Ragnar at AKC Advanced Obedience

[Ddski5]

@DN2017

Thanks. Kind compliments.

Yes, named after Ragnar Lothbrok. Such an awesome character on the show but got really crazy at the end.

Really, really came close to naming him Floki.... in his puppyhood, he was definitely a Floki but as he is maturing he is more of a Ragnar.

With you being in the Netherlands, you are more exposed to the Viking nature and lore.. That is really interesting and cool to me.

 

[Viemarangelrock]

I think you are both doing a marvellous job! Keep those positive vibes alive

 

[DN2017]

@DN2017

Thanks. Kind compliments.

Yes, named after Ragnar Lothbrok. Such an awesome character on the show but got really crazy at the end.

Really, really came close to naming him Floki.... in his puppyhood, he was definitely a Floki but as he is maturing he is more of a Ragnar.

With you being in the Netherlands, you are more exposed to the Viking nature and lore.. That is really interesting and cool to me.

I never really thought of that. You make it sound really cool to live here, thanks

 

[Ddski5]

4 GS
1 Italian Greyhound
1 Shaggy dog
1 Poodle
1 Ragnar

Tonight I learned a lot of little things but the skills I was really interested in were:
1. How to get him to stand from a sit/heel position.
2. How to get him to sit front from a recall.
3. How to get him to move backwards.

I also was dumbfounded halfway through the training, he absolutely turned off from hotdogs. It was like I was holding pieces of cardboard, he wouldn’t excite at all. I was initially getting frustrated and embarrassed but then lightened up and started laughing at him for this. I just could not believe it.

During the exercise, the instructor went to her car and got a handful of her treats and gave them to me. Ragnar woke up out of his funk and started to perform better. I have to admit, it was very hot out, even though it was 7:30pm. I just thought it to be funny he wouldn’t take a hotdog piece but he chomped down a damn dog bisquit.

Ragnar does extremely well with sit, down, heel, stay and recall. He did very well with stay/sit and I walk off 40ft turn and face him. I will then command sit-down-sit-down without him breaking out. Another time he did well was when he was ~40 away in a stay/down and the instructor walked by him shaking/squeezing a squeaky toy or teasing him with a treat. He would loose his eyes and focus off me but he did not break his position-a couple of the GS did. Have to say, I was pretty damn proud at that moment.

I need to work on the finer things like sitting tight at my heel. When I tell him to heel and then sit, he always wants to be off kilter and not tight on my heel. Need to work on a tighter sit/front, he will sit/front 1-1/2 foot away.

Besides using treats as much as possible during training, I use the ecollar some. I really have to say that if I feel like he is not giving me the right focus or that he should be doing a command but he chooses to not perform from just not wanting to, I call upon the wisdom of the ecollar......doesn’t take much, stim12-14 and he wakes up wanting to work. It’s absolutely amazing how the ecollar redirects him to task. For instance, staring at a female GS when he should be setting up for a tight heel sit.

Wish I would have gotten picts of the 4 GS. I really had no idea that they could come in many color varieties. I mean they are basically brown, black, grey and white. I am talking about the different variations of brown/black and even black/black. Really neat to see.


Doing well at his third night at advanced training.




I asked this owner if her dog was a hairless dog, she laughed at me and told me it is a rescued Italian Greyhound with mange. He is very skittish and shaky. Could not keep still. I felt sorry for the poor thing.

 

[LifeofRubie]

4 GS
1 Italian Greyhound
1 Shaggy dog
1 Poodle
1 Ragnar

Tonight I learned a lot of little things but the skills I was really interested in were:
1. How to get him to stand from a sit/heel position.
2. How to get him to sit front from a recall.
3. How to get him to move backwards.

I also was dumbfounded halfway through the training, he absolutely turned off from hotdogs. It was like I was holding pieces of cardboard, he wouldn’t excite at all. I was initially getting frustrated and embarrassed but then lightened up and started laughing at him for this. I just could not believe it.

During the exercise, the instructor went to her car and got a handful of her treats and gave them to me. Ragnar woke up out of his funk and started to perform better. I have to admit, it was very hot out, even though it was 7:30pm. I just thought it to be funny he wouldn’t take a hotdog piece but he chomped down a damn dog bisquit.

Ragnar does extremely well with sit, down, heel, stay and recall. He did very well with stay/sit and I walk off 40ft turn and face him. I will then command sit-down-sit-down without him breaking out. Another time he did well was when he was ~40 away in a stay/down and the instructor walked by him shaking/squeezing a squeaky toy or teasing him with a treat. He would loose his eyes and focus off me but he did not break his position-a couple of the GS did. Have to say, I was pretty damn proud at that moment.

I need to work on the finer things like sitting tight at my heel. When I tell him to heel and then sit, he always wants to be off kilter and not tight on my heel. Need to work on a tighter sit/front, he will sit/front 1-1/2 foot away.

Besides using treats as much as possible during training, I use the ecollar some. I really have to say that if I feel like he is not giving me the right focus or that he should be doing a command but he chooses to not perform from just not wanting to, I call upon the wisdom of the ecollar......doesn’t take much, stim12-14 and he wakes up wanting to work. It’s absolutely amazing how the ecollar redirects him to task. For instance, staring at a female GS when he should be setting up for a tight heel sit.

Wish I would have gotten picts of the 4 GS. I really had no idea that they could come in many color varieties. I mean they are basically brown, black, grey and white. I am talking about the different variations of brown/black and even black/black. Really neat to see.

View attachment 83905
Doing well at his third night at advanced training.



View attachment 83904
I asked this owner if her dog was a hairless dog, she laughed at me and told me it is a rescued Italian Greyhound with mange. He is very skittish and shaky. Could not keep still. I felt sorry for the poor thing.

So great you've had another good experience! It will only get better! I do wonder... You said he loses focus? He is still young. When we started agility, Rubie would tap out 20 minutes into an hour class. We had to build mental stamina; even though she's in a crate 90% of class, it's still MENTALLY stimulating. Add the physical demand of jumping and the mental demand of weave poles, tunnels, teeters and focusing on me with other people/dogs nearby and it was a very messy start. She used to quit, mentally, after three attempts at the weave poles. Tonight we probably did 20 with other obstacles involved (and that's after spending all day with the puppy!). You'll both get there with time and pratice and no doubt he'll be the star of the class!

 

[Kaiser2016]

He looks like he had a great time! Love when their tongues are hanging out. Low levels of stim on the ecollar. Nice work

I find they get "treat fatigue" so I mix in a surprise treat. He loves liver treats but too many will give him loose stool so I break up a few of those and add to his usual training treats. It's a different color too so I am sometimes deliberate about rewarding with that.

 

[Ddski5]

@LifeofRubie
Yes, he is still young (8months) and the instructor pointed that out to me. I believe the other youngest there was 11months.

That was one of the reasons why I kept laughing and joking with him. This is not going to be our last class and I want it to be fun for him. I don’t know if I want to go to obedience trials, I think I just want to find solid ways to teach him some good obedience.

Also, I am not out to learn all the things put out to us in the class. My goal is to pick out different things that I am interested in teaching him at this time. Take that knowledge and train at home with him. The instructor gives some really good demonstration and tips to get the dogs to do certain things that I would not have thought of.

For instance, I am having a very hard time getting him to stand in place from side heel position. She demonstrated- with Ragnar at left side heel, tell him to stand, if no stand then pick my left foot up and move it back to gently step on his back right foot. As I do this, give command to stand and treat/praise when he stands. I’ll be damn if it worked every single time I did it!!!

So if I can pick up a couple of tidbits and have fun doing it, then I am good. Hell, I might just do the class over and over until I figure it all out. Really good exposure to other dogs too....

 

[LifeofRubie]

@LifeofRubie
Yes, he is still young (8months) and the instructor pointed that out to me. I believe the other youngest there was 11months.

That was one of the reasons why I kept laughing and joking with him. This is not going to be our last class and I want it to be fun for him. I don’t know if I want to go to obedience trials, I think I just want to find solid ways to teach him some good obedience.

Also, I am not out to learn all the things put out to us in the class. My goal is to pick out different things that I am interested in teaching him at this time. Take that knowledge and train at home with him. The instructor gives some really good demonstration and tips to get the dogs to do certain things that I would not have thought of.

For instance, I am having a very hard time getting him to stand in place from side heel position. She demonstrated- with Ragnar at left side heel, tell him to stand, if no stand then pick my left foot up and move it back to gently step on his back right foot. As I do this, give command to stand and treat/praise when he stands. I’ll be damn if it worked every single time I did it!!!

So if I can pick up a couple of tidbits and have fun doing it, then I am good. Hell, I might just do the class over and over until I figure it all out. Really good exposure to other dogs too....

That's awesome and a great mindset!

 

[Ddski5]

Very proud of Ragnar tonight...

He may not be too proficient with the little things such as sliding to left and right while in standing, doesn’t always heel sit all the way to my thigh, needs work on coming perfectly to front and still distracts when other dogs bark but......
he no longer goes beserk at other dogs when we get out of the truck, I can tell he is more serious and attentive during training, he can walk by other dogs and other dogs can walk by him with no issues, he looks to me when he is confused, if he is confused he will try his butt of to do the right skill, I only used ecollar 5times tonight, his recall is purposeful and straight to me and his stand/sit/down stay is rock solid. I can be 40ft away and the instructor has six other dogs/owners walk near and around him for 15 secs and he will not break an inch. That is what I am most proud of, him holding stay amongst distraction and temptation.

The instructor told me he was the youngest dog in the class at almost 9months, most are 1,2,3 years old and at the end of the class, she called Ragnar/myself out and told us that we needed to join the AKC Club, they could use a good, young Doberman amongst its ranks. Now, I am sure they are always looking for new members but it still made me proud of him.

I still have a lot of work to do but I can see it.....I can see the progress.

 

[Kaiser2016]

Excellent progress! At just 9 months this is pretty impressive for a normal human owner, lol, aka a first time Dober owner. I'm not surprised they asked you to become members actually. Guess what, they don't JUST ask anyone. My working dog club (the one I'm still trying to get into) is pretty particular and asks for quite the commitment. Their members are supposed to be brag worthy. Still waiting on a fixed date for them to assess K. I have found 2 other clubs via Facebook that I'm also looking into.

We didn't have class tonight as trials are on, plus Kaiser is on vacay!

 

[Tropicalbri's]

Awesome work @Ddski5. It makes you feel fantastic when it all starts coming together!!
Kudos to you and Ragnar, it will only get better from here.

 

[LifeofRubie]

Well done!! This is exactly what a Doberman needs - a good strong, consistent, fair and fun leader who will put in the time and effort. You are going to be SO rewarded as he grows!

 

[Doberman Gang]

Very proud of Ragnar tonight...

He may not be too proficient with the little things such as sliding to left and right while in standing, doesn’t always heel sit all the way to my thigh, needs work on coming perfectly to front and still distracts when other dogs bark but......
he no longer goes beserk at other dogs when we get out of the truck, I can tell he is more serious and attentive during training, he can walk by other dogs and other dogs can walk by him with no issues, he looks to me when he is confused, if he is confused he will try his butt of to do the right skill, I only used ecollar 5times tonight, his recall is purposeful and straight to me and his stand/sit/down stay is rock solid. I can be 40ft away and the instructor has six other dogs/owners walk near and around him for 15 secs and he will not break an inch. That is what I am most proud of, him holding stay amongst distraction and temptation.

The instructor told me he was the youngest dog in the class at almost 9months, most are 1,2,3 years old and at the end of the class, she called Ragnar/myself out and told us that we needed to join the AKC Club, they could use a good, young Doberman amongst its ranks. Now, I am sure they are always looking for new members but it still made me proud of him.

I still have a lot of work to do but I can see it.....I can see the progress.

Does the AKC club offer discounted prices on Training Classes? This will usually offset the price of membership and save you money in the long run. Do they require you to attend a certain amount of their club meetings each year? Just a couple of things to think about.

 

[Doberman Gang]

Excellent progress! At just 9 months this is pretty impressive for a normal human owner, lol, aka a first time Dober owner. I'm not surprised they asked you to become members actually. Guess what, they don't JUST ask anyone. My working dog club (the one I'm still trying to get into) is pretty particular and asks for quite the commitment. Their members are supposed to be brag worthy. Still waiting on a fixed date for them to assess K. I have found 2 other clubs via Facebook that I'm also looking into.

We didn't have class tonight as trials are on, plus Kaiser is on vacay!

My club requires new people to attend at least 4 training sessions before they can apply to become a member, then they have to be voted in by the active members of the club. Our local AKC club requires new people to attend 2 meetings and then at the 2nd meeting they are sent into a back room while the club members vote them in. I have never seen anyone set turned down at the AKC club.

 

[Kaiser2016]

My club requires new people to attend at least 4 training sessions before they can apply to become a member, then they have to be voted in by the active members of the club. Our local AKC club requires new people to attend 2 meetings and then at the 2nd meeting they are sent into a back room while the club members vote them in. I have never seen anyone set turned down at the AKC club.

From their website, I can see the working dog club has 17 "dedicated members" listed with pics and bio - all German Shepards except for 2 Dobes and 3rd Dobe mix. It looks like a family run business. They have a rally obedience class and the prices are remarkably comparable to regular training facilities. Big difference is that it's very few classes to learn the same curriculum, which I am hoping translates to more effective teaching methods and likely a faster pace.