TIME FOR A POST

It’s been a while since I have written anything about Sophie and her training.  Here is a summation of the last six or so months

 

Everything was going great with Sophie’s training. She finally seemed to be getting the routine down. With a few set backs which is to be expected.

January 17^th Sophie went into heat; she was still doing pretty well with her training. 

Two weeks later she had what I call, a complete melt down. We were doing the routine which was going well until it was time to do the sit and down positions. If you could imagine a dog looking at you with an expression of “you want me to do what? I don’t know what that is?”

This went on for a month or so. One day good, another day bad. I was so frustrated with her. She went from having so much fun to not wanting to do anything.

On one particular day Sophie refused to do any of the routine. Ted told me to put her away for the day. I told Ted I was concerned she was enjoying it anymore. We then had a conversation about how she was doing at home. At home she has fun, does her routine just fine. I told him she does it without the pinch or e-collar.  He said to wait till the next training day to see how she does.

The next time we went to training, Ted said to take off her pinch & e-collars. What a different dog. She did her routine beautifully. Now she only wears her pinch collar when we first get there. The e-collar I use off and on at home for boundary issues.

Sophie & Harley waiting for the ball.

LEARNING TO PLAY CORRECTLY WITH MY DOG

Sophie does really well with regards to doing her routine. Trying to get her to bring her ball, tug or Frisbee back to me is another issue.

Believe it or not I had to be taught how to play with my dog.  Here is how to correctly play with your dog.

Put dog on long lead about 30ft. Hold lead loosely, throw ball (don’t throw it longer than the lead, a mistake I made). Let lead flow through your hand while dog gets ball, once she/he has the ball, immediately back up while clapping your hands & calling your dog. If your dog is not returning towards you pull on the lead. Also most importantly is very animated. Repeat this exercise until your dog willing brings you her/his toy.

It took me a while to get this concept down. The worse thing you can do is chase your dog. A bad habit I had done through the years with my other dog, Jenny, until she learned to bring the ball if she wanted me to throw it.

I am happy to say, Sophie is doing quite well bringing the ball to me especially on training days. This last week, Ted was very impressed with our improvement. Sophie bringing me the ball along with me calling her correctly (backing up, clapping my hands while she comes towards me).

I should mention, if your dog is a puppy, using treats will work well in getting your dog to bring back the toy.

THE TUG TOY

For protection work your dog needs to learn how to bit the sleeve and let go on your command. 

With Sophie, I think this was the easiest training I had to learn. It’s simple, play tug of war with her, which she loves.  

Here's how it worked for us. I play tug with her, pulling the tug, then letting her win so to speak. I then hold the tug taught straight in front of myself & Sophie. I then give the command aus which is German for out, let go, leave it, etc. Once she lets go, I say  yes, then animatedly let her grab at it. I repeated this exercise three to four times, she caught on. Thank god this is one exercise I didn't have to teach over and over again. 

Did I mention, Sophie is bilingual???? She knows commands in English and some German.