Training Diary Day 35-39

Day 35

We worked on some duration with Erik staying on the bed. Interestingly he was a bit squeaky and was ‘working’ to try to find out how to get me to feed him so quite wriggly, no relaxation but some stillness towards the end of the session.

After I finished the session he got back on the bed and relaxed! I need to work to get this to happen even when there is food around and he thinks that he should be working.

Day 36

No training

Day 37

We started crate games at my training venue today, different crate and different location but Erik managed to get the job done. He was sending well to the crate from about 20ft away.  I will continue to work on the confidence and drive and difficulty when we have time to do this when I am at work.

Day 38

No training

Day 39

Today was very interesting. I had planned to meet some friends to do some training in a group but had to back out of that as I am no longer doing groups with Erik.  We met up with my friends and they all went off to train together and Erik and I went off to train on our own.  Interestingly he was wound up when I got him out of the car, I think because he knew everyone was there and was expecting to be working with his friends.  We started off with some hunting and he was quite squeaky and wound up.  So each time he squeaked I stopped him and waited for him to get his head in gear and then let him get on with hunting.  By the end he was hunting, retrieving and stopping nicely without any noise.

We then moved on to a new area and I put him onto a bench to stay whilst I went out to hide some dummies for some blind retrieves. He was really good and stayed still and quiet whilst I hid the dummies, possibly about 2 mins by the time I had finished.  I rewarded him when I got back and then thought that I would do some work on crate games using the bench before I went to do the blind retrieves.  Erik was not impressed and he was quiet noisy and found it very hard to work with me because he wanted/expected to go and retrieve the dummies.  So another good thing to work towards, changing things and not doing what Erik expects so that he learns to work with me to get what he wants.  He finally got it together and applied himself to what I was asking him to do and then we went and did some retrieving.

Next time I go to train this I will make sure that I have a lead with me as it will make the choices easier wait out as I won’t have to nag him to stay with me I can just wait for him to get his head in gear. Not what I had planned but as it turned out another good discovery and another way to attack this issue which can be done any time anywhere with no help from others.