Anyone that has ever seen Soph race in flyball and sprint for her tug knows she is a high drive dog. She introduced me to the crazy and fun world of dog sports and life hasn't been the same since.
When I was ready for a second dog it was because 1)I wanted another fur kid and 2) I wanted to start training another sports dog. I knew there was always the possibility another dog wouldn't take to dog sports and accepted that chance. I tried to hedge my bets by looking at drivey breeds and asking rescues if potential dogs had retrieve or tug drive.
A teammate found Swyatt on petfinder. He was tugging in his video and his bio said he had retrieve drive. Upon meeting him, I fell head over heels in love with him and he came home with us. It's been a whirlwind of a year with him. He is a cuddle bug and smart but so spazzy. He very rarely shows tug drive and even less outside of the house.
I have said since day one, that when he puts it all together in his head, he is going to be an awesome sports dog. But to be honest I was starting to think that day was probably not going to come. I rarely saw a focused drive just a spazzy crazy energy that usually translated to Swyatt taking off like a rocket and ignoring everyone or chasing dogs neither being ideal.
I signed him up for agility basics just hoping to get some focus work done that might maybe translate into other aspects of his training.
Last night was his third class. I have trained with this instructor before, she was Sophie's trainer, so she tends to use Swyatt as her demo dog. He has been doing well and focusing but isn't super engaged. Almost just going through the motions if that makes sense.
But last night, last night I saw that high focused drive that I knew he had in him but that I was starting to think would never emerge. He did restrained recalls. Something we have done for the last year but in recent months he has blown off more often than not. But this time I saw him hunker down and fly to that tug. Admist four barking dogs. Over and over he flew to that tug and wouldn't let go. He tugged like Sophie does on a flyball recall, with his full body and all his energy.
He was super engaged, focus and driven. It actually made me tear up a little because he seemed so content and excited. It was an awesome thing to see...I say see because he did all this during the demo phase. Him and I still need work to get that same level but we are on the right path. I am beyond excited and looking forward to building his drive and our bond.
I think a lot of it is, my trainer doesn't worry and is 100% engaged. She drops the leash and I am freaking out that he may run up to another dog or go off and pee on something. She is just engaged with him and working. I need to find my inner calm and do the same. I need to be 100% engaged, not worried he is going to run off or the multitude of other issues that may occur. I just need to work with him.
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