Today was an adventurous day of training in Bernal Heights. Mom’s been pretty disturbed with my aggressive behavior with dogs at the park and lack of ability to recall when playing, so she contacted dogEvolve where I took recall classes last year. My recall had improved miles from before but still needed a lot of work. Mom felt that dogEvolve’s techniques were very effective and the trainers really know what they’re talking about.
Since dogEvolve no longer offers Recall 2 classes, we met Pam for a private session on Bernal Hill, a cool place where dogs can run offleash and people can enjoy panoramic views of the city. First they attached me to a long leash and recalled me from short distances. No problemo! Then I got a little more freedom….and I was off! Can’t catch me!! I was halfway up a hill when they called me back.
Mom learned some techniques such as collar grabbing me from play, then releasing. This is so I don’t have to dodge her out of fear playtime will end. Then Pam made Mom hide behind a tree. Then she released me to see if I can find Mom. The purpose is this is to train me to find her when she’s out of sight. Once I locate her, I’m handsomely rewarded.
One time when they dropped the leash, I decided to take off and run for the hills. Pam started chasing me, but when she saw it made me run faster, she stopped. I ran down the hill and out of sight. They stood at the top of the hill and called me. I was sniffing around, but when I heard Mom call, I ran like hell back up the hill. Pam gave me a HUGE reward, treats all over the place.
Pam thought the way I approached other dogs was fine. Mom was still concerned about my aggressive behavior, but Pam told her to just work in big open spaces with few dogs first. Putting me in a fenced dog park with a million other dogs and trying to train me is setting me up for failure.
Motivated by today’s session, Mom took me to our regular dog park. I had a great time by myself, but then a 6-year old pitbull named Rex joined in the fun. We had fun romping around, but then Mom got concerned about me barking and trying to bite the dog’s neck. I can’t help it, he’s a little runt and I gotta show him who’s the boss. Remembering what Pam told her, she intervened, separated us, then released several times. (Pam told her to do this every 10 seconds, even before tension starts to build.) It’s a good thing Rex was a puppy, because a bigger dog would most certainly have put up a fight.
Mom’s thinking of taking me to Fort Funston this weekend where we can have more practice. Yay! Now that Mom’s a little more confident, it means we can go to fun places more often. She was restricted me too much out of fear of losing control, which made me more hyperactive and crazy when I encountered other dogs.
Practice makes perfect. WOOF!
