Fizz was brilliant tonight at class! She gets exercised before class, and as soon as she's done, she turns tail and beelines HARD for the building, drags me through the door, past the owner (who wonders why my obedience dog is dragging me about willy nilly) and straight into the ring. I have enjoyed seeing her enthusiasm for class build and have not done anything about it.
Our new rules are "no leash dragging, ever." I expected an extended attempt to get into the building. Took all my stuff in, set James up with the iPad, and went to go get Fizz. I had made a special baggie of diced chicken breast specifically for the pre-class work. Fizz and I are blessed with an amazing trainer who takes a genuine interest in her students. No sooner was I in the building, than she asked if she could come outside and help me. That really meant a lot to me, and I was slow to answer. Esther, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! :)
As soon as I got Fizz out to potty, she was next to me, and had only one tight leash (at a stop and sniff spot). I was fully expecting our usual drag, and it never appeared. Even after she finished, she didn't bolt, but stayed with me. At that point, Esther was out talking with another student, and Fizz was fully aware of her presence.....but she CHOSE to stay with me! :) What a puppy!!!!!!! We made a few passes back and forth past Esther, and there was one particularly noticable "I look at her, but I look right back to you, and don't bobble from it" moment. Her choice was clear and concise. click and treat, oh yeah!
After a few passes, we tried a sit and greet. Got as far as hand shake and a brief few words when Fizz couldn't contain herself. She broke to see Esther. I immediately stepped back, and re-set up. I asked her for a sit, but as I was saying "sit," she offered a down. This was quite interesting to me, b/c of the three basic positions (sit, stand, down), down has *always* been our weakest, and very rarely can I think of times that she's offered it up. Either sit or down is acceptable to me for greeting, as long as she stays at my side and does not self-invite. She held her position through another handshake, chatting, and all without any rewards from me. I finally gave her the ultimate reward: permission to go say hi. When it was time to move on, she came right with me, and again, click/treat.
Following that big success, we were able to easily loose-leash it all the way inside. I didn't have to back up once. She also offered a down outside of the ring, and I asked her to hold that a bit before proceeding in. We worked and played while others came in. No darting off to greet. And at the very end of class, I was even able to walk right up to another student, whose Border Terrier was out on leash (vs being in her crate), and Fizz did not make ONE attempt to greet either dog or owner. YAY!!!!!!
I was truly amazed at the success we had tonight. I feel that her pattern of behavior at class (dragging me about) is fairly ingrained, and figured I had a long road ahead of me re: fixing it. We will continue to work around stronger distractions, including a local dog park (don't worry, I would never consider to enter one......but it will be an awesome 'bad dog behavior' distraction from outside the fence!), the bus when Emilie gets off (this is HUGE excitement for Fizz!), and work up to visiting Home Depot on a crazy Saturday morning. :)
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