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Summer School blog 18th Nov

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Posted November 19th, 2008 by Aidan

Loose Leash Exercises -
started with Frankie and Koolie walking in parallel. These two are very used to playing with each other, so I was impressed with their self-control. We used 300 Peck to teach duration of loose leash, and it worked very well with these advanced dogs.

We then did the same exercise with Jack and Remus. Remus was satiated and not willing to work for food (not fault of Cindy, but a well-meaning family member). Jack did very well. This shows the importance of setting the dog up for success, and for the dog who isn't particularly food driven, that means 'hungry'.

What this also demonstrates to me is the importance, as an instructor, in setting the student up for success with their dog. I got the impression that Cindy was a little discouraged by tonight's class. I should have backed it up a bit more. We did do some tug-work with Remus and he loved it, I think this will be a winner once we can establish some stimulus control.

Recalls went well, not much to note. Jack didn't initially want to come to me when my back was to him, so we worked on this. Ness turned her back too, and he came to her.

Sabella didn't want to come to anyone but me while we were walking. MUST work on this, bad, bad, bad. This is a known problem from last year that was never addressed. She did, however, come to me reliably while walking.

Sabella did exceptionally well around other dogs, I was very proud of her. We pushed her very close to Jack, no problem at all, not even initially when getting out of the car. She is quite relaxed these days, I think being in the new dog-run and not having access to the neighbour's pesky dog behind the fence has helped, she can chill out a bit more during the day.

Next week I'd like to go over some of the things we will be testing to find what we need to work on the most. This will include loose leash, two ball, recalls in test situation. Those things will all make great homework.

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