I've been trying to work with Gir (last night and this morning) on heeling and finish. Unfortunately I'm encountering some problems. When heeling it doesn't seen like Gir is reading my feet at all but instead my arms or legs or other information. For example any time the pace changes from normal to slow he responds by trying to go in front and around me like I'm doing a round about turn.
Also when doing a sit and telling him to sit, he will be angled in the direction he wants to go. At class you talked about doing a small heel sit angled at about 45 degrees(more or less depending on his position). However, in class he was angled in towards me so I was angling to my left, if he is angled away from me should I be angling to my right? I've noticed that when I'm doing the short heel sit to correctly get him in place he gets in the correct position but only when we are facing the direction he wanted to go in the first place.
Another issue is when I'm trying to slow down from a normal pace heel to a sit he is charging ahead and will sit several inches to a foot in front of me instead of next to me. Any recommendations on how to stop this or improve his positioning?
When performing a finish he has already started to anticipate the back step and will sometimes break the sit stay (in that instance I correct him before doing a finish). When I actually start the back step he will bolt around me making it sometimes hard to have him actually sit near my side. How can I stop this behavior?
For the recall, Gir always tries to sit facing the direction I am facing. When I reel in the leash it prevents him from facing the direction I am and so he sits down perpendicular from me. He seems to be deterred from sitting down and facing me due to the leash being under his chin or on the site of his face when reeling him in. When I use my foot to correct his position he sometimes hops over, thereby overcorrecting, and requiring me to use my other foot. He has actually hopped back and forth several times during a single recall...
Angel,
ReplyDeleteOn the pace changes & heeling & Sits, work Gir against a wall or fence or curb, etc, to give him a sense of maintaining heel position. IT will takes many, many, many (many) heeling efforts to teach him to read your feet correctly. No worries, this is normal.
On the Recall, use a 3-sided Negative Space every time. It will take many, many, many (many) Recalls in the 3-sided Negative Space to teach him that a "Gir, Come" now means to sit correctly in front of you. Nor worries, this is normal.
On the Finish, vary what you do and how you do it. If he anticipates, correct him for breaking the Sit/Stay and do a Step Back to your Dog, EF. If he anticipates, correct him for breaking the Sit/Stay and do a Return to your Dog, EF. Etc. Vary what you do and when you do it. Again, it will take many, many, many (many) efforts to teach him. No worries, this is normal.
On the bright side, rejoice quietly with what is happening. What you are seeing is Gir struggling to anticipate your next move and do it ahead of time to AVOID a correction. Excellent as this shows he is thinking and trying to succeed.
Gir, like many smart dogs, is thinking he can help you by doing his own thing, before being instructed on what to do, when. No worries as this is normal. Gir is also showing you that he hasn't put all the new material in the right slot in his smart brain so things are scrambled in there and will be for some time. Again, no worries as this is normal.
It will take endless, correct, patient repetitions from you to help Gir take the scrambled pieces in his short term memory and put them in the correct order into his long term memory.
Also, sometime in the next class, a Tutor Session with myself or Mike would be helpful as you are going to need to shift from BIG corrections into very small, precise, condensed corrections. If we can teach you how to shift yourself, Gir will reflect that shift.
Patience, firmness, fairness, and kindness in finding ways to help Gir succeed will help him make the transition. And no, it won't happen in a day, or week, or month. It is conditioned repetitions that teach a dog to learn.
You are making steady progress with Gir. Focus on how very far you have come since the EC, the time it took to help Gir learn Stand, and recognize, once again, reteaching Gir is a journey. You are doing fine with Gir. Rejoice in the many victories and how much he is trying to anticipate, take a deep breath, relax, and start again.
One of these days, when you least expect it, Gir will put all the pieces together and shock you with his understanding and cooperation. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but one of these days. Strive to ALWAYS end every training session on a high note of success as that helps Gir to relax and know he can do well something that pleases you as you reward him with the long, slow stroke of praise.
Roxanne