So, I finally got myself back into gear and got in a good training session with Lexx last night.
Considering the bit of a break that we've taken ( a few 5-10 minute sessions over the last week but nothing heavy) I wasn't expecting too much.
As I expected, he was a bit sloppy, focus wasn't right there, his heeling was a bit off and he was generally not trying very hard. We practiced some heeling patterns and even though his hind end was slanted out at an angle more than i'd like, his focus came back pretty well and he was listening to shoulder cues for both left and right turns as well as completing nice figure eights. We actually managed to get some pretty decent sits on my halt cues too, but his sits are so damn frustrating that i don't even WANT to work on them anymore. *sigh*
practiced some lateral focus into heeling patterns, some halts to downs and some short recalls, where his finishes were still a bit wobbly but getting better on the whole.
I decided to be gutsy and try working on some finishes, or "get in" as I refer to it as and Lexx really surprised me by doing not one, not two but THREE beautiful sits beside me at the finish. I was stunned, but figure it might have been luck.
I then introduced the "stand" command. Lexx knows "stand" from when I was teaching him to stack back in the day when I naively thought that he might ever be able to show. Even though he knows the word, hes not used to being left to free stack from a halt or a heel, and kinda stopped and looked at me in a confused type of way like " what? you're not moving my feet or luring me.... what's going on here...." but it wasn't bad for a first go.
Over all nothing stunning or really more than just ok. But i blame myself for not practicing more as of late. I ahve to admit that atleast he had tonnes of energy and spring, not dead like he wasn't having fun practicing, so thats a bonus in my mind.
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2 comments:
That's great he did some good finishes for you, and you worked on the sit at halts and heeling. I need to work more on shoulder cues and get to where you are with Lexx in that department.
What do you use for motivation? Treats? Toys? I find that if you see the dog losing focus at any point, get out your motivator and play a game (I like doing "catch it" with treats) to get the dog re-interested again. Then do an exercise, then do a few more "fun" things. Mix it up - do some more boring things (like finishes, fronts, downs) and mix in some shake, leave it, catch it, etc. I find Red gets more into it if I'm not just drilling him with the boring stuff all the time.
Anyway.. I'm rambling now. Great job with the training session! =)
What is it about the sits that are frustrating? Does he not sit automatically when you halt? Are they not straight?
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