Tara does quite well at obedience training. She doesn't show any fear of other dogs and is more than happy to be left for a down/sit stay (I disappear out of the room). The problem is when we do a socialisation exercise. The dogs are put into a down stay around the (small) hall and dogs, in turn, weave in and out of the others. Tara always used to be more than happy and I was able to leave her at some distance while this happened and she was happy when her turn came to do the weaving. The problem started some months ago when a couple of dog-aggressive dogs(Rottie and Newfie) where in the lesson. Although under control they had barked at her as she passed. She then became very nervous of doing the weaving. The problem sorted itself out, as, due to her bad foot, we stopped going to classes for 3 months and when we restarted she had forgotten about this :) However, last week, a small collie was in the class who is dog-aggressive. She barked at Tara. Last night at the class, Tara wouldn't even get off her bottom to start the weaving :( (The collie wasn't even there last night). Tara was still happy to be left while the other dogs weaved, but just refused to weave herself :( Any suggestions how to give her confidence (we tried food bribery, which eventually worked, but she wasn't happy). Should I just not do this exercise with her ? In every other way she was happy there.

Thank you

Daisy

Don't stop the exercise compleatly, use alot of food, voice, praise and stay careful but give her confidence.  then rather then going in a out go round the back of all the dogs, so she's not weaving but is still going past them (not too close) eventully try to go though acouple of the dogs, eventually, over afew training lessons get it back to weaving!  remember the excited voice, praise and you must have confidence (it goes down the lead!!!)

If it were me I would not do it.

Before doing any exercise I would expect the trainer to fully explain the reasoning behind it and some of the drawbacks that could occur and to organise the exercise so that the proximity of any dogs is within their comfort zone.  I would then assess whether my particular dog was suited to that particular exercise in the particular circumstances that presented themselves.

Training classes should be designed to reduce stress not increase it........................

Thanks for the replies. There were only 8 dogs in the class last night, which is about the maximum - often less - but it is a small hall. Often the dogs lie down the middle of the hall and there is plenty of room to just go around the outside. Last night, however, the dogs were around the outside of the hall and so there wasn't much free space to pass :(

Tohme, I think that you are right and that, next time, I will opt out of that part. I don't normally use treats (they aren't encouraged at the class, but were suggested as a last resort by the trainer), Tara is quite easy to motivate usually :)

Thanks

Daisy

Just a question, if you din't use treats what do you use in class? Everyone uses treats in my class and i couldn't imagine training without them, all hell would break loose!

Many dogs are more than willing to work for their handler without needing food to tempt them. In a difficult situation I'd far rather rely on a dog that is working for me rather some food.

However, all dogs (and trainers) are not created equal and thus treats have their uses.

Dogs that are trained with food rewards should be moved on from the lure with food, so that the dog is indeed working for the owner and not the food; dogs eyes etc should be on the owner and not looking for the food :)

Lindsay
X

Tara is an Aussie and similar to collies is quite motivated to work for love alone :D The class, in general, is encouraged to use a small toy, if necessary, but most only use the toy to reward after an exercise. I have a small rope toy (the knotted type) in my pocket should I require extra special attention :) If someone used treats near me, Tara would find it most distracting :)

Daisy

i know a few Aussies, & they really arent like collies to teach,IMo
they are really thinkers,workers out of things,& above all there has to be a point to it for them.

all the aussie owners i know tend to use a clicker as they seem to excel at this type of learning,

Personally, I can't see the point of clicker training - I'd rather have my hands free :) Obviously everyone has their own favourite method of training, but I have managed fine with my dogs without using clickers and treats. Tara's problem at class is just specific to that particular exercise and having spoken to the trainers, we have decided that it is better if she misses it out altogether :)

Daisy

hi daisy
i dont clicker train!!!

but i have seen how well the aussies at our club have responded to it (4),& have been REALLY impressed,by how the aussies reallly took to it,& learnt & responded really quickley (much better than the collies)
also they do seem to be very food motivatated,more so than play

(& seems to be the prefered method by other aussie owners-thats all!!!)(didnt want to sound like i was picking on your methods!)

i love the breed,the more i see the more i like!!!! good luck with your tara!-ive got a BC tara

I know what you mean by food-motivated :) Tara loves her food - but she was a bit 'food aggressive' with my older dog when she was a pup and although it is no longer a problem, I could see that it could cause problems in a class situation. We don't have any other Aussies at our club so I have nothing to compare her to - but she has been MUCH easier to train than my older dog :) It's just a pity that she has this problem with her foot now :(

Daisy

foot?