Last Monday only two people showed up at our drop in conformation class. I am not sure why the turn out was so low. Maybe it was the cold weather. Or maybe it was because there are no local shows until April so it was a good time to take a break.
We did not take a break because we have work to do, and work we did. Well Hubby and Freighter worked. I just took some pictures. 🙂
With only two dogs in the class, there was plenty of time to run around and around and around the ring. It was a good work out for both dog and handler.
With so few dogs, there was also plenty of time for some individual instruction. (You can only run around that ring so many times before you need a break.)
I mentioned a few weeks ago that one of the things we are working on is getting Freighter to look straight ahead when he moves. He also tends to get excited and wants to break out in to a gallop. The instructor wanted to try a couple of different ways of holding the lead to see if it would make a difference, so she took over and moved him a couple of times.
Remember this class is to help the handler learn to show the dog at its best. I really like this instructor because she has a lot of experience and tips and tricks. She also offers some great constructive criticisms. It is nice to have an experienced set of eyes to see areas where there can be improvement.
So with the shorter lead and the handler adjusting his gait, Freighter is coming along nicely.
Freighter also tried a free stack with a bit of a turn in front of the “judge”.
The instructor spends most of her time in the obedience ring these days and also teaches obedience classes at this club. Thunder and Storm have been through her obedience class. The breed she trains is Doberman so she knows all about training smart dogs with an independent personality. She helped me a lot with Storm who was a bit overwhelmed when she was doing her obedience training. The instructor offered me lots of tips and ways to train something in a different way that would work for Storm.
Freighter is an extremely food driven dog. Besides moving with his head turned to look for the bait, he tends to lunge for it when he stops and you hold it out.
The instructor showed Hubby a way to work on breaking him of that habit. With the dog standing the trainer holds the bait in front of the dog. If the dog moves toward it at all, you take it away. You continue trying to move the bait toward the dog’s mouth, taking it back if the dog moves toward it at all. You can say “no” when you take it away. Eventually when the bait gets close enough, you actually put the bait in the dog’s mouth. It sounds so simple.
Freighter got the hang of this pretty quickly and we have been working on this at home whenever he gets a treat. He is coming along nicely.
We are joining the Fit Dog Friday blog hop hosted by Slimdoggy, Peggy’s Pet Place, To Dog with Love.
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That is great and fewer people meant you really ended up with a one to one and got some good training and tips. We say that sure looked like a winning session. Have a fabulous Friday.
Best wishes Molly
I’ve seen pictures of your snow so I have no problem believing that weather was a big influence in the low attendance of the class. It is great that Freighter was able to get so much ring time and some one on one time with the trainer thought. As always, your pictures are awesome! Happy Friday 🙂
Oh I love classes when there are less people there, it gives you more one-on-one time with the instructor!
Thanks for sharing the ‘bait’ trick, I asked you to in my post this morning. 🙂
Hope you have a great weekend and warmer weather to help melt some of your snow.
Lucky dogs! They practically got a private lesson!
Hope no one got dizzy and fell over going in circles that whole time. Isn’t it amazing how simple ideas are when they come from a trainer? Mom is always thinking, “duh”. Like that idea with the treats, Mom may be able to use that with Bailie and obedience a bit.
Great photos, your dogs do look like their enjoying themselves.
Earl and I.
Conformation class instructors can be the luck of the draw. Sometimes it’s a newbie who can only move the group and give practice in going over the dog. Sometimes you really luck out and get some great feedback. I’m glad you lucked out here!
Freighter looks great! 🙂 He’s got such a lovely gait!
Nice job Freighter and Jim. Might as well get the indoor stuff worked on while it is so cold outside. He is looking great.
My thought when reading this and looking at those great pictures…
What a handsome dog Freighter is. I hope he wins lots of ribbons!
Nice to have an almost private session. When do you compete next?
The next shows are in April, provided Freighter has coat. 🙂
Hi Y’all,
Haven’t had much time to leave comments this week.
Love the photo of Freighter with his eyes crossed, eyes in the bait! BOL!
The AKC trainer we go to raises Dobermans and shows them too. She’s really good at correcting my Human’s mistakes. (I never make any.)
Y’all come by now,
Hawk aka BrownDog
Looks like a workout for his brain and his bod. Love that last pic. So cute… Totally focused on that treat!
Freighter is looking great. Being food driven, Bentley thinks that he and Freighter could be best friends! : )
Looking good, Freighter! Your peeps have your working hard. You best be scoring lots of special treats for all that work! 😉 Much love, The Scottie Mom.
I just realized I know where you do drop in conformation! I did puppy class with Asta at the same time last fall and I used to take rally classes there. It’s just a couple miles from us. I was thinking about bringing Kelinn to conformation drop in once he gets closer to six months… Maybe I will see you all there!
I would think that it gives them some mental stimulation and is better to continue their training as you’re doing, rather than to wait and cram for it.
It sounds like it was a good thing that the class had a small turnout, for you anyway! I’m sure that more one on one attention can really help to learn a lot. It certainly looks like Freighter is coming along great. I’ve actually done kind of a similar thing with treats, with Luke, to try to stop him from being grabby; it is helping and I can step it up a bit with your instructions too, so thanks for giving them in detail.
I guess less participants means more one-on-one instruction, right? 🙂
Good job, Freighter!
Looking good Freighter. Seems like he’s improving a bit with the classes!
Looks like it was a great training session! We are looking into agility and obedience here in Australia for Kate 🙂 after seeing how well you went Freighter, I can’t wait to try it!