Eager or Lazy?

labgirl

labgirl

Forums Sage
Why is my boy a mixture of contradictions?

At the start of the agility course he is too eager and regularly breaks his waits and starts doing the course before I have released him.

Yet, my trainer notes that Cadbury is also lazy, that certain items are 'too much like hard work' and she wants to me to break the course into sections to retain his enthusiasm.

So at one point I am trying to calm him down and at the other I'm trying to gear him up!:confused2:
 
Could also be that he is getting bored along the way? Tully will do this if things arent moving fast enough or it is challenging enough, if I give her some distances and speed so she can use her own initiative she is happier (although less accurate). Its like with a lot of herding dogs that bark on the course because they want the owner to hurry up and tell them what to do.

On the other hand retrievers arent really bred for long attention spans. Of the 5 goldies I train with only one manages to stay on the course consistently and has any speed. The others will run, get to a jump, think about it and decide if they want to jump, see a bug in the bush, wonder what that shadow is...oh that's right another jump, TUNNEL, a bug... You get the drift:lol:
 
My Lab always needed a lot of feedback. She was not lazy or dumb but if she didn't know what you wanted her to do or didn't find it rewarding enough, she would find something else to do that was more exciting for her like checking the brushes for birds. She was always happy to start something though. I had to be more exciting than the birds and that was hard. She would work all day flushing and retrieving birds and never stop. As soon as she saw the gun she was "on" until my Dad put it back in the gun cabinet. No lack of attention span there.

I notice my shelties, especially Justice, will keep doing something they aren't really into just because I ask them. Being with me and watching me(in other words keeping track of me) is the most exciting thing in the world to them not chasing birds or small critters or visiting other people. I think that is herding dog mentality. I can tell they are bored though. Justice gets this far away look it his eyes. That there but not there look. Like he is thinking about something else and just going thought the motions.

So maybe Cadbury isn't finding certain parts of agility rewarding enough and breaking it up and reward him more often will help. He sounds like a smart guy who is getting bored to me.
 
Thanks guys
Could also be that he is getting bored along the way?
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So maybe Cadbury isn't finding certain parts of agility rewarding enough and breaking it up and reward him more often will help. He sounds like a smart guy who is getting bored to me.
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That is pretty much what my training told me to do. Reward more so he is encouraged. It is certain obstacles and I do know if I am not fast enough in getting out my commands he will just be off and make up his own course.

My timing is improving, I've learnt I need to say the next obstacle before he has finished the last, because as he does one he is already thinking where to go next.

Yes I think he is a smart dog and also quick (both physically and mentally) and if I am not communicating properly with him (ie late commands) he will just take his own route.

One thing I was pleased with, we mastered a 180 degree turn between the end of the weaves and a line of jumps, then another 180 degree turn back into the chute. I was thinking I would lose him, but managed to keep him on line.

I think sometimes Cadbury finds me too slow for him as well:o
 
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