First steps to sch1 - Page 1

Looking for comments and advice while slow winter training is here. Will attempt to title Halo vom Mittlewest this spring or summer. aside from limited winter traing schedule what else can I do to get up to speed ? Plan to do her bh and then schut1 and any recommendations are welcome! Thanks all. Raymond

what is she doing now?  it can get pretty cold here in kansas also.  we do training in the barn and if its really bad we will work our dogs in the living room.  you can work a lot of small exercises and get them very correct without needing a "field' to train on.   my thought is, if my dog can do focus training in the living room with the tv on and people and other dogs around in a smaller confined area, then it should be no problem for them to do it on a big open area outside.   works for me anyway.    we do most all the things you would do on a field, only you dont go as far. 

john

We can do basic obedience and some short ball and tug drive building inside .could do outside in back yard routines also.  recent to much snow to track .

Pharoah and I go to big box stores and do healing routines in the aisles.  My favorite is Bed Bath and  Beyond.  There are lots of narrow aisles with lots of turns I can make without him knowing ahead of time which direction we will be going in. That forces him to pay attention.  The narrow aisles keep him in place without a struggle.

Home Depot, Orchard Supply Hardware and the local hardware store are also good.  At the bank we practice sit stays and down stays.  At client offices, we practice long downs and not leaping on the client's customers.

I have found that the winter months is the best time to start a dog in tracking.  The tracks left in the snow gives you a good view of the track and there are no ants or bugs around to eat the food laid on the track.  Also, the scents on the ground are well preserved because of the frigid temperatures.  If you do it continuously, nature by itself will make the track increasingly harder for the dog as spring approaches.

First things first, she will only be one on Dec 29.  She will need hip and elbow x-rays after her 1st Birthday.  Second, she will have to earn her BH before she can earn sch 1 title, check out age restrictions on these, I think she had to be 18 months before she can try for the sch 1.   If you will be taking her in for the BH, you also need to take the BH written exam.  You can check the USA site for the requirments for the BH and begin working on these tasks and studying for the test.

Also, if she is not yet on the sleve, do not do complusary  OB (lots of yank and crank stuff) do motivational OB with toys and treats.  Make sure your training director knows what you want to do so he can help you achieve what you want and give you the right advice for Halo and her stage of training at this time. 

Have someone show you how to work with dumb bells, they are very imp. for the OB part and can be difficult to train.

Make sure you get good instruction with tracking. 

This is not an easy endeavor to HOT train your first dog, many don't make it till the dog is 3 or 4 years old.  Use your reasources and make sure the trainers have taken dogs to title on there own, in other words, do they know what they ae doing and can they repeat with others dogs?

Good luck to you!

My big two cents is, do NOT move quickly through the foundation in bite work.  Part of the reason SL do not do so well in the bite work is often because handlers want to move the dog through quickly to get to all the other things. Take the time to lay good strong foundation. Without it, when real pressure is applied to the dog, the dog has nothing to draw from, nothing to fall back on. The foundation is everything!

Kudos to you for wanting to train your own dog! The bond you develop with this dog will be the  most amazing relationship in your life.

Everything over here is done outside Winter and Summer we have no inside places to train

Twice a week in the evenings the training is done by Floodlights from 7.oclock until 10.30

Tracking we do on a sunday morning, but i track twice with the Pups myself during  the week in a field near home plus OB every day except on training days, but still go for a good walk on those days

Better to go slowly and get the OB right  for the BH do not forget to get it used to traffic inbetween a little with a ball and tug, get the pup motivated before you go too far in the protection

Steve

Regards the traffic i lay my dog down on the path of a main road we get big lorries, Tractors etc go by within 3m of the dog laying down, they get used to it and of course it teaches them to do the long down at the same time

They are of course on a leash whist this is done

Plus i take them into the city once a week to get used to people and traffic as well

 Stay warm and dry out there steve, I do have a question What is a Lorrie. I know it,s off topic.

Hi Bob

Lorries is more than one Lorry,They are big wagons which carry freight around the country and abroard

Another name is called Artic's

They are not as big as tthe ones on your roads in the USA, which i think are huge, but they are a fair size all the same

Steve