new trainer was brill!!

morning all,

hope everyone is well today!

anyway heres my story:

last week i got in touch with another trainer who has just started a class near me, her leaflet was in the vets when i took sam there last week. it caught my eye because she said she was going to start clicker classes and dancing with dogs. anyway i arranged to meet her on saturday afternoon. sam was full of himself as usual!! anyway she assessed him for a few mins and said that he wasnt really in the frame of mind for doing any 'proper' training. so she asked what probs i had with him. i said the main one was his recall and my reluctance to let him off the lead. so she said she would give me a 100% recall in 3 weeks!!

so she said we'll take sam and her dog for a walk to a local wood. so off we went. we got there and she let her dog off the lead, then she said right your go!!! my face fell, i felt sick! she said dont worry i know he will come back! so off he went, he shot off like a bullet!!!! but all he did was a full circle around us and ended up back near us!!! bless him. she said, just keep saying good boy when he's near. dont keep chatting to him, and trying to get him to come to you because he's just too distracted and i'll just be setting him up to fail. instead as we were walking round the field, i just kept saying 'this way' to him. it was lovely seeing him running around and enjoying himself. if he got too far away her GSD told him off!!!

as we got to the gate sam was waiting there for us bless him. he was knackered!! he had a whale of a time and he hadnt bothered any other dogs and he hadnt run off! so next week we're going somewhere else. she isnt charging me for these private lessons as she i'm going to be her 'project'.

i know some of you may think its maybe a bit irresponsible to have done it this way, but obviously she knew what she was doing.

it has given me alot more confidence now to trust him off-lead and hopefully i'll be able to take him anywhere in the future and trust that he's not going to run off!

sorry about the length of thread

That sounds great Spinger Girl
I would guess that you have actually come a lot further in your training with Sam than you realised but lacked confidence, having a Trainer and a well trained dog with you would help to push you on another step.
I think it would have helped going to a wood that had lots of scents around to hold Sams attention, all the better if was a large but enclosed area and unfamiliar to Sam so that he would be reluctant to get too far away from you. Well done both of you for all your hard work . The trainer sounds very good too

Wow, we really must sort out a meet for Sam and Fudge. Can you pm me details of the classes she does, she sounds great.

Rachel

That sounds great Spinger. You have to let them go sooner or later

i must admit i was really dubious about just letting him go, my heart was in my mouth!! but i've gotta let him go sometime otherwise he'll be just on the lead all the time. i was a bit concerned when he went out of sight, but my trainer said just to carry on walking and say 'this way' to him, and sure enough he followed on!! i dont think i've got the confidence to do it alone yet, but i'm sure that wont be far off!

fudgeley....i'll pm you tomorrow with her details cos they're at home!!!

I must admit that I use "this way" with Odi. If I called him to me, he just ran past me, and "this way" works a treat. He follows where I'm going and as he's getting older, he keeps coming back to me to check I'm keeping up of his own accord. Now, if I shout WAIT, he stops, and waits for me to catch up, not moving a muscle. If we spot another dog in the distance that I'm not too sure off, he's quite happy to come back to me to be clipped on his lead until I establish if the other dog is ok with playing.

Works for us, although I'm not sure what my original trainer would have to say about it

well done. I'm so pleased for you! My collie rounds up my lab when she gets abit errant! I use 'this way' too mine too. They know that mum is changing direction so follow on too (but it doesnt mean end of free run). Sometimes if they get a bit far away I change direction on purpose to bring them closer then change back on them and treat them food or game) when close enough. This keeps them on their toes for goodies

It sounds like you have a great trainer there I wish some trainer would make me and my lad a special project, god knows he could do with some lol! Keep up the good work, and keep us updated, I love happy endings

just a little update on our progress!

well i took them both out last night and there was another dog in the woods. so i called them both to me as a 'this way' command and they both stood there in front of me! bless. sam and bronte have both seen this dog before its a young cocker who's adorable. so they were all running around together! it was lovely to see. then they all went for a swim. sam didnt even bat an eyelid at this other dog, they were all just too busy being busy!!

i think the 'this way' command is very useful cos you're not asking the dog to 'come' just change direction or whatever, so the fun isn't ending, and it keeps them on their toes. i play hide and seek with them too! makes me laugh when i see them pop up from a rabbit hole and cant see me, then they panic abit. when they see me they look at me as if to say 'i knew you were there!!'

sounds great Springer