I really hesitate posting this, but the thread on hard mouth/freezing made me realize that most folks are honest about both the good & the bad when it comes to training their dogs.
I attended a workshop (kudos worthy of a separate thread!) where I was very pleased with both the content of the workshop itself & my dog's performance, BUT-when I found an opportunity to train (alone) on the one setup where he showed a deficit-a particular blind -I ended up (embarassingly) a bit short tempered. No excuses are worthwhile, although I wasn't feeling well and unfortunately, a bumper left in the field contributed to our bad experience. Regardless-I corrected my dog when I'm sure he didn't know what he should have done to avoid the correction and he absolutley knew I was angry-which isn't something I feel is appropriate when training. End result-no go. I have NEVER had this experience with this dog, but in his defense -he had every right to act like he did. I had the opportunity to "force" the issue, but chose to just tear down the setup & move on.
The workshop was going to begin that morning with 3 blinds & I volunteered that I might not have enough dog to participate. I was told that I could run the concept as marks. I chose instead to run him off collar & hope that he'd bounce back & forgive me enough to want to work. Fortunately-that was the case.
I've been told (by several people) I have a dog that you can make a lot of mistakes on because he has enough desire to work through corrections. Regardless-being unfair (& I was) has no place in training & I feel very fortunate to have a dog that respects me enough to forgive a bad mistake.
Bottom line-don't take for granted what you have if you're fortunate enough to have a really good dog who allows you mistakes and is still willing to rise to the occasion and work for you. They really deserve the benefit of the doubt and that you always treat them fairly.
M
I attended a workshop (kudos worthy of a separate thread!) where I was very pleased with both the content of the workshop itself & my dog's performance, BUT-when I found an opportunity to train (alone) on the one setup where he showed a deficit-a particular blind -I ended up (embarassingly) a bit short tempered. No excuses are worthwhile, although I wasn't feeling well and unfortunately, a bumper left in the field contributed to our bad experience. Regardless-I corrected my dog when I'm sure he didn't know what he should have done to avoid the correction and he absolutley knew I was angry-which isn't something I feel is appropriate when training. End result-no go. I have NEVER had this experience with this dog, but in his defense -he had every right to act like he did. I had the opportunity to "force" the issue, but chose to just tear down the setup & move on.
The workshop was going to begin that morning with 3 blinds & I volunteered that I might not have enough dog to participate. I was told that I could run the concept as marks. I chose instead to run him off collar & hope that he'd bounce back & forgive me enough to want to work. Fortunately-that was the case.
I've been told (by several people) I have a dog that you can make a lot of mistakes on because he has enough desire to work through corrections. Regardless-being unfair (& I was) has no place in training & I feel very fortunate to have a dog that respects me enough to forgive a bad mistake.
Bottom line-don't take for granted what you have if you're fortunate enough to have a really good dog who allows you mistakes and is still willing to rise to the occasion and work for you. They really deserve the benefit of the doubt and that you always treat them fairly.
M
