry so long of a post. just a little overwhelmed by our first class. thanks |
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| Often the upright needs more training than the 4-Paw. Is sound permitted? Could you make an unusual sound....get a duck call...and when she responds, reward. Yes, ideally her name should be enough, but if she is startled and responds reward, reward reward. Yeah, I want to watch you doing freestyle with a duck call in your mouth! Relax, enjoy yourself. If you think you have stepped too far after a few weeks, it's fine to step down to a lower class. Just don't let Gigi get bored. |
| I was thinking that maybe Gigi and I should do more advanced obedience classes and then back to freestyle. She is also doing agility - which she absolutely loves. There she listens and responds to hand gestures. A duck whistle in my mouth - yes that sounds like fun. I am going to try hotdogs or another food she really likes. She does not eat hotdogs but maybe use as a treat for training. which ever way, i need her to keep her eyes on me and not get distracted. Is this a sheepie thing or is it her age - she is 19 months old now. ? |
| Free Style suppose to be fun and relaxing, I will recommend that more than anything , you and Gigi relax Then get something that she really really like, could be hotdogs or you can use her favorite toy, and just use them when you are training so she associate this with the good things to come. And the more important thing : take one move at the time, make sure she is really learning that move and not just doing it because the treats, I make that mistake with my Camille, she was doing everything for me when she was seeing the treats , but a soon the treat went away her brain disappeared too. You can watch a lot of videos in You tube of dancing dogs and get ideas, but whatever you do, make it fun, obedience is very strict, Rally is a little bit more relax and Free Style suppose to be fun. You Gigi will be ok, she just need to find that “dancing” is fun and free, don’t worry about the leash you will be able to drop it very soon. I have been training my Camille for year and a half and the first competition I enter I was left in the ring by myself looking like an idiot, because she decide to make sure that everybody in the back room was watching.  So don’t get discourage, the worst thing that can happen is that you end dancing by yourself  |
Heart has a problem focusing on me, she is more interested in watching everyone 'watching' her..  One of our trainers gave us this little focusing exercise that seems to work for us. Sit in a chair with GiGi sitting facing you. Take 3 pieces of hot dog. One is each hand one in your mouth. SAY NOTHING. Just sit there with your fists on your knees ~~ and wait.. GiGi will sniff one hand then the other trying to pry the treat from your fists... (maybe a couple of times)...eventually, she will look at your face, when this happens, 'spit' the hotdog toward her mouth. It will take practice on your and GIGI's part...YOU to spit just so and GIGI to grab the treat in midair. Do this exercise a couple times a couple times a day. This has really helped Heart 'get' that when she focuses on my face she will get a treat and I am happy!!! It is also a bit of an amusing 'trick'....  Good Luck!!!!! |
| Thanks! Good ideas! Hope I don't swollow the hotdog instead of spitting it at Gigi. Ha! Gigi is like your kids - has to see who is there and if they are watching her. also she loves to make sure the other dogs are well groomed (dressed) and behaved. If someone looks her, all bets are off. Her butt wiggles so hard she could sprain something and attention gone. She must make sure they see how pretty she is and her fur is perfect! No did not have any bling on her yesterday. I have been thinking about the class and decided to back off for now and do more training on off leash and attention - maybe an advanced obedience class then back to freestyle. I also think the freestyle class moves too quickly for us - we had to learn 11 new moves in one class. So if Gigi gets the attention and off leash - it will be easier for us. I can work with her on one move at a time and then return to class and not be so far behind the others. It was not fun for me - lots of stress. Even the others with the experienced dogs, were so nervous. We already have homework to prepare a presentation of 90 seconds. EEEEKKKK! Gigi and I will have fun learning and practicing moves and also keep with the agility. In a few months, we will return to Freestyle. |
A very wise decision.  And Val's exercise for building attention is how I start my dogs and how I eventually end up with head's up heeling as they say. WHEN Sybil actually remembers what she's doing (she's four and can still behave like something out of the exorcist  ) it's POWERFUL stuff. (Sybil at an agility trial)  I don't have a pic of Belle heeling I don't think, but this is the kind of attention you're looking for, for starters:  Just make sure that they can hold it from any position. I.e. after you've worked on attention from the front, you work on it with dog standing on either side of you. And you gradually add distractions. There's just so much to see and pay attention to. Some dogs are naturally attentive. I've had a couple of those and, yes, they are OES, and one of them is Sybil's mom  ) Others....they're just constantly scanning the environment because THERE IS SO MUCH TO KNOW........Eventually, and this comes with age and experience, the scanning becomes much more low key and experience allows them to filter what is not really all that important out much more readily. Some OES are just really slow to mature in this department and you just smile and know that you just keep working at it and it will come. Kristine |
| Oh Kristine lots of great advice. Love the photos!! They have their eyes on you! I had a pork chop hanging from mouth Gigi may stop scanning. She is young -- she is really good too - verbally (most of the time). Thanks all for the advice - will work with her. She loves to work! and clown around.... |
oesmom2 wrote: Ok then I took Gigi off leash - mistake one. She decided that the Sheltie looked like fun and proceeded to say hello to her. Her owner was not too happy. Ok back on leash for Gigi. Now Gigi is great at beginning obedience but needs work on attention to me. She knows the "watch me" command but only when there is nothing more interesting then me going on (even with treats) -- which is often. I cannot get her eyes on me most of the time. You have just described Tiggy perfectly. She'll look at me when I have treats and when there's nothing better (in her opinion) to look at. I'm contemplating buying a sheep suit to see if that makes me any more worthy of her attention. |
sheepieshake wrote: GiGi will sniff one hand then the other trying to pry the treat from your fists... (maybe a couple of times)...eventually, she will look at your face, when this happens, 'spit' the hotdog toward her mouth. It will take practice on your and GIGI's part...YOU to spit just so and GIGI to grab the treat in midair. Do this exercise a couple times a couple times a day. I am going to try this one! But I'm thinking Wayne should probably have the video out. I have this awful sneaking suspicion Tiggy will give up on my hands and attempt to snitch the hotdog out of my mouth.  sheepieshake wrote: This has really helped Heart 'get' that when she focuses on my face she will get a treat and I am happy!!! It is also a bit of an amusing 'trick'.... It'll be a really amusing trick if Tiggy starts trying to steal the treat from my mouth. |
| HAHAHAHA I tried it - so far I cannot get the hotdog piece to Gigi - it always falls on my lap. But she gets it. I need a lot of training! |
oesmom2 wrote: HAHAHAHA I tried it - so far I cannot get the hotdog piece to Gigi - it always falls on my lap. But she gets it. I need a lot of training! Maybe there is a special 'spitting' class you can take! I don't do any of this stuff with Mady (going to try the herding first) but if I did I think that I would just smear peanut butter all over myself and dab on a few pieces of lamb... |
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