Saturday rain meant no flyball practice again.
Agility class on Saturday was a lesson in frustration. I know we have a lot of work ahead of us to get Sophie comfortable on the teeter and dog walk. Armed with treats, tug toy and clicker, we got to class early and worked on rewarding any interest she showed in the teeter. She did fine, even offered a two on two off (on the non moving side of the teeter.)
Then class started...some of the dogs have built up speed on the teeter so they were making lots of noise as they run across it. Most classes she refuses to go on the teeter but will continue to work as others worked on it. Class is indoor and the teeter is now moving with more force and she dislikes the sound intensely.
Sophie completely shut down. She refused to work on jumps, weaves or tunnel. She even refused her tug which is unheard of. I was frustrated/worried that she was so freaked out. We took a walk outside and then sat in the corner working on the wobble board. Lots of praises and treats for willingly going on the board. After 30mins she was back to normal and doing jumps. It helped that the teeter work was over.
The instructor said we may want to consider switching classes to the center's outdoor site. Unfortunately that does not fit into our schedule. So we agreed to give it to the end of this session (5 weeks). If she continues to shut down because of the noise then we will have to re-evaluate.
When I got home, I was upset. I didn't like seeing her shut down. I was happy that we were able to work through it but sad that the noise so freaked her out. I jumped online, learned how to make a wobble board of our own. Then today we got to work.
Lots of treats and praise whenever she makes the board hit the ground. By the end of a 8min training session, I saw some progress. Tail wagging, relaxed body and offering the slamming behavior on her own. So far we are still working with the wobble board on the rug. As she builds confidence I will move it to the hard wood flooring.
I do agility because so far it has been fun. I won't continue if it is stressful for her. So we shall see how the next few weeks go with some more work at home. Wish us luck!
Just keep rewarding the wobble board :) She will get things figured out. Can you take her far from the noise at all during your classes? If you can, try to find something REALLY yummy she likes...and everytime the teeter slams, she gets a hotdog/chicken whatever she REALLY likes. If you have to, go outside..then slowly come into the building. Just building TONS of positive rewards for the noise...sorry you are so frustrated :(
ReplyDeleteThank you for the advice Loretta! I will bring hot dogs with me next class. I tried to play tug whenever the teeter slammed but she was not having it.
ReplyDeleteI also like the strategy of working with the wobble board & having her slam it down at home. If you haven't done the following, I'd suggest trying this, too-- again going early and rewarding her next to the teeter--lift it with your foot, reward, lower it, reward, lift it, let it fall a little, reward, etc, working to slamming it down with your foot. Could you borrow a teeter from someone to practice this sort of thing with at home? Other friends with dogs with teeter issues have done that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion of moving the teeter with my foot and rewarding. We will give that a try next weekend!
ReplyDeleteI am the only one of my group of friends that is involved in dog sports so no one has a teeter to borrow. But I did see a mini teeter on ebay that I am trying to purchase.