Suggestions for Coke ** NILIF people look at pg 5 **

Well DH did not come tonight which I was annoyed about, but Coke was a totally different dog.  No pulling, no jumping at the other dogs...halfway through class I had to break all the treats in half because he was doing such a fine job earning them.  He LOVES the A-frame and the table.  We did some work off leash and he did fine.  His sit-stays were rock solid and he also made every single recall with no issues.  I came home from work a bit early to give the dogs a good hour and a half before we left to get their zoomies out on each other, maybe that helped.  Afterwards, we turned him loose with Justin again.  Same result, but the body blocking worked and I made it very clear he was being inappropriate.  He had time out while Justin and Kenya played.  My friend took Justin away b/c she said he was acting weird (he doesn't really play with Coke...he runs up to Coke and gets all in his face, and then he sort of slinks along the ground...I dunno it's weird, he just won't leave Coke alone even during class, but Coke did so good ignoring the dogs during class).  She mentioned that the breeder told her Justin was always the absolute lowest on the totem pole.  She instead got her other Golden Retriever out and Coke was fine.  They sniffed, did a lot of chasing, but they were both totally cool with each other (and Kenya).  So maybe it is a Justin thing, I dunno.  So far that's the only dog he's done that with, and he plays with so many dogs, it's his main form of exercise.  The reason I started the thread was that I was worried it would carry over, but he played with Jake and it was totally different.  We let them all play for an hour and they could have kept going but it got dark.

espencer

Do they really need to wait for your command to do almost everything? 

They need to recall, at the absolute very least.  Coke knows sit, down, stay, wait, leave it, and an NRM.  Other than the recall, that's all I really need to ask of him.  We have no intention to do any formal obedience with him.

Well, good luck with your continued successes.

Come on, Coke, I know you can do it.

Overnight success........how special......

Coke you are such a sweetie and looker....you would fit right in with our pack....

snownose

Overnight success........how special......

I don't think overnight success is so strange given that before this class Coke got to burn off steam for an hour and a half, Liesje mentioned he was getting treated out the wazoo for good behavior in class, and then was able to be more effective with body blocking during play.

It sounds like she made an effort for this class to go right, was well prepared with different ideas on how to handle the situations that might arise, and set Coke up for success.

She also mentioned that his play with Justin is the same, and that Justin keeps coming back for more and then backing off. My guess is that Justin loves to play with other dogs and goes rushing in to initiate play with Coke, only to arrive in close proximity to Coke and be overwhelmed, "Yay, another dog, let's play! Oh gosh, we're really close, I am not a threat (flattening on the ground)"

Some dogs just don't work well together in play, and it seems Justin and Coke are like that. Their play styles just don't mesh well. No big deal, since, as Liesje said, Coke doesn't display the same behavior toward all dogs, and there are plenty of other dogs for him to play with.

snownose

Coke you are such a sweetie and looker....you would fit right in with our pack....

I'm sure he'd love to play with your pack... 

Thank you for your input....much appreciated....

I'm glad to hear that the body blocking worked!  I've had to use both body blocking AND treat reward for Oliver.

I don't know about you, but the hardest part of training is myself (maybe your DH can empathize with me on that).  Oliver is considered to be well trained and has good manners.  Is he perfectly trained?  No.  Whose fault is that?  Mine, and I know it.  His learning style is MUCH different than my previous dog, so I'm having to learn what works for him.  Poor dog is progressing only as fast as I can learn and get consistent.  WIll it take longer than other people who have extensive training with other dogs?  Yep.  Am I kicking myself for not having the skill levels of a professional?  No.

Hang in there training both DH and Coke!