I go to a weekly dog training class at a scout hut, part of club run by volunteers and we're currently training for the KC good citizen gold award. Apparently some of the exercises have to be done outside so this evening we moved into the recreation ground. There were a lot of distractions. There was a rugby match, cricket nets, children playing, off-lead dogs - and Molly was happy to ignore all of those. However, apparently the club always does the outside bits of its tests (for gold all off-lead) not on the playing field but on a wide path running next to it. When it was Molly's turn a seagull swooped in low and she leapt at it and raced off. She did come when I called but I hadn't noticed a child on a scooter coming up behind me and she ran at him barking. Thankfully the child stopped and said, 'It's all right, I've got a dog,' while I got Molly on the lead and said sorry several times! I've always had a problem with Molly and bikes/scooters etc and I have worked at it. We're now at the stage whereby if she's on-lead she will ignore them and will also ignore them off-lead at a distance of about 20 yards. (I often let her off lead in the same recreation ground but on the grass, and put her on the lead to go on the path.) I felt really fed-up this evening, as I seem to have worked much harder with Molly than with previous dogs, but still have times when it all goes to pot! The good news is that one of the club volunteers very kindly offered to bring his skateboard next week and act as a stooge so I can work at control with him going past. Don't know what I do about the seagulls - we're right next to the sea and they're everywhere at the moment. One brighter note was that when we moved back into the scout hut, Molly did a down on recall which is the thing I'd been struggling with. Sorry this has gone on a bit. Been one of those days.
Ah, you know, we all have our failures. But when you've worked really hard it can reduce you to tears! The kid was fine, no harm done, you've worked hard and got a plan going forward to do more work. That's great! I do, honestly, understand though. Really. I remember having worked my socks off on Charlie bringing back the dummy, honestly, I worked so hard. I was invited to the advanced gundog class, and what happened? Yes, Charlie ran round with the dummy. At the 'wash up' after the lesson discussing what we'd learned that day, everyone looked at me with sympathetic eyes, being 'really kind'. I wanted to scream MY DOG CAN BRING BACK A DUMMY! After the group lesson ended, when there was absolutely no-one to see it but me and the trainer at my 121, Charlie did 75 perfect retrieves. Honestly, you have to laugh or you really would cry!
Oh Joy, don't despair. You are doing so well with Molly and tonight was just a blip. It sounds as if there was just so many distractions that Molly just lost it a bit, but she came back when you called and ok she barked at a child on a scooter, not so good but no real harm done and you have a plan in place for next week. Turn the page, tomorrow's another day and Molly will be fine. This week I have Juno pulling towards people as we are walking because so many of them have reached to touch her as we've gone past GGGGRRRRRRR!! That's something she hasn't dine since she was little, but I guess I'll be re-training that next week .
I feel your pain, I actually just posted a thread about how well Baxter had been at class tonight but roll back a week and I felt just so disheartened. After all the time I'd spent on his training he decided to just show me up! Things I knew he could do with no bother he just wouldn't do! he just acted up the whole night. I'm sure he was laughing at me This week was a new week and he was a completely different dog.. thank goodness. Made it all worthwhile.
We all have our challenging sessions! No harm done and you'll definitely crack this It's a big ask to do a test in an environment like that. You've obviously progressed to an advanced level - very impressive.
The main thing was that no harm was done. His barking would have been excitement, I'm sure. It's a worry when kids are around with exuberant Labs! I can trust Twiglet now to be friendly but not OTT with any size of child, off and on lead. Tatze? Nope - still a work in progress! .
Hi Joy, is it somewhere that is close by?Could you manage to go in between classes to work in the area a bit and Reduce the excitement of it? My dog is 3 and it can take me a few times at a new place to keep his focus on me,he was horrible on his lead this morning when I was walking with my friend and her horse in a new area but was an angel at the weekend with the same horse and friend in an area he knew.....frustrating!
Thanks for the suggestion. The rec is near us and I go quite often but keep Molly on the lead when we're on the path. She's fine if off lead on the grass and a bike goes past on the path and also fine on lead on the path. I think I'll have to wait for help as I don't think I can risk letting her off lead on the path. I do feel a bit irritated that we're expected to be able to control our dogs off lead on a cycle path.
I believe that in public spaces (which would include cycle and footpaths and bridleways) we are obliged to keep our dogs under control in order to prevent them injurying someone or giving the impression that they may injure someone. Obviously this pertains to aggression but I think it's equally applicable to causing someone to come off their bike.
Sorry you've felt down about this. It's easy to get discouraged, but try not to be! Sounds like a really challenging environment and on the whole Molly coped well. And you have a plan moving forward, that you can work on. You will get there! A combination of age and training will start to work their magic eventually. As for the birds, I can remember someone here saying they used to let their dog chase birds as much as he liked, but eventually the dog realized that he couldn't catch them and gave up. Not sure that's the best way to deal with it but it's an idea, anyway.
Can you get someone with a bike to help you by keep riding past as you walk along? With time and practice Molly will be fine whether on or off lead. I was lucky with Juno as we used to meet so many cyclists, many of whom thought they were taking part in the Tour de France, and we gradually moved from being interested in the bikes, sitting watching them go by to now barely even looking at them. I'm definitely with Lisa that You and Molly will get there
I'm sure that you are within your rights as a responsible dog owner that you can request that that part of the test is done in another area, ie on the grass. When I did the tests, there were people who requested that some aspects of the tests were done in other areas for specific reasons. A sensible examiner would understand why things needed to be adjusted for a particular dog. We did our off lead test in a car park, it went well, BUT if a cat or rabbit had come along, err well you know what would have happened!!
Gosh Debs a car park, that's even worse! It's interesting to know that some of your group requested a change of area. I think I'll plug on and hope we can improve and keep that in mind if all else fails!
