# Private lessons



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

rule!! I am just back from agility run thrus (4 runs each dog) and we followed those with a private lesson for Faelan and Towhee.

Please realize I have been training dogs since (gasp) the late 80's and my trainer managed to catch several more things I can do to improve my heeling (need to soften my knees, _*my*_ focus is too far forward, I sometimes swing my hips on right turns etc). I swear it is too darned easy to lapse in your handling - well it is for me at least.

We also discovered that both Faelan and Towhee have very fast, tight sits at a distance that were improved even more by throwing a tennis ball for them as a reward (note to self: okay lets teach the dogs to catch so instructors stop laughing at me in disbelief as the treat/toy flies over their head). This will be important for their go-outs; Towhee _really_ impressed me since we have never worked distance sits and she was a star!! 

Then on to scent discrimination games where we hide the article and send them to find it in a dark room so they learn about nose vs eyes.

I need to get some dowels or yard sticks or similar for other portions of our lesson for Go Outs.

Overall, I had a great time, but better yet the dogs had a blast; oh we worked on attention as well in ways that do not involve popping them when their eyes strayed - this is very good since it goes along with my style of training ; no offense is intended to anyone but I promised myself I would use other means of training and since I am not the most creative of people, I was letting little glances go since I thought the only way to correct them was with a pop or a verbal or something.


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## IndyBindy (Nov 4, 2011)

Can you talk about your attention work even more? I would love to hear about some of the methods that you talked about


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

IndyBindy said:


> Can you talk about your attention work even more? I would love to hear about some of the methods that you talked about


Thanks 

My dogs are well trained in the watch and attention games using food & toys both stationary and moving. These games you are probably well familiar with so I won't go into details. 

But once the proofing stage is entered, the dog needs to learn to take responsibility for paying attention. This is where I needed some help - I was letting quick glances go - they now need to maintain full attention for the entire time I heel - so a few of the games

1) Aw, see what you missed? where the dog loses attention, you back peddle to the place where attention was lost and then pull out a toy and tease the dog with 'see what you could have had?' I think this is actually a Denise Fenzi game. You still need to have the toy on you though although it could be hidden.

2) Oops, you missed it. This is a game I knew but forgot because it had a pop involved - but it can be played without the pop which is what I was reminded of today. Dog glances left, you go to the right - oops you missed it, with praise when they correct their position. Dog's head drops you go in some other direction etc. The idea is to let the dog learn to take full responsibility for paying attention or he misses the action. 

Another thing my instructor caught was Faelan used to be too far away from me while heeling so I used a LOT of drifting to the right and right turns, spirals etc to correct this. Well, I still go to the right way too often with him and his heeling is nice and tight now - I have to use the left releases, turns etc more now.

With Towhee, she has always been a tight/crowdy heeler so my left/right balance with her is much more balanced.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

sounds like a great lesson!! Your instructor sounds wonderful.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Sounds like a really fun lesson! You packed a lot in!

With Slater if he sneaks a peek during heeling I quickly push him away from me with my left hand and dash off to the right, like you want to look over there, I'm outta here! Of course he dashes after me, we play tug and then commence heeling again. With this new Bridget heeling thing we're on I honestly never practice attention, this is the only real "correction" for inattention during heeling. I need to get better about not letting "little" looks go unnoticed, though. He has a tendency to look down for about a second and as soon as I would have reacted he's back looking at me. Need faster reflexes!!


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## IndyBindy (Nov 4, 2011)

I feel like I am maybe letting those little looks go as well. 

Indy has very good attention but does occasionally look away or down. If I make a goofy noise he is right back with me, but I'm wondering if I should replace that noise with one of the above exercises. Does this energize your dogs?

Also, does anyone tend to lose their dog on the fast? Thats where I lose Indy the most which makes very little sense to me. He is still in correct position....maybe he can't run without looking where he is going? lol goofy puppy


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

IndyBindy said:


> I feel like I am maybe letting those little looks go as well.
> 
> Indy has very good attention but does occasionally look away or down. If I make a goofy noise he is right back with me, but I'm wondering if I should replace that noise with one of the above exercises. Does this energize your dogs?


The thing with just a noise - it is a reminder. It won't change behavior in the long run, meaning it won't prevent or improve the inattention. 
YES if I do the push-away thing with Slater he comes back at me like "HEY HEY I'M HERE NOW!!!" will even bark at me and gets really jazzed up. This is EXACTLY what I want -- he is trying HARDER! We instantly play tug and get on the same page, THEN go back to heeling, and he will be crazy heeling trying very hard to put forth effort. Love it!



> Also, does anyone tend to lose their dog on the fast? Thats where I lose Indy the most which makes very little sense to me. He is still in correct position....*maybe he can't run without looking where he is going*? lol goofy puppy


Could be. How did you teach the fast?


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## IndyBindy (Nov 4, 2011)

Before we did much with the fast, I made sure to do lots of clockwise circles so he had to keep up with me. Also did smaller circles working toward our figure 8 so he learned the cue "hurry". To him, hurry means move to keep up. We also spent lots of time making sure our "take off" from sit was crisp and quick. So after all this, I put in about 5-10 paces of fast as long as he was engaged/paying attention/in position. 

Did I miss something that would help?

And that TOTALLY makes sense about the reminder vs playing the game. I'll quit nagging him and just make him WANT to be with me (which he is pretty good about...but could surely be better!)


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

K9-Design said:


> Sounds like a really fun lesson! You packed a lot in!
> 
> With Slater if he sneaks a peek during heeling I quickly push him away from me with my left hand and dash off to the right, like you want to look over there, I'm outta here! Of course he dashes after me, we play tug and then commence heeling again. With this new Bridget heeling thing we're on I honestly never practice attention, this is the only real "correction" for inattention during heeling. I need to get better about not letting "little" looks go unnoticed, though. He has a tendency to look down for about a second and as soon as I would have reacted he's back looking at me. Need faster reflexes!!


It is those quick glances LOL Then I start to wait that split second for the attention to come back on its own and before I know it, I'm letting those little glances go again.

That game sounds great - I'll give it a try with Faelan ; with Towhee she might just say you want me outta here, okay I'm gone. Maybe baby pushes at first LOL


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

IndyBindy said:


> I feel like I am maybe letting those little looks go as well.
> 
> Indy has very good attention but does occasionally look away or down. If I make a goofy noise he is right back with me, but I'm wondering if I should replace that noise with one of the above exercises. Does this energize your dogs?
> 
> Also, does anyone tend to lose their dog on the fast? Thats where I lose Indy the most which makes very little sense to me. He is still in correct position....maybe he can't run without looking where he is going? lol goofy puppy


Oh boy, do these exercises energize your dog  
Faelan tends to love the fast, but appears to be bored on the slow. 

As an aside, one of my instructors makes us get on our hands and knees, heads up in heel position. We have to maintain heel position in the figure 8, right turns, the fast etc with our 'handler'. We learn very quickly to let our dogs adjust their head position when acceleration is needed; if you watch agility you will also see the head being lowered when acceleration is needed. I guess you could walk at a slower pace to accommodate this, but the AKC rules also call for a brisk pace. Just throwing that thought out there. She also has the handler take turns without left side cuing first - man is it difficult to follow leads that way LOL

Edit to add: My current avatar has Faelan and I rounding the outside of the Figure 8 at his 2nd CDX trial; you can see his head and attention are still upward but not as upward as his head position would be on a straight heeling path. I hope that makes sense.


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Thanks! Through your exciting lesson, I have learned a couple things I too can use. It's neat to hear your successes!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

DNL2448 said:


> Thanks! Through your exciting lesson, I have learned a couple things I too can use. It's neat to hear your successes!


Okay, completely off topic but some may want to hear of this success 

I am hypothyroid, I am also diabetic (both auto immune). Neither condition has been playing nice lately so I sat down with my Doctor and said, 'Hey could I be allergic to something? Could that be causing inflammation?' We ran a fairly thorough food sensitivity panel, and man am I sensitive to a lot of things including some supplements I was taking for my sugars (can we say cinnamon? for starters) I am also sensitive to chicken (which I was eating twice some days) and coffee and gluten and yeast and beer - luckily not milk products LOL Anyway, following a rotation of primarily non sensitive foods for 10 days now, I am down to 'normal' weight having dropped 7 pounds!!! Hopefully my system will appreciate my efforts in all markers <grins> and my weight will continue falling.


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## IndyBindy (Nov 4, 2011)

Oh my goodness! Knowing about those allergies/sensitivities will make you feel better in NO time! Good luck!


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

IndyBindy said:


> Before we did much with the fast, I made sure to do lots of clockwise circles so he had to keep up with me. Also did smaller circles working toward our figure 8 so he learned the cue "hurry". To him, hurry means move to keep up. We also spent lots of time making sure our "take off" from sit was crisp and quick. So after all this, I put in about 5-10 paces of fast as long as he was engaged/paying attention/in position.
> 
> Did I miss something that would help?


I have taught my doggies that when I break into a fast during heeling they are to RUN. Not trot fast -- RUN. You can actually teach this pretty easily....
Put the dog in a sit, tell him to wait, walk forward away from him, a few feet away lower your body into a crouch like you're about to take off, then tell him "RACE! RACE!" (or HURRY, or whatever your word is) and you both take off running like crazy animals. They LOVE this game and after doing it twice the dog will probably take off the second you start to crouch. This is good because it also teaches him the cue during heeling, before your first step into a fast pace, you lean forward a little to gather yourself. Anyways the point of teaching RACE or HURRY is to teach them to actually RUN. After doing this a little bit you can try it during your heeling, run for a few feet then break and have a play time or let him jump and get a treat. They love this game!


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

K9-Design said:


> I have taught my doggies that when I break into a fast during heeling they are to RUN. Not trot fast -- RUN. You can actually teach this pretty easily....
> Put the dog in a sit, tell him to wait, walk forward away from him, a few feet away lower your body into a crouch like you're about to take off, then tell him "RACE! RACE!" (or HURRY, or whatever your word is) and you both take off running like crazy animals. They LOVE this game and after doing it twice the dog will probably take off the second you start to crouch. This is good because it also teaches him the cue during heeling, before your first step into a fast pace, you lean forward a little to gather yourself. Anyways the point of teaching RACE or HURRY is to teach them to actually RUN. After doing this a little bit you can try it during your heeling, run for a few feet then break and have a play time or let him jump and get a treat. They love this game!


Ha ha, unless your dog has a tendency to behave like a maniac, then you try to go into a fast as SMOOTHLY as possible with as little cue as possible and are happy when they decide to just fast trot instead of attempt to maintain heel position while putting in the energy of a race horse! I find he can keep his attention where it needs to be better if he's not trying to all-out run with me.


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

Thanks for sharing everyone! Especially the games about attention, I am going to be trying some of these.

Sounds like a great training session too!


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