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Gracie is nine months now and has fully embraced the bratty teenager role. I admire her ambition in doing this to the utmost, and she clearly is a dog that will never do anything half way, but she’s giving me a run for my money!
All but one of my dogs were adults when I got them and I never have trained a puppy for performance. Not sure if I’m failing miserably or if this is just part of the growing pains of a confident, willful dog.
First off, she had a beautiful recall in the yard from up to 50 ft away, and that has disappeared. She now looks at me and clearly decides that the baby bunnies and moles are far more interesting than any treat I give her for coming.
I’m now proofing recalls with less distance in the house and baby distances outdoors. I plan to gradually increase distance.
Secondly, she can’t be off leash at agility class anymore. She was doing well until she discovered zooming around the arena is more fun than anything I offer her. However...If I leave the leash dangling, she doesn’t zoom, but it inhibits her doing the obstacles well, and there’s a safety issue. She does have a beautiful stay at the start line when I leave the leash dangling. Because of this, I asked last class if I should take the leash off and the trainer replied “try it”. So I did and she stayed nicely at the start line, I walked out about 6- 8 ft, called, her and she looked totally committed to the tunnel. She reached the tunnel, had a split second sideways glance, and off she ran to the puppy on the other side of the arena. Ugh. This was followed by about 5 minutes of zooming around playing “keep away.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have led out so far, or maybe shouldn’t have taken her off lead at all? Maybe I should get a short two foot lead that won’t dangle so much but still gives her the sensation of a lead?
I have been working on impulse control in the house and she will sit in a long group stay with the other dogs. The yard is a different story. Maybe I’m not providing enough mental stimulation for her...or maybe she has too much? Perhaps she now expects life to be just one big party all the time.
What do you think of Susan Garret’s crate games? It might be the structure she (and I) need. How would I do this with three other dogs in the house who aren’t using crates? Should I set up four crates and do it together? It would be hard to separate her from them given the layout of our house.
Thanks!
All but one of my dogs were adults when I got them and I never have trained a puppy for performance. Not sure if I’m failing miserably or if this is just part of the growing pains of a confident, willful dog.
First off, she had a beautiful recall in the yard from up to 50 ft away, and that has disappeared. She now looks at me and clearly decides that the baby bunnies and moles are far more interesting than any treat I give her for coming.
I’m now proofing recalls with less distance in the house and baby distances outdoors. I plan to gradually increase distance.
Secondly, she can’t be off leash at agility class anymore. She was doing well until she discovered zooming around the arena is more fun than anything I offer her. However...If I leave the leash dangling, she doesn’t zoom, but it inhibits her doing the obstacles well, and there’s a safety issue. She does have a beautiful stay at the start line when I leave the leash dangling. Because of this, I asked last class if I should take the leash off and the trainer replied “try it”. So I did and she stayed nicely at the start line, I walked out about 6- 8 ft, called, her and she looked totally committed to the tunnel. She reached the tunnel, had a split second sideways glance, and off she ran to the puppy on the other side of the arena. Ugh. This was followed by about 5 minutes of zooming around playing “keep away.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have led out so far, or maybe shouldn’t have taken her off lead at all? Maybe I should get a short two foot lead that won’t dangle so much but still gives her the sensation of a lead?
I have been working on impulse control in the house and she will sit in a long group stay with the other dogs. The yard is a different story. Maybe I’m not providing enough mental stimulation for her...or maybe she has too much? Perhaps she now expects life to be just one big party all the time.
What do you think of Susan Garret’s crate games? It might be the structure she (and I) need. How would I do this with three other dogs in the house who aren’t using crates? Should I set up four crates and do it together? It would be hard to separate her from them given the layout of our house.
Thanks!