so, its been a lot of stuff these past few days and i havent been a good girl and updated my blog like i should be - so im going to have to go from memory and try to remember.
ill start with today, since its freshest in my memory. rah rah and berlin went out to marylyn and tonys friends house to do some bitework - hes a friend that no longer has a club, but in private does some work and is a well kept secret.
this guy is a GEM. his ability to read dogs - not just just protection wise, but overall, is spot on. he's funny as hell, and i had a BLAST. i really liked him, and my dogs did too - i appreciated how much time he takes to talk about how he sees things, what he wants you to do, and his rationale behind things.
rudy, suzie and gina worked first, and then we brought out rah and berlin just for a few minutes each so he could watch me interact with them. i put them up and he told me his thoughts, and he was SPOT ON. he immediately said that im not getting all i could from them, especially for berlin - she's not putting her heart into it right now. she's more distractable than rah, and she wants to work, though - she has a little more environmental sensitivity in the sense that even when i try to engage her, she's a little more concerned about what is going on around her and ready to react to that. rah he said has that inner fire to do the work for me just because he wants to be with me - he gets out, im here and we're playing and that's all that matters to him, he said - a dog like that he can take far. despite the fact that rah has issues focusing outside, if IM trying to make the game rah was very willing to play with me without concern for his footing, what noises pat was making, etc - his focus was on me the entire time, the minute he came out of the car. he said so much more, i can barely remember. he liked how i interacted with them, he liked my relationship with them, and he said he can tell them like working with me.
he also said straight up, that he thought he would progress faster with rah! that surprised me.
we talked about my goals, my desires, where i want to take them. what he can offer me, where he can take me, what he will and will not promise. i was honest that i told him other people have evaluated rah and said he didnt really have what it takes (especially since i always thought of rah as really male-sensitive).
so we worked suzie and gina once more quickly, then i got out berlin and he got out a tug. berlin came out BLAZING and ready to go - she was barking her head off and went after the jute immediately - he did say that she's working more like a PP dog than a schutzhund dog - she's more interesting in pulling into her, and she's got a lot of defense in all of this - even in a fun tug game. we worked on body sensitivity with her too. she got to keep the jute back to the car and eventually she dropped it, and i put her up.
then the noodle - i told him i was honest that i wasn't sure what he would do. berlin was fired up in the car while others did bitework, and rah was just sleeping in his crate - keep in mind, i specifically parked so they COULD see what was going on, COULD see the dogs get agitated. rah just sat in his crate watching like a good man (how come SOMETIMES he has manners? i cant get the dog to stop stealing food off the counter?!?!?!?!?! but he wont bark in his crate???).
i brought him out and he ZEROED in on the game immediately, barked, and latched on - and never let go. he shook it, he walked with it, he climbed up pats body - but rah never ever let go. pat said that i can tell whomever told me rah would never bite that it was all bullshit, because he can have rah on a sleeve soon - i was amazed. my dog, the one i thought would never go near a male helper EVER, was climbing up a 6'8" male stranger to keep his grip while he pet his head. rah got to hold the tug for 4 minutes because he held it calmly right near the car, and when he did drop it, i put him away. i know it was just a tug, but from where he was, and what he is - i was impressed.
so that was that. im really happy with this guy - because he goes into the psychology behind it - not just working dogs, but its like - MIND stimulating, ya know? we're talking about drives and control and such, and that's what i want from training. i want to talk about this stuff - not just be told what to do. i want to dissect every little thing i do!!!!!
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