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Omg! I've Gone And Entered An Obedience Trial


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Hi Sue and Waldo... I live 4 hrs away from kcc park... so any regular training is impossible. Bendigo dog obedience club is great, but expensive, and I know that through term 2&3, I wouldn't be able to attend regularly, so having to work it out mostly on my own. lots of reading, posting videos and listening to others replys (and I read every post) and then trying them, some things work, some things don't. at the moment, I'm thinking I need to work on his focus?? on me, so I'm going to concentrate on that. face it, we know he knows, and I know the basics, but I didn't have his attention/focus at all.

Heidi

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Agree with Sue - his heel position was nice. And I've seen a lot worse debuts - even without the distractions of duck poos. :laugh: You've broken the ice now, so you know what's expected, and that will make it easier to work on things by yourself.

I see good things for yo two in the future.

Sue, I hope Waldo is OK.

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Agree with Sue - his heel position was nice. And I've seen a lot worse debuts - even without the distractions of duck poos. :laugh: You've broken the ice now, so you know what's expected, and that will make it easier to work on things by yourself.

I see good things for yo two in the future.

Sue, I hope Waldo is OK.

I think he is OK. He hasn't vomited since this morning and his developing herding traits at the moment. Trying to round us up towards his food but we think he had better rest his tummy. It is very cute behaviour though! I was very annoyed because it is the first time I had got DH to a trial and ... oh well.

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I once got handed a rather strong vodka prior to going in the ring at a Royal for our last pass for our title. Not sure my lines were really straight but I was rather relaxed!! We did pass ;)

He looks like he needs lots of razzing and playing and trying to get some bounce back. Use whatever turns him on for his treats, food, ball, toy, tug, play with you etc. sometimes the hardest bit is finding what they love, or creating an addiction.

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I have t seen all his trial video as the phone signal is dicey at the moment, yes he was distracted but he was much better than many I have seen at their first trial. I have also found it always feels worse that it looks to someone else's eyes. I think we often heap lots of expectations on ourselves and therefore create even more pressure on ourselves.

One thing I did notice was you were walking quite slowly with him. He has nice long legs, try walking much faster, it is easier for them to dawdle along when they do t have to take notice of what you are doing. If you speed up a bit you will become more interesting and it will get him moving and lifting his front. The ideal would be for him to be trotting, not walking or pacing.

He is very handsome :)

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Hi Paddles,

Good job!! You gave it a go, which is more than a lot of people. :)

One thing I was curious about...are you more energetic when training? Do you give a lot more subtle (or even not so subtle) body signals when training? It's almost like you lost communication with each other. I don't know if you had sound on the video...I haven't got speakers on this computer.

I still think well done, and you are only going to get better and better!

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Just out of interest, how did you teach sit and drop? Were corrections used in the past for non-compliance?

Do you mean when heeling? I didn't for Waldo but I did at first with Cindy. Waldo has a very fast drop/sit /stand and I lured with food then faded the food. the lure motion was the same as my hand signal. Is that what you mean? If he misses one I use a negative marker. Does that answer the question?

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all cool sue... I originally trained it with food lure/clicker, but then working under a different trainer, I was told to use "corrections" if he didn't do the requested activity, "a pop" on the collar. I am now working on being fully positive, but fading the food. I am working that we "play" if activity is correct, have also being trying a "oops" as a "non-reward" word. for failure to comply. I made several mistakes on the day of the trial, including being at kcc park all day, without letting him have a "run" down the back, and also (although I don't know if this was a mistake) but an hr ? less? before we ran milo through the drill, played etc.. then stood around waiting to go in the ring. I knew he was "flat" before I entered, I was trying to work him up prior to entering and couldn't get him working.

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paddles - obviously you need to work out what works best for your dog to get them into optimum state to trial but I would never "run" a dog more then necessary or do a practice round before going in the ring. They should be trained so that all you need to do is give them a quick toilet walk, they rest quietly in their crate or the car until you go in the ring then when you get them out you give them your undivided attention and into the ring you go. With my young girl I may get her out a few times before she goes in and just work a few short bits or give her time to assess the environment because she is nervy and does have drive to spare.

Just my view but if my dog was "flat" before I entered the ring I think I would pretty quickly excuse the dog as its not something I want to encourage and its also not much fun for the dog if they are just going through the motions (whether they still manage to snag a pass or not).

Any way the first one is now out the way and you can move on to the next trial and hopefully succeed :thumbsup:.

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Some thoughts...take no notice if you disagree paddles. :p

Is he OK as far as hips and elbows? There seems to be an obvious reluctance, particularly to drop, makes me think it is either something physical, or he is expecting a correction.

What does he absolutely go crazy about? Are you using it as a jackpot?

I'm not sure how much I believe in 'poison cues' but is it worth retraining your sit and drop with other cue words and clicker/food/jackpot to increase drive?

Gundogs can be very visually stimulated, I agree he should be kept fresh and mostly be in that place where he feels chilled enough to sleep - so whether that is crate or car etc.

He heels very nicely, I think he would start to look up more often if you did walk faster. :) Most young GSP's I know are crazy bananas, they generally levitate more than walk. :rofl:

I know my Toller hates repetition, I have been to a few seminars of top trainers who say they teach everything in separate parts, with jackpots etc, and only really put it together in the trial ring.

Get down to FOO's if you can, it sounds fantastic for practice and advice. Maybe you will see a few handlers using jackpots too. :)

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Foo's is 4 hrs away... really unlikely to happen. I had the same thought, about a physical issue, but no he's clear. I use jackpots, play etc, and am getting there. he HATES to drop on most surfaces, he's getting better at the drop, but yes I know what you mean. we're working on bits and pieces at all times, so I might do say 3 sits? or 2 sits and a drop... then that's it... we always finish on a good note (even if I go back a step to do so) when he came here, we've been working to increase drive, but there are no trainers here to learn from, I attend Bendigo dog obedience when I can, but family/money stops most things. I have to work stuff out myself in a lot of ways. I have some very good friends who watch my videos and pick up what I need to walk on (like the double signal on the recall) and my footwork. but mostly I'm trying to figure stuff out myself these days. I have always had an issue with his drive, when he came here he didn't "play" at all, and now is only just starting to play...

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A great way to build drive is Susan Garrett's Crate Games (then you can keep him in the crate while waiting your turn. let him out and BAM! he'll be on fire). She has plenty of stuff on YouTube and I'm happy to lend you the DVD for a few weeks. I find the agility people more advanced in terms of motivation, building drive etc.

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Foo's is 4 hrs away... really unlikely to happen. I had the same thought, about a physical issue, but no he's clear. I use jackpots, play etc, and am getting there. he HATES to drop on most surfaces, he's getting better at the drop, but yes I know what you mean. we're working on bits and pieces at all times, so I might do say 3 sits? or 2 sits and a drop... then that's it... we always finish on a good note (even if I go back a step to do so) when he came here, we've been working to increase drive, but there are no trainers here to learn from, I attend Bendigo dog obedience when I can, but family/money stops most things. I have to work stuff out myself in a lot of ways. I have some very good friends who watch my videos and pick up what I need to walk on (like the double signal on the recall) and my footwork. but mostly I'm trying to figure stuff out myself these days. I have always had an issue with his drive, when he came here he didn't "play" at all, and now is only just starting to play...

Fair enough, sounds like you are working very hard to help him. :thumbsup:

K9Pro has distance packages for training in drive, perhaps that is worth enquiring about. :)

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