After our lesson yesterday I took Jonah over to Willards Woods and he was fantastic.
I kept him on his leash, but I had my bait bag with treats. When we'd see a dog from a ways off, I would get his attention on me and remind him that I had deliciousness in my bag. I would let him check on the other dogs, but if he didn't come right back to me I would just say his name and give him a little cookie. I made sure the leash was really slack. Then, when he got close, I let him say hello but I kept no pressure on the leash. A few times he wanted to actually run and play with the dog, and at that point I would unclip the leash and let them have fun. If he didn't want to play, we would continue on our way after the initial hello. He was so amazingly perfect I didn't know what to do (but he got lots of cookies)! We met 10 dogs with no stress at all. At one point, 3 dogs came rushing at him all at once: a big happy golden, a lab puppy (maybe 3 months?) and a little puggle. They engulfed him and the little guy was jumping on him. This would often overwhelm Jonah a little bit, but he was great. Wow. I don't know what to make of the whole situation other than I hope we have lots more experiences like this.
My concern is that, at trials, it's not practical to have him on a loose leash all the time. Space is simply too crowded. He's so hyped at trials and I'm nervous and the other dogs aren't necessarily friendly either. It's just a crazy environment and I can't expect him to behave like a rock. He's a real, live dog after all. Hopefully, though, the more practice we can get in relaxed situations, the better he will react in more hectic ones.
We got our pairs partner assigned today. I did a little stalking (looking on a photographer's website and searching for the dog) and found that it's a very nice looking little cattle dog. Not a big crazy looking BC. The handler looks really nice too. So, that's reassuring. Gulp.
I kept him on his leash, but I had my bait bag with treats. When we'd see a dog from a ways off, I would get his attention on me and remind him that I had deliciousness in my bag. I would let him check on the other dogs, but if he didn't come right back to me I would just say his name and give him a little cookie. I made sure the leash was really slack. Then, when he got close, I let him say hello but I kept no pressure on the leash. A few times he wanted to actually run and play with the dog, and at that point I would unclip the leash and let them have fun. If he didn't want to play, we would continue on our way after the initial hello. He was so amazingly perfect I didn't know what to do (but he got lots of cookies)! We met 10 dogs with no stress at all. At one point, 3 dogs came rushing at him all at once: a big happy golden, a lab puppy (maybe 3 months?) and a little puggle. They engulfed him and the little guy was jumping on him. This would often overwhelm Jonah a little bit, but he was great. Wow. I don't know what to make of the whole situation other than I hope we have lots more experiences like this.
My concern is that, at trials, it's not practical to have him on a loose leash all the time. Space is simply too crowded. He's so hyped at trials and I'm nervous and the other dogs aren't necessarily friendly either. It's just a crazy environment and I can't expect him to behave like a rock. He's a real, live dog after all. Hopefully, though, the more practice we can get in relaxed situations, the better he will react in more hectic ones.
We got our pairs partner assigned today. I did a little stalking (looking on a photographer's website and searching for the dog) and found that it's a very nice looking little cattle dog. Not a big crazy looking BC. The handler looks really nice too. So, that's reassuring. Gulp.
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