Bragging Blogg-post number 2

[ursula wilby]

Obedience competition last night and Vilda (Röde Baronens Glory Days) got her second first prize. 175.5 points of 200 possible and a second place. 2.5 point better than last time and one place higher up, now beaten only by a Briard.
Very difficult conditions with temperatures over 30 degrees and few dogs that mooved more than at snails-pace.
So I was pleased it went so well. :-)

Sorry, Genes comment made me realise that I should have thought about the temperature being in Celsius...it was 31 degrees and that means 87.8 Fahrenheit. Perhaps not too hot for some of you...but a definate turn-off for most dogs (including mine) when it comes to work.

[Laura Kolbach]

grattis grattis!!!

[Jenny Ronnebro]

Stort grattis Ursula!

[Kristina Brannlund Westin]

Stort Grattis Ursula!
Jag beundrar er som jobbar så hårt med era settrar, en stor eloge till er!

[Ulrike Reder-Marko]

Congratulation! Your Vilda is not only a clever girl, but also a beautiful one!

[Katarina Hansson]

Stort Grattis ! Så duktiga ni är. Hon är så vacker, vilken utstrålning hon har.

[Gene]

Congrats to Vilda. I had to do a Celcius conversion on 30 degrees. Thanks for the education! :-)

[Susan Stone]

So you managed to beat those Border Collies! Yipee!!! Now don't tell me there weren't any there...

I am curious as to how you manage to motivate Vilda at 30 degrees to do a fast round of obedience. Tell us your secret?

[ursula wilby]

As to motivation...well that is VERY difficult when its as hot as that.
First I am totally boring and just stand in the shade with her doing NOTHING at all (no respons when she is looking for contact) until about two minutes before we are to enter. Then I become the most fun person ever, I do some fast heel-work feeding meatballs at every sit and turn = maximum turn on! Then I walk straight in and keep my fingers crossed :-)
It worked for about the first 70% of the time.
After that she turned slowly into a snail, and the jump (last) it was as much slow-motion as it could possibly be.
I then hope that the other competitors are more affected by the heat.
Also if EVERYTHING is spot on and you are only lacking speed, you will still get fairly good points if that is the only thing wrong.
It was upsetting to see that the border collies looked totally unaffected by the heat. But they made other mistakes instead (good for me)....:-)

[Susan Stone]

those tasty swedish meatballs??? I bet my dog would work at lightning speed for those...

The 'being boring' bit makes sense when I think about it. I see so many obedience dragging the dog around with them, then before it is their turn playing for 15 mins and once the dog is on the course he's just fed up and realizes the owner is not playing any more and all the punch goes out...

I did wonder a bit about the 'meatball for every turn'. Would it not keep attention higher if you used the intermittent reward technique before going in - and then get a full attention for 100%? I'd have though if you give full reward for EVERY turn then you risk your dog realizing immediately you walk in that now comes the NO REWARD section...

Is the jump always the last on the circuit? Could you work on a build up towards the jump, getting the dog to work through the behavioural chain, feeling more and more keen for the final reward? Of course in training you would give intermittent unexpected rewards DURING the session so as to avoid the dog anticipating the end reward and thereby working slow in the beginning and speeding up toward the end...

So there were Border Collies there! And you beat them all! Good:-))

[ursula wilby]

I was a bit unclear on the "meatball for every turn". It should be "every CORRECT turn".
But after a boring spell most turns are correct and most "sits" are straight.

I just feel that getting them all hyped up (with meatballs or chickenhearts or whatever) they tend to long for the next bit.
Mind you, I allways have long bits of drool hanging of them when I enter the ring :-)

Yes, the jump is the last in this class, and with most times, I bring their foodbowl along and leave it in the car and go straight there afterwards for the (maximum) reward. (I suppose that was what you ment when you talked about the "end-reward"). It was just boiling hot this day she was totally off her "proper" food so the foodbowl was not good enough...in fact there is allways a problem competing dogs that will ONLY go for food (as mine have).
When its too hot, food is just not interesting enough...unless its very special.