went out....thunderheads roaring...95 and humid humid. we went for about 15 minutes..15 minutes was enough for her in this heat....i was sweating my ass off....i can only imagine her....no coreections. some random commands. done well. no leash....scary part...had 4 younger kids come up...wanting to pet...i kindly said no...was going to let them feed her a treat...but i was out...she was very cautious...she isnt like that when i have strangers to my house...outside of the house its different. i downed her and immedielty sent her out for the ball while the kids where right beside us,,,,,done pretty well....one thing i did notice...might be nothing...while the kids were up beside me...she turned her head and i made a sound with the ball on accident...made her jump...she thought it was coming from the kids....but i quickly showed her the ball and she forgot all about it....it was just weird when the kids showed up....kinda worried me....acted kinda shy and very cautious....weird... but overall she did great....listened,... i would say 90% of the time. was being stubborn going from the sit to the down..no correction i just wouldnt give her the ball until she did the right thing. .ive also noticed that a lot of the time when i say sit...she sits and when i say stay she will sometimes down....most of the time not...but sometimes.....she loves going to the down when i say stay....only with the ball....not with food. her "ball" drive is really good.....not so much with anything else
(toy wise)

If kids come up again, put her on leash and do lots of fun stuff a bit away from the kids. Tell them you need their help - you are training, etc... and not to pet but to stay there and let you work her over there. She isn't used to kids yet, blah, blah, but you need their help at a distance.

If you dog is ever off leash and you are the LEAST bit uncomfortable with her toward anything - get her on leash but keep it light and fun, not scary. Treats, etc...

sweet i kinda did the right thing... they hung around for a bit while i was playing ball with her... she pretty much ignored them after a few minutes... they continued on through the field and we continued playing

You guys/girls think I should go ahead and buy the heel video ? According to the Susan barwig book the heel is pretty simple. Well I've found it to be the toughest thing yet. This one will def take some time . After we played last night we did a little more in the house. Started with the trying to make contact. Her eyes stay glued to the ball... Didn't do bad and in the process I taught her the "up" on my chest and really had no plans on it until she started doing it. This is starting to be my dog training journal. Lol. I read through all the post daily.. Lol

I def think you should get the video here at LB. If you even look at youtube at dogs practicing or trials, there are happy dogs and happy owners...these dogs are enjoying it and there are others that go through the motions.

I've seen dogs that do it, but that umphhh is not there and it is frankily sad to watch, for me. I truly think it comes down to the how of the training.

Edited by aimee pochron (07/17/2010 11:24 AM)
Edit reason: typo

RE: eye contact. I remember you saying that she isn't food motivated, but the ball might be to high in value at this point. She doesn't have to be super excited to give you eye contact, but when she does that is super exciting and you become more valuable than the ball. Maybe try a different treat for this exercise?

 Quote: jeremy moore

You guys/girls think I should go ahead and buy the heel video ? According to the Susan barwig book the heel is pretty simple. Well I've found it to be the toughest thing yet. This one will def take some time . After we played last night we did a little more in the house. Started with the trying to make contact. Her eyes stay glued to the ball... Didn't do bad and in the process I taught her the "up" on my chest and really had no plans on it until she started doing it. This is starting to be my dog training journal. Lol. I read through all the post daily.. Lol

That focus on the ball gives you something to work with. For right now, keeping her looking up is good. Later on you'll start removing the ball from sight, but for right now think about the placement of it. If its on your shoulder,turn your face a little bit to where your looking her in the eye and look for her to look past the ball to your eyes.

Mark that and pay it right away.

I'm going to leave the ball out tonight for the eye contact. I was skipping steps on trying to teach the heel. I've only worked with her a few times so I'm going to start all over on the heel. I wasnt teaching the heel in small steps. Got carried away. I'm going to purchase the video. I can't say she isn't food motivated. She is..just not like the ball, which is normal. I didn't think she was while trying the heel but I was doing it all wrong. So that statement I made was false .

Sounds good.. Then once that happens I will mark and reward her with ball.. She will soon catch on..

Do you guys think it may be setting me back while I'm at work and the wife plays fetch with her while I'm not there? I don't know how to go about this. Im just wanting to make sure it's not causing conflict .