Other Dog Distractions; Max totally failed - Page 2

fill a ketchup or mustard dispenser(the generic yellow or red containers) with ground raw and squeeze it out. or I use a cake decorating tip and a plastic bag and do tiny drops of raw on a cookie sheet, into the freezer to freeze singly and then bag up, keep frozen.  take a cooler to training with you and start with them frozen, taking out only what you need for one exercise and going back to reload..  you could probably do a firm meat cut into tiny pieces and frozen this way as well, raw.  I have a puppy and am trying to keep what goes in fairly balanced,  have him skip his previous meal, unless that makes him too crazy, then feed half his meal.  I have one dog that if I skipped her food she would be bouncing off walls and unable to do anything because all she could think about was food.

above all, focus only on your dog..  don't even look at the other dogs.  if one of them comes to you don't worry about getting it away but block your dog from it.  I had crazy dogs in my last class and I brought the best food so they were all bugging us...

don't let him have down time.  when there is talking going on, quietly have him doing something for you.  watch, circles, touch your hand, anything you have taught him that you can do quietly to keep him with you and not finding his success/joy from the other dogs.  Make sense?

Darcy

VKGSD and Darcy... Makes perfect sense.  Use the environment to my advantage and set him up for success.  He is doing (what I thought) great at home and in human crowds.

The frozen raw food is a great idea.  The full focus with no down time is a great idea and completely the opposite of what I did last night.  I finally forced him in a down stay and just sat there for the rest of the class, as I was exhausted and frustrated (neither of which are a good combination for dog training).

Thank you all for your help.

Dont worry and keep working. I had a golden retriever do this with me at 7 mo. I was so embarrassed by how unruly he was as I had taken him everywhere with me from a wee pup. Crap happens...look at this as a "Now I know what I need to work on" thing. Go to a Walmart or other big store and walk around. I also use the dog park as a distraction. Don't go inside but you can walk the dog around the perimeter of the fence. While all the dogs are charging the fence and barking, it will give him lots of distraction.

Barb

Well I have been there with a very large boy dog;  not fun, totally agree with Dragonfly and VKGSD about taking tiny steps to get the results  you are working for.  Each step, basement to backyard to front yard, etc. is a NEW training session for your boy.  He'll come around, just that now your job is more challenging (SP) sorry, good luck he'll come around.  And NO to dog parks, the parameter is OK but not with dogs inside who are loose and playing, NO.  Stores, regular parks, safe parking lots, WalMart's; all good but no dog distractions.  Definitely back up your prong collar with a choke, don't know if you read my post where my friends boy's prong broke and he ran into traffic and was killed.  So sad, so even a harness or gentle leader/halti??  Might be helpful for you at this time and an OK backup with prong.  Good luck and be patient,  Nan

Try not to look at the big picture right now, just concentrate on your current training disciplines, the CGC will come later.

If you are not ready for the CGC don't take it. Work on the dog for another few weeks, and get the problems licked. I still need to get my dog's CGC but i already have the BH and first of April i'm going for the ATTS. But my dog is very ready.
Also, i never go to dog parks. All the ones around here are full of punky hispanic kids and their never been socialized pit bull looking mutts. Needless to say the dog park in North Tampa is a bad scene. And we have had some small dogs killed by larger dogs.  (No disrespect to Hispanic people that actually do train their dogs, but they don't go to the dog parks either)
Do the group classes until your totally satsified with how your dog is responding. Remember that most dogs do not generlize well, so he might be perfect at home but yet doesn't understand that sit means sit at strange places with weird dogs.
While the CGC class my be only 4 weeks your going to have to either work over time or do the class again. There is not shame in working towards perfection by repeating that which need more work on in training.
I have had some people tell me i'm trying to do too much with my own dog. Because she is training in Agility, Schn, Standard Obedience in both novice and open levels, and is retreiving over the wall and A frame. She is almost 19 months. But she does it all and loves doing it.
So keep up the good work and don't worry about a bump in the road.
Fry

When I take Qira to training I don't feed her the night/morning beforehand, so she's good and hungry, and I've also been told by the people I train with that sometimes it helps to cut out  all exercise/playtime as well (for the night/morning before), to make  sure that they have energy to burn. They've actually told me to leave her in the kennel all night/morning too, but I don't take it to that level because its not like she does much while I'm sleeping anyway.

LOL  If I didn't love Max I would choke him.   

Exactly as I thought.  We just spent a 20 minute training session one on one outside with plenty of cat distractions.  He was as close to perfect as any dog could be.  100% focus on me, every turn was right at my side, full "give me more, give me more" attitude.  Everything that has made Max so much fun to have and train.

Now if the class trainer could just be here to see Max is not a total pain in the rear and a disaster walking on 4 legs....

Long distance stay

Long distance going into a down from a stay

 

Don´t despair!
He doesn´t know distractions, isn´t used to strange dogs.
Start doing your obedience outside the crowd, slowly narrowing.
He´ll need some time - but that´s not his fault.
He just isn´t used to it.

Don't forget that was your first night at the class. Things will change. Everybody's dog is perfect at home. (except mine, she is very spoiled by my Dad.)
Once he gets use to the dogs in class they will be of less interest. Unless he makes a dog buddy! then he will be wanting to play with his buddy.
He's young. you have plenty of time to learn and do training.