About us.

Saturday 9 October 2010

Twiggys tale so far, and a bit of training.

Well I did promise to keep updating Twiggys progress, as well as Cove so here it is.
Since arriving as a frightened, quiet young dog she has really started to blossom into a character, and a very loving girl she is too. Training is slower with Twiggy than Cove, as it took a while to gain her confidence. Teaching simple things like left & right was very hard as she worried every time I moved my hand behind her head, she was also scared stiff of the clicker! Other much louder noises don't worry her at all, so all we can think is maybe the catch on the shed door she was shut behind for the first 6 months of her life, was a similar click. WAIT has been the hardest to teach. If i took one step away from her she would get up to come with me, and looked very worried. Have tried different methods and now starting to make progress, not by saying WAIT but saying 3..2..1, so if that works that will be fine.
Her recall has been almost faultless, and in foundation classes she never attempted to go anywhere but back to me every time. However we have hit a naughty teenager phase now, and in the last week she has been very stubborn and defiant in coming back to me in the fields on a walk. Frustrating but I am sure we will get there eventually. For now I will put a long line back on her, for safety more than anything. When tractors are working up and down the lanes I cant cope with the worry of Twiggy running through a gateway. Its all psychology though, because she doesn't take her eyes off me, and if i run in the opposite direction  she follows like a shot, just wont get close enough to get caught. Little madam!!
Tomorrow is our first young dog workshop and I cant wait to see how she gets on there, being the only one who hasn't been lucky enough to be loved and trained from a pup.

No comments: