FReeper Canteen ~ MERRY CHRISTMAS, TROOPS AND VETERANS!! ~ 25 December 09

Merry Christmas Troops and Vets, Families and Allies !! | The Canteen Crew

[Arrowhead1952]

and obey most commands (get off the sofa! is obeyed with reluctance, but it is obeyed).

Our new English Sheep Dog pup is just starting to behave and listen to commands better. I can drop her leash and she walks alongside me for about 1/4 - 1/2 mile and not dart away.

[blackie]

Thank you Kathy!

The same to you and yours!

[amom]

I hope yours was a wonderful Christmas.

We stayed home and had a lovely Christmas. The youngest, Matt and I along with the grandmother. We were a cozy little group. Tanker is doing well thanks.

[AnAmericanMother]

A Sheep Dog should be eminently trainable! You should get her into Herding or Obedience, or Agility if you’re feeling active (you get almost as much exercise as she does in Agility).

[Kathy in Alaska]

Oh no, Arrowhead....a democrat dog!! What are you going to do?

[Arrowhead1952]

She has tried to “herd” the deer when she got away from me on two occasions. Believe me, I get a lot of exercise.

She does have a “wild” burst of energy sometimes, goes berserk and runs like crazy.

[Arrowhead1952]

Actually, that was a joke on the TX message board, but that is the mentality of the left.

[AnAmericanMother]

Oh, yes. In Labs, that sudden burst of wild energy is called "the zoomies", "orbiting" or "butt tucking" . . . because when Labs get it, they run in circles and somehow manage to run while sitting down - tucking their hind ends under - ears flapping, eyes rolling wildly, tongues hanging out.

It's hysterical . . . but hard on the furniture.

[AZamericonnie]

OH NO! My dog is a Democrat!

LOLOL!!!

That's cute.

Naw....she's just the fur baby of a responsible conservative!!:) *hugs*

[Arrowhead1952]

Well, this animal can go from docile and friendly to a wild and jumping 45 lb monster within seconds. She can literally knock me off my feet if I am not aware of her actions.

She can leap two to three feet off the ground and can chase a Frisbee that is going AWAY from her and still catch it in midair.

[Arrowhead1952]

That was a joke on the TX message board I copied into an email and got it BACK from someone I did not send the origial message to this morning. I love FR for the best email jokes ever.

[AnAmericanMother]

My Choc is rather sedate now, but as a baby she was a specialist in the Zoomies.

Her very first agility trial, when she was around 1 year old, she jumped the first obstacle and then had a sudden attack of the Zoomies. She orbited the ring at top speed several times, then ran up to the judge, leaped six feet straight up in the air from a dead stop, licked his face without touching any other part of his body, then took off again. The gallery was howling with laughter, which just made her run faster. I finally caught her when she ran out of steam.

She DID go on to get her AX and AXJ, she was running in Masters when I retired her. Didn't get her MACh, she was not fast enough (I nannied her too much when she was learning, so she never ran at top speed, she was always watching me.)

Now that she's 10 and more sedate, the zoomies aren't a problem. My 3 year old Black Lab, Ruby, still gets them, but we've discovered a real problem with our new dog, 10 month old Katy. Ruby and Katy egg each other on, and the Zoomies are far, far worse. They have tipped over the sofa and broken a leg off the butler's table.

[AnAmericanMother]

For sudden attacks of wild jumping, teach a solid "DOWN" and reinforce it. When she starts with the wild jumping, down her, or sit her and then down her.

Are you clicker training her?

[Arrowhead1952]

Oh, she has had the DOWN with a tug on her collar more than once. I really need to use the harnesses we have more than I do now, but she walks well with the other ones we use.

We do use the clickers when we walk, and I often let the leash drop onto the ground / road for quite a way when walking. She is just so unpredictable for her behavior.

[AnAmericanMother]

Can you see any pattern in what sets her off? Does she give any warning?

When I say a solid "down", I mean one that you can down her in the middle of a recall (like the drop on recall in Open Obedience). You can teach it via the clicker method, or you can use two long lines, one passed through a loop driven into the ground.

The idea is to get her used to obeying the "down" even when she's in the middle of something else (like running back to you on a recall . . . or one of her excited fits).

[Arrowhead1952]

No, there is no pattern to her behavior. She goes into her ballistic mode with no warning. I can take her down by her collar, put her head on the grass and she comes back up for more.

[Salvation]

You are a veritable well of knowledge! Thank you!

[AnAmericanMother]

She needs to learn to "down" without being "placed". Rehearsal when she is not in ballistic mode, and plenty of it. A visual AND verbal cue, as in the "drop on recall", would be a good idea.

Most of it is probably puppy sillies which she will grow out of. You might look into training with an Ecollar. I don't know what I would have done with Ruby without it.

[Arrowhead1952]

Most of it is probably puppy sillies which she will grow out of. You might look into training with an Ecollar.

My wife told me that English Sheep Dog puppies stay in the puppy stage for almost three years. YIPES! We have considered the E-collar.

[AnAmericanMother]

Labs take 3 years to grow up too. But I noticed a real difference beginning in my Ruby at two and a half. She is now three and change, and quite a different dog. For instance, I can 'sit/stay' her and then go walk all over 2-3 acres planting blinds while she sits obediently (and watches me to see where the blinds are going). And she has passed her JH and SHR - no HR passes yet, but we're working on it (she gets extra excited when there are live birds).

IF you decide to go with an Ecollar, be sure to find a trainer who understands how to use one. Even after several years, I am very careful in my application of it, and I use a very low level. Also, DO NOT GET one of the cheap Ecollars from the pet store. Innotek is worthless - goes off at random and breaks frequently. I got one free, and it wasn't even worth that. The best brand is Tri-Tronics, but DogTra is also good. SportDog I hear is good also. I know Tri-Tronics makes a less expensive training collar for amateurs and I assume the other two major mfrs. do too.

Steve Snell at Dog Training Supply has a great page on how to choose a collar here.