Poodle Forum - Standard Poodle, Toy Poodle, Miniature Poodle Forum ALL Poodle owners too! - View Single Post - Reigning in Zoomies for Agility
View Single Post
Old 09-09-2010, 09:33 PM   #5 (permalink)
Rocketagility
Member
Points: 1,127, Level: 19 Points: 1,127, Level: 19 Points: 1,127, Level: 19
Activity: 23% Activity: 23% Activity: 23%
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Names of dogs: Rocket
Poodle Type: Standard Poodle
Location: Cold Lake Alberta, Canada
Posts: 97
Thanks: 0
Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts
Default

I believe there is basically 2 roads in agility one where the dog has drive and goes like a bat out of hell and the other where the dog is completely under control and sorry to say more than likely slower. I like the driven dog sure it has cost us with off courses and missed contacts in the beginning but I have a fast Standard poodle now still and we are competing at the masters level.

Now zoomies are done for a couple reasons one is stress and the other is for fun. Without seeing you or your dog it is hard to say for sure. If it is stress then keep working and always make your training fun and without corrections and your dog will have less chances to stress. I no longer use Non reward markers in training stop saying NO in training it will be the best thing you will ever do. If your poodle is self rewarding then I say challenge him more and start running with your dog, I bet you are trying to fix stuff all the time stop fixing stuff it is demotivating. If your dog for example runs past the weaves then work just weaves and weave entrees in a separate training session.

One more story that I found out about my dog and zoomies I went to a trial and my dog had not done zoomies for about a year so I thought they where long gone from our first trial. Anyways I took my dog out to get ready way to early I am talking about 30 minutes too early and we played and did tricks and obedience and tug and a bunch of stuff to keep him focussed and he did amazing, so we finally get called to the ring we walk in a perfect heal and I take off his leash and without any warning he explodes into the craziest zoomies I ever saw he ran the course 3 or 4 times by himself before he came back. We NQ'd. The next run I basically took him directly from his kennel to the ring and it was his best run ever.

So what is happening with your dog is he bored or is he over worked?

I still say agility and food treats are invaluable also I am not a fan of luring in dog training look up shaping or operant conditioning. Make your dog hungry cook up some beef liver or chicken breast try salmon or stinky cheese. Hand feed your dog for a week or two till he learns to take food from you nicely.
Rocketagility is offline   Reply With Quote