Re: On Location - AT LAST!! Fantastic news ,sounds like a great start and you sound really positive about your Charlie boy again.you are proving once again to your self and us that patience and perverse fence shine through......good boy Charlie x
Re: On Location - AT LAST!! [quote author=Dexter link=topic=2139.msg19320#msg19320 date=1375160178] Fantastic news ,sounds like a great start and you sound really positive about your Charlie boy again.you are proving once again to your self and us that patience and perverse fence shine through......good boy Charlie x [/quote] "PERVERSE FENCE", Angela???? ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Re: On Location - AT LAST!! Yeah - could almost be a Freudian slip... This is Charlie the Champion Absconder (retired) that we are talking about, after all! 8)
Re: On Location - AT LAST!! Karen, I'm not sure Charlie would agree that he has retired just yet, but my oh my he is trying to , He said to say thank you for calling him a Champion in any case ;D Thank you Angela ;D ;D Helen xx
Re: On Location - AT LAST!! Do you think it would be OK to practice our On Location work in our local park as Charlie (he is familiar with the park and it supposed to be new locations) was a little excited in the field tonight, maybe too many distractions? Although, he did settle down and did some great spontaneous recalls that I whistled as he came towards me. Also some great heel work, sits and general obedience. I don't want to do the wrong thing and take a step backwards if you don't think it necessary. Any comments would be gratefully received please. Thanks Helen xxx
Re: On Location - AT LAST!! Absolutely nothing wrong with going back to a simpler stage of training to reinforce something or build a bit more confidence in the dog or yourself. In fact, it is a very good approach to use. It won't 'undo' anything more advanced that you have done
Re: On Location - AT LAST!! Ha ha ha ! Just seen this....I could do with a perverse fence on my back garden wall! Helen I'm the training tortoise I'm afraid,Dexter is a good lad mostly....but because he's our first dog and I feel like I really mucked up his lead walking I'm the slowest of the slow in anything I train.His recall is pretty good but is a verbal command,I have started doing total recall with the whistle and we are just taking our time....do the next step when you feel ready and confident and if that means back up a bit I can't see any harm in that.....I went back to training loose lead walking from scratch.....literally 2 steps sit,2 steps sit and Dex was 9 months!!!! I don't know the half of what you've lived through with Charlie boy ( I need to look up some of his amazing absconding legends!)but don't let any of what's gone before knock your confidence,you have done brilliantly and I guess at some point there's going to be that tummy turning leap of faith when you gotta let him go.....but it will be ok,let us know how you get on Good luck x
Re: On Location - AT LAST!! Hi Rachael, the park it is today. Thanks. x Hi Angela I think I take first prize in being the slowest at training because Charlie has been the slowest on the uptake We are taking our time with total recall and so far it's been 10 months and still a way to go. It's pretty hard to keep the faith with a dog like Charlie I have to tell you and at times we feel we are wasting our time, especially with life and children etc. to deal with too. Anyway we do what we can when we can. Hope you are enjoying your holiday, and your posts always cheer us all up so keep em coming ;D ;D Helen xx
Re: On Location - AT LAST - IMPROVEMENT yeah!! Took Charlie to the park for recall training, didn't start too well as those darn swallows really got him going, so moved to the cark park and did recall - excellent 100% lots of spontaneous ones too - 100%. Moved to the park when the swallows had gone and all went brilliantly. His heel work again was great and general obedience and there were children on the swings so a little distraction thrown in but best of all, I dug out a medium sized ball with holes in it that I had put a squeaky ball inside and it has an elastic tuggy handle on it, oh my he couldn't get enough of it and he RETRIEVED it again and again, I ended on my terms and popped it in my Winnie the Pooh bag (no gundog bags here ;D) and gave him a big reward and off we went home. Session lasted about 30 mins so I figured that was enough. I am going to stick with the park until we have moved through all the exercises and then up the stakes and go back to the field. Oh I feel so proud of him he did really well Helen xxx
Re: On Location - AT LAST!! Congratulations,you both did brilliantly,be proud of Charlie but be VERY proud of you! Well done ;D ;D ;D
Re: On Location - AT LAST!! Helen, you give me hope when I think about the (daunting) task ahead of getting home and basically starting from scratch with Simba. So glad to hear things are going well!
Re: On Location - AT LAST!! That is just fantastic ;D ;D You deserve to be proud of him - and of yourself too.
