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New Class Update

Discussion in 'Agility' started by Jess041, Jun 3, 2014.

  1. Jess041

    Jess041 Forums Enthusiast

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    Feb 2, 2012
    Houston, Texas
    Missy and I have been to 4 classes so far, one we just watched a video because it was raining. The first two classes were pretty rough. She was very distracted and kept sniffing the ground. I'm not sure if that's because a lot of dogs have been there, or if she was stressed out. I went back to my Control Unleashed book to see if there was anything I could do about it. Basically I tried to remain calm and keep her engaged. I didn't want her to get stressed out about what we were doing. It seemed to make a difference. She was listening better last night and minimal sniffing. The only time she really had her nose to the ground was when we were doing something in an area where someone was using spray cheese earlier (ew).

    Her stays were really really good last night. At home when there isn't an obstacle in front of her, her stays are awesome. But put a jump in front of her, and sometimes it's a bit too tempting. We didn't have any issues with that last night. In fact, one of the dogs (who is quite a mess and had the spray cheese), started running around the area while I had Missy in a stay. I maintained eye contact with her and kept my hand up (like, "stop"), and she didn't bat an eyelash when he ran by her. I was expecting her to go chase him and join in the fun. So I'm very proud of her for using some impulse control and ignoring the running dog! Lots of treats for her! She had pretty good focus until the very end of class, where I think we exceeded her threshold for patience. It was probably a combination of her not understanding what I wanted her to do, and her being pushy and wanting to go go go. I can tell when her barking goes from "weee agility" to frustrated.

    We still have a bit of catching up to do. Most of the issues are my fault, not taking the time to work on them between classes. Missy is smart and picks up on things fairly quickly (when she's not being pushy), so it's really on me to make sure we practice at home.
     
  2. Mom2Melli

    Mom2Melli Forums Enthusiast

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    Oct 2, 2013
    Central California
    Really good! Keep it up!
     

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