Well, we went to NWK Obedience Show yesterday, together with Sandra, Tasha and Vincent. It was a lovely day, though a bit windy.
However, Jesse's attention was non-existing in the ring, he just didn't want to know and was extremely distracted by what I am not sure! I ended up doing a training round with Jesse in Novice, using a toy. I worked Beginners, but from the word "Forward" in HOL, Jesse's attention was gone again... so I didn't even do the HF and turned it yet again into a training round!
I have no idea what caused this, Jesse is always praised by the judges for his attention on me (he never takes his eyes off of me) and for his brilliant working attitude... neither of that was present yesterday.
I have some thoughts and theories:
* He is hating car travel more and more, my car, other people's car... I have no idea why. Could this spill over into his working attitude as we go to training and shows by car? (I am now going to sort this car thing out because it is becoming a big issue now... Jesse messed twice in the car on the way to the show yesterday).
* Another thing I forgot to do yesterday is to use Jesse's cue for training which is "do you wanna do some training?"... I doubt that this alone was the reason for it, but certainly something to remember.
* After Jesse started dropping the dumbell at my feet at shows, I started to do a LOT of retrieve training. Could it have been to much? Another thing to look at.
* Are the allergies affecting his mood; he does seem slightly quieter in general at times. Or is the thyroid out? I think I need to get that checked. Or has the antibiotics affected him in any way?
* And lastly, has he worked out that he is not getting treats or a toy in the ring? I don't think that is the issue somehow, he isn't the type of dog for that. Having said that though, it is a possibility and I need to work hard on this! I will also use a toy more during training as it is now a matter of motivation. I have bought three toys at the show yesterday, so we'll see what works best. I really need some training with Kay and Lyn I think... I need help to progress a bit more now - roll on winter when I can attend training days with them again!
The whole thing though is just a puzzle to me. It was all so out of character!
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