This week I went to a different dog club for a taster session as they focus on competitive obedience, which is something I think I might like to try. I liked the trainer very much as her philosophy was reward-based training and also what I think is called 'capturing' behaviour (i.e. wait till your dog is doing the thing you want by accident and then give the cue and reward.) She was also very good at breaking down the movements into small steps and explaining what I was doing wrong without making me feel stupid! The downside was that it was a very big class so lots of waiting around, but Molly just lay down and snoozed and I suppose I should try to learn from watching (though I must admit I spent some time chatting to other people!) As regards obedience itself as an activity - I don't really like the way the dogs have to walk, looking up at you with their nose pressed into your side, but on the other hand it's only for short periods and I think if I can develop a separate cue for that Molly can continue to walk normally by my side at other times. The movements do have to be very exact - I can see that getting a straight sit is going to be a challenge - but Molly does seem quite switched on when I do training exercises for this sort of thing (i.e. she's alert and trying to please, whereas when we tried flyball she couldn't be bothered!) I won't be able to go to the next couple of classes as we're having a holiday, but I've got plenty to work at in the meantime. As an aside Molly was exhausted when I got home - goodness knows why as she wasn't very physically active at the club, but I suppose it's the mental strain! Also it was lovely to be able to take her into a room of strange dogs and know she was going to be OK with them all.
Sounds good! My dog loves learning obedience exercises. With the heeling (the activity where they walk close by your left leg) you don't have to have the dog so close that they're touching you. Just train for walking beside your left leg, without touching. It's a good thing to learn to wait quietly while others do things - classes are a great opportunity to teach that. Hope you both have lots of fun in this class
Ps. Definitely have a different cue for 'walk with me on a loose lead' and your obedience heeling. Your posture will be different for both these types of walking too. In obedience heeling we have to be precise with our walking - stand straight, look up, shoulders square and walk straight ahead. When you turn a corner lead with your shoulders slightly, which will become a cue to your dog. And when heeling if you want your dog to come with you step off with your left leg. If you don't want your dog to come with you (eg you want then to remain sitting so you can do a recall or position changes at a distance) then step off with your right leg. Just do this consistently and your dog will learn it
@Joy That sounds interesting Joy, i think Molly will enjoy the classes. I'll look forward to hearing about the next lesson.
Glad to hear the trainer was good and reward based and explained things clearly, I like that too. When Grace and I used to take Hattie to obedience classes she had to press against Grace's side looking up at her and I wonder if this is why Hattie is such a focused dog. Hattie did not walk like that normally, she knew it was just for training class Nothing better than a dog using it's brain.
Sounds like you found a really good trainer, which can be hard to find. Bless Molly for snoozing in the class, that takes good control and lots of training. Look forward to hearing more after your holidays
Sounds like a really good trainer, Joy and Molly did very well at settling down whilst waiting for her turn.
