# Lucy's Training - Baby Steps



## Lucy222 (Aug 15, 2016)

Since I'm always excited and wanting to share every little step forward in Lucy's obedience training and also all the trials and tribulations along the way, I thought I'd start a thread where I give updates on our progress.
For both myself and others like me who are fairly new to the world of obedience, I thought it might be helpful to see what my journey with Lucy looks like.
I have an end goal of competitive obedience, but we are VERY early in the journey!  
You can see my first thread on the topic here, our (bumpy) starting point:
http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...i-cant-get-her-attention-obedience-class.html 

Yesterday was our fourth obedience class and I have already seen a pretty significant improvement. Yesterday's class seemed opposite to last week's - this time we started out a little bumpy and lacked focus, but by about 20 minutes in I had her attention fairly well and had her interested in my treats and excitement. I liked it better because I do like to end on a positive note so I was quite happy with that.

Today I also got some goodies in the mail - three books that I ordered by Denise Fenzi! I am so excited to read these and hopefully learn some really valuable things on obedience training and understanding my Lucy! I've started with one already and it seems so great!

Please feel free to share any experiences you've had with obedience training here too, I can learn a lot from everyone here!

Pictures below are of Lucy at class yesterday and my new books!


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## Our3dogs (Apr 3, 2008)

Happy to hear this weeks class was better. As you and Lucy get into the training routine, they do get better. There are always going to be "those days" when you wonder if it is a full moon and that is why they are acting up in class. I know what you mean about enjoying the class when you and your dog are both doing well in it. Remember to enjoy yourself, even when there are those bumpy times. Then one day you realize how good they have become at it.


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## Lucy222 (Aug 15, 2016)

SOOO proud of Lucy! 
We had a great class yesterday - still sooo much to work on, but this is starting to get fun finally! If I think back to class number one, Lucy has come so far with paying attention to me and being more comfortable with practicing training in a different place. We even ended the class with an OFF LEASH sit-stay, and recall from across the room (which I might add was full of other dogs and people) and she came right to me when I called her! I was SO happy!  I was shocked (in a very good way) that she hadn't budged and was staring at me, intently waiting for me to call her when I turned around after walking away - I was so expecting her to be wandering around with her nose to the ground or bouncing towards the other dogs.
I've been trying to do lots of mini (5 minutes or less) practice sessions throughout the day this past week, wherever we happen to be - at home, in the back yard, on a walk, at work. I think that has been really helpful and I've been doing my best to make sure Lucy is having FUN when we're doing it. 

Lucy was sooo tired after yesterday's class, I'm thinking maybe because she was finally a lot more engaged with her mind. She was just zonked out all evening. Just the cutest! <3 

The books that I got last week have a ton of great information, I highly recommend them to anyone embarking on obedience training.


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## Lucy222 (Aug 15, 2016)

Well, Wednesday was our last class of this session.
Lucy was sooo good! She even "heeled" in the group, looking up at me instead of the other dogs around us (most of the time hehe). Then we worked on heeling in circles around pylons which was a little rough the first time, but it amazed me how quickly she caught on the second time we did it! I am sooo proud of how far she's come in just six weeks!! :grin2:
We still have so much to learn, both of us! But I think we're off to a great start. The next level up doesn't start until after Christmas but that is fine with me as I will have time to work on what we've learned and get those skills really solid in different environments.

*One thing I wanted to ask was about tips for dealing with leash frustration.* This is one thing that we still have challenges with. Lucy gets frustrated with the leash at times and just throws complete tantrums. For example in class when the instructor is explaining something so I'm not working on anything with Lucy and she wants to wander but she can't, she'll just start biting and jumping and barking and she looks really quite mean. Or on a walk if she wants to say hello to another dog or person and I don't let her - it's like some other dog has possessed my sweet little Lucy for a minute or two until she gets over it. I'm trying to distract her when this happens by getting her to sit or down or anything, but sometimes even waving a treat in her face does nothing. I'm hoping that she might outgrow it as she gets older and more able to manage her frustration, but I'm also worried about it becoming a habit for her as I've heard this is how leash aggression can begin... Any advice on this would be much appreciated!


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## KKaren (Oct 29, 2014)

Congratulations!! Nice job Lucy, She has a cute look on her face like... yes, that's me the "Good Dog"


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

My last girl threw tantrums on leash when she wanted to go investigate something--or sometimes when she was bored. I did a combination of ignoring her and "becoming a tree" and turning it into an immediate training session. Its not necessarily leash aggression...sounds like she's having a bit of a tantrum, or creating her own fun, and possibly displacing a little by taking that energy out by attacking the leash. I'd try to pay attention to whats going on in the room when it happens (is another dog misbehaving), or what is happening outside when she does it--it might give you some clues as to what is triggering it. 

It might be helpful to carry a few extra high value treats for her (actual meat, or liver...in Piper's case, string cheese) to use when she's very distracted by something else. I usually carry three types of treats for classes--soft treats, string cheese, and some cooked meat or liver and use them in progression if she gets bored with one. She ignores kibble at training class--too much going on!


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