CGC tests this saturday....help needed on #10!

[suzzyq01]

Sonar and I are taking our CGC this Saturday and he does fantastic on all portions of the test except 10. Supervised Separation.

As soon as I leave his sight he begins to whine and bark. He doesn't try to get away or become agitated with the temporary handler he simply just sits and whines then barks for basically the whole 3 minutes.

Before I leave him I put him in a sit or down/stay and turn around and walk away.

Not really sure how to help resolve this issue. Anyone have any experience in dealing with this? Advice is greatly appreciated!

[fuzzybunny]

I would say put him in his crate or tether him and leave his sight for a few seconds then come back and reward once he's silent. Then increase the duration of separation. Then practice in different environments following the same process. Hopefully you can do it before Saturday but that's not much time. Perhaps exercise him really well before you practice and before the test. A tired dog is a better behaved dog.

[suzzyq01]

Thats a really good idea. I will wear him out! He doesn't seem to whine at all when he is tired. I will also try the crate. Thanks.

[Chicagocanine]

When you have done this in the past did you return to him while he was whining? If so you probably inadvertently reinforced the behavior (he whines, you come back so his whining "worked".)
I had a similar problem with my terrier mix, he would bark his head off whenever I walked away from him, although in his case he only would continue as long as he could see me and if he saw me leave. If I could get someone to distract him and then get out of his sight before he noticed me walking away, he would stay perfectly quiet. So in his case it was more of an issue with him actually seeing me leave. But anyway someone suggested I wait him out: to avoid reinforcing him for barking by coming back while he was barking, they suggested I not return until he stopped. Unfortunately my dog was a tenacious terrier and it was difficult to wait him out. However that might be an option for your dog if you can wait out the barking, and then return and reinforce him when he is quiet.

Another thing that might help is to practice walking away and then returning quickly before he has a chance to start whining, then slowly build up the time you leave so he will realize you are going to be coming back (plus it gives a lot of opportunities to reinforce him for not whining.)
For example the first time you might just walk away and then turn around and immediately walk back without leaving. The next time you might go through a doorway and then walk right back to him, and then after practicing that a few more times you might walk through a doorway and then pause for a few seconds before walking back, and so on.
If you do this and at any point he starts whining/barking while you're practicing this, go back a step (so for example if you walked to the doorway and he is whining, you might go back to practicing walking only halfway across the room for a little while and then try increasing the distance again.)

[DolphinGirl]

Definitly tire him out!! Aspen just passed this and this was one of his biggest issues. I took him swimming before and then my SchH trainer suggested a hard but quick training session just before the test in the parking lot to let him know what I expected. Not all people believe in pronged or ecollars, but I did use it before we went in and he did fine...We did retest the separation, but it was b/c he could hear me talking to someone. Do NOT talk during the 3 min.

[koda00]

Where are you taking your test? im also taking the CGC test
saturday...

[suzzyq01]

No the trainer I am working with doesn't allow me to return until he has been quiet for at least 10 seconds. I mean honestly he whines when I'm still there haha. He wants something and he whines. I have worked very very very very hard to nip this kind of behavior in the bud. He used to just whine all the time. Mainly because I think he would get bored, and then it turned into when he wanted to go out, when he was hungry, when he wanted attention, when he felt a breeze go by. NOW it is almost completely gone. He gets excited in training and I have to reign him in sometimes so when I take charge he whines because he is a little dominant sucker who uses the whining to get his way. Doesn't work with me.

I will def try leaving him and returning in short spurts over the next 5 days. Question would be do I just tie him to something or get someone else to help me? He gets hella pissed when I tie him to something and walk away and it isn't so intense when he is with someone else.

I will try some things tonight and see how he does. Let you know the results tomorrow.

Thanks!!

[suzzyq01]

Originally Posted by koda00

Where are you taking your test? im also taking the CGC test
saturday...

AllBreeds K9 Training Center in Salem NH

It is part of our graduation of the 12 week basic obedience class.

[koda00]

Mine is at Fortunate K9 in Derry. This is my 2nd attempt, we failed the exact same one #10. except my GSd didnt stay, he followed me to the door. tried 3 times, no go!. We practiced so much for this at home, but it wasnt enough. So here we go again, and for the last 4 months i have been concentrated on mostly this. He'll past #10 no prob. this time.

Best of luck to you, im sure you'll do great

[wildo]

Lots of good info in this thread:
Good Canine Citizen help

Specifically, this post helped us immensely!
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