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Permalink Reply by MagnoliaFly on November 5, 2008 at 9:47am

Mine is two and she still gets too excited sometimes to quickly lie down on the table. Last night she was going so fast, trying to skid to a stop on the table and then lay down was hard for her, she was like a loaded spring.

I've used lots of treats on the table and played all sorts of games jumping on and off the table, sitting, doing a down, sending to it - she loves the table. If you are trying to have your dog generalize a behavior to a new object like on a table or chair, it can be difficult at first. Keep the sessions short and reward often. End on a good note.

Permalink Reply by Linda Taylor on November 5, 2008 at 9:53am

I like the loaded spring idea. Mickey gets going fast and sometimes just likes be direct, like if there is a target at the end of a series of obstacles he figures why waste time doing the jump and the tunnel? But without that distraction he loves doing the course. He can't wait to start. We're working on patience.

Permalink Reply by MagnoliaFly on November 5, 2008 at 10:07am

It is hard getting started. Moving from one to two obstacles to whole segments can be difficult. I just started running full courses (20+ obstacles) two months ago in my classes and I've been training for a year.

Once they get it, they get it and it is exciting to watch.

Permalink Reply by Megan on November 11, 2008 at 9:00pm

They are smart little buggers--Dally learned about the whole target thing and she can run around things to get there before me. That's when you need to have someone there by the target to pick it up before your Corgi gets to it, if they skip some obstacles. They need to learn that in order to be rewarded, they need to do everything asked.

Dally can some times have slow downs....it's like shes taking her precious time to s-t-r-e-t-c-h on down. So, if I know our standard course asks for a down at the table, we do a series of walking, then quick down, stay for a few seconds (vary the amount, so she can't count to five--I told you, they're smart!), then praise her for a good down and walk on. I vary the times I give her treats to down--she never really knows when she'll get a treat.