Just home after Sams training session , blooming knackered ! It was disastrous/hysterical / mad all rolled into one . We had missed last week as I was sick . So Sam thought it very important to sniff every bit of wall & floor rather than listen . We then had a mad spell of biting and jumping at the lead ( has never done this before) , thinking it was great game . Managed a few exercises just about ! Also thought the marker cones were just the tasty thing he needed . He even managed to slip his collar & went round all the other dogs to see if he could tempt them to play . The positive is that he had perfect recall away from the food cupboard he found in the trainers office I so hope he'll be back to concentrating next week !
Lol. I think we've probably all had times like that. And the recall from a food cupboard was a definite success.
As they say: "Bad experience, good story" I think a lot of us can relate!!!!! My dog has definitely perfected the whole 'class clown' thing...
This made me chuckle Mabel does that when we miss a class, big congratulations on the recall from food cupboard, gold star in my book
A training class is boring without a young labrador! Well done on the food cupboard recall, very impressive!
I should say in Sams defence, the only reason he slipped his collar was because the trainer wanted the lead attached to collar rather than the harness .... Not entirely sure why . Does anyone else's class insist on walking with the dog on the left ?? Trainer keeps asking me to do this , which totally confuses Sam , as I always have him on my right ?
It's the common position to have your dog walking on your left (especially with gun dogs, where most people would be carrying their gun in their right hand, I believe). But, I think it's important to have a dog that's happy to walk on both sides for practicality. I have two different cues; "heel" means walk on my left and "close" means walk on my right. It mean you can get past obstacles sometimes more easily. Plus, if you ever want to do any agility (even for fun), it's important that your dog is happy on both sides.
Thanks @snowbunny , the trainer mentioned showing / competitions etc , which he knows I have no intention of doing . He walks just fine for the husband on either side , but I think my walking dogs on the right came from pram pushing days and avoiding leads getting caught in the wheels! I'll give him time on both sides and see how it goes , thanks x
The KC used to insist on leads on collars for Good Citizen awards, but that was changed earlier this year and its now permissible to attach the lead to a harness. And walking on the left is really only necessary for obedience competitions.
Thanks @Joy , must mention the change to trainer , if that's why he's trying to get me to do it on collar ! Sam is a big strong fella, and I'm a wee 5ft 1 , harness is a life saver for me when he pulls ( especially if he is mad excited like yesterday lol) . And my right arm is def much stronger than my left xx
I'm pleased to read this as we failed silver last December, for a number of reasons , once we can go back to classes I'll be relieved she can wear her harness. Miss I'm everyone's best friend also known as Mabel will be so much easier to manage.
I just read up on the guidelines there , and there is no requirement to walk dog on left for the bronze either ! Looks like I'll be doing what works best for me & Sam in relation to the good citizen
I think it's a good move for the KC to allow harnesses, but they're also now allowing head collars ( like Haltis) on tests, which I think is a bad move. How can you say a dog can walk to heel if it needs a restraining head collar?
