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#1
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Update on Reilly the rough collie
I thought I'd update everyone on how Reilly's obedience training has
been going, seeing as I got some nice and helpful replies. He's doing very well at the moment, especially the last couple of weeks. I don't know whether neutering him has done anything significant, but the last two weeks, especially this last week, his concentration span has increased and he is enjoying working more - if I say "wanna go work" he gets quite excited. I figured out from observing him that he gets bored quite easily, as he tends to learn a behaviour extremely quickly and then he doesn't seem to see the point of repeating it. However I made my voice a bit stronger and my mum has been training him daily and he does seem to be more eager to do it. At obedience school this week he was excellent and he very easily did the sit/stay, drop/stay, stand/stay, and heeling. He isn't very good at the recall we do, and he's still a bit iffy on always sitting whenever we stop, but he was so good at everything else that the instructor said he was excellent and he encouraged us to enter the "Fun day" competition they are having in two weeks time. He's probably the most reliable puppy in our class so I'm quite proud of both of us He's also returning to the closed in part of the yard now, because he thinks every time he comes in he'll get to play tug I feel really lucky I don't need to train him how to react to people or greet visitors, as he is absolutely perfect at it. He is also MUCH MUCH better on walks, and no longer pulls unless he really is full of energy for the first few minutes. He's been walking "loose lead" and walks beside me or just ahead of me, and he occasionally turns around to give me a collie smile. We will be taking him to an aged care centre for his second visit in a couple of weeks and I think he'll do wonderfully, as whenever he meets someone he sits, sticks his chest out, wags his tail and gently offers his paw I have one question though - when we are training, is it true you shouldn't look the dog in the eye? I feel more comfortable doing that as it feels like we are working together, but my mum thinks you aren't meant to do that as it's a challenge and they are more likely to break their stay. Thanks everyone for the help Nat |
#3
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(Tess) wrote:
I have one question though - when we are training, is it true you shouldn't look the dog in the eye? I feel more comfortable doing that as it feels like we are working together, but my mum thinks you aren't meant to do that as it's a challenge and they are more likely to break their stay. You should certainly be able to look your own dog in the eyes. In fact, you *want* to develop strong eye contact during training. It's very important. Eye contact between strange dogs or a dog and a strange person *can* be interpreted as challenging. It pretty much depends on the trust/confidence level of the dog. When I have a shy pup in class, I don't look him in the eyes until he's volunteering soft eye contact and appearing relaxed about it. Normally once he knows me and I've gained his trust, I can hold eye contact with him. Canine Action Dog Trainer http://www.canineaction.com My Kids, My Students, My Life: http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html |
#4
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(Tess) wrote:
I have one question though - when we are training, is it true you shouldn't look the dog in the eye? I feel more comfortable doing that as it feels like we are working together, but my mum thinks you aren't meant to do that as it's a challenge and they are more likely to break their stay. You should certainly be able to look your own dog in the eyes. In fact, you *want* to develop strong eye contact during training. It's very important. Eye contact between strange dogs or a dog and a strange person *can* be interpreted as challenging. It pretty much depends on the trust/confidence level of the dog. When I have a shy pup in class, I don't look him in the eyes until he's volunteering soft eye contact and appearing relaxed about it. Normally once he knows me and I've gained his trust, I can hold eye contact with him. Canine Action Dog Trainer http://www.canineaction.com My Kids, My Students, My Life: http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html |
#5
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(Tess) wrote:
I have one question though - when we are training, is it true you shouldn't look the dog in the eye? I feel more comfortable doing that as it feels like we are working together, but my mum thinks you aren't meant to do that as it's a challenge and they are more likely to break their stay. You should certainly be able to look your own dog in the eyes. In fact, you *want* to develop strong eye contact during training. It's very important. Eye contact between strange dogs or a dog and a strange person *can* be interpreted as challenging. It pretty much depends on the trust/confidence level of the dog. When I have a shy pup in class, I don't look him in the eyes until he's volunteering soft eye contact and appearing relaxed about it. Normally once he knows me and I've gained his trust, I can hold eye contact with him. Canine Action Dog Trainer http://www.canineaction.com My Kids, My Students, My Life: http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html |
#6
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(Tess) wrote:
I have one question though - when we are training, is it true you shouldn't look the dog in the eye? I feel more comfortable doing that as it feels like we are working together, but my mum thinks you aren't meant to do that as it's a challenge and they are more likely to break their stay. You should certainly be able to look your own dog in the eyes. In fact, you *want* to develop strong eye contact during training. It's very important. Eye contact between strange dogs or a dog and a strange person *can* be interpreted as challenging. It pretty much depends on the trust/confidence level of the dog. When I have a shy pup in class, I don't look him in the eyes until he's volunteering soft eye contact and appearing relaxed about it. Normally once he knows me and I've gained his trust, I can hold eye contact with him. Canine Action Dog Trainer http://www.canineaction.com My Kids, My Students, My Life: http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html |
#7
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(Tess) wrote:
I have one question though - when we are training, is it true you shouldn't look the dog in the eye? I feel more comfortable doing that as it feels like we are working together, but my mum thinks you aren't meant to do that as it's a challenge and they are more likely to break their stay. You should certainly be able to look your own dog in the eyes. In fact, you *want* to develop strong eye contact during training. It's very important. Eye contact between strange dogs or a dog and a strange person *can* be interpreted as challenging. It pretty much depends on the trust/confidence level of the dog. When I have a shy pup in class, I don't look him in the eyes until he's volunteering soft eye contact and appearing relaxed about it. Normally once he knows me and I've gained his trust, I can hold eye contact with him. Canine Action Dog Trainer http://www.canineaction.com My Kids, My Students, My Life: http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html |
#8
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"Tess" wrote in message m... I thought I'd update everyone on how Reilly's obedience training has been going, seeing as I got some nice and helpful replies. I have one question though - when we are training, is it true you shouldn't look the dog in the eye? I feel more comfortable doing that as it feels like we are working together, but my mum thinks you aren't meant to do that as it's a challenge and they are more likely to break their stay. Well I don't do a hard stare but yes I do look in my dogs eyes all the time, including training time. I have two ways to looking at my collies: with "hard eyes" and "soft eyes." "Hard eyes" - very very rarely used is a hard focused stare which means "You are in SO much trouble!". Instead most the time I'm looking at them with "soft eyes" which means that while I'm looking into my dog's eyes/face I'm not really focusing on any one thing. My collies are very comfortable with it and don't seem to take it as a challenge at all. In fact as we become more and more of a team, they search out eye contact with me. Pablo and I can stare into each others faces seemingly forever. Lucy and I are just starting to work together and she's still a little cautious & timid about looking me in the eye. Odd since she's a rather brave and intrepid little collie overall. Now with stays, I have seen people make their dogs very uncomfortable and even break stays by staring at them. Usually it's when the person is anxious about their dog breaking a stay and they are giving their dogs hard stares in an effort to pin them down in place. So IMHO, look into Reilly's face all you want but keep your eyes soft and friendly. Overall collies tend to do well at stays and as long as you don't look mad (i.e., the Hard Stare) they don't mind some companionable (i.e., we're in this together!) eye contact during those exercises. Good luck with Reilly the collie! Give him a good rump stritch for me. Chris and her smoothies, Pablo & Lucy |
#9
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"Tess" wrote in message m... I thought I'd update everyone on how Reilly's obedience training has been going, seeing as I got some nice and helpful replies. I have one question though - when we are training, is it true you shouldn't look the dog in the eye? I feel more comfortable doing that as it feels like we are working together, but my mum thinks you aren't meant to do that as it's a challenge and they are more likely to break their stay. Well I don't do a hard stare but yes I do look in my dogs eyes all the time, including training time. I have two ways to looking at my collies: with "hard eyes" and "soft eyes." "Hard eyes" - very very rarely used is a hard focused stare which means "You are in SO much trouble!". Instead most the time I'm looking at them with "soft eyes" which means that while I'm looking into my dog's eyes/face I'm not really focusing on any one thing. My collies are very comfortable with it and don't seem to take it as a challenge at all. In fact as we become more and more of a team, they search out eye contact with me. Pablo and I can stare into each others faces seemingly forever. Lucy and I are just starting to work together and she's still a little cautious & timid about looking me in the eye. Odd since she's a rather brave and intrepid little collie overall. Now with stays, I have seen people make their dogs very uncomfortable and even break stays by staring at them. Usually it's when the person is anxious about their dog breaking a stay and they are giving their dogs hard stares in an effort to pin them down in place. So IMHO, look into Reilly's face all you want but keep your eyes soft and friendly. Overall collies tend to do well at stays and as long as you don't look mad (i.e., the Hard Stare) they don't mind some companionable (i.e., we're in this together!) eye contact during those exercises. Good luck with Reilly the collie! Give him a good rump stritch for me. Chris and her smoothies, Pablo & Lucy |
#10
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"Tess" wrote in message m... I thought I'd update everyone on how Reilly's obedience training has been going, seeing as I got some nice and helpful replies. I have one question though - when we are training, is it true you shouldn't look the dog in the eye? I feel more comfortable doing that as it feels like we are working together, but my mum thinks you aren't meant to do that as it's a challenge and they are more likely to break their stay. Well I don't do a hard stare but yes I do look in my dogs eyes all the time, including training time. I have two ways to looking at my collies: with "hard eyes" and "soft eyes." "Hard eyes" - very very rarely used is a hard focused stare which means "You are in SO much trouble!". Instead most the time I'm looking at them with "soft eyes" which means that while I'm looking into my dog's eyes/face I'm not really focusing on any one thing. My collies are very comfortable with it and don't seem to take it as a challenge at all. In fact as we become more and more of a team, they search out eye contact with me. Pablo and I can stare into each others faces seemingly forever. Lucy and I are just starting to work together and she's still a little cautious & timid about looking me in the eye. Odd since she's a rather brave and intrepid little collie overall. Now with stays, I have seen people make their dogs very uncomfortable and even break stays by staring at them. Usually it's when the person is anxious about their dog breaking a stay and they are giving their dogs hard stares in an effort to pin them down in place. So IMHO, look into Reilly's face all you want but keep your eyes soft and friendly. Overall collies tend to do well at stays and as long as you don't look mad (i.e., the Hard Stare) they don't mind some companionable (i.e., we're in this together!) eye contact during those exercises. Good luck with Reilly the collie! Give him a good rump stritch for me. Chris and her smoothies, Pablo & Lucy |
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