Worst Training Ever!

[Crazy Daisy]

Ok, now I know that this is all my fault but I am so frustrated with myself!!

Ruff and I haven't been to training for a couple of months because of a few things like me not wanting to go out when it's cold, rain, him getting desexed etc. I can make all the excuses in the world but the truth is I've been slack.

So I went tonight, normally Ruff is in class 2 (there is beginners, class 1,2,3,4). So I thought because we hadn't been for a while I would put him in class 1 again. Well I don't think they would let us in class 2 at the moment. I was so off my game and couldn't get his attention to save my life. I even had cooked him sausages as a treat knowing the first week back would be hard.

He wouldn't listen to me at all, he had his head in the grass the whole time. I tried everything, got the keys out and jangled them to get his attention, offered the sausages, gave him heaps of praise, tried doing a faster pace to get his nose off the ground. I swear people thought I was mad as my voice went so high at one point

Arrrgghhh, I can't believe how much it stressed me.

Training him at home is great but I realised tonight just how much I need to get him back to training.

So after my vent..... I want to ask, what else can I take next week to try and get his attention on me? He is normally a very food driven dog but even freshly cooked sausages wouldn't work. he's not interested in toys either.

Thanks for listening, I've calmed down some what now.

[huski]

I know how you feel about getting stressed! I used to feel like that quite often, and the sheer frustration because you know they can do it.

What I found was best with Daisy and I was taking a break from obedience club and focusing on getting her focus in lower levels of distractions before working our way up to higher levels of distraction like obedience club. Most obed classes are around an hour long which is a long time to ask for focus and even now I would never ask Daisy to work for that long. I also found that going to club week after week was useless unless I was doing lots of work not just at home but in other distracting environments, otherwise you are going from home (low distraction) to club (very high distraction) which can be really hard on the dog.

Edited November 16, 2009 by huski

[Nekhbet]

if he wont eat he's not hungry so no food for quite a few hours beforehand if you want undivided attention. You also need to get the dog out and about more so the outside world is not so overriding and do little tricks whilst out. Not a full block but little bits here and there when he's in the mood.

Sometimes it's just not the day and go home. Happens to all of us, you can be as revved up as you like and the dog is flat as a tack (another reason I used to do two dogs per training session, at least one was always ready to go) So you go off for a coffee and cake and write it off :D

[dogdude]

The best thing that you could take with you is a solid weeks worth of training. Multiple short bursts every day, when the dog is at his hungriest.

Concentrate on one or two exercises until each is learnt properly. It should'nt matter much with his learning if he misses a few club classes. They are mostly for your benefit. :D

[Crazy Daisy]

Thanks for the replies. He wasn't that hungry as yesterday was his first birthday and we had given him his birthday cake and he had been playing with his new toys :D

I'll just have to write last night off as a good socialising experience. He had fun meeting lots of new dogs after class.

I wasn't frustrated with him, more with myself. Lots more training at home and on walks this week I think!!

[luvsdogs]

It's amazing what passes down that lead from you to the dog. I know it happened with April. He knew you were stressed & turned off. When I used to take April to my 2nd club they had a graduation test once a month. I tried not to show how nervous I got but each time April would work terribly. We were in the same class the whole time I was at that club, which was a couple of years. We started in that class because we had done 2 yrs at my club. I gave up & concentrated on my main club.

[Crazy Daisy]

It's amazing what passes down that lead from you to the dog. I know it happened with April. He knew you were stressed & turned off. When I used to take April to my 2nd club they had a graduation test once a month. I tried not to show how nervous I got but each time April would work terribly. We were in the same class the whole time I was at that club, which was a couple of years. We started in that class because we had done 2 yrs at my club. I gave up & concentrated on my main club.

I made them surprise me when Ruff was going up as I couldn't handle the pressure I just did a normal class and then they said "here you go, a new certificate, you passed"

Might be a while before that happens again

[Tilly]

I find that if I tell people that my dog is a complete delinquent and doesn't do a single thing he is asked ... that is when he behaves himself and be completely perfect (well almost).

But if I tell people how good he is, how well behaved he has been or how smart he is ... then he is a nightmare.

Works every time

[Guest Ams]

I find that if I tell people that my dog is a complete delinquent and doesn't do a single thing he is asked ... that is when he behaves himself and be completely perfect (well almost).

But if I tell people how good he is, how well behaved he has been or how smart he is ... then he is a nightmare.

Works every time

I soooo understand this. I was on the phone last night and was asked how Peiradise was going. I was in the middle of saying how well behaved four of them were at the vets when a BIG fight broke out at my feet. I had to hang up to deal with it and then ring back sheepishly saying... "no where were we?????" I vow I will no longer say how good they are or how well they are doing at training or socialisation cause EVERY TIME something happens to prove me wrong.