Caden is without a doubt the most vocal dog I have ever owned! Yesterday at SCH practice I learned that some of this tendency to be a noisy guy comes from his high drive and some is a reaction to ME. My homework for the next two weeks is to WHISPER to Caden. Yesterday at SCH practice, I learned that he is so reactive to my voice that he gets over-excited if I sound happy, or forceful in my tone. This is so similar to working with the Border Collies, in order to keep their drive in check and not sound panicky or over-excited, as this transfers to your dog. It is very interesting to me how having two different breeds, both with high drive, can have similarities in training methods as well.
I am to be as neutral as possible, even low-key. Otherwise he starts to chirp back at me with excitement, and it builds up so that we are both frustrated. I am also switching to a fur-saver collar which is a German-style choke with elongated brass links, along with a leather choke collar that I can pop when he is too noisy.
What we want is nice focused, quiet attention, called Fuss (pronounced Foos). He is getting very good at understanding the correct position, with his shoulder beside my leg and looking into my eyes. I have only ever taken about 5 steps forward with him, and mostly practice left turns. If I turn right, he forges ahead of me. We practiced "backwards heeling" with him yesterday. It was a great exercise! By the end of my lesson, he was moving backwards quietly. Now, if I can do this on my own I will be so proud of myself.
We also worked on his Platz (lie down) while other dogs were working. Above he is doing it at the local college. It is much harder at the training field where so much is going on, and where he gets very excited because so much fun stuff happens there! Yesterday he was very good while another dog worked. When the dog was finished and there was nothing to watch, he would get fidgety. So now I know when to break and reward, and will work on rewarding him BEFORE he loses his focus. However, I was very proud that he stayed in his down position while other dogs were retrieving and doing recalls. In his BH test, and in other SCH tests levels, he will be required to stay on a long down off lead while the other dog is being tested as part of his test. Keeping him calm and focused will be important for this too. Stay tuned for training updates!
