Obedience Training

We've been confined to home, the park, and the yard so we've had no agility to train for two weeks already- with two more to go. I still am workingon ground work stuff, but I have also been training the dogs in Obedience every day. Even Vito can't escape.

Boone has been working on Stand/Stay. He knows now what "stand" means, but is very uncomfortable in a stay in that position- so I am working on changing his default behaviour from a sit to a stand to make it more "normal" for him. He doesn't like change, so it has been a bit of a struggle but he is starting to get it. I also have been working on making sure he knows where heel position is- he just generally follows me around I think, so I have been using lots of clicker, and lots of fun heeling games to teach him. He is doing very well, and I don't think he'll have any problems in Medicine Hat. There is still a whole month to train.

Wicca has been working on the broad jump- no cutting corners, and making sure to clear the jump with no movement on my part. Wicca is not a natural jumper so even with something like the broad jump her form has not been great. I went back a few steps to a target, and then added a bit of height using a regular jump, and now she is understanding to clear the jump. And we've been working on fronts. Her fronts have never been great- passable, but not perfect. There are lots of fronts in an open routine- so I expect better- so I've had to train better. With a little bit of work they are improving. We also have been doing a bit of retrieving. She LOVES to fetch, and loves her dumbbell, but I was finding that after I take the dummy away she would jump up and bark- so we have been working on a calm release. :o)

Pixel is learning to heel and is doing great- she is a little wide, on about turns so we've been using a toy to correct that. Also I've been teaching her left turns and it has been a bit of a challenge. I need to go back and teach her to back up better I think. It will help her to understand more about moving backwards. Pixel is also at the stage where I am starting to add distractions to her stays. She is very, very good. And we've been working on fetch- as in fetch a non-moving toy and bring it back to me. I broke it down with a clicker (she previously would only fetch a toy I had thrown) and she is now retrieving almost anything. I introduced her to the dumbbell and she was quite happy to trot around with it.

Vito is learning to heel fast. He is a good heeler but peters out and starts going slower, and slower and slower.... :o) It is a very typical Vito thing. So we've been doing three steps fast/reward. Three Steps Fast/Reward...over, and over, and over again. He is now pretty excited about heeling and is moving at a good pace. For Vito. We've also been working on Stand. He kind of melts to the ground if he is touched so I have gone back and clickered it. He will now Stand on a verbal cue only and doesn't melt to the ground into a pile of mushy vito.

I am excited about the progress they've made in just under two weeks, and am looking forward to being able to return to classes soon!