The Trials and Tribulations of training Detour instalment II part II

'Starting’ off on the right foot

In the meantime I was having an issue with Detours startlines. His waits at home and in the park were really great, but were weak in his classes. I know now that the stress of working with some of the dogs in the class were seriously affecting this and knew this was the cause at the time but hoped we could work through it.



Detour holding position in the face of temptation



I had spent a long time proofing his waits so felt quite frustrated that it didnt look like I had even taught him one when we were in class.We had played the 123 game, crate games, dealing with distractions/ motion. It seemed that he could deal with the self control side of it but not the nerves.

One training class his waits were non existent. I took him into the park the next day. His waits were terrible! Intresting as the prior park visit they had been great. It seems that the stress that caused him to break at training had transferred into stress in the actual behaviour, regardless now of location. Fantastic news as it meant I could fix them!



I worked on building distance from BabyD slowly. Firstly I worked on self control in holding position so he could understand the behaviour without dealing with his personal issues of me leaving him alone. I also at this point decided to work on his sit instead of stand as I thought it may make him feel less ‘exposed’ and with me not having to be so picky with foot movement meant I could reward more. So, with D in a sit I would try to tease and cajole him out of position, could he hold it with me bringing food to his nose, how about a toy almost in his mouth… once we had this in the can we built his distance up, slowly his confidence returned and he was once again holding a startline beautifully. I still think under great stress he won’t be ok hold position for me to lead out, and for now I simply won’t ask him to.

Waiting for his release while 'evil' Mommy holds food on his nose