So I must ask, who is this wonderful Yellow Lab who looks like Maggie, and acts like Maggie, and responds like Maggie, but is not reacting at other dogs? Who is this dog that I just took out to use as a distraction dog for a Reactive dog student??? That's right, Maggie made her debut as my helper dog for a student and her dog reactive dog!!! Who is this, when did this happen and how long will it last?
This is just wild. All of a sudden a switch flipped and all of these years of training and worrying have paid off all at once. I am analyzing it like crazy and I don't get it, but I love it!
I warmed up my student using Etta and after a half hour of good work I decided to up the ante and bring out Maggie. I always work my dogs on a Gentle Leader in lessons. They are pretty good, but they must be perfect for a student. I actually found myself allowing Maggie to work on a flat collar after a few passes. She was great. She got a little forward once when the dog did react at her on a head on pass by, but it was a few hops ahead of me with no vocalization at all and immediate refocus on request.
It was mind blowing watching this happen and I want more now! I found myself always shying away from any potential dog interaction and now I almost find myself gravitating towards it. I don't get it, but I like it!
I hope she stays like this!
I hope she stays like this! I would not surprised if she has some little bobbles here and there, we all do! But I hope she continues to excel. She is such a great dog, this was her hurdle. Thanks for the feed back, it is very reinforcing! :)
Inspiring!
I got a chill down my back reading this post. "All of a sudden a switch flipped..." makes me wonder how often we have all stopped with dogs who might have been close to a breakthrough like this.
Congratulations! I for one will be watching for future posts about Maggie. Will she stay like this, will she flip back and forth somewhat? Fascinating.
Rosana Hart
www.training-dogs.com