Bonkers for Sadie: Another Bella!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Another Bella!

Well we are three weeks into beginning obedience and Sadie is still doing very well. Earlier this week she had some issues with her front leg so I was unsure if we were going to make last nights class. My back up plan was to ask Trainer Guy if I could substitute Bella for one class. She is past the beginners level but the socialization would be good for her.

Fortunately though, yesterday Sadie showed no signs of lameness. It's a good thing otherwise class would have been awful confusing with my Bella there. Coincidentally another lady showed up with a little Pit Bull also named Bella. She's a little smaller and her coloring is more of a red/brown and white but still we had another "bully" named Bella! As it was every time Trainer Guy would say "get Bella" or "watch Bella" I caught myself looking down at the end of my leash but then I remembered I was there with Sadie not Bella!

As usual we began class with some heeling exercises. Forward, fast, slow, left, right, about turn and halt. Sadie's sits are really showing signs of improvement. Only about 50-60% of the time she kicks out to the side but the other 40-50% of the time she is sitting in perfect position. Her response time has also improved greatly.

The stay went well until some kids decided to walk in the gate behind her on the sit stay which caused her to break position. But she's only been at this for a week so that is to be expected. She also broke her down stay when Trainer Guy walked up right behind her. Clearly we need to work on this, I need to start working her "stay" in busier locations to teach her to stay put no matter what or who is around.

The new exercise for the week is the dreaded "stand". This took me weeks of work to teach Bella! But when she did finally get it was like a light bulb moment and she has done it perfectly ever since. I'm hoping to use this to my advantage, I have a few ideas on ways to have Bella help me teach this one to Sadie.

1 comment:

JenJanuary 21, 2011 at 3:50 PM
:) What a relief all around! Love the great reports!
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Novice Obedience Exercise Descriptions

Heel on Leash: Dog and Handler work as a team, the leash must be loose and held in a natural position. Orders for this exercise are: "Forward", "Halt", "Right turn", "Left turn", "About turn", "Slow" "Normal" and "Fast".

Stand for Examination: The dog stands in position before and during the examination without displaying resentment. Handler is instructed to "stand your dog and leave when you are ready", after positioning the dog the handler stands with dog in heel position, give the command/signal to stay and walk straight forward approximately 6 feet and then turn and face the dog. The judge will approach the dog from the front, using the fingers and palm of one hand, the judge will touch the dogs head, body and hindquarters. Judge will then give the command "back to your dog", handler returns to heel position. The dog must remain still until judge has said "exercise finished".

Recall: The dog must stay where left unitl called by handler and then must respond promptly when the handler commands or signals them to come. On order from the judge the handler will give the command/signal for the dog to stay in the sit position. Handler will then wakl forward to the other side of the ring with arms hanging naturally. On the judges order handler will command or signal the dog to come. Dog must come at brisk pace and sit stright, centered directly in front of handler. On judges order handler will give the dog the command/signal to finish. Dog must move quickly to heel position and sit.

Finish: Dog is directed to "swing" it's hind end around to the left to come to the heel position and then sit, or "heel" around to the right and behind the handler and come to the heel position and then sit.

Sit/Stay & Down/Stay (Group Exercises): The dog must remain in either the seated position or the down position, whichever is required by the particular exercise. The dogs will line up in catalog order along one side of the ring. The leash is removed and placed with the handlers armband behind the dog. Handlers are instructed to "sit your dog" or "down your dog", and then "leave your dog". The handler will walk across to the other side of the ring and stand in a natural position across from the dog until the judge orders them to "return to your dog". Any dog that leaves the place where it was left during the first group exercise will be given an "NQ" and excused from the remaining group exercise.