Discouraged and frustrated

I forget how old Phebe is. 9-10 months. Older? Diva was that way in obedence class. Somedays she was bouncing all over the place and surfing for treats that may have been dropped. I was so frustrated with her as my other dogs were so much more muture at that age, more serious and focused. Heck Justice was already training for Open by 9 months. I found getting that exercise before class really helped. She slowly learned if she payed attention to me, we have alot of fun. At 14 months, she can still be really squirrelly somedays. On those days I just work on simple things lke watching me and call it a day. Tomorrow is usually better.:smile2:
 
Agility

I would not feed buiscuts. I would get something soft and something that is going to get her attention. Like liver treats.
 
Don't give up, Phebe was just having a zoomie day. Try to relax and have fun with it (if you're nervous about it she'll pick up on the vibe).
 
sounds like a Sheltie Teenager write off kinda day ;)
I had one the other day, but I wasn't as cool as you, I hollered at him for being silly, pulling on the lead, wanting to eat other dogs while on the lead, and re-directing aggression at Scotty when I wouldn't let him eat said dogs across the street :(
Of course he picked up on my none too subtle hints of frustration and was stuck to my heel rest of the walk, which made me feel even worse...

I decided to laugh afterward, because he really is SO SILLY at times, pulling at the leash with his teeth, literally trying to take Scotty for a walk by holding the leash in the mouth and pulling him towards me etc etc...:rolleyes2:

Then next day you will be amazed again at Phebe's intelligence, wit and willingness to please you :biggrin2: We probably just need days like that to keep us grounded, otherwise our dogs would be really too perfect!!
 
Don't worry. I'm not giving up, just regrouping and trying to keep training fun for both of us. Phebe had a blast yesterday. Me, not so much. :lol:

Next week we'll both have a blast. :yes:
 
WOW
It sounds like you are talking about my little Keely! She is 9 months old and is usually is not focused in class but we enjoy it! She bounces, jumps and barks her way through. I just reward when she is doing the correct thing and ignore the rest. I have been giving her some hard play time jsut before we go. That seems to help. We are just getting ready to start a bit of fundementals in agility. ( We will see how that goes.) She can't jump yet but we will work on everything else.

PATIENCE! PATIENCE! PATIENCE! Every dog owner should be given an ounce and a half more patience then what other people get! Good luck!
 
I know this issue sooooo well. In all honesty, I had to start putting Koji in daycare the day of his training so he'd be tired. And even then, there were days he wouldn't be focused at all. Even after 11 hours of play!!! Amazing but true. I still daycare him the day of training. I've not taken him, and wowee! What a crazy night. lol.

Do you have time for some vigorous exercise prior to class? Or maybe something just as distracting?

I think this is typical for any dog at times. I know yesterday, we went to the park with a group to train. Koji's first run, he was ALL over the place. No control whatsoever. But then, I didn't feel so bad. Because another woman Aussie did the same thing. And her dog has his NATCH title. So, it could be the teenage years, the zoomies, what not. Just know you'll probably have days like that throughout her life. Just smile and go with it.

I would suggest, if she's like that next time, maybe ask the instructor what you can work on at home during her non-class days. That way, you have something to work on. :)
 
Before the disastrous class last Saturday, I had already decided I was going to consider a different training situation because the class we've been attending is more recreational than serious and I would like to work towards actually entering trials.

I visited another training center where Kim Terrill is the training director. Kim was on the world team several times. After talking with one of the trainers, I scheduled a private lesson for Wednesday so that they could assess where we are at as a team.

It quickly became clear to me that the trainer I've been going to didn't spend enough time making certain that we had a firm foundation before starting us on lots of equipment and sequencing. After 15 minutes with Donna, Phebe was following my hand and doing consistent turns and front crosses instead of just running wherever she wanted to. We even tried the dog walk for the first time ever. Phebe loved it and hit the contacts perfectly. At the end of the session, Donna said that she thought we would fit right in to the Agility II class, that was starting Thursday night. I would just need to work on Phebe following my hand and also targeting.

We went to our first class tonight and it was great! Phebe was so focused. All the sequences we ran were set to be front crosses. Most of the time that worked, but Phebe is so fast that I had to throw in a few rear crosses. :lol:

Donna said that we did great and she could tell that I had been working on the things we covered during the private lesson.
 
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