Today we reviewed or practiced engagement, and leash pressure. Cody has always had a problem going slow enough when walking to heel. He does heel, but it is not comfortable for him. So today we practiced leash pressure, engagement, and put minor distractions in the engagement work.
Same with Bindi.
They did well. We had fun. They are great dogs! sharon

Tracking...
I've been reading Patterson's book, and have decided to implement some of his system, starting with the three-track method in the beginning phase. This will require backing up a bit, and some modification, as Sadie more readily fits into his evaluation of an intermediate dog (except for the articles, which Patterson only introduces after the advanced training is complete), but I have a couple of things to iron out and have decided to bring her back up to speed from right after the foundation phase.
I'd tried to implement the three tracks twice before today, but the damned bane of my recent tracking endeavors (namely the ants) have made it a nightmare. I was actually getting scared that I would screw her up even more by trying to work a new system in when we haven't been able to progress under the previous system. I haven't posted on this thread lately because nothing positive was coming from it and it was depressing to think about.
It rained very heavily last night. I wasn't going to track today because the ground was wet, but when I thought harder, I realized that the ants would pbly be laying low, so I grabbed my flags and bait bag and out the door I went (much to Sadie's delight!).

Tracking was rock solid, smooth, and methodical, even with ants on a couple of the baits. Sadie is a trooper as long as the ants aren't excessive; she'll just snort and drop the bait a couple of times to dislodge them. She wants that treat even more than they do!
She skipped a couple of baits after she got going on #2 and #3 but, as was my gut feeling, Patterson states that minimal skipped baits is an indication that the dog is working scent trail and not just hunting for treats. It was actually nice not to worry about articles for once, but I will be reintroducing them once we get some consistency.

Sadie and I were both extremely happy to have a decent outing this morning.

Foundational review for the dogs. leash pressure, heeling, engagement.
Bindi- Rally O heeling and turns. We worked on grass today and this is a major distraction for her. She can smell all the critters that were on it. It was fun to review, we ran a little, and shot all around the park. She liked it.
cody- Got really hot early, so we trained in the house. Review training of pivoting, "go touch" (running and hitting a ball with his nose), heeling, wait, through. leash pressure and engagement. He is a real trip! My husband built us a dog walk so we went out and walked it today. He loves it!
Terra- engagement, leash pressure, introduced to the dog walk. Once she figured it out she wanted to walk it over and over. She played today. She has been afraid to play. She now is learning to play with a tug and a ball.

Tonight we plan on doing something fun outside if it is not too hot.

That's it. Had some things to do today so that was all we could do.
Tracking looks so fun!
Sharon

Sharon;

I may have missed it, but I don't recall any further updates on teaching the pivot. Did you work it out? How is that going?

tracking, simple 6 turns, 5 articles baits only under 3 articles and 2 other baits at randoms spots.

Harley was better than me. I got lost and Harley draged me to the article. He knows the job, I was sure the track was 10 feet to the left. Good indication and slower then his usual fast pace, missed one very tight turn but circle right back on track.

Dexter did not leave the sent pad again, he does not seem to get the concept of follow the sent trail. It is more like he finds random treats on a straight line or on a spot. Maybe too hot for him or he was too tired.

with Dexter less is more. If I don't feed him and not excersise him for a couple of day, he is more happy to work.

Look, changing positions with hand signals, find it (article indication), with extra emphasis on position.
Also started foundation for a new down command (adding a "platz" for trialing).

Tracking this morning.
Three tracks from Patterson's beginning phase. Sadie was a bit quick on the elementary track, but this is a step back for her. It was a good opportunity for me to work on my handling, and it will be good practice for keeping her concentration on the track, which should keep her focused and slower.
Third track was on a change of cover. She tracked the legs surely, but missed the corner. I could have made it easier. Overall it was good, though.

Today at dog training we worked on jumps and heeling. My girl bindi didn't do well. Right away that dog that doesn't like bindi lunged and barked/snarled at her and almost got her. Her owner pulled her back in time. Bindi was off after that.
Any tips on what I can do to help Bindi not get so nervous when this dog or any other dog does this to her. I try and distract her, move her and ask for a different behavior to distract her. But today, she was just off and didn't really recover. I would like to overcome this response so if something like that would happen in or at a trial she wouldn't shut down. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Before that, at home we worked on games today. It has been boiling down here in riverside county ca. At 10:30 it was already 90 in the shade at our house. So, we worked on taking turns by playing with our puzzle and by playing "go touch" ( knocking over bowling pins when asked to "go touch") bindi and Cody did well at taking turns, Terra had a very hard time. She barked, she tried to touch the puzzle with her foot. I had to put her on her mat until it was her turn. Then we did some running back and forth from the mat back to me when I said "come". (we did this all together) We also did basic obedience commands all together too. That was fun. They had a good time and their skills of "search" were used and brushed up on.
Sharon


Edited by Connie Sutherland (07/23/2012 11:15 AM)
Edit reason: mod edit

I am working on it and went back to the heeling video with Michael Ellis. It is improving, Cody is beginning to move around in both directions with me. Bindi is a little slower. I am continuing to work on it. Terra is still back at leash pressure. Terra is so very hyper it takes a lot more time because she is so excited, she sometimes misses the concept. But once she gets it, she really gets it, so I know it will all come together. I really want all my dogs to have a good solid foundation.

So I feel good about it. And am still working on perfecting it.
I appreciate you asking about it.
I really have no one around me who is interested in dog training, of course except my trainer, so it is great to be able to get input from all of you.
Thanks so much.
Sometime this week or next I will be meeting with the competition obedience trainer for a one hour session. I am formulating questions for her this week.
Sharon

 Quote: Sharon Empson

Today at dog training we worked on jumps and heeling. My girl bindi didn't do well. Right away that dog that doesn't like bindi lunged and barked/snarled at her and almost got her. Her owner pulled her back in time. Bindi was off after that.
Any tips on what I can do to help Bindi not get so nervous when this dog or any other dog does this to her. I try and distract her, move her and ask for a different behavior to distract her. But today, she was just off and didn't really recover. I would like to overcome this response so if something like that would happen in or at a trial she wouldn't shut down. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

See http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=32506#364316