4) WHERE were your gloves? Your long-sleeved shirt?
5) Why did you continue to do a one-handed EC on her? You ABSOLUTELY do NOT have control with a one-handed EC on a check cord. Not at all. On a 6' leash, yes. But once that dog goes to the ground, the two-handed ear correction is the ONLY WAY to prevent you from being bitten and the ONLY way to gain control.
6) The first time she back told you with that high pitched sound and your other dogs rushed in. Deb, that moment alone should have caused you to stop, assess and rethink what was really happening. Pack Dynamics at work here, your other dogs HEARD that pitch and knew it was serious. Praise God Les was there to get the dogs out of there, but man, I would have put those dogs up once that happened.
Roxanne Lee May 9, 2021 at 4:34 PM BTW, I have removed Cathy from this Blog as she did not finish and doesn't need to have access to this battle of wills going on between you and Fortune.
Deb, now you have lost Fortune's trust, belief and confidence in your handling. If you don't 100% fix this now, she will remember she won this battle, and you will forever be struggling with her retrieve as distance, distractions, and complexity of drill increases. YOU MUST FIX THIS NOW.
1) So, the fix is to backwash, put her on a 6' and work the retrieve on the ground until she is 'launching at warp speed with immediate pickup, a good HOLD and prompt return to SSIF'. Once she can do that in low level distractions (don't overwork her, you are looking for 5 consistent, solid 6' retrieves at warp speed) put her up and come back again tomorrow.
Review and warmup with one- two 6' retrieves on the ground. If all is excellent (no hesitation or dilly dallying at ALL), then increase to medium distractions.
*If she is struggling AT ALL, repeat # 1 and put her up until the next day. DO NOT ADVANCE DISTRACTION LEVEL OR DISTANCE UNTIL she 100% believes that "Fetch" = "launch at warp speed, pick up promptly, good HOLD to return to SSIF."
Once you get that, then increase distraction level to medium and repeat, strive for 5 consistent 6' retrieves, quiet praise and put her up.
3) Same process again. Review and warmup with one- two 6' retrieves on the ground AT medium distraction level. Repeat and follow all of # 2 above until she is successful.
4) Same process again. Review and warmup with one- two 6' retrieves on the ground at medium distraction level. When successful, then and only then increase the distraction levels at 6' at HIGH distractions. Work her until successful, put her up. 5) Come back the next training session, warm her up, then work her at 6' retrieves from the ground in a new setup with new HIGH distractions. Work her until successful, quiet praise and put her up.
6) Repeat # 5 in a new location, new HIGH distractions, on a new day. WHY? BECAUSE if you don't train her to believe you said what you meant, EXACTLY, and meant what you said, EXACTLY, at 6', you have no business increasing her distance or difficulty (RoHJ).
Fix this now at 6' and you will have a solid retriever that believes you and launches at warp speed with an immediate pickup, a solid HOLD, and a prompt return to SSIF.
If you don't fix this right now, you will have a failed retriever that becomes more and more careless. The hard part for you is that you've not yet had to work a really tough dog or an aggressive dog so I know you may find my 'fix' unnecessary. But it is the ONLY way to alter the trajectory you and Fortune are on right now. And it will break your heart if she fails to fulfill what she is bred to do - retrieve. Please, follow my 'fix' to the letter and this will be resolved.
I look forward to seeing you and Fortune work together when I see you in two weeks.
ReplyDelete4) WHERE were your gloves? Your long-sleeved shirt?
5) Why did you continue to do a one-handed EC on her? You ABSOLUTELY do NOT have control with a one-handed EC on a check cord. Not at all. On a 6' leash, yes. But once that dog goes to the ground, the two-handed ear correction is the ONLY WAY to prevent you from being bitten and the ONLY way to gain control.
6) The first time she back told you with that high pitched sound and your other dogs rushed in. Deb, that moment alone should have caused you to stop, assess and rethink what was really happening. Pack Dynamics at work here, your other dogs HEARD that pitch and knew it was serious. Praise God Les was there to get the dogs out of there, but man, I would have put those dogs up once that happened.
So, what is next for the two of you?
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Roxanne Lee May 9, 2021 at 4:34 PM
BTW, I have removed Cathy from this Blog as she did not finish and doesn't need to have access to this battle of wills going on between you and Fortune.
Deb, now you have lost Fortune's trust, belief and confidence in your handling. If you don't 100% fix this now, she will remember she won this battle, and you will forever be struggling with her retrieve as distance, distractions, and complexity of drill increases. YOU MUST FIX THIS NOW.
1) So, the fix is to backwash, put her on a 6' and work the retrieve on the ground until she is 'launching at warp speed with immediate pickup, a good HOLD and prompt return to SSIF'. Once she can do that in low level distractions (don't overwork her, you are looking for 5 consistent, solid 6' retrieves at warp speed) put her up and come back again tomorrow.
Review and warmup with one- two 6' retrieves on the ground. If all is excellent (no hesitation or dilly dallying at ALL), then increase to medium distractions.
*If she is struggling AT ALL, repeat # 1 and put her up until the next day. DO NOT ADVANCE DISTRACTION LEVEL OR DISTANCE UNTIL she 100% believes that "Fetch" = "launch at warp speed, pick up promptly, good HOLD to return to SSIF."
Once you get that, then increase distraction level to medium and repeat, strive for 5 consistent 6' retrieves, quiet praise and put her up.
3) Same process again. Review and warmup with one- two 6' retrieves on the ground AT medium distraction level. Repeat and follow all of # 2 above until she is successful.
4) Same process again. Review and warmup with one- two 6' retrieves on the ground at medium distraction level. When successful, then and only then increase the distraction levels at 6' at HIGH distractions. Work her until successful, put her up.
5) Come back the next training session, warm her up, then work her at 6' retrieves from the ground in a new setup with new HIGH distractions. Work her until successful, quiet praise and put her up.
6) Repeat # 5 in a new location, new HIGH distractions, on a new day. WHY? BECAUSE if you don't train her to believe you said what you meant, EXACTLY, and meant what you said, EXACTLY, at 6', you have no business increasing her distance or difficulty (RoHJ).
Fix this now at 6' and you will have a solid retriever that believes you and launches at warp speed with an immediate pickup, a solid HOLD, and a prompt return to SSIF.
If you don't fix this right now, you will have a failed retriever that becomes more and more careless. The hard part for you is that you've not yet had to work a really tough dog or an aggressive dog so I know you may find my 'fix' unnecessary. But it is the ONLY way to alter the trajectory you and Fortune are on right now. And it will break your heart if she fails to fulfill what she is bred to do - retrieve. Please, follow my 'fix' to the letter and this will be resolved.
I look forward to seeing you and Fortune work together when I see you in two weeks.
Food for thought, Deb
Roxanne
Class, there is a WORLD of education in this RoHJ video + my comments.
ReplyDeleteRoxanne