Thought I would start over with Benson,now just over 2 years old. it has been quite difficult with all the fosters to really work individually with him, so it is time to dust off the dummies and get the whistles out again, however it does mean a bit of going over old ground. Lots has happened with Benson, getting used to the suprelorin implant, the changes that came around from a physiological perspective. It is has been interesting to observe how he has matured since the implant has begun to wear off over the last 6 weeks or so, I guess he has been maturing anyway now he is 2. Benson attends agility every week, and he is a little superstar. He really enjoys the challenge and can run a circuit without luring. Needs a bit of work on his weave, but that is coming along. Only downside is that he cannot pass a bench without leaping on it..partly also because I do like to get Benson strengthening his proprioception (balance) on turning on fallen trees, logs etc. Anyhow the biggest challenge by far is his "stay" it has completely fallen apart. I am not sure if this is due to using 2 cues. "wait" is used mainly in agility, he waits for a moment before starting a run..or pausing on equipment. I think he is getting this a bit muddled, so out in a field he won't "wait" for more than a few seconds without creeping forward. So, I am going to start again with a new cue "stay". Some great improvement in walking to heel, both on lead and off, he really is improving. Good recall, would like a tighter response, so need to work on that. Stop whistle has improved and now working this with distractions, and direction, meaning I can throw one dummy, stop him, and then redirect to a second dummy, then back out for the first one. So goals going forward are: Working on a sound stay for up to 2 minutes. More work on a tighter response over all. Moving towards directional work, I am mainly struggling to send him further back...fine if he has marked a dummy, or a simple straight back because he knows the dummy is there, bit more complicated if he has not run far back enough. Hoping to get another lesson in the next few weeks with SWMBO, to make sure we are on track, as I would love to get Benson through part 1 and part 2 of his gundog grades Here is a little clip of some work with the stop whistle.
