I have finally kicked off the training program for the dogs. So excited about working with each of my beautiful dogs. It's actually pretty surprising how good they are already doing even though we just started. But I always knew I had smart, talented dogs and of course waiting till they weren't the hyper little puppies they used to be is helping....a lot. They have quite a bit more focus now then when they were four months old.
The best part about the beginning stages of training is that I finally get to see what each individual dog will be good at. While Luke might be good at Rally - O, Daisy would be better at agility. So its cool getting to see them work and what field of training would be best to take them in. But of course Flyball is the main sport. Everyone except Wrangler would be amazing at it (Wrangler isn't a big toy dog. He just wants his mommy time).
Anyway, here's what we worked on today with three of the dogs. I try to pick at least two things to work on the dogs with. Now most of the dogs know sit, but they still have to work on tweeking it some. No sit is perfect. There is always work to be done.
Now, Sadie's training is going great. She is so quiet and calm and pays beautiful attention to me for the most part. She is going to be an easy trainer because she picks up on everything so fast. Her heel is going to be decent. She likes to get distracted but she was getting the hang of it toward the end of the session. Her come is gonna take time, but we just have to get her somewhat excited in order to get her to come running full force. The last thing I worked with her on is her down. The other day she couldn't get it at all but today she was nailing the down like crazy. So hopefully things are beginning to stick with her some.
Cassie is going to be a pain unless I can really get her excited about training. She just doesn't want to move, not even for cheese. So I guess hotdogs will be the next try. I think she has just gotten lazy and doesn't want to do a darn thing now except lay in the house on top of the air vent. I drug her through a heel, pushed her into sits, and she did her comes at a very slow walk and in a semi-circle form (not really sure what that is about). Oh well, I'll give it another shot soon, but this time with hotdogs.
Luke is going to be one of my favorite dogs to work with. His attitude is amazing and I just love watching him work. He gets so happy about being outside with me and all he wants is to please me. He's pretty solid on his sits but I need to tweek it. His sits are more like fronts which is fine. I love having a dog that will do a front for a sit, he just doesn't realize that I need him to be able to sit at a distance and at my side and where ever else I might need him to be. So today I worked on his heel (which he was amazing and held such a beautiful stride) and then on his sits at a heel position. He had some trouble at first but he was catching on by the end of training.
All in all, not a horrible day of training. I'm gonna see about working Wrangler and Daisy (maybe Cassie) tomorrow but it depends on time and weather. More play by play updates will be coming though in the near future.
