Day #1 at the Behaviorist

[TuMicks]

Well... it is really, really refreshing to have a dog trainer listen to you about your needs when it comes to field training. Yes, I need help getting a more obedient dog. But this is not Obedience obedience. I don't want a perfectly square sit. I want her sit to be such that her nose is lined up with my toes, which (given her long spine) means most of her body is behind my legs. I don't want her to look at me. I want her to look OUT where the birds are going to be.

Most of all, I was really happy that these people (who specialize in rehabilitating problem dogs) absolutely understand high drive dogs. They have worked with imported Schutzhund type dogs(drive out the whazoo) and they get it that the standard for control is very high. So I told them what line behavior I need. NO CREEPING. NOT EVEN LEANING FORWARD before and during the guns going off.

Their approach is based upon very gradual desensitization/relaxation training. Yesterday it was puperoni treats. We heeled around and over them, and she sat with her toes almost on top of them without being allowed to reach at all. As far as I was concerned, she could focus on them, even lock on. But no leaning.

Then the two gals working with me played kick ball around her, sending the ball zooming right past her toes and and all around her. Same deal, she had to heel and sit perfectly while this was going on.

We were off-lead, but using an e-collar with a very low setting for day #1. We will eventually drop it. We'll work up to being able to do this sort of thing while other dogs are getting to chase tennis balls around her with lots of hoopla and cheering from other people... while she sits quietly with me. I don't know if this is going to work when ducks are being shot for her at a hunt test. But this gradual relaxation protocol is what is recommended for high drive dogs. So we'll see if working on it over the winter pays off when training resumes in the spring.

[Anna Scott]

Don't know too much about behaviourist training but sounds like RD took to it well. I hope I can get some indoor obedience training done with M this winter. Like RD she is extremely high maintenance. Today she picked up 25 bumpers on a drill. I was worried that she was getting exhausted but 10 minutes after we finished she was wrestling with her buddy from down the road. I put them out side and they tore around the yard like they were turpentine.
I have a giggle/wiggle ball that we used in our obedience classes. It rolls randomly and makes a giggling sound. We used it to proof the sits and stays I will have to get it out for M. Right now we are reviewing "sit" when she comes in from a retrieve. On marks she will line herself up and then not want to sit . She just can't get there fast enough so I have gone back to the old adage, "fast dog, sloooooow release.
Keep us posted on how RD is progressing.
I love M but there are time I just don't have enough gas in the tank to keep up with her high octane.

[TuMicks]

Oh, they will so run-and-gun you!!! That is an old basketball adage where a team (I think Dean Smith's U. on N. Carolina teams) would just take over the tempo of the game and kill the other side so they could never get their defense organized.

The thing is, I want to see her behavior stick when we take the collar off. That will be the thing that will impress me if it ever happens.