Good boy, Tristan!

Tristan and I achieved another milestone today. As Tristan and I started onto the field for our protection work doing obedience, I asked the trainer when Tristan and I would start doing regular protection work again. He said we'd do it when I could heel Tristan onto and around the field by myself with no help and when Tristan was quiet and paid attention to me the whole time. Done! I looked down at Tristan, told him it was time to show the trainer our stuff so he could do more of his favorite protection work and off we went.

It was as though Tristan really understood. We heeled around the field, Tristan kept looking up at me and we did really well all by ourselves. I'm really proud of both Tristan and myself for getting to this stage. Although it's been a bit tedious, it's actually been a really important exercise for Tristan and I. I learned to make Tristan obey me and to heel properly and he finally "got" obedience from it.

At the end the trainer had Tristan take some direct bites on the sleeve without worrying about proper obedience. It is to work on Tristan's form. He's started to put his front feet out to brace himself against the helper when taking a bite. This started recently after the helper inadvertently blocked Tristan during a bite rather than following through with the sleeve. The trainer spotted it and wants to stop it before it becomes a habit.

Final note for today - Was he smart or disobedient? At the end of training today, I threw Tristan his ball so he could have a nice romp. After a bit, instead of coming back to me, he ran to the car and was ready to get in. It was definitely his signal that he was done. I did make him come back to me, although he was a bit reluctant, because I want him to know he has to come when I call. But I felt very empathetic because I know Tristan was just trying to tell me he was tired and wanted to go home. Too bad dogs can't just tell us what they want especially after being such a good dog today.

Today's training

Tristan was superb at tracking today and I hit a personal milestone. I laid a really long track and reached the end of a row of trees which I have never managed before. Actually since I laid the track and followed it again with Tristan, I did it twice. It's really an accomplishment for me to be able to go so far. Tristan did the whole track spot on and he hit all the turns without hesitation. I left him a big bonanza of treats at the end to celebrate.

The next step is to start laying articles. Tristan has to get better at his platz, however, before we do that so he can indicate the articles. When Tristan was a pup, he had a great down. He'd throw his front paws out and slam himself to the ground immediately. It was like a great game to him. Now he tends to walk his feet out until he's in a down position. I think this began when I stopped using hand signals and started having Tristan stay in the platz. We're working on it now and my goal is to get it snappy again.

Tristan continues to do well working on obedience during protection. Sal is not going to get the sleeve back!

Canis non grata no more

Tristan and I went visiting and he was a very good boy. It was a lovely evening perfect for drinks on the patio and I took Tristan because he'd been cooped up all day. It was fun to show what a great dog he is now.

He's been canis non grata since he was eight months old and we went to my friends' eighty year old mother's home for Christmas. Tristan who was very nice at home turned into a rampaging maniac. First he scared her dog, Katie, who then had to stay outside in the rain. He leapt around the living room jumping up on the couch and trying to eat the pillows. I put him on a leash and he chewed through it in two minutes. It was a nightmare. I was so afraid he'd jump up on my elderly friend and knock her over. Luckily Tristan didn't do that but he committed every other doggie faux pas possible. Our plan for a warm entertaining evening with the dogs playing together went poof and we slunk away in disgrace.

I didn't realize how long it's been since he has made an appearance. It was wonderful to show off the new and improved, well trained Tristan. He's a handsome hunk now instead of mostly ears and tail. He heeled beautifully, looked adoringly at me, did his party tricks, was flirty with my friends and then laid calmly at my feet as we enjoyed drinks, food and conversation. And to think it only took two years plus and months and months of training to reach this lovely state.

Foxy

Look at these handsome guys. These are our wonderful helpers - looking wildly confident. Ha! It's before Tristan has his way with them. I really don't know how they do it. One of the other members keeps saying the dogs are only interested in the sleeve but I think that must be hard to remember when a powerful dog is doing its bark and hold and is totally in one's face.

Another rave about a lovely Sunday morning on the way to the tracking field - sunny, early morning fog burning off, two hot air balloons and a hang glider hovering in the vicinity - but also a fox! It was very cool to see the fox. Embarrassingly enough after raving about seeing a fox, I realize it might have been a young coyote. It was pretty grey. I probably should be able to tell the difference but I guess I'm just a city girl.

I messed Tristan up on tracking. I laid a good portion of the track over dirt which I know Tristan doesn't care for. I thought it would be good for him to practice it. The trainer said he didn't really need to practice on it now. He will probably track in grass for any trials and he needs to be really proficient at that first. We can always add dirt when appropriate. Tristan came to a screeching halt with the dirt. He knew where the track was and could even see the food but he refused to put his nose in the dirt. He did fine when he was back on grass even though I'm skipping putting food in a lot of footsteps.

What's working for obedience

Clearly all the obedience practice is starting to kick in both for Tristan and myself. He's such a natural at tracking and protection that I feel it's really the trainer and Tristan that make him do well on those Schutzhund phases. Obedience, however, is much more about Tristan and me working together. The trainer obviously is critical and I know Tristan easily would be titled by now if the trainer handled him. This Schutzhund journey though is about Tristan and me as a team.

All the work we've done has been so important. I think it's gelled recently because of some insights I've had and implemented plus I'm finally following some really basic training advice. In no particular order, here's what's helped.

• I've started getting to the training field a bit early or staying a bit after just to let Tristan run around. I want him to understand that he gets to do that too.
• I thought I couldn't let Tristan off lead because I didn't trust his recall. I started dropping his lead and calling him back while he was still very close to me. That way I could step on his leash if he didn't respond right away. He learned he could be off leash so long as he stayed close to me.
• I play with him more while we're doing obedience. I give him a ball on a rope to leap for or to retrieve. This is standard practice but I wasn't doing it enough. The trainer often talks about the dogs being stressed as a result of training. I realized I wasn't recognizing stress. I expected to see signs of it rather than understanding it naturally happens because the dog is concentrating on following a lot of commands. Tristan needed more breaks to mix it up and lighten up.
• I got truly mad at Tristan for the first time ever. He didn't come in from the back yard when called. I'd finally had it and yelled at him and gave him a big yank to get inside. Tristan immediately started acting very ingratiating. He knew he was in trouble. Ok, no laughing. I think this comes under the category Duh. I think I'm firm with Tristan but this was an eye opener. Remaining even tempered and firm with him isn't enough. I see how all the dogs love the trainer even though his corrections can be very strong. He is clearly the alpha male. What I consider to be firm and what it takes to be dominant with Tristan aren't the same.
• I make Tristan give me eye contact all the time. When we play fetch (which we do endlessly) I make him look at me rather than the ball before I will throw it. It's easy to be on autopilot during the day but I realized I need to have him always look at me when he wants something.
• I reinforce obedience through the day when I'm home with him. I've always made him obey a command once given but now I take the opportunity to give more commands throughout the day.

After the recent trial, I've become even more motivated for Tristan to pass his BH so he can go for Schutzhund titles. We should have been ready for it but weren't. There's another trial coming in November and we will be ready.

Maybe we've got it

I will probably say this many times before we actually get it but Tristan and I showed actual progress today. I've written before about how Tristan and I have been doing obedience during protection work. The goal is for me to be able to handle Tristan since he gets so excited when he sees the jute sleeves come out. The trainer follows closely behind and has Tristan's leash so he can correct him when needed. Today I handled Tristan on my own and Tristan was very good. He heeled very well and stayed focused on me.

It may not sound like much but it represents a huge step forward for us. It really felt like we were in sync and that Tristan wanted very much to do it correctly. He didn't pull on his lead and he stayed focused on me as we heeled around and about the helper. We also added a new element which is the transport. I stand next to the helper with Tristan between us and command Tristan to transport. We proceed forward and Tristan is to remain calm but watchful and he protects if the helper threatens. He did great!

Tristan did great on tracking too. I laid a nice long track, skipping food in many of the footsteps and with several turns including across dirt which he doesn't seem to like. Tristan got it all even when I couldn't recall the exact location of one of the turns. He searched around, located it and was off again on the track. It's been several weeks since we tracked so I was really pleased.

The trainer showed the club how to play an article game to start training a dog to indicate articles. We take a human scented item and get the dog very interested in it then throw it to the ground and command the dog to platz on it. He's rewarded with lots of food treats on the article when it is between his front feet. Tristan loves getting the treats.