So I'm just going to chronicle things. Mia started her foundations class/drive building class that the training center requires before dogs start getting introduced to equipment. It went really well overall but Mia was absolutely INSANE tonight. In good ways and bad ways.
The good: Mia was a star in the class by far. Today was just the basics because most the people had never done any training before. Mia already knew all the exercises. Just basic clicker training and free shaping. One exercise she gave us a stool and we were supposed to click and treat interaction with the stool. Well, Mia's done this a million times and before the instructor got her hand away from the stool Mia was smacking it and jumping over it trying to figure out what I wanted. The trainer laughed and said "I can see she knows how this works." Anyways, I shaped Mia to jump over the stool since she already knows commands for 'stand on it' and 'touch it' and 'nose it'. The other dogs had obviously not done much free shaping at all but this cute little lab mix picked it up super fast. She seems like a really fun dog.
The other good: Mia loves the instructor. I had enough time to get the words 'She's a little shy' out of my mouth when she jumped up and kissed the instructor on the face and started trying to play with her. That's the second time this week she's jumped into a total stranger's lap. I'm happy but a little weirded out to be honest. I can count on one hand the number of people Mia has immediately liked- me, my cousin, my second trainer, and then this trainer.
The bad: Mia did not settle AT ALL the entire class. The other dogs were sleeping when the trainer was talking and Mia was bouncing around the end of her leash, going in and out of the crate, trying every trick she knew on her mat, and whining in frustration because we weren't doing anything. We've really been working on 'go to your mat and settle' and it's helped in obedience class, where she's starting to rest a bit on her own. I know tonight it was a factor of things. 1) I've been sick for four days and Mia has not gotten any park time or anything past training in the house and ball playing. So she's already wound up pretty tight. 2) New place and new dogs. Not the familiar training place. So I'm trying not to worry about it too much and we will keep working on it. Hopefully next week when she's better exercised and more familiar with the place, she'll settle down a bit.
One hilarious thing happened. The trainer asked us all if our dogs liked toys and I said (to the trainer) "She doesn't really tug but she likes tennis balls." Mia went and grabbed her tennis ball that was sitting on top of my stuff and dropped it at my feet. She knows the word and heard me say it. I locked the tennis ball in her crate then she went and OPENED her crate then threw the tennis ball at the trainer. Everyone laughed. It was funny despite the fact that my dog is annoying. lol Once again, we need to work on settle and CALM DOWN.
I am a bit worried because the trainer really talked up tug and Mia just won't tug much. Sometimes she will at home but at class, no way. Just too many distractions. I'm thinking about trying to find a way to make a kong squeaker into a tug and trying to not pop the squeaker. Maybe that would entice her? I really wish I'd worked on tugging with her as a pup because she loved it then but just has lost interest now in favor of the tennis ball.
I am a bit impatient too to get to something new and exciting. I understand the importance of having dogs learn clicker training first and build drive to work but Mia already knows that stuff. I keep reminding myself that I have plenty to work on with Mia though and it's never bad to spend time shaping and working on that stuff. I think it's hard since Mia's already seen all the equipment to go backwards. She and I both are accustomed to more and I could tell it frustrated her.
I think I'll keep updating this thread mostly for me but also in case anyone has advice or anything else to say.
The good: Mia was a star in the class by far. Today was just the basics because most the people had never done any training before. Mia already knew all the exercises. Just basic clicker training and free shaping. One exercise she gave us a stool and we were supposed to click and treat interaction with the stool. Well, Mia's done this a million times and before the instructor got her hand away from the stool Mia was smacking it and jumping over it trying to figure out what I wanted. The trainer laughed and said "I can see she knows how this works." Anyways, I shaped Mia to jump over the stool since she already knows commands for 'stand on it' and 'touch it' and 'nose it'. The other dogs had obviously not done much free shaping at all but this cute little lab mix picked it up super fast. She seems like a really fun dog.
The other good: Mia loves the instructor. I had enough time to get the words 'She's a little shy' out of my mouth when she jumped up and kissed the instructor on the face and started trying to play with her. That's the second time this week she's jumped into a total stranger's lap. I'm happy but a little weirded out to be honest. I can count on one hand the number of people Mia has immediately liked- me, my cousin, my second trainer, and then this trainer.
The bad: Mia did not settle AT ALL the entire class. The other dogs were sleeping when the trainer was talking and Mia was bouncing around the end of her leash, going in and out of the crate, trying every trick she knew on her mat, and whining in frustration because we weren't doing anything. We've really been working on 'go to your mat and settle' and it's helped in obedience class, where she's starting to rest a bit on her own. I know tonight it was a factor of things. 1) I've been sick for four days and Mia has not gotten any park time or anything past training in the house and ball playing. So she's already wound up pretty tight. 2) New place and new dogs. Not the familiar training place. So I'm trying not to worry about it too much and we will keep working on it. Hopefully next week when she's better exercised and more familiar with the place, she'll settle down a bit.
One hilarious thing happened. The trainer asked us all if our dogs liked toys and I said (to the trainer) "She doesn't really tug but she likes tennis balls." Mia went and grabbed her tennis ball that was sitting on top of my stuff and dropped it at my feet. She knows the word and heard me say it. I locked the tennis ball in her crate then she went and OPENED her crate then threw the tennis ball at the trainer. Everyone laughed. It was funny despite the fact that my dog is annoying. lol Once again, we need to work on settle and CALM DOWN.
I am a bit worried because the trainer really talked up tug and Mia just won't tug much. Sometimes she will at home but at class, no way. Just too many distractions. I'm thinking about trying to find a way to make a kong squeaker into a tug and trying to not pop the squeaker. Maybe that would entice her? I really wish I'd worked on tugging with her as a pup because she loved it then but just has lost interest now in favor of the tennis ball.
I am a bit impatient too to get to something new and exciting. I understand the importance of having dogs learn clicker training first and build drive to work but Mia already knows that stuff. I keep reminding myself that I have plenty to work on with Mia though and it's never bad to spend time shaping and working on that stuff. I think it's hard since Mia's already seen all the equipment to go backwards. She and I both are accustomed to more and I could tell it frustrated her.
I think I'll keep updating this thread mostly for me but also in case anyone has advice or anything else to say.