Today I went to a Karen Holik seminar. It was just a 1/2 day seminar. We started around 9am. It was kinda chilly this morning but once the sun came out it quickly warmed up to about 70 degrees. There were 6 people and dog ( BC, Rotti, lab, boxer, boykin spaniel , and miley) teams . All the dogs were a little crazy at the beginning of the seminar. Miley was over the top. Taking jumps, tunnels and just doing her own thing. Then when I tried to get her under control and bring her to me, the circling started. Ugh! It was embarrassing. Everyone elses dogs seem to settle down quickly except Miley. I'm suppose to take her to our club trial this weekend and boy was I having second thoughts . I have no control of my dog and I'm sure everyone there agreed. The guy with the border collie was glad I was there. His dog kept running away, so with Miley circling, he didn't look to bad. Miley finally settled down by 11am. After that she ran great. Karen asked me, it that she usually runs. And I said yes. Even with all the circling, Karen did say she thought Miley was going to be a great dog.
One of the biggest things I got out of this seminar, was I need to do obedience with Miley. But really, I had already come to this conclusion. This just brought it home. Ive always hated obedience but I need to become a better team member. She thinks I should put the circling on cue. Her dog Sizzle did do tight circles around her ,but she could stop it, and I cant. Tonight she is giving a lecture and will talk more about getting herding behavior under control.
Another key point that she teaches in all her puppy classes it to get your dog to look at you. Call you dog's name and when they look at you, click and treat. Once you have that, start moving around and call there name, click and treat for them looking at you. After the dog really gets the hang of this and they are out in the yard or doing other things, call their name. When they look at you, click and they will start coming to you to get their treat. And when they start coming, then put the word "come" in there. That's how you teach your dog to come to you. ( I thought that was a neat way to teach come). One thing she told me was to teach Miley the difference between "Here" come close to me vs "here" come all the way next to me. Like if you are walking and you just want your dog to come along "here" or you are on an agility field and you want them to come between two jumps so you need them right to your heel. ( I hope that makes sense) So "come" with in 10-20 feet of you, or "come" right to your side. And of course you need a different word for both.
We did lots of small sequences. Ive got to get my arm flapping under control. Karen asked me, "what are you pointing to? Your arm is way up here and your dog is little. Do you think she can see your arm?" Good point. So that is my goal for this weekends trial. Keep my arms under control. Point to the jump , but point to the bar, not over the top of the jump. Also to keep my shoulders straight. We did a sequence with a serpentine and Miley did it correct . But she wasn't as fast as she could be and she seemed unsure. Well that's because I was running next to her. When running the serpentine, I needed to get ahead of her , so she can see my arms. I ran it again, making sure I was about a jump ahead of her in the serpentine and she was much faster and more confident.
Off the to the lecture. WooHoo!
We’re behind!
9 hours ago
6 comments:
Sounds like you learned a lot in half a day!
I'm sure Miley enjoyed it too!
At the last seminar I was at, there was a little blue merle sheltie girl that did the circling as well. Kind of like the energizer bunny. I think putting it on cue is a great idea.
Wow - sounds like a lot of really useful information! We agree with the obedience part completely - our first trainer said one of the best things we could do to become a good team is to get our CD title. Well, we aren't there yet (never tried an obedience trial) but we have worked a lot on the exercises.
That does sound like a neat way to teach "come"!
The thing about putting your arm out lower is something mom should do too - makes a lot of sense that we little dogs can't see arms that are way above our heads!
We'll be really interested to hear about the lecture tonight on getting herding behavior under control...I don't circle mom much but I have lots of other herding dog issues!
Glad to know Miley is feeling good and enjoying agility even if she is a little out of control :) It's fun that we both have trials this weekend! We're only doing Sat. though. Good luck!
Hey good luck at the trial this weekend! I agree about the obedience. Katie and I have been over a year at obedience, but she's not that obedient yet! LOL! At least she knows that she's supposed to follow my instructions. And that I have treats! Our agility classes around here won't let you in unless you've had at least one obedience class.
Yeah, you really cannot underestimate the value of obedience and flatwork in forming a tight relationship with your dog. Sounds like you got a lot out of the seminar which is awesome! Good luck this weekend!
I would love to hear about handling the herding behavior stuff. Sounds like you got a lot of great stuff at the seminar-thanks for sharing. I think Miley sounds like she is coming together well, and you have kept her drive and enthusiasm strong, so with a little fine tuning you two are going to be awesome. Hope you are going to video the trial this weekend-good luck!
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