[Deber]

The facility we use is beautiful and seems more geared to calm, beginning obedience. They offer more classes, but you must go through each to advance to the next. Kye is showing to be more high-strung and a bit older than her classmates. Learns very fast, but if class is an hour of repetition she ends up being less than perfect.

I work hard with her and we train about 3 times a day with a long leash run included in the final. To me she would do better with a more difficult class, more advanced, yet keep the basics formost.

For pups, do we just continue in our class, or should I start looking for one that is different, offers more complex training? I want her basics down, but she needs stimuli to keep her wits around her. Forcing her to walk, sit, down and stay is hard for her to do for any length of time unless she is tired out or if they would intersect something more "doing" for her inbetween. Our class is 12 pups all 6-10 mo. They are calm, handled by average folk. Kye is the best in class, but also the clown. She just seems to need more to make our class more challenging.

Any help for us?? She just turned 9 mo. While not as high-strung as some of the video's of dogs here, she is close! Want to keep her loving to learn and this goes for me too. I feel many times I am her worst enemy, we are both a work in progress, but love the challenge with a dog who wants to learn. I want her basics good, and we work and work, but in class we circle endless times, sit, down, stay, stand and circle some more. This is it and Kye gets impatient and bored after so much of this. What can I intersect into this to make it more of a challenge, to help her settle and watch me more? She starts looking around and gets into trouble quickly - know she wants MORE to do.

Feel a bit lost right now.

 

[Sunrise]

Teach her some tricks that can be done during down time; spins, going between your legs, high 5, nose bridges, settle (ok not a trick but convenient when the instructor is talking), crawl etc.

All classes have down time and it really is helpful to have an arsenal of things you can do to keep your dogs attention. I used to hate the down times, now I look at it as a challenge to keep my dogs focus And if the repetition is too much, step to the outside to give both of you a break.

 

[Megora]

I'm another one that hates down times between exercises... unfortunately there is a lot of downtime when you have a BIG class and people are taking turns doing something. Same thing with earlier levels of obedience where the instructor is working one-on-one with everyone and you always have that one student who needs 10 minutes of attention time from the instructor on every exercise. :headfallsoffandrollsaway:

Sit on the floor with your dog and get her used to relaxing between exercises. Pet her all over, massage her butt or her belly (my guy falls right over in bliss if he gets a butt scratch).

Doing tricks between exercises might help with shorter waits, but with long haul waits, you don't want your dog tired or spazzed out when it's time to move on to the next thing.

 

[Deber]

Thank you for the suggestions and will see what else I can think of to do. We already step out of the class in the beginning, because unless I can tire her out sufficently before class she walks then "Boing, Boing" (jumps up and down so step, jump, step jump). I have no problem with this as she is watching me, but totally out of line in our calm class. Once we step out and run/play off more steam she enters much more ready to listen, but her exuberance (sp?) is a distraction to her classmates. Her sits are automatic, but she thinks a touch to the ground (almost with butt on the ground) and this is enough, then is up and looking at me. She will sit, but wiggles and you know she is ready to spring into action. Her trainer LOVES her and is supportative, but has not given me any suggestions for class.

Is this just puppy mentality and we just keep working, or rebellion (don't think so), or just ready to get going?? If I could get into her mind more think I could help her/me learn more. She is impatient (and so am I). Do we both need to calm and slow down?

Would really like to talk to an experienced trainer and let him/her work with Kye a bit and see what we are about. Know there are some at our facility. Perhaps we both need a teacher on a more one on one to advise and help us.