He is such a CRAP HEAD!!

[Emoore]

I invited hubby to come out and watch me and Kopper at agility this morning because he'd been doing soooo good in class. So the instructor had set up a simple little course: jump, tunnel, pause table, tire, A-frame. I led out from past the jump, he tore through the tunnel (he loves the tunnel), I told him table then platz! He stands on the table and looks at me like he's never heard platz before in his life. I make the hand signal and say platz again. He looks at me like I'm stupid. I take out a treat and say platz. Nothing doing. Finally the instructor says, "If you can get a sit, that would be ok too." I got a sit, and we finished the course.

Next round comes. Over the jump, through the tunnel, up on the table. I tell him sit and he just looks at me. I tell him sit again and make the hand signal. He jumps off the table. I grab his collar and put him back on the table and tell him sit. No dice. I get a cookie and he sits. We finish the course.

Third round. Over the jump, through the tunnel, and this time he refuses to get on the table. Flat-out refuses. Finally I grab his collar and place him bodily on the table, smack his butt (lightly) and grab several inches of neck scruff to get a sit. By this point the rest of the class is rolling and hubby wonders why I'm wasting all this money on dog classes.

Guess what we'll be working on this week?

[gsdraven]

[DharmasMom]

Sounds like someone is now a teenager!! I am soooo glad Dharma is finally finished with all of those stages.

[Emoore]

Oh look, here's the little craphead now:

[Stosh]

They love to tease us don't they?

[MaggieRoseLee]

Do you have a table in your yard?

The reason they start doing what you are seeing, WHICH BTW is common in the best fastest dogs cause they don't want to slow down the action but go go go go go, is why the AKC now only has a 'stand' on the table. Compromise that they still need to be there for 5 sec but not in a 'down/sit'.

IF you have a table (and I got one to help prevent this ) then if you add the clicker and A TOY you'll start getting the 'down' back. Cause it brings the fun back to the table.

The thing to remember though is you have to reward the dog ON the table, not with a release by throwing the ball/tug. That won't reinforce the 'table' as much as the NOT on the table . But you can toss a ball to the dog when they are on the table (after the click) and if they come off it's fine. Or get the tug to the dog and tug ON the table.

The reason I teach an automatic 'down' (so I try not to say 'down' or 'platz' just TABLE) is because you don't want to mess up your 'platz/down' command in the rest of life. This is pretty important... So theoretically, I just say 'table' and my dogs know it means to jump up, turn to me, and go down. One command means all of that. Initially I start by saying table and luring the dog up with a FISTFUL of roastbeef/chicken/sharp cheese/liverwurst and clicking/milking the treats slowly out as the dog gets up (click/treat), turns to me (click/treat) then I hold the fist low to get the head down (click/treat) then the fist at the edge/below the table so dog's elbows go down (click/treat) then dogs behind goes lower (click/treat). THE ENTIRE TIME I DO NOT TALK after the initial 'Table' command.

Eventually I only click/treat when the dog's behind goes down. TONS of click treats fast when they stay there as I move around, and then can add the toy when it's going well.

I'm 7 years into this with Bretta and I STILL treat her most of the time in class on the table and in her contacts! Never hurts and taking for granted cause I THOUGHT she had it can cause problems...

Just tell your husband that your dog is SO advanced he's already having the problems the top dogs in the world experience!

[doggiedad]

your dog does well when hubby isn't there.
i wonder if your hubby being there had anything
to do with your dogs behaviour? does your hubby
watch you train in your yard? just think what an easy
fix this is if your dog is behaving poorly because
your hubby is there.

[middleofnowhere]

Maybe the problem had to do with the trainer trying to show off. I'd guess the dog sensed a change in the trainer's demenor and was responding to that.

[AgileGSD]

I don't think this has anything to do with the dog "being a craphead" or "a teenager". A lot of entry level agility classes really gloss over the important foundation skills in favor of giving the humans what they find most rewarding, which is doing equipment and running courses.

MLR is right - it sounds like you need to build value with the table. And I'd also suggest not worrying about fixing mistakes at this stage of training, as that only encourages the dog to be more "careful" when running courses. Focus on building value in the equipment and running with you and stringing obstacles together will come around naturally.

[Emoore]

Actually, we hadn't done the pause table in several weeks. He'd gotten used to running through with joyous abandon. I think hubby being there was just a coincidence-- we hadn't done the table in a long time and he didn't want to stop.

MRL, thanks for that. I don't have a table but can build one fairly easily. Think I'll do that.