Obedience Training
I have been taking the girls (Chauncey & Jasmine) to a private obedience instructor, Maggie, for about 7 weeks now. This past Thursday showed a huge improvement in both of their attention and heeling work. She uses some different methods than what I have trained in the past and the results have surprised me.
Chauncey is with me during our heeling patterns and she is watching me, not checking out everything that is going on around us. She is nailing her sits and getting them pretty straight (we are still working on that part). The speed with which she understands and corrects herself is so surprising. I have trained her all these years (she is almost 6) and have always been fighting her to get any results. In 6 weeks we have coreected and taught new lessons and she is enjoying every minute.
Jasmine is sitting straight every time and if I tell her to heel she hops right into heel position with a straight sit. I think once this gets in Jasmine's brain she is going to be awesome in the ring. She is much more focused and steady, not bopping and bouncing all over the place. She still has short attention spans for the stays, but they are showing improvement.
Maggie taught me a retrieve game to play with Chauncey. When we started lessons, Chauncey would look at anything I threw and not touch it. The game involves 2 stuffed toys and me in the middle. I get her wanting the toy and then throw it, as she grabs it, I squeak the other toy and toss it in a different direction. Chauncey loves this game and is bringing the toys back to me and running out for the next toss. She has a huge retrieve drive, that I never was able to bring out. We are working towards the dumbbell and she has even picked that up on her own 2 times now. I am playing this game with Jasmine and she has brought the toys back a couple times now. I would like to see her a little more interested, but Maggie says that will come with some time.
All in all, I am very impressed with our progress and Maggie's training. I never would have believed that we would make it so far in 7 weeks. My girls are looking forward to training and love the work. They are learning and it is lessons that will help them all the way through utility and even out in the field. I will update periodically where we are in our lessons, as I know it can be a little boring for most people to read about.
Chauncey is with me during our heeling patterns and she is watching me, not checking out everything that is going on around us. She is nailing her sits and getting them pretty straight (we are still working on that part). The speed with which she understands and corrects herself is so surprising. I have trained her all these years (she is almost 6) and have always been fighting her to get any results. In 6 weeks we have coreected and taught new lessons and she is enjoying every minute.
Jasmine is sitting straight every time and if I tell her to heel she hops right into heel position with a straight sit. I think once this gets in Jasmine's brain she is going to be awesome in the ring. She is much more focused and steady, not bopping and bouncing all over the place. She still has short attention spans for the stays, but they are showing improvement.
Maggie taught me a retrieve game to play with Chauncey. When we started lessons, Chauncey would look at anything I threw and not touch it. The game involves 2 stuffed toys and me in the middle. I get her wanting the toy and then throw it, as she grabs it, I squeak the other toy and toss it in a different direction. Chauncey loves this game and is bringing the toys back to me and running out for the next toss. She has a huge retrieve drive, that I never was able to bring out. We are working towards the dumbbell and she has even picked that up on her own 2 times now. I am playing this game with Jasmine and she has brought the toys back a couple times now. I would like to see her a little more interested, but Maggie says that will come with some time.
All in all, I am very impressed with our progress and Maggie's training. I never would have believed that we would make it so far in 7 weeks. My girls are looking forward to training and love the work. They are learning and it is lessons that will help them all the way through utility and even out in the field. I will update periodically where we are in our lessons, as I know it can be a little boring for most people to read about.
posted by Kim at 9:57 AM
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