IPO seminar, hiking pics, and MORE!

Isn't progress fun Great pictures as usual. Video was tough for me to load though, had to copy url address and watch right from youtube. The video stills came up along the bottom for the embedded video, but it wouldn't play for some reason??? Just loaded and loaded and loaded and after 5 or so min would give me an error.

yeah, it works correctly from the youtube site for me, still can't get the embed to load and play? oh well.

Looks good, she has a lot of good stuff to work with. Good drive. The helpers were showing her that they were "it", not the sleeve without having to resort to stuff she's probably not ready for. That's good. Seems to have good griping behavior overall and decent clarity for just learning things.

I don't see any glaring issues, not that you were looking for critiques, but I just can't help myself

Not an issue now, probably won't be as she seems to have good forward focus, but I would watch the spinning. They happen after misses and seem to be a continuation of the "lunge", so I'm not concerned. BUT, going forward, just pay attention to it so it doesn't become something that happens because frustration is high and drive satisfaction is low that can carry over into guarding behaviors especially with dogs with low threshold and not as strong of nerves.

Not saying that is your dog at all, i just know you're new so it's something to be watchful of and there are plenty of small things you can do so it doesn't become a learned behavior that you and your helper can talk about if it's something that needs to be addressed.

But just so we're clear, I do NOT think your dog is doing this because of any temperament issue or that it is an issue now. I've just seen enough of things like that that don't get paid attention to and they develop into a learned behavior. One guy i know had a great dog. One of the best i've ever worked or trialed. I'd say top 5 ever for me and he did this thing in training quickly with an ecollar and calling his dog out to send him back in then call him back and send him back. Well because of not so good training and not paying attention to the dog, the dog learned to do a spin behavior in the blind. By no means was this a weak dog but it definitely created an issue to work thru that we didn't need. I was a part of both parts of the training so I remember it well. I guess I learned to think things thru more because of it. So, just pay attention to see where this goes.

Overall, her behavior seems very solid with frontal and tight line stuff when a dog with temperament issues might spin. She's all forward, and that is good.

Again, this is just me, but I'd like to see a little bit more drive to the bite on runaways. She has it, but that's one part she looks just a tad unsure of what's next. Does that make sense? Easy fix that you can talk about with your helper so you're both on the same page.

On the last miss, when he starts to run away, you let her pull you forward. not as fast as he's moving at all, but some, so she feels like she can control it a little more with small wins. You add more control later.

and one last thing, great prey defense sequences with the helpers. That looks good and clear and I could see her getting stronger. Looks like something she's done before too? If not, she learned really fast

Ok, now one last thing and again, this is just me. I'd like to see better strong barking on a back tie before sending in free around a blind. I know a lot times in seminars things are moved a long a little more quickly in the name of "progress", but she's young. Make it all great and solid before moving on.

I don't like to send to a blind to bark, till I can step into, walk away etc and the dog keeps barking with intensity and they stay clean and are clear.

Again just me and something I like. There's a lot of ways to get to the end though.

But very nice. Keep at it

Great photos!! I just love that girl.

Dogs figuring it out works well too, assuming you have a helper to reward and move it along correctly. I saw nothing wrong in your video, looked pretty good. Good timing too. Like I said, a lot of ways to get to the end. I'm a big fan of self discovery too. There's a bit of that with the back tie I do as well. Some dogs are sent free, it just depends on the dog and what they've had for training before. Some are backtied with no handler around because they just cause conflict and i like to get the dog right and then work on the handler. Some the handler is the backtie and they're as much a part of the deal as I am. it just depends.

If you're working on barking at home, this might be good for you and your dog in the long run. your own dogs generally aren't dirty with you and pillow. She could have a good idea of the behavior before being put with a helper and upping the intensity. Every dog is different though They're a lot the same, but they always have something different. Keeps things interesting.

I wouldn't worry a ton on run aways. She has the right drives and with some reps of her knowing she can go get it, she's going to go harder. it's just a little something if you have someone to hold the leash you can work on. Think of it as a restrained recall except she gets to bite when she gets to you and hopefully the pillow Regardless of which way you go, her speed and commitment is going to pick up as she learns what is expected. At least I think it will from what she looks like in the video. So don't screw it up

You must be doing something good at home, because there was a lot of good stuff in that video for a young dog.

I'm always so happy to see your dogs. What color is Onyx? Stupid question, I know.

Wonderful pictures, as usual.