Agility help

[gaited horse]

As many of you know I on reserve grand champion in agility last weekend and now I have moved up one level to off lead but my dog is a bolter is there away to train her not to run off and liten to me off lead.

 

[lorieMN]

you need to work on your recall and get that good and solid..and keep the dogs attention on you the whole time..will take some work and LOTS of practice,but you can do it.good solid obedience may be the key.

 

[Brindlebtch]

Congrats on the Grand Champioship! How exciting!


OK, I need to you to answer some questions before I can help you. I have taught agility for over 15 yrs. so I can help if I have the info.

What breed of dog?

Is the dog the least bit fat? Can you feel ribs directly under the skin or is there a layer of flesh between the skin and the ribs?

How old are you?

Is the dog actually yours or the family dog?

lorieMN gave you very good advice. Take an obedience course and learn to train a recall and then practice practice practice. Can you go to an obedience class?

 

[texasgal]

You should be learning this in agility class also .. if you are self taught, go sign up for agility class.

Being in an environment with other dogs, people, and at a different place will do wonders for focusing a dog ..

My unsocialized, neurotic, barkaholic dog .. is a completely different dog at agility class .. off leash .. focusing on me .. ignoring the distractions that at home make him unable to even focus on urinating .. LOL

Congrats.. btw!

 

[gaited horse]

Quote:
she is a border collie mix perfect weight i am under 18 she is my dog. we are in 4-h and she competes in obediance

 

[Brindlebtch]

OK, a running dog usually shows a lack of training or a relationship issue.

No showing until you get the running problem solved. She will learn she can take off in the ring and then you are going to have a real problem.

From now on you are the only one that feeds the dog, period. You need to hand feed her and every piece of kibble or treat that she eats must come from your hand. She must be totally dependent upon you for ALL her food. This is for bonding and displaying your alpha status.

Make sure she is really hungry before you train. Like she didn't have dinner the night before or breakfast of the day you train.
I hate when people say "Oh my dog is always hungry". There is hungry and hungry. She needs to be hungry enough to stay with you because she wants the treats.

Always train with special treats that she only gets during agility training or at shows and nowhere else, ever. I'm talking like chicken breast. If you train with toys get a special toy she especially likes and only gets during training.

Take her for a walk EVERY day for at least 1 mile. This is bonding and giving her exercise so hopefully she will be less inclined to run or get the zoomies.

During your daily walk you can practice random recalls, sits, downs and heeling. Make it fun. Praise her and play and pet when she does something good. You can also take some of her daily kibble on your walks to reward her for especially fast sits or something.

Try to teach her tricks, because this is bonding. Use some of her kibble and praise. So she is having to work for her food. This is not extra kibble. This is part of her daily ration. Just put it in a bowl first thing in the morning and you can take handfuls from it during the day as you do things with her.

Anytime she makes a mistake during training you say "Oops let's try again". You can't say no or get mad.

She needs to sleep in a crate in your bedroom. Not in your bed, in a crate. This is reinforcing your alpha status. She may not get on your bed unless given permission and may not use your bed to sleep on during the day.

If you have other dogs in the household your dog must now be separated from them and the only thing it gets to play with is you. So you will have a great responsiblity on you shoulders for givng the dog enough play time and exercise.

The dog needs to want to be with you and view you with a great deal of respect.

Do you train in an enclosed area? It would be ideal if you trained in a fenced area or in a building. Please let me know.

I recently had a 17 yr old in class who had a BC/Kelpie/Aussie cross. It had the potential for being an incredible dog. But the dog would run because the girl had no relationship with it. The dog lived in the back yard with another dog and the girl rarely played with it or took it for walks or did anything else with it but tried to do agility. After agility class the dog was tossed back the yard with the other dog, to which it was bonded. The girl would get so upset in class because she didn't understand why the dog had no interest in staying with her. She quit agility 4 weeks after we got to the off leash exercises. It was very sad.

texasgal had a great idea. Can you get into an agility class? Is there a place to take classes nearby?