We are on week 2 of prepping for our CGCA evaluation at the end of 6 weeks. Thought I'd make a thread on our journey and to share proofing general obedience skills out in public.
I encourage others to challenge themselves and work on some obedience in public! - Whether a park, a sidewalk in front of a store, a parking lot, or in a pet friendly store; then feel free to share here with everyone! Even if for just a few minutes here or there. Even just acclimating our dogs in new environments without telling them to do anything and rewarding when they give desired behaviors (like sit or down on their own) in these environments is sooo good for them and a step in the right direction for you as a team! It's been super difficult, especially with the upcoming puppies from the last two years, with covid so now is a good time as ever.
Class today went pretty well! A strange man approached us outside while Ripley was trying to go potty so she was ON EDGE going into the store. I really appreciate our trainer so so much as she always has us acclimate our dogs before every class and has them simply exist inside the store lobby for a good 15 min. Rewarding for good behaviors and testing them with her nearby talking to us, jiggling a treat bag in her pocket or walking a dog close by. So this gave Ripley some time to simmer down and think. Then her eyes were staring into my soul
After that she was so good! We went in on the prong this week but I felt she was ready and swapped her to her flat collar once she settled. We heel on a loose leash from the entrance and go back to the pet area for a new environment, more training. This time with pallets of dog food all around them, some bags busted open in the corners with food on the floor. Great opportunity for "leave it" training. She had us walk over two piles of kibble on the ground to test our skills. Ripley is pretty good with leave it when it's a treat I have, I can throw it at her and tell her to leave it and she completely ignores it but food on the ground from somewhere else? Oooh her brain was working sooo hard lol. We would loose leash heel by it and Rip would leave it but she stared at it as we walked by. You could see the gears turning
I did body block her this time, because she was on the flat so I didn't want her making a mistake and rewarding herself. This was the first time in public we have ever practiced something like that. We do some of the same at home with her food dish and it's no problem. I think next week I'll challenge ourselves and walk over the kibble or put her on the side closest to the kibble.
Then we loose leash heeled around the entire store, this time Ripley lead the way. I've been really working on keeping my hand on my left hip instead of in front on my stomach to help her from forging and wrapping around my body and really reinforce a better heel position. I was so proud of her!! She heeled the entire way on the flat and maintained a lot of eye contact!
Finished up class with long distance sit, down, stand stays and recalls, then more heeling around the store. Ripley did very well but told me we needed a little more work on long distance stays around men. There were two men talking in the aisle next to her, only about 3ft away, she could hear and smell them and was definitely feeling the pressure from worrying about them so once or twice popped up from a sit stay and thankfully slowly walked towards me. That's fine, men are really distracting for her so I reset her and asked a little less duration then heavily praised and moved her to the other side to give her a chance to work on long duration.
After class Ripley and I did some solo training at Lowe's! We were waiting for our assistant at the cash register as she was helping another customer. Made a great opportunity for a down stay! Loose leash heeling is only getting better and better. She walked the entire store at my side. It's wonderful to hear strangers take the time to compliment us at how well behaved she is. Told them thank you and that it takes a lot of work!!!
Then we unfortunately ran into an out of control large dog pulling it's owner on the end of its leash and barking at everything in sight. We were still waiting at check out when they popped around the corner and went by us, so no time to react to move away. I body blocked and was able to get her attention back to me. She was a good girl and stayed fairly controlled and in her down stay but you could tell it was so hard for her. She calmed down fairly quickly once they passed with a few disgruntled noises under her breath.
Shes an excellent girl around dogs in shows and class etc. pays them NO mind. She really really dislikes out of control dogs and their entire vibe however and wants to correct them for their poor behavior. I can't blame her but shes learning that I have it under control. Apparently her momma (dog momma 
) and granddam on her mommas side are exactly the same, so now I know where she gets her spicy dominant 'tude from.
Whew, sorry for the long post but I always enjoy reading others experiences in training; discussing our successes and being honest and open on things we need to work on more, so I hope maybe we will have a few others chime too!
I encourage others to challenge themselves and work on some obedience in public! - Whether a park, a sidewalk in front of a store, a parking lot, or in a pet friendly store; then feel free to share here with everyone! Even if for just a few minutes here or there. Even just acclimating our dogs in new environments without telling them to do anything and rewarding when they give desired behaviors (like sit or down on their own) in these environments is sooo good for them and a step in the right direction for you as a team! It's been super difficult, especially with the upcoming puppies from the last two years, with covid so now is a good time as ever.
Class today went pretty well! A strange man approached us outside while Ripley was trying to go potty so she was ON EDGE going into the store. I really appreciate our trainer so so much as she always has us acclimate our dogs before every class and has them simply exist inside the store lobby for a good 15 min. Rewarding for good behaviors and testing them with her nearby talking to us, jiggling a treat bag in her pocket or walking a dog close by. So this gave Ripley some time to simmer down and think. Then her eyes were staring into my soul
After that she was so good! We went in on the prong this week but I felt she was ready and swapped her to her flat collar once she settled. We heel on a loose leash from the entrance and go back to the pet area for a new environment, more training. This time with pallets of dog food all around them, some bags busted open in the corners with food on the floor. Great opportunity for "leave it" training. She had us walk over two piles of kibble on the ground to test our skills. Ripley is pretty good with leave it when it's a treat I have, I can throw it at her and tell her to leave it and she completely ignores it but food on the ground from somewhere else? Oooh her brain was working sooo hard lol. We would loose leash heel by it and Rip would leave it but she stared at it as we walked by. You could see the gears turning
I did body block her this time, because she was on the flat so I didn't want her making a mistake and rewarding herself. This was the first time in public we have ever practiced something like that. We do some of the same at home with her food dish and it's no problem. I think next week I'll challenge ourselves and walk over the kibble or put her on the side closest to the kibble.Then we loose leash heeled around the entire store, this time Ripley lead the way. I've been really working on keeping my hand on my left hip instead of in front on my stomach to help her from forging and wrapping around my body and really reinforce a better heel position. I was so proud of her!! She heeled the entire way on the flat and maintained a lot of eye contact!
Finished up class with long distance sit, down, stand stays and recalls, then more heeling around the store. Ripley did very well but told me we needed a little more work on long distance stays around men. There were two men talking in the aisle next to her, only about 3ft away, she could hear and smell them and was definitely feeling the pressure from worrying about them so once or twice popped up from a sit stay and thankfully slowly walked towards me. That's fine, men are really distracting for her so I reset her and asked a little less duration then heavily praised and moved her to the other side to give her a chance to work on long duration.
After class Ripley and I did some solo training at Lowe's! We were waiting for our assistant at the cash register as she was helping another customer. Made a great opportunity for a down stay! Loose leash heeling is only getting better and better. She walked the entire store at my side. It's wonderful to hear strangers take the time to compliment us at how well behaved she is. Told them thank you and that it takes a lot of work!!!
Then we unfortunately ran into an out of control large dog pulling it's owner on the end of its leash and barking at everything in sight. We were still waiting at check out when they popped around the corner and went by us, so no time to react to move away. I body blocked and was able to get her attention back to me. She was a good girl and stayed fairly controlled and in her down stay but you could tell it was so hard for her. She calmed down fairly quickly once they passed with a few disgruntled noises under her breath.
Shes an excellent girl around dogs in shows and class etc. pays them NO mind. She really really dislikes out of control dogs and their entire vibe however and wants to correct them for their poor behavior. I can't blame her but shes learning that I have it under control. Apparently her momma (dog momma ) and granddam on her mommas side are exactly the same, so now I know where she gets her spicy dominant 'tude from.Whew, sorry for the long post but I always enjoy reading others experiences in training; discussing our successes and being honest and open on things we need to work on more, so I hope maybe we will have a few others chime too!
Unfortunately most of our dog friendly stores are a bit of a drive so we make the best of it when we go into town next and it's a whole adventure, lol. Dog training and getting groceries all in one day/trip.
... I don't think I can go one trip in public without someone talking to us. I always went to class as long as they were ok with it when she was in heat and haven't noticed much of a difference either when it comes to training but I imagine there are some moods in play there. She's a lot more vocal in heat that's for sure. I wish it weren't so 
Today we had the challenge of recalling with distractions. Ripley recalled through big wads of meatballs on the floor directly in her path but tried to nab the lonesome toy literally on the fly as she ran over it without stopping. 
She ran right to me though and immediately dropped it as soon as she picked it up because I yelled at her to leave it all in the same span lol. She ran right over it the second time no problem like a good girl though! I just had to break out my over the top squeaky voice lol. I was most impressed with her zero to low reaction to watching the other dogs being recalled with high pitched voices and high energy. That's usually pretty overstimulating for her. She's really coming along as a young dog!
and I don't have photos of what we did, but I'm working harder on distractions at the behavior class. Last week we did figure 8's around people AND their dogs (dog at sit or down next to them). Asha stayed on a loose leash 100% in that exercise. We also did the opposing circle weave. Not sure how to describe it - 3 people and their dogs walk a circle counter clockwise while the other 3 people/dogs walk the same circle at the same time clockwise. Sometimes passing on right and sometimes passing on left. Again, loose leash, no sniffing all good.
