# no motivation



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Me, not Tito. He's very motivated, but the other half of the team is falling down on the job.
Does anyone else (except Lisa with Scout, LOL, who is training in the snow and needs to come here and get me out with them) have a really hard time getting motivated to train at this time of year? I have the very best of intentions, but it's too dark first thing in the morning and after work, and too blasted cold and windy during my lunch hours. We've suspended our lessons with the pro for the winter.
I need you guys to slap me around a bit and get me motivated.
Also some suggestions for drills we could do inside?? Here's where we are: we are working on getting his casts 100% (he's about 90%, well, 100% if he's paying attention but I feel he could use some more of this stuff but 3 handed casting is getting boring for both of us) he's pretty well mastered the wagon wheel drill with 8 to 16 bumpers, lining straight and true to about 20 yards both facing the blind and as a back cast, really good on whistle sits when sent on a blind. 
Any ideas for us?
Anney, can we come stay with you for a while???
(feeling bad about my lack of motivation)


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

For what it's worth, I tend to work best with a plan and am both a DVD and book junkie. So if I spend the dark nights of winter studying videos, reading books and figuring out where I want to be and how I want my team to look (very important to me since I like the natural look  ), I seem to motivate that way. I can plan, get out on the weekend, review and go from there.

I know I have to work on drills this coming winter, so I am reviewing them now. This way I can get to the field, know exactly what I'd like to work on and then leave if I'm not in a group. 

I also LOVE going to seminars during the winter as I find them very motivating. I know I miss a lot of seminar opportunities since I work M-F, but can often go on the weekends ... the weeks leading up to the seminar and directly following the seminar I can be very motivated.

I also feel if I just don't want to work my dogs, there is nothing really wrong with that either - they will be even more eager to work when I do start up again - they have all had this entire week off of training, and I will be starting up again today. We will all be more refreshed I think.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

It's not just the time of year....I have a REALLY hard time being motivated to work with my dog. It's especially hard because I haven't had a regular training group or even classes.

I always seem to REALLY want to train when it's the middle of the night or I'm at work.... but by the time it's daylight or I'm home.... motivation lost!

One thing we do when it's colder/gross/bad/gross/super wet/gross out is conditioning activities... some types of tricks, exercise ball, etc... Many of the activities take very very little space, and the dog ends up physically and mentally tired. And it will help performance in various activities even thought it's not directly training-related.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Well....why not take some time off. He sounds like he is doing really well, so you probably don't need to train everyday which might be too much anyway. Maybe make a plan to train once a week to maintain but then there is nothing wrong with waiting until spring to get more serious again. Do you know anyone you could meet up with to do marks just to maintain?


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

We've never trained every day....when the weather is nice, I'm lucky to train once or twice a week (not including his lesson). 
Now that the weather is lousy, just got done shoveling 6 inches of snow off the pet hotel sidewalks, I'm not hitting once every TWO weeks....
Which is why I need a smack.
I do need someone to meet up with me and do marks, that would be great. No one I know around here is interested in field, they're all obedience people. Guess I need to branch out.





GoldenSail said:


> Well....why not take some time off. He sounds like he is doing really well, so you probably don't need to train everyday which might be too much anyway. Maybe make a plan to train once a week to maintain but then there is nothing wrong with waiting until spring to get more serious again. Do you know anyone you could meet up with to do marks just to maintain?


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I think part of it is because I work with dogs all day, every day, all year. When you work with other people's dogs, the last thing you want to do when you have some spare time is train your own dogs.
Sad but true.
And one of my other problems is my two other dogs. They are both so old, and Toby isn't doing as well as he was, that I try to spend as much time as I possibly can with them, and making them happy. I know I won't have either, especially Toby, around for much longer and when it comes to a choice of taking Toby for a stroll around the back yard (which he still enjoys) for 20 minutes, or training Tito, Tito loses every time.




RedDogs said:


> It's not just the time of year....I have a REALLY hard time being motivated to work with my dog. It's especially hard because I haven't had a regular training group or even classes.
> 
> I always seem to REALLY want to train when it's the middle of the night or I'm at work.... but by the time it's daylight or I'm home.... motivation lost!
> 
> One thing we do when it's colder/gross/bad/gross/super wet/gross out is conditioning activities... some types of tricks, exercise ball, etc... Many of the activities take very very little space, and the dog ends up physically and mentally tired. And it will help performance in various activities even thought it's not directly training-related.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> I think part of it is because I work with dogs all day, every day, all year. When you work with other people's dogs, the last thing you want to do when you have some spare time is train your own dogs.
> Sad but true.


Yup--my friend with goldens got started in dogs when she was a kid but she told me she knew she never wanted to be a professional dog trainer or handler. Why? Because she never wanted to take away from training and showing her own dogs. 

That's not to say that is does for everyone but, you know the saying. The plumber's house is always in need of plumbing and never gets it....


--

I think you should find a group. Put out some feelers--there have to be people out there. Having a group keeps you going. Ask your pro if he knows of any student who meet up. You can also make a commitment to practice a certain amount of time and then reward yourself when you do....


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Absolutely true, and just the kind of pep talk I'm needin' . I've found a couple of people who want to train, but I can't do weekends, and they can't do week days....




GoldenSail said:


> I think you should find a group. Put out some feelers--there have to be people out there. Having a group keeps you going. Ask your pro if he knows of any student who meet up. You can also make a commitment to practice a certain amount of time and then reward yourself when you do....


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## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

So long as you can tromp the snow down and make good footing this is a great time to do yardwork--cool enough for the dog not to overheat doing the repetitive activities, and good footing as long as it isn't icy or too deep. I did FTP, T and TT in the winter and was then able to move on to my 3 legged pattern once the fields opened up in the spring and went back to swimby as soon as the water warmed up enough.

Are you following a progression like http://www.totalretriever.com/rj/totalretPDF.pdf or Evans Rush Creek Press online/The Smartwork System

You want to build in a logical progression and try not to jump around too much.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

The pro I'm working with did give me some homework for the winter, including some drills from Carol Cassity's great book, Building a Retriever, Drills and More. He's got us on a particular progression that he uses, so I don't want to go with someone else's although I know both of the ones you suggested are reputed to be excellent.
I can call my trainer when I feel we've mastered what he's given us so far, and he will give me more. And of course, I can still go take a lesson from him if the weather is okay. I hate snowy roads, won't drive on them at all if I can help it and he's 70 miles away. I'm a wimp.
I just need a kick in the butt to get my sorry a$$ moving on this stuff.




sterregold said:


> So long as you can tromp the snow down and make good footing this is a great time to do yardwork--cool enough for the dog not to overheat doing the repetitive activities, and good footing as long as it isn't icy or too deep. I did FTP, T and TT in the winter and was then able to move on to my 3 legged pattern once the fields opened up in the spring and went back to swimby as soon as the water warmed up enough.
> 
> Are you following a progression like http://www.totalretriever.com/rj/totalretPDF.pdf or Evans Rush Creek Press online/The Smartwork System
> 
> You want to build in a logical progression and try not to jump around too much.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

Training here has been on hold until we get a lot more snow. We had a layer of ice on top of the snow that we had and you end up with a lot of bloody feet trying to run dogs on that.

Check with your local retriever clubs, several of them offer club trials all through the winter.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

looks to me on the national weather today that MN just might be getting that snow!


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

We may have enough with this storm to cover up the nasty ice and make it safe again. If that happens we'll probably go back to chasing pheasants.


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## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

Wish we could be out chasing pheasants! But, Win still has two more weeks of nose healing, and Breeze's mommy regions have not shrunk back up enough yet for her to be working cover either!


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

Have you tried a cordura skidplate? I used one of those for Maxi after weaning her litters. It worked pretty well to get her back into the field.


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## gabbys mom (Apr 23, 2008)

How far are you from Rockford/Hartford area? I know some people that get out and train every day there.


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## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

My training mojo has been at an all time low here also. Short daylight hours, last minute changes to my work schedule, and non dog life stuff, has made hard to meet up with my field mentors.
This fall I decided to try and train for a CD. We are now training with a gal who is actually competing at the NOI this week-end. Her classes are really fun and interesting but the stakes have defiantly been raised. I find that we are retraining somethings now that standard is higher. It sometimes is feels like we are going backwards. Very mojo draining.
 Sorry didn't mean to steal the thread but it resonated with me.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Just over 3 hours....



gabbys mom said:


> How far are you from Rockford/Hartford area? I know some people that get out and train every day there.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Not thread stealing at all, glad, in a way, to know that I'm not the only one who is feeling this way about field training.
We did it the other way around, did the obedience first. Funny, I think the discipline required for field (not the perfection, but the discipline) is much higher than for obedience! But yes, you need a different type of performance in obedience and I can see it would be frustrating and hard to correct behaviors that were allowed in field training. Like heeling, I would often tell my field trainer when we first started out NOT to let Tito get away with the loose heeling that they field people typically allow. Also "SIT" means sit in obedience, whereas it can mean stay in field, and so on....



hollyk said:


> My training mojo has been at an all time low here also. Short daylight hours, last minute changes to my work schedule, and non dog life stuff, has made hard to meet up with my field mentors.
> This fall I decided to try and train for a CD. We are now training with a gal who is actually competing at the NOI this week-end. Her classes are really fun and interesting but the stakes have defiantly been raised. I find that we are retraining somethings now that standard is higher. It sometimes is feels like we are going backwards. Very mojo draining.
> Sorry didn't mean to steal the thread but it resonated with me.


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## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

hotel4dogs said:


> Not thread stealing at all, glad, in a way, to know that I'm not the only one who is feeling this way about field training.
> We did it the other way around, did the obedience first. Funny, I think the discipline required for field (not the perfection, but the discipline) is much higher than for obedience! But yes, you need a different type of performance in obedience and I can see it would be frustrating and hard to correct behaviors that were allowed in field training. Like heeling, I would often tell my field trainer when we first started out NOT to let Tito get away with the loose heeling that they field people typically allow. Also "SIT" means sit in obedience, whereas it can mean stay in field, and so on....


I sometimes feels so sorry for Winter. She would be so much farther along with someone else. She is my first dog and I'm in the "middle" of my life. 
Until now we the obedience classes were taken with the goal in mind to strengthen our bond and have a well mannered companion. It served us well in field.

In a more demanding obedience class our performance struggles are mine. In field, so much of her instinct kicks in that is carries us though (of coarse we are not handling yet). In obedience it is on me and I'm still not sure of what I'm doing. Sometimes I think I should go to class without her so I can be trained first.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Barb this was a good thread. Sometimes this training stuff is not all roses. It's hard for me to relate as we train year round, and it's just now getting to the GOOD time of the year to train. It's been in the 60s and sunny all week, 30s at night which means the water is cold and keeps reptiles inactive. A lot of people down here take the summer off for training b/c of the heat, but we find ways to make it work.
Anyways -- a lot of people train over the winter in parking lots, to do yardwork. Honestly I think now would be a great time to get your T and TT out of the way. Those take a few months if done properly and thoroughly (and especially if it's your first dog and you both are feeling your way through it). 
On the flip side, a few months off can be a GREAT recharger. I had to suspend field training last winter with Fisher b/c of an injury, and it sucked because I missed the best training weather, but he came back rarin' to go and hadn't missed a beat. 
You've been at it really hard for three years -- whether it was show, obedience or field -- so maybe a vacation is in order for both of you?
I will say -- once you decide that you are going to make the leap from junior to senior -- you are going to have to get dedicated. Because training once a week at the instructor's is not going to cut it. What is going to help is finding someone relatively local who you can train with, and you can motivate each other. My field instructor is 2 hours away but I have two very good friends to train with locally and we meet 2-3 times a week to train.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

And seriously, if you are looking for a little week's vacation in the middle of winter, you are more than welcome to come on down to the Sunshine state


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Ah, there's Anney! I thought I had scared her off by threatening to come down and stay with her for a while 
I agree, the JH stuff was a breeze. Just turn him loose and let him do what comes naturally to him (since he already had the obedience background for the delivery to hand etc). But the SH, now we're getting into some stuff we need to learn.
Since he's my first dog, I have this fear of totally screwing up his field training and I hate to do anything without my trainer first showing me how, such as the T or the TT. I don't want to rush into either one, either, because I do know in the long run that can cause a lot of problems. 
I guess I hadn't thought of you guys with the awful heat during the summer. This beats that. At least I don't have to worry about him overheating. But today it's 14 degrees out, the wind is out of the north at almost 20 mph, the snow is blowing, and being out in it (after being out in it with my pet hotel dogs) just doesn't appeal to me very much. 
Maybe the smart thing to do would just be to take all of December off, and then see how I feel about January.
I notice you said I can only come for a week


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I know you were joking about going to class without her, but seriously, it's not a bad idea.
Our obedience trainer likes to have us heel without the dogs. Many, many, many times. That way we can get our own footwork down (the about turns especially) and gain some confidence without worrying about where the dog is. 
It's hard to worry about the dog when you're worrying about yourself. Since Tito is my first dog in Open and in Utility, I know exactly what you mean. I still have to stop and think sometimes, "can I give a hand signal for this exercise????" and so on.




hollyk said:


> I sometimes feels so sorry for Winter. She would be so much farther along with someone else. She is my first dog and I'm in the "middle" of my life.
> Until now we the obedience classes were taken with the goal in mind to strengthen our bond and have a well mannered companion. It served us well in field.
> 
> In a more demanding obedience class our performance struggles are mine. In field, so much of her instinct kicks in that is carries us though (of coarse we are not handling yet). In obedience it is on me and I'm still not sure of what I'm doing. Sometimes I think I should go to class without her so I can be trained first.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> Since he's my first dog, I have this fear of totally screwing up his field training


And what if you do? You're learning, you'll do your best and you'll both have fun. At least, that's how I see it. I know I may not do that well with Scout, but I know pushing forward and doing it anyway will make me that much better when I get my next dog. I think you should just go for it  

He'll be no less of a dog just because you made a mistake or couldn't get him to MH when someone else could. So what? He certainly won't know the difference. Enjoy the journey, see what happens!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

what an awesome post. 



GoldenSail said:


> And what if you do? You're learning, you'll do your best and you'll both have fun. At least, that's how I see it. I know I may not do that well with Scout, but I know pushing forward and doing it anyway will make me that much better when I get my next dog. I think you should just go for it
> 
> He'll be no less of a dog just because you made a mistake or couldn't get him to MH when someone else could. So what? He certainly won't know the difference. Enjoy the journey, see what happens!


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> Since he's my first dog, I have this fear of totally screwing up his field training and I hate to do anything without my trainer first showing me


Not that I can chime in on the T or TT, however I just had a conversation with our 'trainer' last night on the phone about Gabby. I have the same fears. LOL We started "later" with Quinn because we didn't know what to do, however she was more OCD lab than the Gabbster is. My trainer Sue last night, said to me "yes you will make mistakes but so what, you can fix them". I am a perfectionist, it was my "flaw" as a rider too. : I just know I have the potential of a dog better than I am a handler. I don't want to let her down. 

Sue did give me some good directions to work on, and said call her anytime so that helps. I hate 'bugging' people. Once Gabby has more shots in her, I can take her to our agility training facility we can work on 'longer' retrieves indoors there. I am a winter wimp. I will work outside, but being Gabby is such a newbie, hunting in the snow may be asking a lot. We will take it one step at a time. 

This weekend without any training on it, just word familiarization... I said give when she took off with DH's glove, and Gabby gave it to me! I love smart dogs.


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