[Chynasmom]

Well, Ozy and I had our first "Basic 2 - Moving Toward the CGC" class last night, and he was very good. I'm relieved, because I've been a bit of a training slacker in the gap between our last class and now.

We have a small class - besides us, there's a Springer Spaniel, a Rottie (just 5 months-sooo cute!), a Flat-Coated Retriever and an Aussie Cattle Dog. (Poor Ozy, the only mutt again!)

Last night we just covered the basics to see what everyone knew and didn't know. I really like this trainer (Scott) - he mixes "real" OB with "tricks" to keep everything fresh and fun for the dogs. Eg. Down & rollover, sit & shake or high-five, stand & spin. His take on it is that the DOG doesn't know what's "real" and what's a "trick", but if you just do the heavy stuff people tend to get too serious and overbearing - and the dog learns very quickly what's fun & not fun. So mixing it up makes sure that WE see everything as fun so they will, too.

He also went around and asked our long-term goals - what do we want to DO with our dogs. I was happy to see that everyone had multiple things planned. The Rottie will be doing conformation and OB (and maybe agility), the Flattie will be doing conformation and field trials (and maybe OB)... I'm hoping Ozy will be my Rally/Agility dog, and maybe therapy work when he's older. As Scott said, NOBODY could be nervous looking at that goofy face!

I'm so glad to be in classes again!

 

[snarky]

yay Ozy!!!

that's awesome, keep up the good work... :wink:

i too am a slacker when it's time for training in the house. we've only trained baylee a little on our own, but luckily baylee learns fast and showed me that on our first day of OB this past Tuesday!!

 

[Beetle]

That's great! Sounds like you've found a really good trainer. I like the idea of mixing in tricks so that the people thinks it's fun, and therefore the dogs think it's fun too. I just bought a book on tricks for that very purpose. My Aussie Odie is the obedient one in my pack. Sometimes when I work with him, he gets this very unhappy look when we do the "stay" command. The last thing I want to do is make it a chore for him.

 

[cannon]

Congrats to Ozy!

Does he have a special trick to teaching roll over? I cannot get mo to do it.

 

[Chynasmom]

We're teaching it with a lure (treat). From the down, slowly move your hand (with the treat) toward your dog's hip - this should cause him to "flop" a bit to his side. Keep it close to his body so he isn't encouraged to get up. As he flops over, keep moving your hand over his back so his head follows - this should get him all the way on his side. Continue with your hand and he should give a twist to flip his feet over so his nose can keep following the treat. (You're making kind of a flat circle over his back - far enough back that his nose can turn to follow - this should rotate the whole body.)

Ozy flopped and flipped pretty quickly, but with Chyna we had to break it down into steps. So you practice going from "down" to "flop," and then introduce flipping the legs over (I think this is harder for them). One problem that a lot of dogs have to get past is to not be so desperate for the treat that they're not paying attention to what you're asking them to do. For that, we practice "doggy zen" - to earn the treat, you must abandon the treat (works best if said in fake asian accent while calling your dog "Grasshopper").

Doggy Zen - hold a really great, smelly, squishy treat in your hand (pieces of colby/jack cheese or hot dog work well). Show it to your dog, then hold your hand still, keeping the treat inside, while your dog tries to get it (lick, chew, paw, nudge). Eventually, there will be a moment when his nose is away from your hand. "Yes" or click and give him a teeny taste. Repeat as many times as it takes him to figure out that (1) he's gonna get the treat, but (2) only when he isn't TRYING to get it. Then up the stakes so he has to really show patience (or even look at you) before he gets rewarded. After he's achieved doggy zen, it will be easier to use lures without getting your hand mugged.