We've been doing a few retrieves a week and going fairly well. His enthusiasm is back and he's delivering nicely. I haven't pushed him onto learning new things.
However ..... went to a training session last night. Sort of a 2 on 1 with another dog there who Chester gets on well with. Thought it would be a good distraction but we would get more out of it than a group session. Did some steadiness exercises - both dogs did well. Gave them a long retrieve to let off some steam then back to it. Practiced some 'back' commands. A quick test to see if Chester really understood the command - walked out, dropped the dummy so he couldn't see and then gave the 'back'. He didn't! Came back to me. Oh well, more learning to be done. Same exercise, where he sees me dropping the dummy and the command is understood well.
I also wanted to do some work recalling away from the dummy as this is what we encountered on the last test. We really didn't do too much of this as it's not sensible to do a recall and then a 'back'. A bit confusing for the dog at this stage. I'll have to work on the recall away from the dummy separately.
So all going fairly well until ..... Chester on his way back with the dummy, diverts off to the side and decides he's not going to give it back! I'm glad it happened so trainer could see and hopefully help! First thing was to whistle him in .... he did come in but then diverted off to the side again. Then tried the ignore. Didn't work too well until I walked to the other side of the field, he dropped the dummy and came over to see what I was doing so I grabbed his collar in a 'I'm really unhappy with you' way and he went back on the lead. Felt a bit disheartened as it's really naughty behaviour with little consequence for Chester and little control from me. Also unsure how to fix it as it's not happening all of the time. Any suggestions welcomed!
Until this is fixed we can't really enter any working tests as I can't guarantee he won't repeat this behaviour. Chester has always been one of those dogs who is on the 'edge'. When he's working well, he'll work fast, respond in a split second and is totally focused on me and what I want him to do next. It can easily tip the other way where he's so quick he can be easily distracted and head completely off track. What I don't know is if this is the dog he is or the way he's been trained? I tend to lean towards it being part of him but there's always room for improvement with training :) The only thing I can compare him to is other dogs I see who tend to be more stable in their working. They aren't as sharp but they are more consistent. I think maybe this is preferable!
On a side note - we were observing the behaviour between Chester and Jack his training buddy. Chester has always got on quite well with Jack in that they will run around together but not play too much and get OTT. There's never been any trouble if we've sent them both off together hunting to find tennis balls or dummies. A really steady pair :)
Slightly different yesterday in that they had a bit of a tiff. They got a bit caught up with each other and neither was particularly impressed. We gave them some time off lead to sort their differences out. Nothing nasty but it wasn't the usual behaviour we see from them. I think it was because we were static, not walking and in a fairly enclosed space. Chester is entire and Jack is castrated. Chester particularly brave but pretty submissive with other males unless they are slightly younger in age and entire when at the most there's hackles up and a bit of growling. I can usually spot these doggies and just pop him on the lead for safety and we ignore them. It got us onto the subject of castration and whether I would consider it for Chester. Personally, I wouldn't have given it a second thought but my boyfriend suggested we leave it and see how things go. Generally I am happy as we don't have any aggression problems, he occasionally humps an unsuspecting female but never chases after them. There is no dominance shown towards us or other people in the house or when out on a walk. I'm happy with that :) However, I do wonder what sort of dog he would be if castrated? I think there must be some frustration there if they've got it but don't use it! Our trainer said he had one of his dog chemically castrated, noticed a big difference at first in that he was too lethargic but gradually it evened itself out and he was the same dog, just a bit calmer. I don't think we'll ever get Chester done (unless for medical reasons) but it's always in the back of my mind.
Wow ... what a lot of waffle! We have entered another test on Sunday but I think with the dummy problem we can't really enter. A shame but sensible I think!
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