Ryder Starting Obedience

[XTRAWLD]

I have enrolled Ryder into obedience training. Not because he won't learn anything or misbehaves. My ultimate plan is to get him into AGILITY!

 

I'm so excited.

 

Of course we have to walk before we can run (literally as well!) Obedience training will take about 6 weeks to complete, after which I can enroll him into agility - provided he's a good student. Our first start date is this Thursday (4 days away!)

 

I'm happy we've had 10 months with him in our home before throwing him right into school within the first month. I could tell the day we got him that he was "different" from Kasey. He has the willingness to learn, is very food motivated and really wants to please. He's incredibly sharp. He already learned commands early on such "sit" and "paw" and "on your bed". He can go up and down stairs relatively quickly but carefully stair by stair, as opposed to Kasey's three jumps to get up a flight! We are working at home regarding "down" as in "lay down" and "wait". We've cleared him of nasty habits already, including counter surfing and jumping up (thankfully).

 

I will admit to something. It is much easier training one dog, when he is the only dog in the house! We trained Kasey for our regular household rules relatively easy. But trying to train Ryder with Kasey in the room is almost a one-upmanship. I think though, Kasey has made Ryder a very stable dog, and has likely contributed to his behaviour in the home in a great way. Kasey is alpha to Ryder.

 

I plan to keep some updates rolling regarding our weekly obedience training via this thread. Stay tuned for things he (and I) learn!

[kudzu]

Wonderful! Hope you have a blast. All mine have done some basic obedience and agility training. They love training & are so excited when we get to the training building or I set up an xpen at home to block of the kitchen for training sessions. Please let us know how it goes.

[Guest june]

Greys love to learn and they love to please us. I hope you both have a wonderful time. I tried for agility with Jazzy, but she absolutely would not go into a tunnel; even with her most favorite treats. She also freaked out on anything that moved under her. This from a girl who has her CD and Rally titles. She tried and did her best and that is all I can ask.

Enjoy!

[Guest Swifthounds]

Sounds like you've begun an exciting journey!

 

I train with more than one hound in the room and find that it works best if I give the hound I'm not actively trying to train something to do (something you've already trained, not something you're working on). They tend to butt in less when they know they will have to work for the attention.

 

I do believe that with very rare exception (ie a greyhound with a bad temperament) all greyhounds do better where there is more than one hound in the home.

[Guest ThunderPaws]

How exciting!

My Diesel LOVES agility, especially tunnels and jumps! He'll never be able to compete with border collies but we have a greyt time.

It's nice to see dogs with jobs. Keep us posted on Ryder's obedience and agility progress!

[Guest 2dogs4cats]

How exciting! I did a small agility class with my Bridge dog, Star, and it was so much fun! Good luck and have fun!

[Guest Houndstown]

Sounds greyt! Good Luck Ryder!!

[XTRAWLD]

Yesterday was our first class. Sorry for the novel, but I would like to document our training so I can look back and laugh eventually! LOL

 

There were 7 of us in the class, each dog was a different breed. Majority were single people, another few were couples and 1 was a family of 5! They, of course had the Golden, and it of course was the most annoying dog there. He barked nearly the whole time, so much that the rest of us could barely hear our trainer! This was the first time I've seen a Griffon in person! There was also a white Labradoodle, a small black Lab puppy, an oddly, very shy and timid Jack Russel (could have been a bit of a mix too), and a small Aussie it looked like as well, but I think it's a mix.

 

We tethered the dog to the wall, I know I already had my reservations. The tether was affixed to the wall rather low, enough that if Ryder panicked it could wrap around his legs. We were in a large domed building that had agility equipment set up in the middle. It was not heated. Boooo. I left Ryder's coat on, as I was told to be dressed for it ahead of time.

 

We worked on sit. Ryder sat for the first 5 minutes of me asking him to. Then he stopped. He didn't want to have anything to do with being there, or the barking, or the loud guy talking.....he honestly shut down in hearing me. He asked us to work the sit for as long as possible and I asked the guy, his name is Howard so I won't always call him THE GUY, to come over. I indicated that this is a greyhound and they naturally don't sit, if very much at all. He understood, he is aware of the breed, and a few have been to his facility. Any dog can sit, whether they can for very long is all up to the training. I added, oh he'll do it at home, I could get him to sit for 30 seconds, a minute at home, in which case Howard then made an example of us. "She brings up a good point. She said the dog does fine at home, but won't cooperate here. Well "here" is where it has to work. This is where he has to sit for you. He should sit for you anywhere at anytime." OK....I got it.

 

Now before the next exercise Howard informed the class of my shy greyhound. All dogs learn at different levels. The next exercise was fabulous. Everyone had to abandon their dog! We had to go around to eachothers dogs, and ask for a sit to the other dogs. If they sat, they got a treat and praise. This means, the dog should sit for ANYONE. In the case of Ryder, Howard mentioned that because he is shy, to keep your distance because he's not comfortable. But if you can get Ryder to react to you, sniff you, come up to you, you should reward that. We want a friendly, happy dog. Off we went as I left my tethered Ryder to the wall and left him to his own devices. We moved to the left, and hung around each dog for at least 5 minutes. Every dog I went up to sat for me! No one that went up to Ryder made him sit! There was one gentleman that was able to ALMOST get him to sit. He trusted him the most it seemed. He was curious and loved whatever treats were available. Howard pointed this out to the class. We turned to see Ryder sniffing his hand and accepting a treat. I said that's a big step to be comfortable with a man. I didn't notice a tucked tail either, and I was pleased.

 

Our homework: Forego dinner for Ryder (as we had to do before class as well). For one hour every night I am to sit in front of the TV. I like this already! I have to tether Ryder nearby. At every commercial, I must ask him to sit and reward. Once the commercials are done, I watch my show. When the commercials are back, I train. In addition to this training, if on our walks or in our home, if ANYONE wants to pet Ryder, he has to sit first.

 

So far, I like the class. It will be a challenge for me I think to work with Ryder in the environment, but I'm up for it. I know he has the smarts to do this, and the food motivation certainly helps. I will have to bring some more delectible treats to give him.

 

I just have to call Howard today and ask about his thoughts regarding Kasey when I'm training. Kasey likes to join in/take over.

 

So far, hubby has been able to make him sit on his walk, and sit for his treats. I was able to make him sit for a pet, and sit for breakfast. Sit Sit Sit Sit. I will live, breathe and think, SIT.

[Guest mirinaaronsmom]

 

We've cleared him of nasty habits already, including counter surfing and jumping up (thankfully).

 

 

 

Sorry to hijack your post (very impressive, by the way), but how did you clear him of the nasty habit of jumping up? I've been having trouble with my hound that has been with me since Christmas. He never does it when I'm home, but clears things off every flat surface - even 5 feet off the ground! I've been muzzling him when I'm not home and that has helped with him ingesting everything he can get his mouth on. So far he hasn't 'killed' anything that can't be replaced, but it's only a matter of time...

[XTRAWLD]

 

We've cleared him of nasty habits already, including counter surfing and jumping up (thankfully).

 

 

 

Sorry to hijack your post (very impressive, by the way), but how did you clear him of the nasty habit of jumping up? I've been having trouble with my hound that has been with me since Christmas. He never does it when I'm home, but clears things off every flat surface - even 5 feet off the ground! I've been muzzling him when I'm not home and that has helped with him ingesting everything he can get his mouth on. So far he hasn't 'killed' anything that can't be replaced, but it's only a matter of time...

 

We addressed the jumping up part first. If he jumped up on people, we put a knee up in the air and he would come in contact with the knee right in his chest. We also followed this with a NO! at the same time. He tried that only twice, and caught on quick that it hurts!

 

We ensured that we kept an eye on him as much as possible. When he would jump up on the counter (he was silent and sneaky). If he was suddenly missing from the room, he was probably in the kitchen trying to sniff. If we caught him on the counter, we gave a stern NO! because he learned this with the jumping up on us part. It really was that easy for us, thankfully! However, I was prepared for more drastic measures if he continued.

 

You may want to try these two methods (what I've read - haven't had to practice).

Get some duct tape. Invert the tape so sticky side is up (so make a loop). Put it along the edges of your counter. If the dog jumps up, paws will come in contact with the tape and that might be enough to make him wonder, hmmm, what is this? He might get freaked out enough and stop. You could only hope! Of course anytime you see him surfing, say NO! Don't use his name, say NO! loudly and firmly. I also make a loud CLAP! with my hands.

Should that not work, the only other thing I've read is a scare tactic (which we were ready to do). Save up some pop cans. Line them up on your counter, close to the edge, and stack them. If he's brave enough to sniff with enough touching force on the cans, they will fall over and scare the daylights out of him. If just the cans don't work, put coins inside them, and then he will have a real mess of things falling.

It's designed to make your dog NOT EVER want to try counter surfing again, however, I am concerned about him forever being afraid of things falling from above in general. (Kasey is fearful of things above his head in general, like grabbing bowls from the cabinets, and LOUD NOISES etc. So I think he at some point had something fall on him - and nothing ever happened with us. It must have happened at the track, cause he came like that).

Like I said - I didn't try it, but that's what I read in the "All About Greyhounds For Dummies" book.

Edited March 25, 2011 by XTRAWLD

[krissy]

Sounds like Ryder is doing well! I have to say I feel very fortunate that Summit is a social butterfly. That said he doesn't necessarily perform for everyone, but in some ways I am fine with that. He almost never shuts down on me, and he will listen to my BF as well to a point. He would probably do "come" for anyone, but certainly not sit or down. He will do those for me almost anywhere at this point though.

[Guest mirinaaronsmom]

 

You may want to try these two methods (what I've read - haven't had to practice).

Get some duct tape. Invert the tape so sticky side is up (so make a loop). Put it along the edges of your counter. If the dog jumps up, paws will come in contact with the tape and that might be enough to make him wonder, hmmm, what is this? He might get freaked out enough and stop. You could only hope! Of course anytime you see him surfing, say NO! Don't use his name, say NO! loudly and firmly. I also make a loud CLAP! with my hands.

Should that not work, the only other thing I've read is a scare tactic (which we were ready to do). Save up some pop cans. Line them up on your counter, close to the edge, and stack them. If he's brave enough to sniff with enough touching force on the cans, they will fall over and scare the daylights out of him. If just the cans don't work, put coins inside them, and then he will have a real mess of things falling.

It's designed to make your dog NOT EVER want to try counter surfing again, however, I am concerned about him forever being afraid of things falling from above in general. (Kasey is fearful of things above his head in general, like grabbing bowls from the cabinets, and LOUD NOISES etc. So I think he at some point had something fall on him - and nothing ever happened with us. It must have happened at the track, cause he came like that).

Like I said - I didn't try it, but that's what I read in the "All About Greyhounds For Dummies" book.

 

I put a soda can with pennies in it on top of the built-in that he likes to take things off of. I don't drink soda, so I only had one. I went grocery shopping (a half hour) and when I got home, the can was in the crate and unrecognizable as a soda can. And now the pennies are gone. This dog!!!!

[Guest Swifthounds]

I put a soda can with pennies in it on top of the built-in that he likes to take things off of. I don't drink soda, so I only had one. I went grocery shopping (a half hour) and when I got home, the can was in the crate and unrecognizable as a soda can. And now the pennies are gone. This dog!!!!

 

This trick only works with those dogs that are spooked by noise. If you use it, you should use something like dried beans inside, not pennies or other coins which are both an obstruction hazard and toxic.

[Guest mirinaaronsmom]

I put a soda can with pennies in it on top of the built-in that he likes to take things off of. I don't drink soda, so I only had one. I went grocery shopping (a half hour) and when I got home, the can was in the crate and unrecognizable as a soda can. And now the pennies are gone. This dog!!!!

 

This trick only works with those dogs that are spooked by noise. If you use it, you should use something like dried beans inside, not pennies or other coins which are both an obstruction hazard and toxic.

 

Good news - I found the pennies on Saturday. Nothing scares this hound.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Good news - I found the pennies on Saturday. Nothing scares this hound.

 

Very good news!

 

I know what you mean, I have a hound who fears nothing, except the look she gets when she's in trouble - but that's not one of those quick fixes.

 

He may not be afraid of noise at all. Some are completely unfazed. Our IG, Mocha, loves the sounds of gunfire, 18 wheelers, and motorcycles. Oh, yes, Gettysburg is her favorite trip all year.

 

Most dogs and cats aren't fond of putting their paws up on the counter only to encounter masking tape.

[XTRAWLD]

Wow, that sucks to hear about the pennies. I never thought he would have ingested them! Yikes. You might just have to crate him until you are more comfortable with him in your home when you aren't there.

 

Over the course of the week I worked with Ryder on his sit. It really was pointless in the house as he would sit all the time, and get food. I went OUTSIDE and tied him to a bench and sat that way - then he caught on - OH, this is where I go to put my butt on the ground and get food....and then he would do it there all the time. I had to resort to walking and asking for a sit on our walk. He was way less comfortable with that and that's where I worked him the most. I think it paid off due to yesterday's results!

 

Ryder had his second class last night. I was armed with hotdogs cut up thinly and very little dinner. I had to feed him something when I got home from work, even though it's recommended not to. He has a terrible habit of throwing up yellow bile when his tummy is too empty and I just don't want to deal with that in the car. He got a handful of kibble.

 

He worked PHENOMENAL for me. I was so happy. He sat every time I asked him too. He was more relaxed than the last time.

 

In we went into the arena. We tethered them to the wall again and asked for sits. We visited the other dogs for socialization. Everyone sat - even RYDER SAT FOR PEOPLE. I'm so thrilled you have no idea!

 

The next thing we worked on was recalls. The idea was to give the dog to Howard, get the dog super excited, run away and get the dog to follow. Ryder has never been off leash before so I requested we take the leash off the dog for him to run. I could barely give Ryder to Howard. Ryder was incredibly upset and trying to pull away. I ran and Ryder sorta chased after me. He eventually got to me via a walk. Big praise at the end. The dog wants to be focused on you, and be excited to go to you. Looks like we have some work to do.

 

Next, Howard set up a big tube - the tube used for agility. It's a 20 ft regulation tube. He compressed it as small as it would go. We were to give the dog to Howard and we were to stand at the other end and encourage the dog to go through. I laughed. We were first. Ryder didn't want to have anything to do with Howard, and didn't want anything to do with the tube. So we just did recalls beside it. I would run to the end and call Ryder over and off he came. He did drag the leash with him. I know it's a risky thing for the dog to run with the leash, but he hardly ran! Howard actually draped the leash along his back and it stayed up for the most part, which was relieving. That's why I gave him my first request with him off leash completely.

 

He extended the tube longer and longer each time. We only tried the tube thing the first three times. Ryder went ape on Howard one time and bit his hand! Ryder did come to me each and every time though. He once wandered but eventually made it over to me. I had to use my "loud mad tone" to get him to come over a couple times. If I use my excited pitch tone he doesn't listen.

 

Next week we will be learning how to walk without pulling!

 

I spoke to Howard a bit at the end about how Ryder "performed". He was thrilled that the dog did the recalls. He said, "why stress the dog out if he's not having any fun (with the tube)". I agreed. He said - he will eventually go through, it will just take time. I took Ryder over to the tube to investigate, and he went half way in with a treat....so....

 

My homework is to set up chairs and drape blankets over the chairs and get Ryder to go through it, and to practice recalls aside from that tunnel. This will be interesting!

[krissy]

Re: Tunnel. We didn't get Summit through the first week. He was having none of it. That was the only thing he wasn't best in class at. ha ha. The second week though we really made the tunnel as short as it would go and I used a long treat (you can use a block of cheese if you want) so that he could take little nibbles as I lured him. We got him to put his two front legs and his head in, but he still wouldn't go. Finally we sent his GSD buddy Dax through the tunnel, and I saw Summit think "Well, gosh, I certainly am not going to let that barking, not listening, pushy little bugger outdo ME at anything" and followed him right through. Then we encouraged him through with food a couple more times before I took him off to do something else. The next week he moved up right to the full tunnel. All I had to do was throw a treat into the tunnel and once he was in I quickly ran to the other end and called him through the rest of the way. Now he goes in on command and sometimes goes in all by himself and looks very proud of himself.

 

If Ryder likes any of the other dogs in the class, try having him watch them do it and see if he won't just follow them through, or at least be more willing to try. And seriously, a block of cheese is awesome because as long as they're trying you just keep letting them take nibbles out of it. So as long as his head and feet continue in the right direction he gets rewarded.

[Guest zaylea]

I put a soda can with pennies in it on top of the built-in that he likes to take things off of. I don't drink soda, so I only had one. I went grocery shopping (a half hour) and when I got home, the can was in the crate and unrecognizable as a soda can. And now the pennies are gone. This dog!!!!

 

This trick only works with those dogs that are spooked by noise. If you use it, you should use something like dried beans inside, not pennies or other coins which are both an obstruction hazard and toxic.

 

Good news - I found the pennies on Saturday. Nothing scares this hound.

 

One of mine, Major, isn't afraid of anything at all. Once she pulled a glass off the counter, it fell my ceramic tile floor and broke, and then she tried to carry away a piece of the broken glass, all in a matter of seconds. Batou on the other hand, who didn't even see (just heard) this happen, was terrified of going into the kitchen for a few hours.

[XTRAWLD]

Re: Tunnel. We didn't get Summit through the first week. He was having none of it. That was the only thing he wasn't best in class at. ha ha. The second week though we really made the tunnel as short as it would go and I used a long treat (you can use a block of cheese if you want) so that he could take little nibbles as I lured him. We got him to put his two front legs and his head in, but he still wouldn't go. Finally we sent his GSD buddy Dax through the tunnel, and I saw Summit think "Well, gosh, I certainly am not going to let that barking, not listening, pushy little bugger outdo ME at anything" and followed him right through. Then we encouraged him through with food a couple more times before I took him off to do something else. The next week he moved up right to the full tunnel. All I had to do was throw a treat into the tunnel and once he was in I quickly ran to the other end and called him through the rest of the way. Now he goes in on command and sometimes goes in all by himself and looks very proud of himself.

 

Edit - I wanted to add that we are NOT working on agility at this point in time. It's basic obedience. We used the tunnel to build self-confidence while recalling under a "new and stressful" situation.

 

If Ryder likes any of the other dogs in the class, try having him watch them do it and see if he won't just follow them through, or at least be more willing to try. And seriously, a block of cheese is awesome because as long as they're trying you just keep letting them take nibbles out of it. So as long as his head and feet continue in the right direction he gets rewarded.

 

Thanks Krissy for the tip! I don't have a lot of "one on one" time with him at the centre because there is a full class of 7. I did bring him up to the tunnel after class and he put half his body through one end when I was holding the treat, so I do think there is hope. Just have to be more patient. It wouldn't be fair for the class to just stand there and wait on me and Ryder trying endlessly without result. Plus it wasn't fun for Ryder and we wanted it to be a positive experience. We will see how my homework works at home. I would like to call the trainer though to 1. Apologize for being bitten, 2. Ask what to do with Kasey during training. I'm thinking I can utilize Kasey to go through our makeshift tunnel, cause it's usually monkey see, monkey do at my house with the brothers.

 

Edit: I wanted to add that we are NOT doing agility training. It's basic obedience. The object of using the tunnel was to increase their self confidence by recalling under a "new and stressful" situation.

Edited April 1, 2011 by XTRAWLD

[krissy]

I'm sure he'll figure it out eventually. If you were closer I'd offer to bring Summit and a tunnel to show the boys how it's done. If Kasey will go through the makeshift tunnel I'm sure Ryder would be hot on his heels! After the tunnel in agility comes the chute, so I'm sure that'll be even more awesome. I'm waiting to see what Summit thinks of that in a couple of weeks when we start agility!

[XTRAWLD]

We put the blanket over the chairs and watched Ryder RUN back and forth through our makeshift tube....it was Kasey that did not enjoy that exercise. He's not big on "crouching".

 

I made sure the blanket was low enough to touch Ryder's back, but he didn't really duck much. We then grabbed our patio chair cushions because they were more sturdy and made a better tunnel. He totally took 4 chairs out with his excitement! I think he'll be ok....I reminded my hubby though, the tube has a bottom he has to run on that shakes the whole unit and it'll make noise as he goes through.

 

If he can't perform the task this week in class, I'd like to try to work on him solo after the class if Howard will let me. A solid tunnel and a lazy blanket/chairs/cushions are two different things.

[XTRAWLD]

3rd class was last night. IMO it felt like a bit of a waste.

 

We started with the circle and the socialization again. Ryder sat for people, yay. He got tangled up and stuck against the wall at one point and I ran over to get him untangled or he would have freaked and fell or broke a leg or whatever. The tie downs at the class are just TOO low for a greyhound, and it frustrates me. ANYWAY......

 

It was "poke, prod and push" night. Teaching your dog that doing stuff to them is essential and that they have to get used to it. You should be able to do what you want to your dog under any circumstances and working towards them not freaking out on you if you are grabbing an ear or a paw and holding and inspecting them for 30 seconds to a minute at a time. The idea is to make vet visits better. Ryder was an A student last night. Open jaw, stick in fist. Open up the eyeballs and look. Fold back the ears, lift and grab the tail......Next was basic care of your dog, clipping nails, when to take them to the vet, teeth brushing/cleaning, etc. Stuff I already know and understand. I do feel like it is important for Howard to teach this to his classes, a lot of dog owners are pure newbies and what better place to tell people how to handle your dog than when you are in Obedience School? It was just a class I didn't really pull any additional info away from.

 

At the end of it we worked on putting a Halti or Gentle Leaders on our dog. I had a harness on Ryder but thought, what better place to try a Halti than here? So I grabbed a tester and put it on Ryder. I honestly didn't think it was going to work or fit, but it did. Aside from it sitting right by his eyeballs, it fit well. However he was unresponsive to requests to sit on our walk. He learned though not to pull. If you can control the head, you can control the dog. I went home without buying the Halti, as I wanted to try the other version (the gentle leader) as well. I think it will work for the sole purpose of not pulling on a walk, so I'm actually ok with the idea of putting it on him. I really appreciated having the time and the proper setting with 2 trained professionals around to guide me through it.

[krissy]

That's so weird that you had vet visit and clipping nails stuff in an obedience class. I guess it's good for newbies, but personally I would have wanted to know from my trainer if she was going to do that and I'd skip... but then I'm in vet school so that REALLY would have been a review!

 

In terms of head halters, we just had a seminar with Dr. Susanne Simmons about a month ago and she was discussing all the different kinds of equipment and tools you can use for training. The Gentle Leader is a lot tighter. It has to be tight to work properly, but a lot of people are unwilling to tighten them as much as they need to. The Halti is meant to fit a lot looser, such that a dog can actually open his mouth almost as wide as he wants. Technically with the Gentle Leader they can get a tennis ball in their mouth, but only just. The thing with head halters is that for the most part they're a quick fix. You're not really addressing the heart of the behavioural issue, you just find a way to deal with it. Which is fine if that's what you want, or if a dog is so out of control on walks that you even need it to begin working on correcting the problem.

 

If Ryder pulls on walks it may be beneficial to walk him individually so you can focus on him. Or you take one dog and hubby takes the other. It's a slow, frustrating process at first, so I can see why people want to just get a head halter and have the quick fix. Personally I like the circling method. Any time the dog pulls, you force him to walk in a tight circle before continuing. If you really have a puller this will make you dizzy, so sometimes I use the alternate method of turning quickly into the dog and walking in the opposite direction. You can also just come to a complete stop and refuse to continue walking unless the dog gives you slack. Most frustrating experience I had with this was a foster puppy I had. It would literally take us a half an hour to walk the last block home. But he was going to be huge (and he is huge, I just saw him at Christmas) so I wasn't going to have him learning bad habits at 8 weeks old.

[XTRAWLD]

The leaders were just a "fitment" test. The actual walking will take place next week. I don't know if the other woman that was there was a vet, but she was a dog trainer of some sort. I do think some people need the basic dog keeping stuff, but it really was a waste of time for me, but not for Ryder. The more I can get him out there, exposed to new people and things, it's always a win.

 

He is a puller on our walks. Especially when we had the HUGE episode of him refusing to walk last year and I needed to take him on a 1.5 hour walk to correct him. I don't want that happening again. He is an amazing bundle of energy, and while we have tried to make him stop pulling on our walks, he still continues to do so.....I'm not against trying the halti. I don't think I should shut the idea out before giving it an honest go. Nearly a year in and choking him on our walks just isn't cutting it anymore.

[XTRAWLD]

4th class last night. I had called Howard early last week to ask about what to do with Kasey when I'm training. He suggested to put Kasey away. I had to form a bond with Ryder. I could train and play with Kasey later, but he wasn't going to learn how to do things from Kasey, I had to show Ryder directly. I'm glad I asked!

 

In we went, did the circle of friends as I now like to call it. He sat a couple times for people and he was actually approaching them as they came up to him, curious about what was in their pocket. He's still got big time trust issues especially in men. The last guy that visited Ryder got a sit out of him, I was so happy - but he didn't give him anything....I'm like HELLO....**? Reward that behaviour.....ugh.

 

After the circle we grabbed the haltis/gentle leaders. I only tried a Halti in the last class and got a chance to try the Gentle Leader last night. IMO it fit much better. It sat lower on his nose, however size medium seemed a little too tight and there was zero slack (unlike the Halti I tried the week prior). Howard did not have any of the snap together Leaders, and so we just tried a buckle version. The only difference is how quick you can put it on and get going (where it connects by the ears), when you have a squirming dog, you want to do this quickly. Howard went to put it on Ryder and he squirmed really bad, reared up and flipped over. He's so terrified of men, but at least he didn't bite him. I put the Leader on him once he gathered himself back up. We were then required to sit at the door before it opened, but this whole fuss he put up (we were last) delayed the class so off we went outside. I'm curious if one on one training with Ryder and Howard only might help the fear, I'd like to talk to Howard about that sometime.

 

We went for a walk outside as a group past a myriad of distractions, horses, ducks, dogs (barking, pacing and the owners dog that was running around off lead on purpose). We were required to sit at locations. Ryder wanted nothing to do with sitting, he doesn't bother to try when I pull on the Leader. I put him in a sit by tucking his legs and THEN he sat and stayed there and I rewarded him. SHEESH.

 

We went back to the arena. Leaders off. We then "dressed" our dog in T-Shirts. Enforcing the poke-prod-pull lesson we learned the week prior. Ryder wore a yellow "Fast Dogs" shirt like a champ. No issues putting him into clothing (I yelled to Howard, "Is it sad that I've done this before?") LOL He told us to get the dog comfortable with this, and even have friends do it when they are over. That would be a fun game huh?

 

After that we learned a tug game. We eventually want to start rewarding with play and not just food. We all got a tug rope and were encouraged to get the dogs excited and start playing. We had to abide by the "tug rules" so that we were training dogs to play as the reward, making them want to keep playing. Ryder watched other dogs playing, I couldn't get him interested. He does it at home LOL of course. So Howard told me to bring his toy to class next week, since we will work on play reward when he does something good instead of food.

 

I realized last night, my training with Ryder has been slacking and I need to step it up. When I spent a solid week with him learning sit, he was stellar in the next class. Now he's like "whatever, mom".

 

2 classes left. At this point, he's not good enough in his training for me to consider agility. I think we will just get too frustrated learning new things when he doesn't have the basics down solid. So I'll worry about agility when I get there. Maybe invest time in some solo sessions with Howard instead. Have to think about that.