Sigh first competitive obedience training

[gemy]

Razzle had his first evaluation on competitive obedience; well what can I say we failed dismally.

He had zippo zero focus for at least 20 of our 30 minute evaluation. Our heeling was quite abysmal even from the doting parents point of view. I was truly embarrassed cause I thought we had the down stay pat, perfect! Well we were perfectly awfull on the down stay....

Magic aced his CD level skills and most of his CDX we still have problems on Drop on Recall - but unlike Razzle he got better the more we took the baby steps on drop on Recall. Ilona refresehed my memory of the three step protocol on training for this. On the glummer note, she has noticed Magic's injury; and we can't do any jumping for a bit, and I have to moderate even his heels to sit. So I am to go back for Laser treatment and treadmill work' and then we see.

I think we are both feeling our way here for the big boy. He just adores working, but we need to make it safe and healthy for him. I cry everytime now I work with him, I have to hold him back so much.

[gemy]

Oh I forgot to mention on that down stay, he kept on breaking, one time I was close enough and quick enough with the NO, that he literally dropped back down, with one paw curled and laid kind of on his side... the Scamp! It looked like he had been Shot!

Gawd he is just so darn cute!

He is like Magic that Down Stay is something we just don't want to do for long.. it took me almost 2yrs to teach a reliable Down Stay for Magic ...and well Razzle is far aways along to breaking that record.

Anyhoo a beautiful day, and a lovely training session ... great to be back at work!

[lisaly]

Even when Razzle is "bad," he is so impossibly adorable. What a personality he has, and he's a beauty, too. I'm glad you're back to training your boys. I hope it brings you joy. I also hope that laser therapy helps Magic. You are so in tune with his health and needs, and I know you'd go to the ends of the earth to help your boys and keep them healthy, stimulated, and safe.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Awww, poor Mommie. Big Razzle could have been just not having that good a day or something was bothering him? You know how we all have those off days and nothing does right? Maybe another dog there or one of the onlookers was off-putting and he was feeling a little distraction/stress from that? Maybe a female in very early estrus her owner hadn't even noticed?

I'm sorry to hear about Magic's injury - that plan to dial him back and allow for healing can surely help him.

Could Razzle have been stressed over Magic's pain? IDK, but it sounds like some of the stories you hear so much - how one day they just don't perform well and seem unplugged. Anything bother you that he picked up on?

In any event, I have no doubt you will get them both there and getting there is a lot of the fun - the teaching, the repeating and finding ways to keep them working with interest, the rewards, the bonding, the watching them learn and file it away in their minds, the little bit of angst when they miss it and then laughing when they go "dog" on you - and endear themselves even more to us in the process.

Keep up your good work and you know, one day the babies will do you prouder than ever by acing the test. Any video on this? I'd love to watch them work!

[kjc]

Sad to hear things did not go better for you all. Sorry too about having to limit Magic, that is heartbreaking!

[gemy]

Awh you know my heartbreak. It is so very very sad, he injured himself just prior to 3yrs old, and I had hoped and thought it was "just" a traumatic injury and not the DLSS he was diagnosed with.

We continue to train, but always something happens to exacerbate what I do now know is DLSS. And we have to pull back.

This is the dog my trainer Ilona told me when I came to her when Magic was a 10mth old pup, how far to you want to go with him? I said well as far as we can go. She said, this dog has potential to be a World Class Obedience Dog, do you want to go there? I said YES. She said the training will be hard on you especially. And my trainer is a World Class obedience winner. So my bodyset, my hand position, my timely correction was all grist for the mill. I had already developed in Magic a Huge toy drive, and treat work ethic. He was so very very smart. And he loved and still does love to work for me. I go out with a toy or a treat or both, and the whole other world does not exist for him. There is just me and him, and the toy or treat.

I do sincerely feel that NOT working with him, is so depressing for him, because he lives to work. But working can hurt him! Such a dilemmna

[gemy]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

Awww, poor Mommie. Big Razzle could have been just not having that good a day or something was bothering him? You know how we all have those off days and nothing does right? Maybe another dog there or one of the onlookers was off-putting and he was feeling a little distraction/stress from that? Maybe a female in very early estrus her owner hadn't even noticed?

I'm sorry to hear about Magic's injury - that plan to dial him back and allow for healing can surely help him.

Could Razzle have been stressed over Magic's pain? IDK, but it sounds like some of the stories you hear so much - how one day they just don't perform well and seem unplugged. Anything bother you that he picked up on?

In any event, I have no doubt you will get them both there and getting there is a lot of the fun - the teaching, the repeating and finding ways to keep them working with interest, the rewards, the bonding, the watching them learn and file it away in their minds, the little bit of angst when they miss it and then laughing when they go "dog" on you - and endear themselves even more to us in the process.

Keep up your good work and you know, one day the babies will do you prouder than ever by acing the test. Any video on this? I'd love to watch them work!

Vidoes? I already have some of Magic working at CD level, and both Dogs dock jumping.

Razzle\s lack of focus, is quite simply my fault, not his. No excuses. And my trainer gave me gently the gears for this. I sighed and said you are right.

On the plus side she did say, as I have grown to expect with you, you have trained in huge drive, toy or treat. But you have not worked with Razzle enough or in the right ways enough. But with the drive, all is possible, say Sept for CD for Razzle? Gulp. I said I will not commit right now to that. I need to think on it. He is so far away from CD level..... But I want it for him and for me... What my trainer trains us for, is quite simply, when we are ready to compete we spend one wkend and get the at least pass levels for our CD title.

For Magic, we competed one wkend and had our CD title. We had two first in Classes at 190 and 192.5 out of 200, and the third trial at 188. The passing grade is 175.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by gemy

Vidoes? I already have some of Magic working at CD level, and both Dogs dock jumping.

Razzles lack of focus, is quite simply my fault, not his. No excuses. And my trainer gave me gently the gears for this. I sighed and said you are right.

On the plus side she did say, as I have grown to expect with you, you have trained in huge drive, toy or treat. But you have not worked with Razzle enough or in the right ways enough. But with the drive, all is possible, say Sept for CD for Razzle? Gulp. I said I will not commit right now to that. I need to think on it. He is so far away from CD level..... But I want it for him and for me... What my trainer trains us for, is quite simply, when we are ready to compete we spend one wkend and get the at least pass levels for our CD title.

For Magic, we competed one wkend and had our CD title. We had two first in Classes at 190 and 192.5 out of 200, and the third trial at 188. The passing grade is 175.

I've seen the dock diving videos which were great but not the Magic at CD.

Thank you for taking the blame. I tend to agree for the most part but didn't know for sure if that would offend you to say that here. Love your trainer and say that that's the trainer we all need for our dogs. Hoping that you can commit to the Sept. but if you feel you need more time, take it and enjoy the time working with Razzle. If Razzle has that much drive at anything then you have a huge head start in his committing to work. Just follow trainer's lead and you will get there. Does he work for his toy or treats or praise?

But I can imagine how you felt after the competition and felt so for you when I read your post. You want it so for the dog - proof to the world what a smart, hard-working, focused, super dog you have. It is a disappointment when they have bad tests but it's also an excellent motivator for you to work harder at what you need to do with him. I love your attitude, your drive and desire for excellence. Your dogs no doubt feed off that, too. Those qualities are hard to beat.

[gemy]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

I've seen the dock diving videos which were great but not the Magic at CD.

Thank you for taking the blame. I tend to agree for the most part but didn't know for sure if that would offend you to say that here. Love your trainer and say that that's the trainer we all need for our dogs. Hoping that you can commit to the Sept. but if you feel you need more time, take it and enjoy the time working with Razzle. If Razzle has that much drive at anything then you have a huge head start in his committing to work. Just follow trainer's lead and you will get there. Does he work for his toy or treats or praise?

But I can imagine how you felt after the competition and felt so for you when I read your post. You want it so for the dog - proof to the world what a smart, hard-working, focused, super dog you have. It is a disappointment when they have bad tests but it's also an excellent motivator for you to work harder at what you need to do with him. I love your attitude, your drive and desire for excellence. Your dogs no doubt feed off that, too. Those qualities are hard to beat.

Thanks for your posting.

SANY0001 - YouTube

is one link for some basic CD level skills
- here is all heel off lead.
It is in our Yorkie Brothers and Sisters forum

Yes our test today was disappointing, but it is only a measure a litmus test of where we stand. And for that I am thankfull, I know what we need to work on, and how to work on those skills.

The hardest thing as a multiple dog owner, is not to compare one dog to the other. When you have one highly trained dog, and one not so much, you do tend to forget all the hours you spent getting there with your first. You mentally somehow think, well Magic got this in one weekend (not perfectly) but hey he did.

Razzle works for treats, for toys, and for praise. It is how I "train" my dogs from puppyhood. But truth be told their highest value treats, are their toys, second to my praise, and third to treats.

And now that spring has arrived and summer is coming, we can get outside easily. So we shall

[yorkietalkjilly]

I loved that video. Magic was very, very, very good. So impressive to see that and I watched twice. He's amazing.

Do you find Razzle harder to train at this than Magic?

[gemy]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

I loved that video. Magic was very, very, very good. So impressive to see that and I watched twice. He's amazing.

Do you find Razzle harder to train at this than Magic?

For sure Razzman is harder to train. Blackies were created to be a working companion to man. It is bred into their bones so to speak. And a very high intelligence. So that creates its own challenges of course.

I decided years ago not to do Schutzhund protection training with him, although I am sure he would have been excellent at it. But it is a three year absolute commitment of your time, and you must finish the course; well that is what my trainer demanded.

Yt's have their own unique brand of stubbornness and they are smart, it is with Razzle building up his attention span. And their small size makes it hard for me to correct the heel/sit - all that bending over --- ouch my back gets pretty sore.

Thank you for your compliment of Magic..

[Maximo]

Sounds like Razzle thought it was a play date and not an obedience evaluation. I know you and Ilona have worked with him from the beginning on various things including agility and dock diving, but do you think it is more difficult to train an adult Yorkie vs a puppy?

I am very sorry to hear Magic is still struggling with his injury. I can imagine how difficult it is for you to have to hold him back from what he loves to do.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by gemy

For sure Razzman is harder to train. Blackies were created to be a working companion to man. It is bred into their bones so to speak. And a very high intelligence. So that creates its own challenges of course.

I decided years ago not to do Schutzhund protection training with him, although I am sure he would have been excellent at it. But it is a three year absolute commitment of your time, and you must finish the course; well that is what my trainer demanded.

Yt's have their own unique brand of stubbornness and they are smart, it is with Razzle building up his attention span. And their small size makes it hard for me to correct the heel/sit - all that bending over --- ouch my back gets pretty sore.

Thank you for your compliment of Magic..

I, too, find small dogs very hard to train compared to the big guys. So many if not most of the bigs were born to work - live for it. Tibbe loves to work but he doesn't care to work at one thing very long and hasn't the need to please that most big dogs seem to. Tibbe works for treats and praise is good but if you want his rapt attention, offer to "pay" him. A big dog just wants to please and get that positive reward of doing it right and getting your praise or that toy. I imagine those smaller little brains of the little guys just don't have all of the capacity of the big one's but once they get into training, a Yorkie does definitely start to get it and adapts to working harder, begins to relish the praise and confidence he feels but he still expects that "paycheck" treat. But they sure make you work harder, too, to get and keep them on board with it all, especially at first.

Looking forward to seeing more of that CD work on video. I LOVE to see dogs working. They are so darn cute.

[lisaly]

Once again, I loved your video and seeing the special connection you have with your heart dog. It's easily seen how much you love him and he you, and the deep respect you share with each other is noticeable.

It hurts me to hear about Magic's pain and also for both of you to have to be kept away from the work you so enjoy. With the long term warm weather approaching, you will have so many more opportunities for water rehabilitation work and also for Magic to train in water. I know how much he loves it! I know you well enough to know that you will stop at nothing to help any of your fur kids. I know the laser treatments helped before, and I hope they help Magic now.

I also know the training will happen wth Razzle, too. You and Ilona make a great team, as do you with your boy. Razzle also loves you so very much. I can understand why because you have such special qualities, a warm, loving, and accepting heart, and such enthusiasm and commitment towards those you love. You are very smart and will not allow anything to defeat you, and you are also doing something that you love most. I believe in you and am so greatful to know you. You most definitely have encouraged me to give Katie opportunities for training and even more fun than we had in the past and you have armed me with the knowledge about how to keep Katie safe yet still have a full life doing the training that she loves. I can't thank you enough for that, for my Katie, and for being my special friend.

[gemy]

Dear Friend;

Lisa thank you so very much for your kind words. You are always so encouraging to every-one really, and not only your friends.

I hope you are having a great Sunday

And ps: I finally got a new home phone - I should be able to talk now with the battery running out every 15 minutes