Catch Up, and Tests

Sorry about the lack of posts this last week - it was a bit of a shocker. I'll try to be a bit more organised in the future so I can at least post some photos if I don't have time for a 'real' post :)

Today, however, is another information post. This morning was Laura-moo's obedience trial at advanced level. The levels go beginners, intermediate, advanced, transition, and I think novice then open after that, though I could be wrong. Most people don't go beyond advanced unless they want titles, and the advantage of passing advanced if you happen to live in the A.C.T. is that registration fees for your dog are very significantly reduced.

This was Laura's first proper obedience test; beginners don't do an 'official' test, and we missed the intermediate one due to out-of-towness and did it with three others on the next normal training night. She's been to the grounds before during the day, though, so I didn't anticipate that aspect of it being much of a problem.

Overall, she did very well. I went into it with mixed expectations; on the one hand, if she's having a good day, she can be brilliant - but if she's not, she's a wretch. We didn't mind if she didn't pass, since we plan to do advanced again anyway - we don't do anywhere near enough practice to be able to keep up in transition, and if you pass advanced three times you qualify for the letters C.D. after the dog's name :)

First up was the loose-lead walking. Eh, this was so-so. She didn't yank, but she wasn't exactly with it, either. The heeling was about the same, sadly. Quite a bit of sniffing, not much eye contact... just generally distracted. She turned well, and did all of her default sits and the drop while heeling fine, but it just wasn't... snappy.

The position changes were okay. She drifted forward a little on the stand, which she always does. We've been working on not drifting so much for the stand, and while she did take a few steps, she didn't make it all the way to me, so I suppose that's something to be happy about :) And she didn't really drift at all for the drop, so that's happy :)

The stand for exam - can I just say, Wow?! She did not budge a single toenail. She was perfect. Absolutely, 100%, could not have been any better, perfect. I am SO happy about this one, so, so happy!

The recall was lovely, no comments really to make. I thought for one heart-stopping moment she was going to get distracted by a yummy smell and wander off to the side, but she came over, and all was well :)

Stays were great, though I lost marks because of the way I was standing. I usually stand with my fingers splayed, but apparently this counts as an extra signal to stay, for which they dock marks :( But I know for next time.

All in all, I was pleased with how well she performed given how distracted she was. I don't think I got a single 'look' when I asked for one *grumpgrump* and she spend ALL her spare time in the ring looking over at the other dogs... Oo, dogs I haven't MET! I MUST go play with them!

*sigh* :)

The instructor's comments were to work on keeping her attention (OH yes), and try to phase out the food, since as soon as I turned to the food, I had 100% attention. (I didn't, but the instructor seemed to think so, so yes :D). Also, I have to make sure I give her time to perform the task - which is odd, because a couple of times, I deliberately held off giving a second command and waited, and she did it. I obviously didn't wait a few times though, because I lost a few marks for the double commands I had to give for some of the drops etc.

A pass mark is 75 (out of 100) and we ended up with 81, which is not brilliant, but it's respectable, and hey, we passed! We're a third of our way to our first title :o)

Congratulations also to Abbi, who not only passed intermediate, but also tied third in her ring and has a lovely shiny yellow ribbon :) Well done!

Coming up this week: some cute puppy pictures from the day we got the monkeys :)

Thursday Night Training

So, every Thursday we go to obedience classes, and last week I thought it would be cool to post on here to keep track of how we're going. But of course, I'd already figured out my schedule, and Thursday nights didn't figure...

Tonight, I say :P to the schedule!

These posts will probably be fairly dry for those of you that aren't madly keenly insanely interested in the training of my puppykins, and for that I apologise. I'll be sure to make the other posts extra fun to make up for it! O:)

Tonight our highlight was the recall. We started the night in a circle and did some position changes at a distance (~2m), which weren't too bad. Last week, Laura was still edging forward with every change. This week she was only edging forward with most changes. There were a few moments where she definitely stayed in place, so this is good.

Then we did recalls, only this time in a circle (facing out!) rather than in a line. We braved it, and went with the group this time (have done it individually every other time), and woohoo! We were perfect! My dear Mini Sis took a video of us doing a recall last week, and as soon as I get the footage I shall post, so you can all see and cheer :o)

Static turns were reasonable, though not as snappy as she has done before. Her heel position overall was sloppy tonight - last week she was getting really good at coming and sitting /right/ next to me. Tonight, she was a bit all over the place :S

Heeling was very good the first time. She managed some beautiful left turns, and did exceptionally well with slow pace. At the end of the night though when we tried again Laura went to worms - too tired, too distracted. The last straw was when one of the kelpies crossed right over our heels, and Laura went WOO! DOG!! and that was that :|

Stand for exam with /me/ touching her is nearly feet-perfect: I can run both hands down from her head to her shoulders, feel all around her shoulders, move down her ribs and examine her haunches most times without her moving a foot. I'm not as slow or thorough or firm as a show judge, but still, I'm quite happy given that two weeks ago she wouldn't even do a stand stay while I walked in a circle around her.

With the instructor touching her she's a bit more finicky - the first two attempts she bent around in a circle and snuggled up to her *goggle eyes* Mind you, at least we are not JUMPING now. Not during class, anyway. We still do plenty of leaping on people outside of class (*ponders* though not nearly so much as she used to; I think she only jumped on other dog owners three or four times tonight during free time?). But the third time she held still while her head was patted, and the second time the instructor managed to run her hand down Laura's neck. So, good. Progress.

After there though, we feel to pieces a bit. I really struggle to get Laura's attention back on me once she's distracted; if she's concentrating, she'll do what I want perfectly, and I have no doubt that she would do excellently in the test. When she gets distracted, however, (new dog comes close, interesting smells on the ground) the only way I can get her attention back is to either run so she /has/ to come, or touch her face.

Well, not quite - 'Look' usually works. I just get frustrated when it doesn't and she ignores me.

Loose leading was okay; the lead was loose for probably 75-80% of the time, and a few times I deliberated walked close past another person to see what she'd do with the distraction.

Stays - I don't think we did a sit stay. I don't remember one, anyway. The down stay was okay; she broke once when a loud sound like a shot or a car backfiring or something rang out from the main road across the paddocks. The sound didn't bother her at all, but the next dog got a fright and jumped up... Laura nearly stayed - I thought she was going to - but then she was sniffing the wind, and stood up to follow the fun scent. Harumph.

But never mind.

All in all, she's doing reasonably well. I see a definite improvement this week on stand for exams and position changes at a distance, and she only started to flake out about 2/3s of the way through class. And really, since she doesn't get walked at the moment, I can't blame her for all the extra energy :S