Grace is not what I would call a reactive dog, but she is a very non focused/attention deficit dog. In other words while she doesn't worry about or snark at other dogs, she also wants to know what everyone else is doing/going/saying but also she wants everyone to know what she thinks about stuff too.. So a few weeks ago we started a focus and attention class with our agility instructor.
Last night in class we worked on stays, recalls and toys/food distractions. Grace was none to happy about the stays, breaking her stay fairly frequently. She was also not too happy about the recalls. or maybe it was the corrections for breaking her stay. When she breaks, her stays though, it does not appear that she is breaking because of the other dogs or distractions. So I think its more of a training issue than a focus one. At one point after breaking her stay immediately twice, I of course returned after 5 steps or so and rewarded that she hadnt broke. Then I asked her to stay again and went about 10 feet, turned and called her. Grace in typical Grace fashion, came, but got 3 feet away stopped and started complaining. Silly girl.
She did fairly well though with moving through the toys and treats on the floor, only lunging occassionally. The funny thing is with Grace its not that she wants the toy or the food, like some of the other dogs. She just wants to know what it is, then she if fine leaving it. Just gotta get that sniff.
On the plus side, she is getting much better about laying on her mat and not caring what the other dogs are doing when its not her turn. Last night she never left her mat once due to other dogs/people going by her. She only left her mat to jump on me and beg. Good girl.
1 comment:
Have you ever tried Susan Garrett's Crate Games? It works wonders at building value for stays!
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