Training Bonanza

Today, Jesse and I took part at a Training Bonanza, organised by Kamal. We had a great time. We got to do some heelwork training with Jo Hill and John Higgins, and some retrieve and recall training with Kamal as well as a round in the training ring and a couple of stays. It was all very useful indeed and we got a lot of homework to get on with.

Here are the main points I picked up:

Heelwork (Jo Hill/John Higgins):
* Fast food circuits. They need to be so animated that Jesse runs at full pelt, they need to be at a good distance and with me motivating him.
* Get Jesse to find the heel position himself rather than cue him and help him all the time. He needs to want to be in my heel position and get heavily rewarded for it. This will get him motivated to keep up with me and hold the position without me doing the work for him. And in turn I will be able to start trusting him more, which I don't at the moment(eventhough he doesn't really give me any reason not to).

Recall (Kamal):
* I must put Jesse on a variable schedule with all exercises, especially with recall and retrieve though! * To build up Jesse's confidence with these exercises when he is distracted, I need to make them more exciting and faster by getting him to run through legs, getting him to jump up and run away from him etc. And then once in a while to get him into the present properly and heavily reward him.

Retrieve (Kamal):
* Variable schedule as well.
* Building up his confidence by proofing him heavily. We used food, first waved in front of him and click/reward him when he eventually held on to the dumbbell. Then pretend to put a treat on the ground, and again reward when he held on to it. This worked fairly quickly with him. The more confident he gets with holding by proofing it well, the less likely he will be influenced if unsure about something in the ring!

General:
* Put him on a variable schedule with everything.
* Get him to do more for a reward - full rounds during training, not just reward after each exercise.
* Keep motivation up by keeping things moving, motivated, fun and fast!
* Play more, and get him to be able to play around food as well and to be able to switch him on and off when needed.

Learnt so much again! What a great day!

And here's a picture taken by Mari Ylivinkka on the day (we were both a bit windswept).

Warlingham Obedience Show

Today, Jesse and I went to Warlingham Obedience Show. The weather was terrible to start off with though we managed to get a drizzle instead of hard rain to do our Novice training round. Jesse was great, really enjoyed it and up for it. This is where this picture was taken (by Dave Scott).

 

Our Beginners round however wasn't so great... for various reasons. First of all, a whippet walked past us just as we went into the ring and Jesse was distracted straight away as he loves all sighthounds. So he wasn't concentrating so well when we went in. Also the judge was a bit weird and often stood in the way when doing turns which put me off a bit and with that probably Jesse. But hey, these things happen.

 

We had a great time, also did a round in the training ring which Jesse did great - though of course he would as I could have food on me... LOL The weather also cleared up a bit after a while.

 

Tomorrow we are off to the Training Bonanza. Really looking forward to it.

3rd in Beginners

We still haven't quite managed a red one, but Jesse and I got 3rd in Beginners today at Surrey! I am really pleased, particularly also because he did a lovely Novice training round too with lots of enthusiasm and working nicely. So I think we are on the right track and I can't wait till next Sunday for the Training Bonanza - a training day with various trainers... that should help pushing me towards the red one.

 

And here is the Group picture (by Dave Scott)

 

 

And added on 29th June 2013: the show report

 

3rd. Ms. V. Marney and WEIAMBEA JESSE JAMES. American Cocker. Losing 4.3/4 and winning r/o with the following dog. When Jesse puts his mind to it he can do some lovely high stepping heelwork, not as good as I have seen him work but good enough to get this place. Also a very big 'step in' on the heelfree probably cost you 2nd place. However, it is lovely to see other breeds in this sport and you have worked jolly hard with Jesse. Well done.

 

Teaching something useful

On Sunday, I thought I'd teach the spaniels something useful in the park... searching for my keys. LOL

Starting the season with a red one

SEDTS had a 3-way match on Sunday. Jesse was working in Beginners of course and ....... he got the red one. I was really pleased with him. He was keen and happy, a bit wide on the heelwork, but great attitude and his tail never stopped wagging! Here's a few pictures that Chris too of us:

Just a picture

We had a lovely walk in the country park today - finally it has dried out a bit and the dogs are not covered in mud anymore when we get home.

Some pictures

This morning... Hello, good morning, mummy!

 

 

And some pictures I took on our snowy walk a couple of week ago at Addington Hills.

 

 

 

 

 

Training Week-end with Kamal Fernandez

Jesse and I went to a training week-end with Kamal Fernandez. We had a fantastic time and learnt lots. Most of the training is done the same way as we do it with Pat and Michael, but a couple of techniques were different. Some of the things that stuck in my mind particularly:

• Difference between handling and training! Posture in handling needs to be upright and straight, in training it can be different to help the dog. 

• Work for drive! Get the dog excited enough that they are super keen to do whatever they are asked. This is done with playing and treats (throwing them so the dog moves).

• Vary rewards depending on quality of work! Ok performance gets verbal praise, good performance a treat and super performance a crazy game or whatever the dog loves best.

• Don't be happy with average, expect super! Aim for great performance, not just ok performance... this ties in with drive and rewards!

• Get your footwork right, woman! LOL I have finally found a way to do turns that suits me by keeping my feet within touching distance when turning. I have been practising loads and it works better for me than any other turns I have tried so far.

• Proofing, proofing, proofing! Proofing exercises for all eventualities in the ring (or indeed in real life) will prevent losing valuable points if something unexpected or unusual happens in the ring and will also give the dog more overall confidence because they are used to all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff going on around them whilst they are working. I am proud to say that Jesse's attention was really good, I guess he is used to working with three others dogs in his space etc. 

Kamal was great. Jesse and I were the odd one out for various reasons: we were the only ones that had never trained with him as it was a training week-end with his regular group, and Jesse was the only small dog and I was one of the least experienced handlers there. But we were made to feel very welcome by everyone and we had a great time!

Happy 6th Birthday, Jesse James

I can't quite believe that it is already 6 years since this little bundle of fluff came into this world and my life! Happy 6th Birthday, my beautiful boy!

Well... Tunbridge Wells obedience show

Well, I entered Jesse in one more obedience show which was Tunbridge Wells. It was yesterday and I am so pleased that Jesse was really enthusiastic and happy during both the Novice round (which I trained) and the Beginners! His heelwork wasn't very close, but it was consistent. He came 2nd! I am disappointed that we still didn't manage that red rosette but I am over the moon that he is happy and cheerful in the ring.

I have also booked into a week-end course with Kamal Fernandez end of January. And I am really, really looking forward to that. I hope that with another pair of eyes and more tips, I will be able to get Jesse out of Beginners next year.