Seeker VS. The 'Table'

Seeker, like many other dogs, doesn't find the table to be his 'favorite' obstacle. He does it, however, if he's running with speed he'll often bounce onto it and let his momentum carry him off. I suppose he thinks this is fun? Who knows what's going on inside his head? I'm pretty sure I don't want to know.

We went up to Ann Braun's Training Center on Friday to have a lesson with Michelle Persian. It's a LONG drive and there's just not a good way to get to Eau Claire, WI from Eastern Iowa. Luckily I end up with a lot of training ideas to bring home to work on. Even though I make a list before I go, it seems like I always forget to ask about one thing! G

On the list of things to work on was our 'table issue'. If I can get to the table ahead of him to help him collect he's fine. Obviously that might not always be the case. So we worked sequences in which we knew I would not be able to beat him to the table. It was made up of three tunnels, one of them straight and three jumps in a straight line. It was oval in shape so we could get a lot of speed getting to that table.

The first time, he bounced on and off. Big surprise there. All I was to do was to tell him "oh my", and be sad that we couldn't have a party. Then try it again. It only took a couple times and he was collecting on his own, so he'd 'nail' the table and we could have a HUGE tugging party 'on the table'. It got so that even if I kept running by he'd stay on. GOOD BOY!! So, now I just need to be sure I continue to work with that.