The Joy of Drive
Ups and downs continue as usual. Indie is shaping up to be my little genius boy. We've been doing lots of "backyard" agility training around the electricity post in the back common area, and we've started doing front and rear cross practice. Last weekend I realized that there's a tree near enough our utility post that I can send him out around one, then front or rear cross him out around the other.
I did have one realization about my handling, and that's that I always tug on the right, and therefore when we're playing agility, I can't get him to come to my left. On leash, or in low intensity circumstances, he heels on my left nice as you please. Get that tug-happy adrenaline going, and he'll just bark and bark at me if I try to get him on my left. D'oh! I've been working all week on tugging with my left as well as pulling the tug out with my left hand. Progress is being made. It better, because I'll end up landing on him one of these days from him dancing in front of me anticipating reward from the other side of my body. Treats are always in the left pocket, by the way, so I thought I HAD anticipated the potential for this problem. In fact, I thought I was going to have a problem getting him comfortable on the right side, not the left. Silly me!
Poor boy's been a little stir crazy the last few days because the rain and mud has been such that we can't play very roughly out back without completely destroying the grass. It's a swamp out there today, and it hasn't been solid enough to play on since early last week. We still run and tug around the neighborhood, but it's not nearly as intense as when we're off leash and I can send him around obstacles or to go lay down on our flat "table". If I can keep the level of sheer speed and enthusiasm that he shows today, there's no question that he'll be my agility boy. He ADORES it.
The "downs" is that Ebby's training has been frustrating. Class started last week again, and she was an absolute gem, but she's been very antsy all week, and just a little... funny. I can't even put a finger on it. I know that one problem is she's not getting nearly enough exercise. She's so hard because I can't run her off leash for some child on a bike will pop up under her nose, and even on a long leash, she'll only run for about 30 seconds and completely shuts down. Before Indie, I used to tug with her for short times out back, but since we've had him, she has no interest. She gets out what little drive she has spent on playing with him. Not that she EVER gets bored with that.
I think the most frustrating part is not that Ebby is having any particular issue, but that Indie is starting to show so much promise. Training him is a singular joy. Ebby loves to train, Katie loves to train, but Indie LOVES to train. When I get the tug out as a reward, I am the most exciting thing in the known universe. At this point in time (yes, this will slip some), I can call him off birds and rabbits and reward with the tug. We've taken him several times in the woods, entirely off leash, and he has never gone further away from us than the distance that we'd have with a retractable leash. That includes sniffing around and chasing things. Yes, I have a pocketfull of the good treats, and we do several rounds of tug, but I still have solid attention the whole time. Yes, I expect that to have some slips over the next 6 months. But we couldn't be coming into his adolesence with a better foundation for recalls and attention.
The other thing is that I can shape Indie to learn new things in no time flat since he's been clicker-trained from puppyhood. Left finish? Done. Right finish? No problem. Run to that table and lay down? Got it. Weave between my legs? C'mon... too easy. (Course, I'm still trying to shape him to put his his paw over his face, and I haven't been able to get it. I'm going to have to get sneaky with that one.)
I don't want a dog with so much drive that they need stimulation 24 hours a day, but it is a DREAM to have a dog that turns on like Indie does and has the Go. It's not nearly as much fine to have to build it from scratch in a case like Ebby's. She really is wonderful, and I know I can get a lot more out of her than I'm getting now, but how much cooler is it to have a dog that's already as into it as I am?
I did have one realization about my handling, and that's that I always tug on the right, and therefore when we're playing agility, I can't get him to come to my left. On leash, or in low intensity circumstances, he heels on my left nice as you please. Get that tug-happy adrenaline going, and he'll just bark and bark at me if I try to get him on my left. D'oh! I've been working all week on tugging with my left as well as pulling the tug out with my left hand. Progress is being made. It better, because I'll end up landing on him one of these days from him dancing in front of me anticipating reward from the other side of my body. Treats are always in the left pocket, by the way, so I thought I HAD anticipated the potential for this problem. In fact, I thought I was going to have a problem getting him comfortable on the right side, not the left. Silly me!
Poor boy's been a little stir crazy the last few days because the rain and mud has been such that we can't play very roughly out back without completely destroying the grass. It's a swamp out there today, and it hasn't been solid enough to play on since early last week. We still run and tug around the neighborhood, but it's not nearly as intense as when we're off leash and I can send him around obstacles or to go lay down on our flat "table". If I can keep the level of sheer speed and enthusiasm that he shows today, there's no question that he'll be my agility boy. He ADORES it.
The "downs" is that Ebby's training has been frustrating. Class started last week again, and she was an absolute gem, but she's been very antsy all week, and just a little... funny. I can't even put a finger on it. I know that one problem is she's not getting nearly enough exercise. She's so hard because I can't run her off leash for some child on a bike will pop up under her nose, and even on a long leash, she'll only run for about 30 seconds and completely shuts down. Before Indie, I used to tug with her for short times out back, but since we've had him, she has no interest. She gets out what little drive she has spent on playing with him. Not that she EVER gets bored with that.
I think the most frustrating part is not that Ebby is having any particular issue, but that Indie is starting to show so much promise. Training him is a singular joy. Ebby loves to train, Katie loves to train, but Indie LOVES to train. When I get the tug out as a reward, I am the most exciting thing in the known universe. At this point in time (yes, this will slip some), I can call him off birds and rabbits and reward with the tug. We've taken him several times in the woods, entirely off leash, and he has never gone further away from us than the distance that we'd have with a retractable leash. That includes sniffing around and chasing things. Yes, I have a pocketfull of the good treats, and we do several rounds of tug, but I still have solid attention the whole time. Yes, I expect that to have some slips over the next 6 months. But we couldn't be coming into his adolesence with a better foundation for recalls and attention.
The other thing is that I can shape Indie to learn new things in no time flat since he's been clicker-trained from puppyhood. Left finish? Done. Right finish? No problem. Run to that table and lay down? Got it. Weave between my legs? C'mon... too easy. (Course, I'm still trying to shape him to put his his paw over his face, and I haven't been able to get it. I'm going to have to get sneaky with that one.)
I don't want a dog with so much drive that they need stimulation 24 hours a day, but it is a DREAM to have a dog that turns on like Indie does and has the Go. It's not nearly as much fine to have to build it from scratch in a case like Ebby's. She really is wonderful, and I know I can get a lot more out of her than I'm getting now, but how much cooler is it to have a dog that's already as into it as I am?
posted by Erica at
3:50 PM
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