Rachel's Recap Email

Here is the email Rachel, fabulous dog trainer, sent to the people who attended last Tuesday's training session. She explains the commands much better than I did:

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all had fun Tuesday night and feel like you learned something.  The dogs (and their handlers) all did really well and I think we'll be able to move quickly.  I heard that retrieving is an issue for a few of you, so I'll spend some time working on that next Tuesday.  We'll also work on recalls (Come! or Here!).

In the meantime, here are the things we covered and what you should be working on:

Look-Look:  Tap your eyes and reward your dog for establishing eye contact with you.  Practice this a lot--(repetition is crucial to everything with dogs)--and extend the time you can maintain the gaze before you reward.

Touch:  Hold your hand flat with a treat under your thumb. Have your dog reach or jump up to meet your hand to receive the treat.  Remember--we don't deliver!  They have to work for rewards.  Move your hand to different places once your dog gets the idea.

Leave-It: Begin by holding a treat in your fist and telling your dog to Leave-It.  As soon as they stop trying to get the treat, give it to them.  Work towards having your dog look into your eyes as soon as you say Leave-It.

Walking on a loose lead:  You all did extremely well, but this gets tougher when there are more distractions.  Work on getting an automatic sit when you halt.  Don't forget right, left and about-turns.  We'll be doing this EVERY week.

Sit and Down:  Piece of cake!  Start using hand signals paired with your verbal.  Sometimes try just the hand signal and see what happens.

Stay:  A reliable stay takes time.  Start working very slowly and SLOWLY build distance and time.  When the dog breaks--and if you're doing this right, they will--don't panic.   Just go back and start over.

Don't forget to praise--lavishly--with lots of hands-on cuddling.

I hope you're all following Maverick's blog (address below) even though he's been lazy lately.  You can also follow him on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maverick-the-Traveling-Whippet/244557155570456).

Flash the Border Collie also has a blog and he's a lot more active than Maverick.  No kidding, he's a Border Collie, not a Whippet!

http://flashthebordercollie.blogspot.com/

I'm interested in your feedback and anxious to know what other things you'd like to work on.

Thanks for coming,

Rach