Took Strum to the practice field last night for some more weave proofing. I've decided the thing I need to proof for is excitement so I busted out his tug toy and squeaky ball and got him all wound up, sent him over various straightforward sequences that ended with a tunnel with a straight shot to the weaves and each time he rocked back and collected perfectly for his entry, found the entry all on his own, blew through the poles without popping out but for once when the poles were way out of whack from a previous rep. He also had beautiful weaves and got a tricky entry at class last week. Sheesh. Where was this dog last weekend?
I was talking with someone who's had very similar issues with her high drive Border Collie, in fact she's been helping me out and giving me tips all along the way with Strum's various self control issues, and she suggested that Strum needs to be in a class so he can learn to work while excited. She's right of course but the only person offering classes that I might be interested in is an hour drive away meaning a 3-3 1/2 hour time commitment which is not feasible with my current work schedule. Maybe as a one off here or there, people often sell their slots, but not on a regular basis. So she offered to join my semi-private class and Joy is o.k. with it so we'll see if that helps. I'm going to see if we can coordinate a time to go to the practice field together too.
Proof that yes this dog can in fact weave.
STRUM WEAVES MAY 25 2010 from colliebrains on Vimeo.
I went through the same thing with Summit. Summit had no problems in class, drop-ins, extreme proofing at home. The only thing that helped with us was just to continue to trial and eventually he settled down and collection was no longer a problem. If the dog really knows the behavior and it's been proofed thoroughly, then seasoning (in the ring) is the next step.
ReplyDeleteWell, that makes me feel a little better. I feel like I'm torturing him by trialing and making him redo the weaves but I guess we stay the course and gut it out.
ReplyDeleteNope, just part of the seasoning stage with a green dog. Here are a few things Summit used to do when he was green:
ReplyDelete1. miss wp entries (especially really easy straight approaches)
2. use the pause table as a slide
3. scream "wooo wooo" while I was desparately asking him to assume a position.
4. "I don't need so stinkin' startline stay!"
5. sliding off the end of the teeter before it had even began to drop.
Hmmm... I have some fond memories of our Novice and Open experiences.