Obedience Sabotaged
He was first up; we walked to the middle of the area, stopped and I commanded "Sit" (he usually sits on his own, without command when he is on leash and we stop, but not tonight). He looked around the room like he realized everyone was looking at him, completely oblivious that I was there let alone just gave him a command. Walking was another treat; he started out slowly and had to be tugged into any turns. His downfall was sit-stay; got him in position, gave the command and walked away. For the first time of the evening he decided to pay attention to what I was doing; Dad was going somewhere and he knew he needed to come along. He aced his stays right from the start but not tonight; he acted like he had never done it, 5 times! My wife finally came over and tried it and he wouldn't do a sit-stay for her either. He did a good down-stay. After everyone else completed I took him to the other end of the arena and he did a perfect sit-stay. We were the only ones in the class to fail the evaluation though the instructor recommended everyone repeat Beginner before moving to the next level. The other dogs are 3 months to about 3 years older than Dexter. We are going to work with him outside a structured class for a while before we repeat. We failed, he didn't so he got his celebratory buffalo bone when we got home. |
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| 6 Months is such a tough time! Sheepies are so distracted; don't blame your pup! And I suggest repeating it right away- we did, and it really helped to reinforce the message that "this is how things are". It could be a lot worse; my Tonks has the opposite problem to your pup. she performs beautifully in front of anyone judging her. She was the best graded and behaved pup for trainers. At home? It all went right out of her head and she was a monster. We ended up bringing trainers into our home to work with Tonks, and BOY was she angry about that! I'd rather have a dog that freezes up in front of a judge but behaves wonderfully the rest of the time. Unless of course you are planning on competing. Then you are in trouble.  |
| ps: I just went and looked at your photos. What a GORGEOUS and huge pup! I bet he melts hearts at puppy obedience school!!! |
| I'm pretty sure it was stress that caused the malfunction at class. And also quite likely a large bit of it was from the humans on the end of the lead. He felt the change, and so his behavior changed....OMG, my humans are nervous, I will be too!....it happens all the time.  Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. And as Allison said, it would actually be best to keep going (unless you are so stressed by it that it will rub off on him). Getting out and doing things in a different environment is still an invaluable thing as they are growing and learning. All my dogs get out and go to class virtually as soon as possible. You just gear it to the pup, and get out and have fun. The ones that are technically my husband's dogs (3 of the 6) get a more sporadic education, as they are stuck with getting my available time after working FT, teaching classes and training mine!  For example - Riley the rat terrier is about 6 months older than Chewie (and is Todd's dog). Both were gotten as puppies. Chewie went to obedience class since 4 months pretty much non-stop. The 1st class session he was in training with my daughter, as even I draw the line at being the instructor AND trying to train a puppy at the same time! But after that he came with me twice a week when I taught, getting sporadic training and I swear learning by osmosis. In obedience, we actually have been purely students just one time! (yep, just one 8 week class).Then poor Riley - he is finally getting consistent quality time - at 5 yrs old. He went to several sessions with various family members - even with my now 9 yr old granddaughter - when she was 7-8 yrs old. He's a peach of a dog, but finally getting a chance to live up to his potential. In a perfect world, he would have been going to class right off the bat and in a consistent manner from puppyhood. So yes, my recommendation would be to get out, keep going to class, and enjoy yourselves and keep learning. And a comment - do you feel this particular class wasn't a match for you? I would hate to think I sent one of my students home so sad and feeling so bad they felt their puppy didn't even deserve a treat!   |
Dexter definitely deserved a treat and got one. We realize we are the ones that failed, not him. He temporarily gave up his new buffalo bone in favor of his chew, like he was makngsure his new boen was better. The way he looked around the room, not paying attention to me tells me he was nervous that he was out there by himself, not surrounded by other dogs as he had been for all of his classes. Stage fright? Also he may ot have felt well, he was 68.4 pounds the week before and 64.2 pounds the day of the eval. He ate only breakfast that day and a couple hours late at that. He's back on his feed now. We work on all the skills he learned at least twice a day now; everytime we walk we incorporate several. He goes to check the mail with me and rather than walk to the mailbox he gets a sit-stay on the side of the road (residential, if there was any traffic I would not do it). The next class that fits our schedule is early September, we may well join it. We have also considered private classes but we like the exposure to other dogs and people. |
got sheep wrote: And a comment - do you feel this particular class wasn't a match for you? I would hate to think I sent one of my students home so sad and feeling so bad they felt their puppy didn't even deserve a treat! Dawn makes a good point- We learned a couple of sessions in that our puppy training class wasn't really what we needed. Our trainers meant well, but they weren't much good beyond "sit, stay, heel"; and we needed some more specific training. Maybe you want to look and see what other training schools and classes are available in your area? Your puppy, well he's still a puppy. And while obedience is very important, it should still be fun for him and for you. |
I took Li'l Brittches to Puppy Kindergarten and she did great. When we started the next level, Britch learned everything 1st or 2nd time and everything was precision! Many were impressed including me. When it came to test night, Brittches was doing well then got bored. She waundered off to visit other dogs, have people pet her and just do he own thing. She also layed down ,got up to pee then layed down again. Obviously, she didn't pass! Now if anyone in this area is familiar with Marley Whiting, Canine College, (she also has written books) than you know she is a NO NONSENCE TRAINER! We had to reschedule a retest. Marley told me a time and date and we were there. She delayed us for almost an hour and then other dogs showed up. Meanwhile, she watched me put Britch through her paces. When she called us for testing, Britchie did well, but got bored again because we were at it too long. Britch broke the last stays and waundered off again. I was POd at Marley!!!!!!! She passed. We did not go back.  |
I just want to say Dexter is quite handsome...that's all.  Robin |
Yes, he is a very handsome boy! One thing that I liked about the training that we did with Mady was that it was not in a room somewhere. We trained on Parliament Hill, at a pub, in a park, beside a fountain, just all over the place. It helped us all learn to deal with the distractions. Also, one thing that I learned at our herding clinic this weekend was just how powerful our own emotions are and how easily your dog can pick up on it. The people at herding with the best dogs were the people who were the calmest. David and I both need to work on it. Your dog is gorgeous, you are seeing progress with him when you practice at home, so keep at it. Or if you want, you can send him to me....  |
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