Drive, he said*

Tristan was incredible at protection work today. His drive is amazing. Tristan absolutely loves doing protection. He was so pumped up when it was his turn that it was hard containing him as we went on the field. But then he was very attentive to me when I gave him the fuss command and off like a rocket at the revier command. It was great to have him really look to me for the command and wait to get it.

The drive is what will make Tristan a great Schutzhund competitor, however, it is probably a mixed blessing for me. It will be harder for me to handle him. Clearly the key is making sure his obedience work proceeds also. It's all about control.

Based on the trainer's feedback, I am getting a lot tougher about giving Tristan corrections. I tend to nag versus really correct him - meaning I pull on him rather than give short, sharp corrections that clearly communicate to him. It seems so clear and easy to do when talking or writing about it but I really struggle with it when I have Tristan on the field. It's hard to do the pop, pop, pop of correct corrections. It's important though since dogs respond much better to clear corrections and over time they get used to being tugged and just blow it off.

*Obscure movie reference