Yes, this is a post that is entirely based on pictures of Tess.
We had a social BBQ at school yesterday afternoon, and a classmate took a ton of pictures of the dogs present, including Tess.
Tess did well - especially considering she's just 5 months old. I did let her off leash to play, but made sure she checked in often. There were a TON of dogs there and it was nice to see that she interacts appropriately with unknown dogs and maintains a decent recall. Her puppy brains didn't instantly bleed out of her puppy eyes the minute she was allowed to play.
Her obedience is coming along very well. The only area I'm unhappy with is her leash work. She's "OK" at the heel - meaning she doesn't pull on me - but I don't like how her position creeps forward. She HATES her gentle leader - so we have a deal. As long as she's responsive to heel, the gentle leader remains in my pocket. BUT, if she's naughty, the gentle leader goes on, but the leash doesn't get attached unless she continues to ignore my requests to heel....
I'm looking for an obedience class as prep for doing agility with her. I need to introduce the clicker soon (that's the method favored by the agility instructor that I want to work with). I'm considering working the "heel" with the clicker and see if that can positively reinforce the command.
"I'm looking for an obedience class as prep for doing agility with her."
ReplyDeleteHorses, vet school, dogs, writing, reenactments, crafts...
If you were a dog, you would be a Jack Russel.
Bill
What a good girl <3
ReplyDelete@Allenspark - LOL!
ReplyDeleteJust call me curious.... :)
Endurance and horses has been the one constant over my life. The fact that it's the one activity (along with running) that is still going strong after 10 years, I think it's pretty safe to say it's here to stay and all my other activities are for the purpose of advnacing my horse/endurance knowledge!
Okay, here's a good thing to try when teaching a dog to "heel":
ReplyDeleteYou are walking, the dog is in the correct place. When the dog creeps forward, scuff your foot on the ground followed by an immediate leash correction.
Rinse, repeat. As soon as the dog creeps forward, scuff, then correct. VERY SOON, the dog will self correct at the sound of your foot scuff.
This works best on a "loud" surface, like a sidewalk or gravel, but eventually the dog will tune into the sound of your foot on soft dirt. Works like a charm, and avoids vocal corrections that are easily ignored. Your foot is RIGHT THERE near her ear (and her brain), the leash correction follows the scuff IMMEDIATELY, the dog figures out fast that feet are giving important cues.
Let me know how it goes!
(this works with horses too, but I like "leash wiggles" better for those, since the leadline is closer to the brain than my foot-scuffing noise is...)
Great idea! I'll try that. I hat walking down the street constantly having to tell her to heel, so this works for me. I'll let you know.
ReplyDeleteShe is just adorable.
ReplyDeleteAnd can I have some of your energy, please?