New Family Member, Lots More Pics 8/27/07

[Lonewolfblue]

Class #4:
Today was Betty's next class. She's progressing pretty well. In fact, the trainer was able to bring her dog on the same side of the fence as Betty, and we walked both dogs within 3 feet of each other. She got to where she was pretty comfortable with it. Then we changed it a bit where instead of going the same direction, we would go in opposite directions. She did get pretty stressed as her dog approached. Wasn't too bad when we were in the middle, but the other direction when the dogs were in the middle, that's where she was the most stressed, and was hard to control. But overall, she was much better than previous weeks, and the trainer had a lot of good things to say about it.

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, Betty does have her ups and downs, but I think we've made the turning point. She's beginning to feel more confident in herself on our walks. This is helping with her fear aggression problem. Hopefully instead of increasing, it will now start to decrease, and hopefully decrease to zero, as I would love to have her in competitions.

Todays walk started on a more anxious note, she really wanted to get out there, lol. And she was hard to control, as she was pulling. But I started on the Stop and Go drills, where whenever she started to move ahead, I would Stop. She didn't like that, lol. She wanted to Go, lol. But after a short while, she still would pull some, but was more managable.

Then we got down to the trail, and there were a lot of dogs there, lol. More than I expected, lol. But that was a good thing, as I was able to try and work with her fear aggression problem. Then we got to the area that has a lot of trees. I began working on her handling, circling trees, etc. I kept moving and turning, forcing her to keep her eyes on me, and if she didn't, she would get a pinch from her prong collar. We worked on that at a walk for about 20 minutes, then upped it to a faster walk for another 30 minutes, then a jog for 15-20 minutes when I was ready to fall over myself, lol. She did very well, and is now beginning to watch me more, rather than her wanting to lead.

Then the walk home was awsome. She heeled perfectly for 30 minutes. She walked about 1 step behind me, and when I stopped, she sat at my heel. She's never done this before. She did try to pull in front of me a couple times along the way, but I gave a small snap of the leash to get her attention. It wasn't enough for the prong collar to pinch her, just enough that the sound of the chain links tightening slowed her back down. But overall, it was near perfect.

Well, tomorrow is Betty's next class. Will give you an update on how that goes. Hopefully it's even better than last week, even though last week she did Awsome. Will keep you posted.....

Got new pics of Betty. Here she is.....

[plecoperson]

What a lucky dog she is to have such a dedicated human-you should be very, very proud of yourself!!!

And I figgered she was smart, but she can even DRIVE! She is so photogenic-very nice--

Congratulations on your progress thus far, and thanks for the pupdates on Lovely Betty.

[Lonewolfblue]

And I like the 5th pic down too, love that little puppy sit lol. When you tell her to sit, she not only sits but has to make it look pretty, lol.

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, Betty's class went pretty good today. The trainer wanted to give her dog a break today, so we worked more on commands, and left her dog inside today. She did very well.

I also got some information from her on AKC Rally as well. We are going to begin some of her training now, as we work on her socialization. On days of bad weather, we will work in her garage on the Rally training, and on good days, dog socialization outside. She's pretty confident we can beat this fear aggression, and she feels Betty will be Outstanding at Rally, and even Obedience. Then, once this is done, she feels we could even go on to Agility, and maybe Utility. Will see what the future holds.

[fish 'n' fries]

That's wonderful. Hope she continues to do so well. She is such a cutie!

[Lonewolfblue]

As for Betty, here's some of the words and commands she knows..... And to think that this is just a small list compared to what she has to learn for AKC Rally and AKC Obedience.

Sit - Voice and hand command
Down - Voice and hand command
Stay - Voice and hand command
Come - Voice and learning hand command
Good Dog
Bad Dog
Potty
Up - Voice only
Jump - Voice only
Let's Go
no - Voice and hand command
ah-ah (Goes with no)
Betty - Her name of course
In the house (She goes in her training kennel)
Out of the house (She comes out of her training kennel)
Go for Walk (To go for a walk)
ball
toy
Get the ball - Brings the ball.
Where's the ball - Goes and touches the ball with nose then returns with no ball.
Get the toy - Brings the ball.
Where's the toy - Goes and touches the toy with nose then returns with no toy.

Words she's currently learning...
Out
Heel - Learning Voice and Hand Command
Watch me - Learning Voice and Hand Command

[Lonewolfblue]

Class #6 (Last Monday):

Well, Betty's officially started her Rally-O training. It's going to be a lot of work, but a lot of fun as well. We got 3 things to work on this week, but with Thanksgiving, it won't be a lot of training, lol. But that's ok, that's what Holidays do, right? lol.

Here's the first items we are working on....
Heel Back - This is where the dog is sitting in front of you, and when you give the command, you step back with your left leg, bringing your dog around your left side, then stepping back forward with your left leg, with your dog at your side, then Sit.

Get Around - This is where the dog is in front of you again, but this time you step back with your right foot, bringing the dog around your right leg, passing the leash from your right hand to the left behind your back, then stepping back forward with the right leg, bringing the dog up to your left side, and Sit.

Right Turn - This is where your dog is sitting at your left side, and you turn your body 90 degrees to the right, and your dog get's up, get's back to your left side, then Sit.

Heel and Sit - This is where your dog walks at your left side, and when you stop, the dog stops and Sit's. When you step forward, the dog walks with you and as soon as you stop again, the dog Sit's at your side again.

Lot's of fun, lol. Her hardest thing is Heel and Sit, lol. She keeps wanting to walk forward when I stop. Will need to break her of this, LOL.

[WaterPond]

Im so glad you are gaving fun with her. I still cant get over how amazingly beautiful that dog is. Ups and down happen with everything in life, but im sure betty will help you through yours if you keep help her through hers

[Lonewolfblue]

Yup, she is a beauty. She's also starting to show other colors as well. A couple places on the legs and on the back of the neck behind the ears she's starting to show some red (a shade of brown), similar to what you see on red heelers. She looks great.