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Thalia

Hector

Hector

Well-Known Member
QY10 said:
Thanks! Just got in from another practice in the yard. WOW, it's warm today and our front yard really lacks shade, but it's the easiest spot to set up the cones.

Maybe it's not that he's not motivated, but he's VERY laid back and has no sense of urgency. He likes to take his time, observe things, sniff things... he really likes to soak in his surroundings. He likes to sniff the grass, the flowers, watch the bees buzzing, look at the birds.

No matter how excited and encouraging my voice is, no matter how yummy the treat (most treats end up just caught in his slobber and jowls and end up falling out of his mouth, so he's not that motivated by them...).

Even asking him to sit... He will sit the first time that I ask him to, but it takes him forever! First, he has to look around him to make sure he's not going to sit on anything and then he will ever so slowly make his way into the sit position.
Click to expand...

haha definitely need videos

have you tried pushing him around to get him excited and raise his drive
 
QY10

QY10

Well-Known Member
I have pushed him around a few times to get him excited (can't now though as he is still resting his sore leg), but he gets really jumpy, which is frustrating because he's 80-ish pounds right now. Also, being that we're a multi-dog household... If more than one dog is out then the moment one jumps, the other starts jumping, too.

One thing I have noticed though is that he does like to jog with me. I really hate jogging/running, but I had started to take him into the field to job laps with him and he was enjoying it. It would sort of amp him up and as soon as we stopped jogging he would get the zoomies. Now, he's injured his leg and jogging has had to stop for the time being.
 
Hector

Hector

Well-Known Member
QY10 said:
I have pushed him around a few times to get him excited (can't now though as he is still resting his sore leg), but he gets really jumpy, which is frustrating because he's 80-ish pounds right now. Also, being that we're a multi-dog household... If more than one dog is out then the moment one jumps, the other starts jumping, too.

One thing I have noticed though is that he does like to jog with me. I really hate jogging/running, but I had started to take him into the field to job laps with him and he was enjoying it. It would sort of amp him up and as soon as we stopped jogging he would get the zoomies. Now, he's injured his leg and jogging has had to stop for the time being.
Click to expand...

Poor Angus, is he getting any better?
 
QY10

QY10

Well-Known Member
Somewhat.. It's very slow going. Some days he puts his full weight on it and other days he needs help going up the front steps.

I tried to take him for a very slow and gentle walk just about 5 minutes - to the back field, turned around and came back to the house.

It seems to be worst after he's been laying down. Once he starts moving he always puts more weight on it.


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QY10

QY10

Well-Known Member
So, we have started working on jumps and just overall precision. Really excited to keep on practicing with my baby girl and get everything down perfectly.


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QY10

QY10

Well-Known Member
Small brags:

First brag is that our trainer said that a bunch of people and their dogs started private sessions at the same time as Thalia and I. Our trainer said that we have consistently been farther ahead than everyone else.

Second small brag is that today we were working on our swings, fronts and "watch me". Thalia was in her heel position and I mixed up what I wanted to say. I meant to say, "heel" to signal that we were going to start walking, but instead I said, "front". Thalia promptly swung around in front of me into a perfect front, so close to me that her paws were maybe an inch or less from my shoes. I am just so thrilled that she responded solely to the verbal command without me having to assist her in anyway to get into position. Also thrilled that her front position is so nice and tight - even the trainer commented on it last weekend.

:) :) :) :) :)
 
Hector

Hector

Well-Known Member
QY10 said:
Small brags:

First brag is that our trainer said that a bunch of people and their dogs started private sessions at the same time as Thalia and I. Our trainer said that we have consistently been farther ahead than everyone else.

Second small brag is that today we were working on our swings, fronts and "watch me". Thalia was in her heel position and I mixed up what I wanted to say. I meant to say, "heel" to signal that we were going to start walking, but instead I said, "front". Thalia promptly swung around in front of me into a perfect front, so close to me that her paws were maybe an inch or less from my shoes. I am just so thrilled that she responded solely to the verbal command without me having to assist her in anyway to get into position. Also thrilled that her front position is so nice and tight - even the trainer commented on it last weekend.

:) :) :) :) :)
Click to expand...

*thumbs up*
 
QY10

QY10

Well-Known Member
I finally ordered a little hurdle to practice our jumps. Can't wait for it to come in.. I had resorted to piling up sticks for her to jump over LOL

Thanks, Hector! It's so nice to see all the hours of practice really start to pay off.


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QY10

QY10

Well-Known Member
[video=youtube;OhOOcb1bQgk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhOOcb1bQgk[/video]
 
QY10

QY10

Well-Known Member
Thanks! We've been doing Rally for almost a year now. :)


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QY10

QY10

Well-Known Member
[video=vimeo;140430517]https://vimeo.com/140430517[/video]

Just messing around this morning. Training and doing my own camerawork isn't my forte.

As you can see from the video, there's no collar, tab or leash. I use my hands as targets to let her know where she should be at all times. That keeps her heel nice and tight. In the beginning (and intermittently now) there was always a treat between my fingers. The treats are slowly being faded out as they are not allowed in the ring.


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QY10

QY10

Well-Known Member
[video=vimeo;140432194]https://vimeo.com/140432194[/video]

Just Thalia and I playing around this morning. Again, no collar, tab or leash. Just having a bit of fun doodling in the front yard.


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QY10

QY10

Well-Known Member
[video=youtube;hgL-P4XjGdg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgL-P4XjGdg[/video]

I FOUND MY TRIPOD! I no longer need to plead with Jason to videotape us practicing. Yippee!

Thalia and I were leisurely doodling in the yard this afternoon. She is wearing her Sprenger whale tail choke collar as well as a 'tab'. Her tab is a dominant dog collar, which I attach to her choke collar. The tab is short enough that it doesn't drag alongside her too much, or get her tripped up, but is long enough to give me something to grab if I need to give her a correction.

Doodling should be a bit faster paced than this, but I'm not very creative. The idea is to be spontaneous enough that the dog doesn't start to think that it can predict what you're about to do. When a dog thinks that it can predict a course/your actions, it'll start to get distracted. It'll start to look around, sniff the grass, shake etc... keeping it fast paced and spontaneous keeps the dog's attention on you because its like, "Oh shit, what's mom gonna do next?! I need to pay attention to her!"

Originally, I made our 'stay' hand signal and our 'back' hand signal too similar. Now, I am having to try to correct that because it got to the point where every time I tried to say 'stay', she would hop back a step, which is obviously no good.
 
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