Well, this is where we are. Ellie is struggling with the concept of moving with the dumbbell in her mouth. Roxanne gave me some good ways to help her work through this.
Ellie got mouthy, didn't she? And even though she choose to express her opinion with teeth, she not only got corrected, several times, she STILL had to do the work and obey.
I expect a dog to have at least one Point of Contention during the Retrieve Course. The sooner it happens, the easier it is to work the dog THROUGH their Point of Contention, and change that dog's believe system.
We work diligently throughout the Retrieve Course to accomplish one mindset belief in BOTH the owner and their dogs' mind.
"I said what I meant and meant what I said."
That mindset IS 95% of the retrieve work. There are always breakdowns, in the owner and/or dog (often breakdowns in both at different times). Breakthroughs only occur after breakdowns, it is part of the process.
Grateful Ellie opted to exercise her opinion early in the retrieve process, which makes the next steps easier. Ellie learned a valuable lesson yesterday. Will she try again? Yup, but we know it and are prepared to help her do thr right thing, obey, regardless of her opinion.
Onward. Please post videos, each of you new students, where you are thus far in this week's retrieve training.
Ellie did much better today. Thank you once again for helping us through this snag. She seemed a little more confident today. I think she’s starting to understand she can move with the dumbbell in her mouth. If it was a beer can she found on one of our runs, , she’d have no problem carrying it for miles!! 🤣
Ellie and Mary, Week 5, Day 2
ReplyDeleteEllie got mouthy, didn't she? And even though she choose to express her opinion with teeth, she not only got corrected, several times, she STILL had to do the work and obey.
ReplyDeleteI expect a dog to have at least one Point of Contention during the Retrieve Course. The sooner it happens, the easier it is to work the dog THROUGH their Point of Contention, and change that dog's believe system.
We work diligently throughout the Retrieve Course to accomplish one mindset belief in BOTH the owner and their dogs' mind.
"I said what I meant and meant what I said."
That mindset IS 95% of the retrieve work.
There are always breakdowns, in the owner and/or dog (often breakdowns in both at different times). Breakthroughs only occur after breakdowns, it is part of the process.
Grateful Ellie opted to exercise her opinion early in the retrieve process, which makes the next steps easier. Ellie learned a valuable lesson yesterday. Will she try again? Yup, but we know it and are prepared to help her do thr right thing, obey, regardless of her opinion.
Onward. Please post videos, each of you new students, where you are thus far in this week's retrieve training.
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ReplyDeleteEllie did much better today. Thank you once again for helping us through this snag. She seemed a little more confident today. I think she’s starting to understand she can move with the dumbbell in her mouth. If it was a beer can she found on one of our runs, , she’d have no problem carrying it for miles!! 🤣
ReplyDeleteGet her back in 'social' drive and not 'I hate you' drive. 🤣
ReplyDeleteWay not to back down, Mary!