Birch goes to Super Puppy Class

Justicemom

Justicemom

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I took Birch to his first super puppy class tonight. It is a class for puppies that are going to compete in obedience someday. It introduces all the elements of novice,open and utility plus some agility exercises. It is really about teach them to have fun , work in group and build the foundation in small steps towards the final goal. We do use a lot of luring at first to get the habit of body position into memory but the lure is faded quickly. Birch is the youngest puppy in the class by 3 weeks.

We started with the name game on leash. In this exercise, we started walking and then said their name and walked in a new direction. If they turned quickly, we praised and treated. If they were slow in responding, we were to encourage them to follow(no leash tension) and praise but no treat. Of course, Birch has been playing the name game since he was a tiny baby and once he got the first treat he never looked away.

Next we worked on skip sits. This is an exercise where we have the dog sitting and then have them moved straight forward 1 step and then sit. It encourages the proper tuck sit, straight positioning and speed in sitting which will be important when heeling and with fronts and finishes. Birch loves to sit and he did really well with the exercise. He is really quick already.

Then we started targeting in heel position and side position. Using a spoon with cheese on it we just ask the puppies to follow us for a few step with their heads up and then praised. We put them on side to teach them the muscle memory to keep the back straight and not crab. It was hard for him at first because he wanted to zoom forward but soon he was marching along quite nicely.

Then we did food toss recalls. This was Birch's favorite. He got to demo with me because I knew how to do it . Basically you toss a small piece of food and as the puppy eats it you run away and then call them as they run to you, you throw a piece of food past you and then run away again , repeat 4-5 times and then on the last pass have them come into front. Birch thought that was a blast. You could tell the older conformation dogs because they didn't want to break out of the trot to go after their owners. :lol: The instructor said we were going to wreck some conformation training tonight.

The last thing we did was introduce them to different surfaces. We had a travel plank, a foam ladder, a balance disk and a little foam hoop jump. Birch was so darn cute. He had never seen a hoop jump or jumped for that matter. I walked him up to the hoop on leash and the instructor held a treat for him and he kind of stepped though the hoop like what the heck but got the treat and was happy. 2nd time though, he bounded though the hoop and took the treat from the instructor and then wouldn't follow me away but stood there looking at her for more food and then when that didn't work he sat down looking right at her like "you can give me more".:lol: 3rd time he did it again. This is the instructor that is Ember favorite in the whole world and she always tries to beg treats off her. I wonder if Ember told Birch what to do.:lol:
He never hesitated at any of the other stations.

Overall, a good night. We have homework for the week to work on attention in front and in heel and work on food recalls. Can't wait for next week.
 
Wow, that sounds like an amazing class, and Birch was awesome!! I think he could teach Mikos a thing or two and Brie everything!!:lol: That is one smart little boy you have!
 
Birch will be the super star of that class for sure!! Sounds like some great exercises. Thanks for giving the explanations.
 
Sounds like a great class for potential Obedience superstars and Birch is the doing so well. I love watching the puppies having a blast while their minds are working and their feet are flying. Congratulations on finding a great instructor.

Dani
Armitage Dazzling Spun Gold CDX, RAE
Double Dare Derrick CD, RAE
Staymat Magnificent Journey CD
Blackmyst Poker Face (puppy)
 
Sounds like an amazing class and Birch is doing so well. I love your decriptions and I'd bet Ember gave him the heads up on the treats:wink2:.
 
Once again I'm jealous!! That sounds like a great class and thanks for the descriptions.It sounds likeBirch is already showing a lot of potential and is really enjoying his training - what a smart boy! I'll give some of these a go with Epic. Unfortunatly my class is a pet training one so we don't have these useful techniques to do.

"We put them on side to teach them the muscle memory to keep the back straight and not crab"

:wink2:Could I be cheeky and as you to clarify this one a bit more though because it sounds really useful - I think smaller dogs are more prone to crabbing as they have to look up further.
 
seashel said:
Once again I'm jealous!! That sounds like a great class and thanks for the descriptions.It sounds likeBirch is already showing a lot of potential and is really enjoying his training - what a smart boy! I'll give some of these a go with Epic. Unfortunatly my class is a pet training one so we don't have these useful techniques to do.

"We put them on side to teach them the muscle memory to keep the back straight and not crab"

:wink2:Could I be cheeky and as you to clarify this one a bit more though because it sounds really useful - I think smaller dogs are more prone to crabbing as they have to look up further.
Click to expand...

Side position is like heel except it is on the right of the handler. When the dog heels on the left side only they learn to follow the handler and look up at them. Naturely the front turns into the handler and the butt starts to swing out. Over time it becomes a habit. When you teach side at the same time the dog tends to do the same thing but to the oppositie way. If you teach them to switch back and forh from heel to side(using a front cross really) magicaly the head stays turned but the front and rear stay going in a straight line. Do it enough and the muscle memory develops.

I can tell you it feels really weird to an obedience handler who only handles the dog on the left. But it really helps with agility too.
 
Thank you so much for the explanation, it's really useful and I will be trying these techniques out. Our training class doesn't start back until the beginning of March which is a 3 month break so I'm looking round to see if I can find somewhere else in the mean time.:smile2:
 
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