2022 Dog Achievements and 2023 aims

CorvusCorax said:
I told her to down, she didn't/continued sniffing the ground, I shouted NO/AH-AH and came towards her and she dicked off, thinking she was in trouble. She's now a bit worried about downing in that particular spot and is trying to go for a run instead so I'm just doing lots of send outs with rewards and working on downing beside a pole with high reward elsewhere.

Sensitive dog, I lost my temper, stupid.

Her speed going out is phenomenal and she can do a very nice down so she's capable of a very nice exercise.
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Ah interesting thank you!! They’re so quick I’m finding out how easy it is to make mistakes and how hard it is to unpick them!! Sounds like you’ll have it sorted in no time ?
 
11bluewolf said:
Ah interesting thank you!! They’re so quick I’m finding out how easy it is to make mistakes and how hard it is to unpick them!! Sounds like you’ll have it sorted in no time ?
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Yep they learn the wrong thing as quickly as they learn the right thing sometimes. If if was easy, everyone would be doing it ?
 
CC do you do distance down in your sport? Or other people that have dogs that work sheep/shoot(?)
I'd quite like to teach it to Mrs Collie. She has a pretty good down but its not instant. I'd quite like it if she was heading off to chase something and I could yell it at her and have it solid rather than have her turn to face me before deciding that she will drop to floor.
 
Karran said:
I have had a lot to drink at work Xmas do so so hoping above makes sense???
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I hope no hangover! Yes it did make sense. ?.
Can’t speak for CC but shooting the ‘stop’ (to me) is not just emergency brakes but also ‘face me for further instruction’. Which might be ‘hunt’, ‘change direction’ or ‘come back here’. So mine just stop, face me and look. When teaching they sit but I don’t insist on it IRL.
 
CorvusCorax said:
I'd look at an MRI re the pain. I'd maybe look at a sport like hoopers or scentwork something where there will be little impact on the joints.

There are a few things you can do, use your body a lot, get in front of her/place yourself between her and the scary thing, try to get in there before she has a chance to think about reacting, teach her to go between your legs, make her lie down so that you are big and she is smaller, do not let her go out in front so she feels exposed to danger, basically physically show her that you are in control.
The most important thing is for you to perceive the 'threat' before she does and start to get into distraction or control mode, once she is on alert and already reacting it is too late and we are pouring petrol on the fire.
Like I say for my own dog, I will make her lie down and stand beside or over her and feed her while another dog passes her in what she perceives to be her territory.
Added to that, free-shaping exercises where she makes a behaviour and you mark and reward, this can for a confident and independent dog, there should be plenty of exercises on Youtube.

As a collie and having read your post, she will probably be hyper-fixated on movement so you can channel that with lots of types of toys and prey movement to snap her out of focussing on the things she should not be.
For instance if I know my bitch has seen a squirrel or cat or bird that she wants to chase, well the blood is up and she's in that frame of mind anyway, why fight her, so I start throwing food from side to side across the path, behind me, in front of me, back to me, for more food, and get her onto that instead. So it's fulfilling that need to chase but in a different and less antisocial way and gets the focus back on me a bit ;)
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brilliant thankyou, Im heartened to see that I am already doing some of this stuff. I dont want to derail this thread so can I send you a pm in reply ?
 
Karran said:
CC do you do distance down in your sport? Or other people that have dogs that work sheep/shoot(?)
I'd quite like to teach it to Mrs Collie. She has a pretty good down but it’s not instant. I'd quite like it if she was heading off to chase something and I could yell it at her and have it solid rather than have her turn to face me before deciding that she will drop to floor.
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Our collies (and my GSDs) are taught lie down away from sheep as pups so start off at my feet and once that is solid I start asking for it at a distance, once that is solid then cue while they are on the move, playing etc. Once it’s proofed in various scenarios we can take them to sheep.
With collies (especially those with a strong eye) the down is often quite instinctive while working sheep and especially once they reach the point of balance (ie handler is standing at 6 o’clock with the dog directly opposite the handler at 12 o’clock on the other side of the sheep) and become very focused on their sheep but it still helps to train the actual cue prior to taking a young collie to sheep.
 
Achievement: beloved old GSD hit 11 yrs and is still active and happy
Aim: for beloved old GSD to hit 12 and still be active and happy!

Maybe to finally teach the younger one something other than recall and give a paw, but he’s an utterly crap student and completely hilarious so it probably won’t happen.
 
Karran said:
CC do you do distance down in your sport? Or other people that have dogs that work sheep/shoot(?)
I'd quite like to teach it to Mrs Collie. She has a pretty good down but its not instant. I'd quite like it if she was heading off to chase something and I could yell it at her and have it solid rather than have her turn to face me before deciding that she will drop to floor.
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IGP send out is out in a straight line using a verbal and hand signal then a down command when dog is approaching end of field, no directions etc. Then go to collect (after clapping ?), command into heel position and go over to the down stay while the other dog works, or report back out to judge depending on order of draw, it's the last exercise in obedience routine.
Most people in training send the dog to a pole, ball on ground, touch point etc.

But I do teach a down socially like you say.
I teach all of my positions in an oblong box then move the box around then phase it out.
 
My aim is really quite dull but let’s face it the Cec is not made to be a gun dog (although he was super and really enjoyed his day out shooting last year) or a show dog, ears anyone?
I aim to help build his confidence, with life in general.
When we walk around the local area we are lucky to meet another dog or person so he’s relatively unsocialised really. He does get a bit worried by certain situations, loud noises (although as above guns are fine strangely)
Other unknown dogs, the black lab thing, loud people, but great with children.
Not 100% sure how but now I have bought a little van we can venture further afield and see more of the world. I’m pretty sure armed with some treats and reassurance he will calm down a bit.
 
I’d love to try some agility training with Posy dog. We were booked into a session a few weeks ago but got cancelled, so need to rebook (but I’ve got no weekends free until Feb now!)

Continue adventuring with friends, conquer a few more mountains and take more trig point photosMaybe do the 3 peaks with her (but not in 24hrs for both our sakes!).

For her to play nanny to my parents new (hopefully, due next week) puppy. Both our family dogs were PTS within a week of each other recently so their house feels very empty without a dog in for the first time in over 20yrs…

Though I hope most of our hikes will be less windy and wet than this one was…
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Excited to be joining this thread, with other stuff going on, I'm keen to look forward to the good things coming up!

Should be welcoming a male GSD pup in April/May. My focus for 2023 will be doing everything I can to help him become a good citizen. Will be doing plenty of playing and encouraging drive where suitable as would like to look into doing IGP in the future!
 
First time posting on this one, but for Lyl it was just to continue competing at lower (select) height for agility and hope she continues to enjoy it.
In fact she qualified for the agility rescue League finals and finished 3rd overall, 3td in agility and 3rd in the league. Also qualified for the games UKA finals which I massively messed up. She's also won 2 trophies at the Solent Agility league, 2nd overall and most clear rounds.
Best of all her enthusiasm levels are through the roof and she's had a very healthy year.
For next year, stay healthy and carry on at lower height if she's still as keen.

Arthur's goal was to do some training rounds at shows.... he's actually done that and a few competitive runs too in fenced in rings including his first clear round which was in agility!
We've been working with a new trainer which was my best decision this year I think.
Goals..... build my confidence enough to run him in roped rings as well as fenced in rings. This will start with NFC runs at UKA shows, running with a toy.
 
My goal is purely to enjoy life with my dog and not worry so much. After my lovely dog being attacked and becoming dog reactive himself, I lost my joy in dog walking and found it stressful, I realised how anxious it made me, how much I plan my day around trying to not meet anyone else. But he has just turned 5 and life goes by too fast, I don’t want to get to where he’s an old dog and I realise that my anxiety held us back from living our best life together.
 
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My guys are most def pets at this point. My job and my horses are serious, these guys are just fun. I do want to get back involved in running club (Cani-x), I stopped after a mild ankle fracture and job Change meant meetings harder to get to regularly. I’ve had a spectacularly bad year for feet and ankle minor injuries but do want to get back out there. The spaniel enjoys dock diving and gun dog scurries, but I’m very limited on weekends off so no aims. The Boston mainly likes sleeping in the bed, and if I can raise the fluff into a healthy adult then that’s job done.
 
First time posting any doggy achievements here! My 3 year old lab Dory had her first year in 2022 of flyball competitions, we live in the Isle of Man so have to travel over on the boat which adds extra pennies onto the cost.
We did her first comp in foundation with the sides up and then the next two comps in open classes, her team managed to place first in their open division in Huddersfield :)
I also do trick training with her (kept us both occupied in lockdown living on my own) and we managed to gain a Novice Trick dog title this year

Aim for 2023-
Flyball- We've just changed to a new training group on island so looking forward to settling into our new team and getting to more comps throughout the year. Hoping to compete with our team in the Outdoor Championships in August!
Trick Training- Next step is working toward an Intermediate Trick dog award, she can do all the tricks required we just need to finesse them a bit more!

Love reading everyone's updates on the year and goals :D
 
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