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Permalink Reply by Ludi on January 6, 2013 at 3:09pm

1. I'd get a pair of gloves that you wouldn't mind messing up with teeth nibbling at it/food crumbs. Often, though, I just end up ditching the glove because it's a huge pain in the arse to manage it. I use a hip-level treat satchel from Outward Hound with a French hinge to keep it propped open when I want. I can slide it open or close with just one hand, in a fluid motion. It's REALLY nice for training.

2. I am not a fan of flexis in general; I think they're more trouble than they're worth. But heeling should be completely separate from walks in general. Ace walks like crap on a lead - criss-crossing, stopping to sniff or stare at things, but when I ask him to do a tight heel, he absolutely knows what to do. His walking habits have no bearing on an exercise like that. :-)

3. Have you worked extensively on Becca's rear end awareness? I have a tiny footstool on which, every night for their meals, Lady and Ace have to do tons of R.E.A. exercises. I ask this because it will greatly help Becca in staying "in line" with you at your side. I got Ace to stay tight at my side for the positions by training up against a wall. He has no choice but to stay in the right place - again, it's a lot easier on the dog when he is very good at R.E.A.

4. Let the dog have a say in what he wants to do! I didn't listen to Ace for ages and kept making him do dog-dance type of things. He would comply, sure, but he wasn't really thrilled. And I am a very exacting person so when he would perform so-so, I would be very disappointed and that would come across immediately. I didn't like that kind of relationship between me and him. So now, we work almost entirely on competitive Obedience behaviours. Ace is much happier since this is exactly the stuff he excels at, and I never get upset with him (or more importantly, myself) so it's always a great joy to perform with him.

What activities do you think Becca is particularly great at?

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Permalink Reply by Marcie on January 6, 2013 at 3:39pm

Thanks. I also end up taking off my mitten, some days it us just too cold. I will look at other bait bags, mine doesn't work well with my parka on. We have worked on REA, she is better than she used to be. I use my exercise step. It has been awhile since I used the wall for a placeholder, I'll start again.

So far Becca seems to like everything. We have done beginner obedience, trick class, fur fun, beginner agility, a trieball workshop and a CDSP workshop. I think "Fur Fun" has been her favorite class. It was more for bonding and an introduction to a variety of dog sports. Beginner agility was fun for both of us, but having the class from 7-8pm almost killed me after working all day. I was happy to find this Saturday rally class, I hate night driving in the winter. I have to drive 30-60 minutes each way for classes.

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Permalink Reply by Ludi on January 6, 2013 at 3:57pm

It does help to have a class during which you don't feel like dying! :-D Do you think Becca will warm up to rally like she did to a general Fur Fun class? From what I hear Rally is a pretty great sport with a variety of obstacles to keep it interesting. Ace on the other hand seems to adore comp. Obedience so that's what I'll stick to. He's such a serious dog! Is Becca the same way, or does she enjoy the variety?

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Permalink Reply by Marcie on January 6, 2013 at 5:31pm

Becca is not serious except when it comes to food or the cat going in her crate. lol

I'm hoping rally works for her. I think the variety it gives within a course will be good. It is a four week class, so even if it doesn't work at least I will know. I'm just a little worried being a beginner in an advanced class.

Becca will back up on command when she is facing me. How did you teach Ace to back up while he was beside you?

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Permalink Reply by Ludi on January 6, 2013 at 6:30pm

I started with Ace standing between my legs and backing up like that. Then I'd start off with him in heel position, ask for a step backwards. If he complied without swinging around to face me, I rewarded heavily. Went back to between legs, did more back-ups, then tried again at my side. Eventually he got the hang of it. I never rewarded him or acknowledged it when he would rotate himself towards me while backing up. We also practised this against the wall so he couldn't swing his rear out of the way. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Markley on January 6, 2013 at 5:42pm

You need to switch to a leather lease for the training.  No flexi-leads.  This way you have more control over the dog.  Otherwise the flexi-lead is OK. It just depends how die hard you are going to be on training.  If you want your dog to ALWAYS heel when walking, then stick with the leather lease to walk at all times.

 I wear a special treat bag around my waist-- it allows for easy access of the treats.  You could maybe get the "texting" mittens- the ones with the fingers cut out.  It'd be easier to grab then. You need to get her faithfully obeying sit/down from you standing in front before you can start working on her being at your side.  When she's faithful about it, she really should have no problem doing it from whatever position she's in.

I guess for the classes, do what you BOTH enjoy the best.  We did rally and obedience, and Seanna got bored.  Our favorite is agility!  We both have a great time...and it's good exercise.  Seanna is so good they use her as a demo quite frequently...  :-)

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Permalink Reply by Marcie on January 6, 2013 at 6:04pm

She has sit/down front no problem. She just likes her eye contact I think and swings out so she can see me. Stay was a major effort because she would shift and circle with me if I tried to walk around her. It took all the tricks my trainer had up her sleeve to get past that one.

I need to find a bait bag that will work with my winter coat. I have a parka and it won't stay clipped on the pocket. I can't clip it to my jeans because the parka is too long.

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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on January 6, 2013 at 8:36pm

For Franklin I used a popsicle stick and peanut butter as his treat. I filled a very small tupperware with peanut butter and dipped the popsicle stick in the peanut butter and allowed him to lick it while moving. I had the problem in rally where when I tried to treat him he would accidentally bite my fingers and this was suggested by my rally teacher. Another thing some people used were things like the kong stuffing or cheese whiz where you can treat directly from the bottle. 

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