Friday, March 14, 2008

Quinn's progress

I haven't posted in a few weeks, but I have trained! I'm still taking Quinn to the Novice Ready class when I don't work. This past week he was very barky when we went into the building. A member has several small dogs and they're very barky so Quinn really wanted to control them. I recently watched a Patricia McConnell DVD where she demonstrates a method of teaching the dog to look at another dog on command. If done correctly it teaches your dog that looking at another dog does not mean they must escalate their arousal or become reactive. They look at the other dog just as if it's any other behavior they can be rewarded for, i.e. sitting, shaking paw, etc. I began working on this behavior and realized I need to make sure that I teach this completely separate from any ring behaviors. I can't be rewarding him for looking at another dog when I cue it and then expecting perfect attention.
So I will be going to the club to work on one behavior at a time.
I was so proud of Quinn because he held his sit even though the out of control BC was right next to him. He was on a long line, but I was at the end of it. He did break on the down. He came to me (which I'm not upset over) when the OocBC broke his down and his owner corrected him sharply.
Overall Quinn did a very nice job. I just need to practice on his stays more (hmmm, that sounds familiar!)