Chase's Motivation Part 2

So Chase has really come a long way since I started training classes with him at the end of September. He responds a lot better to treats and so it's a lot easier to communicate with him what you want. I think it also helps that he naturally is a pretty easy-going guy.

Bryce started taking him to the next session of training classes while I worked Kira in the same class. Fun as it was to do it together, I think Bryce and Chase would have done better if I hadn't been in the same room. For a dog that has a fairly hard time focusing as it is sometimes, having the person he's bonded to the most not be the person working him was pretty confusing. Bryce would do a recall with him, and sometimes Chase would come bounding toward me instead of to Bryce (oops!). Or Kira and I would be heeling behind Bryce and Chase, and instead of looking at Bryce for direction, Chase would have his head craned back toward me trying to see what I was doing.

While I know it was a good thing for Chase to work through, I think he might have been able to learn a little more and a little faster without me in the same room. Still, by the end of the class, he did learn a something about paying attention to whoever is on the other end of the leash. The second to last class, Bryce and I got there really early and had the floor to ourselves pretty much. We'd work the dogs side by side, recalling our dogs from the other end of the building one at a time, doing some fast-paced heeling to keep the dogs' attention, etc. That seemed to be a real helpful thing for Chase - he finally seemed to realize that he was only supposed to listen to whoever was holding the leash! Just wish we'd thought to do a training session like that sooner.

Chase's other big issue is...hmm, what word to use? Dexterity? Agility? Since he grew up in a kennel or a run and not in a home setting, he had a hard time adjusting to turning corners, and navigating inside. When we first brought him home, he'd get stuck between the couch and the coffee table because he had to back out, since there was no room to turn around. That totally baffled him for a few months. He's a smart boy, though, and has really come a long way. His issue definitely made obedience finishes a little harder, though. He makes such incredibly long turns 1. Because he's a big, long dog, and 2. Because he's never been asked to bend much before.

Rear end awareness exercises like the video above are going to be our next focus for him. I've also been thinking about getting some fit balance pods for him, to try and work on those dexterity issues. Maybe if he can realize that he has four separate feet, he can start to get somewhere!