# REALLY bad training session



## mdoats (Jun 7, 2007)

So as some of you know, I'm preparing Rookie to take the CGC exam at the end of the summer. Which means I have to finally transition him from the Gentle Leader to a flat collar. I've been admittedly lazy about transitioning because Rookie walks so beautifully with the Gentle Leader. But, I'm committed to making the change.

Sooo... this morning I took him for a walk. We headed down to the park and I let him run around a bit off lead since it is a drizzly day and there was no one in the park when we got there. I did a few off-leash recalls which went very well. People started arriving, so I collared Rookie up and started walking. 

He has been doing pretty well keeping slack on the leash when there are no distractions. But if he gets distracted AT ALL, I lose him. I try to watch for distractions and get him to do some 'watch me' s, keeping his focus on me before we reach the distractions. 

Today, after I leashed Rookie up and we had been walking for a little bit, there was a little boy riding his bike way across the park and Rookie was completely keyed in to him. I kept walking but it felt like I was dragging him along and I couldn't get his attention for a 'watch me' or anything else. So I headed onto the field, further away from the child and did some push-ups with him, sit, down, etc. I had to use food as a lure to get his attention back. 

Well, he was just barely hanging in there with me, but I was keeping his attention. And then all of a sudden a frisbee arrived in our general vicinity. Another dog owner had arrived, let her dog off leash and threw the frisbee. Rookie bolted and just about tore my arm out of the socket. It's still tingling. We left the park with me just about dragging Rookie all the way. I could not get his attention back no matter what I did. Blocking, food luring, making noises, walking in the opposite direction, nothing worked. 

I'm feeling very frustrated right now. I had been carrying the gentle leader with me, but he had been doing reasonably well without it and I thought it was time for me to let go of it and really focus on working him with the flat collar. I know there will be ups and downs along the way, but today was a definite DOWN. I came home and had to keep repeating to myself...

I love my dog, I love my dog, I love my dog.

Sigh.


----------



## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

there is no doubt there are some days that are frustrating as all get out....


----------



## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

I never thought Shadow would pass the CGC test, but he did. Tucker we knew would pass with flying colors. The test isn't that hard at all to pass. I made sure I tuckered Shadow out before his turn came around. He was barked at another dog taking part in the class and I thought, "Rut roh." I took him outside and ran him through the drill at not a run, but a pretty fast pace. He behaved and passed without any issues. At least two dogs did fail, but they were unruly...


----------



## mdoats (Jun 7, 2007)

Kimm said:


> The test isn't that hard at all to pass.


Well, we failed last time!


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Training has its up and down days for sure.

May I suggest that you teach Rookie to tug and use tugging as a way to regain her focus? This in itself is a training sequence since even when a dog tugs in the kitchen, outside needs retraining, then more and more distraction work.

Another 'game' would be to wait it out. Go to a distracting area (not a frisbee chasing dog yet LOL), with the leash looped around your thumb, become a tree. Whenever Rookie looks at you, treat. Otherwise she gets to be very bored on a short leash and you not interacting with her. You would not be moving yet, just waiting. It can take 10 minutes the first time, but each glance at you gets quicker. Eventually, the dog looks at you whenever something might attract their attention -it is a beautiful thing when this starts happening.

Puppy sit-ups have always struck me as more of a correction than a fun thing for the dog, but that may be just me.


----------



## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

mdoats said:


> Well, we failed last time!


Did you poop Rookie out before you started the test????

Which part did Rookie fail???

Tucker is very food motivated so for him food works. Food does not work for Shadow. He loses interest, so all I need is a tennis ball. Talk about focus! Of course you cannot use any of these during the testing.


----------



## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Some days of training are much more difficult than others!

One thing that my trainer told me when I had my Jasmine in her class for the CGC (Jasmine is my lab/golden who is quite the stubborn girl at times) is that when we are doing the "heel" exercises to stop looking at her. When I would stop looking at her, she heeled better and also I could see the upcoming distractions.

You may also want to have the "to die for" treat as a back up. 

But in all honesty, it's better some days to have them do something that they can succeed at so you can end the session on a good note, put the gentle leader back on an head home.


----------



## mdoats (Jun 7, 2007)

Kimm said:


> Did you poop Rookie out before you started the test????


Nope. That was part of the problem. But to be honest, I had not adequately prepared him. Based on where he was at with his training, he should have failed.



Kimm said:


> Which part did Rookie fail???


Ummm... that would be the loose leash walking part. Which is why we have been working on that every single day, twice a day. I am seriously committed to getting him to walk nicely with just the flat collar. And he's doing pretty well, although not perfect. Until a distraction comes along! Then he's at the end of the leash. Luckily, with a very busy park at the end of my street, I have lots of opportunities to train him around distractions. Some of the training sessions have gone better. Today was just a particularly bad session.


----------



## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

Okay...so what I did a week before we took the test because I was having issues getting them to walk nicely on lead was....

I broke down and purchased a prong collar. I ran back to the store when one responded so well and purchased another. Within minutes they were both walking nicely. I only used it for one day and viola! They seemed to "learn" not to pull and to walk nicely. I never even had to make any corrects while they wore the collar.

Now...if I don't walk them regularly, I do have to "remind" them to "slow it down" using only their regular collars. I also find I don't give them much lead and an 18 inch lead would be all I need. Most days we walk to exercise, not to sight see LOL. I do give them more lead when I want a break!

DH usually walks Tucker, so Tucker does some tugging. If Tucker tugs when I'm walking him, he responds to my shortening the lead and telling him to heel.


----------



## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Does Rookie know an attention command like "with me?" for heeling or "watch me" for stationary? 

Playing "Choose to Heel" is fun and helpful. Toss out a cookie and say "find".Then, walk off in a random direction, unpredictably. Pat your legs or whistle to encourage Rookie to find you if it helps, but the instant he gets back to heel position give him a much higher value treat that he loves. With Tally, I could toss a Solid Gold Tiny Tot for FIND and reward coming back to HEEL with a small piece of chicken, for example. Choose To Heel is a game that really helps with resisting distractions. Start in the kitchen and increase the degree of difficulty. One instructor with whom we love taking clinics has a variation of the game called Heeling Into The Party. At any rate, be unpredictble with heeling- zig, zag, do sudden 360's- humans can be boring and slow from a dog's perspective. 

Good luck with CGC - test anxiety is no fun.


----------



## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Dontcha just hate days like that! *sigh* It can certainly be frustrating!

On trick I've found helpful with weaning off GLs is to go through a phase where it's on the dog's face, but not hooked up to the leash. Be sure he can walk just as nicely (even around mild distractions) that way before taking it off cold turkey.

And remember that there aren't any frisbees or kids during the test! Honestly, I've seen zillions of dogs - my own included - who can make it through the test, but still have the potential to fall apart out in the real world when a certain distraction rears it's distracting head! They're dogs, not robots!

I'm all for over training, but IMO, next time you encounter that level of distraction, I'd go back to what works -- and if that's the GL, then so be it. Otherwise, he's just practicing pulling and that's not helping ANYONE!

Breathe. It gets better!


----------



## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Here's a Choose to Heel youtube video, but we do it much differently-more like tag and more playful, with more parties, praise using the word "heel" as a verbal (bc the dogs are advanced heelers already). You can modify it to your liking( I use my clicker sometimes), but it really does build the dog's interest in heeling.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-85w2-fsKg

I know people have many theories of training, but this works for us. Like the instructor's dogs, I have trouble getting rid of mine when I want them to be at ease off leash, bc they sometimes use getting in heel position as a form of begging.


Here's one more of about a 100 attention games(Catch My Drift) for a distracted dog.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwfoP6rs-pk&feature=related


----------



## mdoats (Jun 7, 2007)

Thanks for all the suggestions folks! I really appreciate all the ideas. I'll try some of them this week and see what works.

Rookie is heeling pretty well without distractions now. The struggle today was how strongly he reacted to distractions and how hard it was to get him to refocus. His 'watch me' response is usually pretty good, but when he loses it, it's really hard to get his attention back on me. The frisbee landed before I had a chance to focus his attention on me. And once his attention was gone, it was almost impossible to get it back.

After some further thought on the matter, I think I need to keep bringing the gentle leader with me (at least in my pocket) so that it's there if I need it. I tried having him wear it and just not attaching it, but he's very aware of when it's attached and when it's not. Also, I have been so over-reliant on it for the past year that I thought I should just put it away and not let it be a crutch. It seems like I was too quick to put it away though. I just need to use it as a tool, not a crutch. I'll have it on me so that I can put it on at the park if necessary.

I also think that once I lost his attention and he was yanking in one direction. I should have run in the opposite direction instead of walking calmly. It might have been easier to get his attention back if he had to run to keep up with me. He wouldn't have been able to run and keep turning around to look backward.

While we're working hard to pass the CGC, it's really the behaviors that interest me, more than the certificate. Rookie is over two years old now. I feel like I SHOULD be able to walk him with just a flat collar by now. Signing up for the class and setting the goal of passing the CGC was really just to help me refocus our training and to give us a goal to work towards.


----------

