My little yellow guy has been a true test of patience. LOL
He is very different than Sophie. Sophie wants to please (or maybe its more about the treat/toy). Training her was a breeze. She picked up flyball, agility and obedience commands very quickly. Basically…I was spoiled as a handler.
Swyatt…he is a whole other ball game. He has food drive, very very high that his brain tends to shut everything else out but the food. I'm also convinced he ate jumping beans because sitting still causes him to vibrate in place because he so wants to move. LOL
Training has been a bit of a struggle. Small sessions multiple times a day have really helped and he has made some awesome progress over the last few months. He still has a very short stay and its by no means solid. But we have a wait/stay where before there was none.
He seems to have hit adolescence/teenage stage and recall isn't that great. Long lines at practice are a must and even then….its hit or miss if there will be focus.
Leash reactivity has shown a great improvement, so long as we aren't in our neighborhood (too many barking/charging dogs for Swy's comfort)
All that said…he is awesome at flyball tournaments when he has to be crated. He settles and naps or watches everyone around. Past tournaments, I get him out and walk him around but tried to avoid meeting other dogs and causing reactivity.
This tournament, he was super calm and relaxed so I decided to push the boundaries a little. He was walking around so calmly and with no reactivity that I had him meet some of our calmer dogs while on leash.
I took several deep breathes, tried to relax and loosen the leash. And…he did fantastic. He met 5 different dogs. He was only interested in playing with one of them, about his age and height. They play bowed to each other and barked/pawed, tried to zoom which is hard when attached to leashes and owners. LOL
He got tons of treats and praise!
We worked near the ring on commands and watching the racing dogs.
He also finally tugged in public (he won't tug anywhere but at home…well he wouldn't).
Very happy with his progress. We start agility basics in three weeks and I am looking forward to this new class and activity with him. I think it will help build his confidence and I am excited to see how that plays out in flyball and life in general :-)
Delilah was (is) the same way. So food motivated she can usually see nothing else. But when we look back to where she was 7 years ago, there is huge improvement.
ReplyDeleteYou will get there. As you know consistency is key. Just keep plugging along.
Thank you for the encouraging note :-) I am finding it much harder to find time to train him. Mostly because, Sophie can't be in the room too or she is trying to get in the way and do commands for treats. Which in turn makes Swyatt more bouncy and food oriented. But I feel bad putting her in another room after being gone all day. Balance is something we are still working on :-)
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