Sue & Waldo

I bow to a superior trainer and changed my avatar

I had terrible issues with this because I take Cindy visiting as a therapy dog. To prevent her jumping on patients I taught her to sit if anyone approached her to have a pat. SFE=sit for a pat I re-trained her and only patted her in a stand and taught her this in the hospital as well. I used steady feet game with treats and pats. I put her in a stand and offered treats/pats-if she moved no treats/pats. Her SFE is great now. I use the steady feet as part of her training very regularly. We have this game as I move the treat around and she stretches her had to it.

congrats ruby star-well done!

Excellent work! Well done.

LOL no wonder I can't heel I don't know the difference between a RAT and a rat

That was what wrong with me I forgot to channel ;) Well done with your results. Let me tell you if there was a rat near me I would be gone in a flash. I am totally rodent phobic!

No need to see a video-GUILTY! I have also trained a lag by rewarding her coming into heel rather than a heel. To make it 3 /3 I walk into her so puch her away. It is the untraining of the handler that is so frustrating. At least I enjoyed the trial (apart from the heeling) so for me and my nerves this is a big plus.

In CCD it was the same. I keep blowing the heeling AND NOT LEARNING FROM IT. If I learnt it would be different. Ah well. I was proud of her though-she igonored a dog in the next ring who had lost its seek back article and thought it would try our ring while we were doing the SFE.

Well first the good news! I attended the trial and met the spotted devil who is more angel than devil! I also met the lovely Em who had a competition with Cindy "I am more submissive than you" "no you aren't" They were very cute. More good news: Our scores: SFE 29/30 (crooked stand) Recall 38/40 (crooked return) COP 30/30 Sit stay 30/30 Down stay 30/30 Wait for it: The very bad news: heel free 18/40 I had worked SO HARD on my footwork and I am so cross with myself. The dog before me withdrew less than half way through their heeling pattern and I had only just got Cindy out to warm her up so instead of taking a minute I rushed into the ring flustered. Cindy was slow to heel and I started looking at her instead of concentrating and blew the whole heel free. Honestly it was a shocker of a run. Got some great tips from the spotted devil-thanks Sally. If only...

It was awesome work. I didn't know it was you while I watched you in the ring but he was so happy! I held my breath when the rottie wanted to play with ziggy (by which time I had worked out who you were), he did so well. Well done.

Well done Rubystar! All the best for tomorrow!

Thanks for the best wishes JulesP. I was very pleased with her work today. i just did a very short sharp heeling session, COP, recall and she did well! Not sure how I feel about tomorrow. I think if I can keep my heeling speed even and my the length of my steps as I have worked on. I have been walking with my metranome and working on my stride length and Cindy's heeling has improved-still a bit soon to be trialling in Novice I think. Teach me to get over-confident after 1 good training session. PS You should see some of the looks I have been getting in the park as a train the heel position with a dog and a metranome sounding in my pocket. The things we do for our dogs.

OK Sunday's trial is getting closer and I am wondering why I am doing this. Cindy is not broken (I may be) but it is her usual problem of heeling just behind my left leg and slow drops or if the ground is damp or even dew on it-hovering drops. Yish. At least I have worked out I am not competing with the ring-only myself! At the biginning of the week I had thought I was close to a Q but then the rain came.

Is there a park where people walk their dogs nearby? Is there a pet supply shop nearby-maybe they know of others who walk together? Ask at the local training club? Where in NSW are you? Could you post in DOL Social Events thread? Hope you find someone to walk with?

Well done everyone!

Have you done all the initial steps??? Yes-to the letter. She just rarely mouths any toys apart from tugs. She noses kongs etc. Can you video your next session? GREAT NEWS! Cindy's picking up a dumbell!

Thanks for the best wishes-I am sort of confident but we will see. If the ground is wet we will be in trouble. Little miss fussy doesn't drop on wet grass without treats!

Hey, i go to K9-Company on monday nights in Doncaster. So glad you enjoyed it, the trainers there are amazing! I am doing a course at the moment and i go there as part of it....man they have taught me so much too I believe they actually got trainers of the year? So do I but do we know who each other are? See you in an hour and we may be able to work it out!

Thanks for your advice. I have a bad shoulder so I will look at that position. She does know the heel position but has always lagged and before I knew what I was doing with training I was rewarding a lag. I will try and get a video. Good luck WAers!

Next sunday is our first Novice trial! I am still not at panic stations ...yet... Cindy is still lagging about 30cm but is consistennt in that position unless I look at her so I am working on the best hand position I can use (excluding a thumb on her collar ) I have wondered about her drive. I am now convinced that she has ZERO prey drive. Walking her on Sunday with my daughter's dog, Maia - a border collie x - we spot a rabbit. Maia takes off. Cindy hides behind my legs and waits til the rabbit is gone and then gives chase ;) Not concerned about the drive but any hints about the heeling would be gratefully accepted!

Well done!!

I am so pleased you went back to training and your girls did so well. Well done for biting the bullet and returning! You even got a bonus with good training rounds!

Well done luvlottie and xena98 Awesome work!

Well done Wuffles. I love the expressive face on your dog! very cute.

I have no problems for pulling dogs out for the reasons above-but I do if it is because the score will be below 195 as the only reason. I appreciate your help in thinking this through and encouragement for next weekend. that my brain, heart and feet are all on the same page!