Last Clicker Class

Well, somehow, Bran suddenly started doing everything that was expected of him again yesterday morning - except for the focussed heelwork. Although, that was the actual exercise that we were doing when he caught my finger and I yelped so I wasn't hugely surprised that he was still having problems with that, he is such a sensitive little soul.



It was our last clicker class on the introductory course last night. Jo is hoping to run a few more introductory courses and then hopefully an intermediate class, so Jacob and I may start that in a few months.

As we were waiting to go into class, all 3 of our dogs did some practise with their 'mat' command and all were really good: Bran went straight into a 'down' and just stayed put for 10 minutes, Casey was holding her 'sit' for longer and longer and Moss was offering a 'sit' repeatedly.

In class, Jo did ask if we'd had any problems over the last week and we all said that the focussed heelwork had been difficult so she sent 3 of us outside to practise whilst she worked 1 to 1 with the other person.

Moss was first to stay inside and did it absolutely perfectly! Sophie had been struggling to get him even into the starting position all week, but he performed like a star once he was put on the spot.

When it came around to Bran's turn, Jo found that he kept swinging his bottom out so asked me to stand beside the wall and try luring him into position there then just clicking and treating for any movement forward to be beside me.

It turns out that Casey and Holly were having the same problems so we took a break and Jo explained how difficult it is for our dogs, who have always been trained whilst they are facing us and able to read our expressions, to suddenly be asked to be at our sides when they can't look at us so to break everything down into really simple easy steps for them.

We then had to demonstrate our 'mat' commands. Sophie and Moss were first and Moss did a few repetitions of going to the mat but had to be lured into position and we then found that at some point Soph had rewarded him for standing with his back feet on the mat and his front feet off as he kept offering that! Jo did mention that it will come in handy for teaching contacts at agility though, so all was not completely lost ;o)

Then it was Bran's turn and he went a long way off from me, but promptly offered a 'sit' instead of the 'down' that he has been doing over and over and over again! On the second attempt, he went into a 'down' and then just stayed there whilst the others had their turns.

Casey decided that she had never seen her mat before in her life and was much more interested in hoovering up scraps of treats from the floor! Poor Jacob - I knew exactly how he felt.

Holly, the older lab girl, then showed how well she is doing with offering a consistent 'down'. Her mum was really pleased with her.

We then had to do our tricks. Bran was first and we had to go outside to demonstrate his 'bark' so that it didn't disturb the other dogs too much. Jo pointed out that I have managed to train a big pause between the barks because my timing has been slightly off and I've been clicking as he's finished the bark rather than when he is actually barking. Whoops! Again though, all is not lost as she has said that that will help with training a 'quiet' at the in between times ;o)

Moss then did perfect sitting up begs, bless him.

Casey (who now spins alllllllllll the time and during every other thing that Jacob is trying to do with her) wouldn't do her spins properly! She did twig eventually and Jacob is now holding out for multiple spins and faster spins.

Holly was also doing spins and showed that she will now spin in either direction, when she would only do it in one direction before. It is absolutely lovely watching her as she is now so animated when her mum has her clicker out and she is really focussed and excited about what they're doing next :o)

We then started learning a new exercise where we teach the dogs to lay flat on their sides. Bran was ok with it and was happy to be lured on to his side. Casey has only been doing a consistent 'down' for about a week so was a bit challenging for Jacob. Moss still won't really do a 'down' so Soph needs to work on that before trying the flat thing. Holly just "got" the exercise immediately and was offering 'flat' within about 5 seconds!!! Clever girl!

So that's where we are now. I feel really poorly today so I'm not sure if any training will be done before "normal" class tomorrow, but we'll see if the tablets start working!