Round 2 of beginner obedience for Baron!

ghggp

ghggp

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Well, let me start out by saying... this new class is totally different than the last class! It would is with a husband and wife team and boy, are they good!

The first class was without the dog! We were told that there would be homework! The first day we got more homework than the previous full class I took before!

It was nice to hear them say, please do your homework! Your dog will give you away if you do not! Please do not waste our time or the class participants time if you are not willing to put in the time and effort!

The next morning the email was sent with all the required homework! Everything from a name recognition, touch, nail trims, walking on long lead - days 1/2, 3/4, 5/6!
All materials came with YouTube video links!

These guys are not messing around! Worked Baron today on our homework!

Stay tuned...
 
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That's wonderful Gloria! Yup, I've heard many a trainer tell the class that your dog will tell on you if you don't do your part and many people's dogs did. I think a good trainer also inspires you to work harder and spend more time working with your dog. Good luck to you and Baron!
 
Well, what a difference! When everyone arrived with their dogs for the first obedience class it was kinda hectic. To be expected as all the dogs are unfamiliar with the environment and all the dogs. That said, there were two totally unruly dogs! One was a small terrier that would NOT stop barking! NON-STOP! Poor Baron got completely unhinged by it. He cowered behind me! The owner made NO attempt to correct the dog in any way... just let it continue to bark. This went on for a few minutes until one of the trainers went up to the woman and asked her why she was not correcting her dog! Could not hear her response since she was on the other side of the room.

Obviously, she had no clue how to get her dog to quiet. The trainer took the lead and popped it quickly to get the dogs attention. He stopped for a second and then went back to barking. He popped the leash again. Again the dog started to bark! Finally, he took the dog walking up and down the gym to get it to focus on him with treats and praise. The dog stopped the constant barking!!!! I think the owner was in shock at how fast he got the dog to listen to him.

The other dog was a French Bull Dog that wanted to charge all the other dogs in the class. He corrected him as well! At one point he was walking the terrier and the bulldog together. Quite impressive! My point is, they WILL NOT put up with dogs misbehaving in class! What a relief! Initially, Baron would not take any treats from me. I know when he refuses them that he is too stressed out! By the middle and end of the class, he was more relaxed.

I was really proud of him as he did everything I asked! I am still having problems with him focusing when I call his name and for the WATCH ME command. He is so worried about what is going on around him that he won't look at me even with a food treat. The class size is HUGE! I am going to switch to the 8 pm class which is smaller to see if that helps.

We accomplished the 'Touch Me', 'Walk and Heel', 'Walk and Heel and Sit', 'Go On or Place' and 'Off' on an elevated surface, and 'Watch Me' commands. So far, so good!
 
That's wonderful Gloria that you have trainers who care how the dogs behave in class. When I had Piper in level 1 obedience HE was the one that barked and barked and disrupted class (trainer has kids riding their bikes up and down driveway). She told me to stop him and I tried but wasn't successful lol so she came up to him (and he was all of maybe 6 months old) grabbed him by his scruff and gave him a shake and said STOP IT! he stopped and she praised him....I was then able to stop his barking at decorations, mailboxes etc. (I'd never try this with an older dog). That trainer was a bit of a kook but she knew her stuff, if I hadn't taken that class I'd have a very different dog!
 
Well, yesterday evening was our last obedience class. I have to say it was better than the last class but still not even close to the classes I took years ago!

We always had assigned homework. Baron and I would practice every week. Figure eights and recall to front from a sit was the latest homework assignment. Go figure, we did not get to do any in class! Once again, two dogs in the class disrupted it so much that the trainers needed to control them. A HUGE pit bull dog decided this week that he did NOT like Baron! I never went close to that dog in class because on the first day he lunged at another dog and he always had the hackles on the back of his neck raised. Enough reason to steer clear of him. For whatever reason, I was six feet away from him heeling with Baron and he went after him! He did not make contact as I hurried to the other end of the gym! He was growling and snarling the whole time! It was terrible!!!! The woman that owned him could NOT control him at that point and the trainer came over and grabbed the leash from her. He took the dog and began heeling with him... changing direction, pulling on the leash whenever the dog would not focus on him! This idiot woman should NEVER have that dog! It is WAY too much dog for her to handle.

To add insult to injury, I wondered why they did not hand out graduation diplomas. The trainer explained, "We stopped doing diplomas when different cities started using them as a standard for vicious dogs, that whole political drama." I can not believe how sad it is that classes now boil down to trainers trying to control disruptive dogs that do not bother to do their homework or work to improve the dog's behavior. I was going to take the same class again to get Baron to gain more confidence. I think I will just try to find an intermediate class instead. Maybe the participants will take training more seriously...

Sorry for the rant...
 
ghggp said:
A HUGE pit bull dog decided this week that he did NOT like Baron!
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Oh, no - Gloria you are a cool woman - I would never have dared to be there :no:

- I had left this training right away - really glad that pitbull is totally forbidden in my country.
 
Gloria,
I found classes vary enormously even at the same place with the same instructor. Near me so many classes do not fill up that I think they just struggle to keep all the participants. Luckily for me the ones I have been to do not allow disruptive dogs and handle the situation very well, but homework ? well that's another thing altogether. One class I had, everyone was incredibly motivated, the next not so much.

Good luck with your next class. I am actually trying my first Intro to Rally in 3 weeks. Had to look high and low for one near me, just hoping it is decent, as I could find little out about it.
 
Pam, it is so disconcerting that there is no consistency like there was years ago!
It is crazy that so many drop out!

Good luck on your Rally!
 
I feel your pain Gloria...I've been in many an obedience class and had many trainers. The current one we have is fantastic (we're going to the show in Thunder Bay together this weekend) and she's there with me when I compete and critiques me so I know what I'm doing wrong. Of course this being the first dog I've even done any obedience with I didn't realize at the time that many of my trainers were just 'ok'. Our last one was good but we rarely did figure 8's, she started teaching us about using a 'box' to teach go outs but never explained how to wean a dog off of it (I stopped using the box after I stopped going there and taught him go outs with just a treat and a wall...wayyy easier)!And she never never never talked about the handlers footwork. It made it very confusing and frustrating!
 
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