Maggie Leave It
Maggie did very well in her intermediate obediance class this Wednesday. The trainer had laid out the hall of temptation [alternating treats and toys along the hallway] and we were to practice 'Come when called with distractions'. More often then not, as long as it's not a pair of my underwear, socks or my husband's slippers, Maggie will listen when I tell her to 'Leave it'. That is IF I'm the one to put it on the ground [If it was already there she considers it fair game] but only if I'm standing right there.
Anyway the purpose of this exercise was to have her 'Leave it' while I'm 10 - 100 feet away. Maggie went first and I thought for sure that this would be an Epic Fail...but she proved me wrong. Yes, she ate the treats along the way, but she's a vacuum when it comes to treats anyway...BUT she didn't pick up ANY of the toys either going out with the trainer or when released to come to my call!! I'd yell 'Leave it' and she'd keep on running towards me. She did the best of all the big dogs in the class. Both the Lab/boxer and Bull Mastiff grabbed the first toy they came to on the way down the hall and it took a couple of minutes for their owners to get them to drop them. The only one that did slightly better than Maggie was Charlie a little dog of an unknown mix because he pretty much ignored all the toys...most of them were about half his size!
Maggie enjoys being in a class with bigger dogs, since we only had Chihuahuas in our beginners class, Maggie was never allowed off leash to play with them. In this class she gets a couple of minutes at the end to run with the big boys! But she doesn't know how to play with them...the two big dogs, Odin [lab mix] and Cesar [mastiff] know each other from beginners class and play happily, by wrestling. Odin will actually take Cesar's HEAD in his mouth! Maggie has no idea how to wrestle around like that and after a few minutes of trying to get them to play chase, a game she's good at She'll wander over to try to play with Charlie. Sadly he has a big dog complex and doesn't want to play with her. So Maggie goes from human to human looking for pets before going back once more into the fray.
I can't wait to take her to a dog park where she can spend more time playing with other dogs. She's 5 months old, fixed and has her rabies shots so she's good to go. It'll have to be on a Sunday afternoon though. We're past the Equinox and it's dark before we get home from work. But I can't wait to take her!
Anyway the purpose of this exercise was to have her 'Leave it' while I'm 10 - 100 feet away. Maggie went first and I thought for sure that this would be an Epic Fail...but she proved me wrong. Yes, she ate the treats along the way, but she's a vacuum when it comes to treats anyway...BUT she didn't pick up ANY of the toys either going out with the trainer or when released to come to my call!! I'd yell 'Leave it' and she'd keep on running towards me. She did the best of all the big dogs in the class. Both the Lab/boxer and Bull Mastiff grabbed the first toy they came to on the way down the hall and it took a couple of minutes for their owners to get them to drop them. The only one that did slightly better than Maggie was Charlie a little dog of an unknown mix because he pretty much ignored all the toys...most of them were about half his size!
Maggie enjoys being in a class with bigger dogs, since we only had Chihuahuas in our beginners class, Maggie was never allowed off leash to play with them. In this class she gets a couple of minutes at the end to run with the big boys! But she doesn't know how to play with them...the two big dogs, Odin [lab mix] and Cesar [mastiff] know each other from beginners class and play happily, by wrestling. Odin will actually take Cesar's HEAD in his mouth! Maggie has no idea how to wrestle around like that and after a few minutes of trying to get them to play chase, a game she's good at She'll wander over to try to play with Charlie. Sadly he has a big dog complex and doesn't want to play with her. So Maggie goes from human to human looking for pets before going back once more into the fray.
I can't wait to take her to a dog park where she can spend more time playing with other dogs. She's 5 months old, fixed and has her rabies shots so she's good to go. It'll have to be on a Sunday afternoon though. We're past the Equinox and it's dark before we get home from work. But I can't wait to take her!