Haven’t posted in ages, life takes over & I’m not a great 'poster' - but today felt like doing a quick update. M&M will be 21 months in a couple of weeks. We go to the only +trainer in the area, 1 private class a wk, then group classes. Monty has two in one afternoon (break in the middle) as I do clicker with him & Milly goes to the class in the middle, then they each go to another group class another day. I found this trainer after a disaster first lesson at a club when they were about 14/15wks. Monty is coming along well, his confidence is growing, he’s still a little nervous on occasions but much much improved. He has pretty good focus & is a great communicator. His recall is fairly solid, not 100% but 99%, 5 pips gets him back from friends, gulls… He walks well on lead & off too, nicely at heel with minimal distractions & not long distance but work in progress. He checks in regularly when on ‘free’ off lead walks. I don’t walk them every day it’s too much stimulation for them, particularly Milly. Monty is easily excited so we do lots of rewarding calm otherwise if over excited he turns into a nipping kangaroo. Monty had his first trip to the UK for a week, first time on the ferry. He was really good, went to a couple of pet shops, the pub, he had a lovely run each day at Hylands & settled really well at my parents. It did, however, cause 48hrs of tension between them when we returned (Milly stayed home with Hubby). They get walked separately otherwise Monty would have a tendency to copy Molly's behaviour & as this is something I don't want to be reinforced I simply do everything twice - I always try to remember 'work with the dog in front of you, it's not a competition'. Milly has also come on loads. She’s fear reactive so we work on distance. She does have some friends now though which is amazing. I have established a small group of dogs at group class that she can be let off within the park, we’re in there too & it’s great to see Milly interacting, for 10 mins or so. There are a couple of dogs that she really doesn’t like & depending on which dog we have a distance limit of anything from 4 – 10 meters where she can cope & remain below threshold & focused. The lessons are an hour but on occasions, if things have been going really well, I will leave & work outside the park or put her back in the car to end on a high. Likewise, if she’s having an ‘off’ day then I don’t hesitate in removing her from the group or just walking her around the outside the park while the others continue to work inside, depending on the situation. She does settle so much better now though when waiting turns etc & will lie down which would not have happened before. She does guard me though & can’t cope if I fuss another dog, so I don't except for one of the trainer’s dogs which she's ok with & is helping her slowly to see it's ok! In the private lesson, we would work the dogs separately. Now sometimes together and with one or two of his dogs which is great for focus & distractions. They both LOVE the trainer & Milly turns into a squiggly wiggle tail wagging fruitcake when she sees him. She can, albeit rarely, react to some people randomly. She’s got a long way to go but it’s lovely to see her improving - step by step ….. 20170905_105521[1] by Alison Rogers, on Flickr
Thanks for a lovely update, Alison. It sounds like you're really in tune with your dogs' needs and emotional state
