Lauren
01-12-2008, 06:12 PM
Well, Izzy and I met with the flyball trainer last night, this is going to be long, so I won't hold it against you if you give up and don't read it, LOL!
First I got lost It was so scary, the place is 45 minutes from where I live, in a strange place, it was dark out, and I was trying to navigate and drive at the same time. I ended up in the ghetto, I just drove around until I spotted a hair salon and got directions. Then I got lost with their directions and ended up parking outside of the bar/legion to call the trainer, only to find out I had forgotten the number. I knew I had called her on my cell a few days ago, so I went back through and called every number I didn't recognize (talked to a lot of people I didn't know! LOL) before I got her. Turns out, the training facility is attached to the Legion! Yippee, pure coincodence!
So I drive around back and while I was driving I realized that I hadn't heard a peep from Izzy since I'd asked for directions at the salon and I called her name...no response. All I could think was that somehow she had died or hurt herself or something aweful like that (I don't know how she would do any of those, but I wasn't thinking straight), so I started flipping out and I was shaking so hard I could barely get the key in the slot to open the back and when I did I still didn't hear anything (usually she's up and moving when I open the back door) so I throw open the zipper on her crate...and out pops her little head, happy as a clam. I've never been that scared in my life.
At this point I was convinced the whole night was going to be a disaster because I was so not in a good state of mind (I was still shaking for like the first 20 minutes we were there, I think I was in shock) and Izzy usually picks right up on those things and gets wigged out too. So we get out, take a potty break and go in the training building.
Met with the trainer, talked, she explained what we were going to do, etc. Then she evaluated Izzy in a strange environment. She said that Izzy wasn't going full tilt to check everything out, and that she was stretching to sniff new objects and stuff but that her weight was foreward and she was moving foreward which was a good sign, she was happy with that.
Then it was time to get out one of her dogs (all shelties):
First she got out her middle(?) dog (not alpha or omega), Angel, and had me walk Izzy in circles around her and the dog. Izzy's eyes were glued to me and she didn't even look at Angel, so we reversed it and Izzy sat in the middle while she and Angel circled and Izzy's eyes still stayed glued to me (she commented on how great Izzy's focus was, WOOT!). Then she let Angel approach Izzy and when she got about two feet away Izzy growled, Angel backed off (not a scared, tail tucking run away, just a calm confident walk away) and she explained that Izzy was telling Angel she wanted space and Angel was fine with that.
Then she brought out Libby (omega) and we did the same circle thing and both dogs were fine. She let Libby approach and again at about 2 feet Izzy growled and Libby backed off. Then she held Libby still and had Izzy come and sniff her and Libby went submissive. Then we reversed that and I held Izzy and she let Libby come to sniff Izzy (one of Izzy's main issues is that she doesn't like other dogs sniffing her backside at all), and Izzy really growled. The trainer said that her sensativity could be because of Frodo attacking her back legs when they play (when he does this Izzy immediately stops the play), or it could be a herding thing where she doesn't want the other dogs behind her.
Then she got out Bella (alpha) and told me that if Bella thought Izzy was out of line that she might correct her, so of course I got worried. Anywho, we did the circle thing both ways, both dogs were fine, she let Bella approach and again at 2 feet she growled and Bella just let her alone like the other dogs had. She also had me take Bella and her take Izzy to see if Izzy was guarding me at all, but when I let Bella approach it was still 2 feet and growl, so she's not guarding me. Then Izzy did her trademark behavior and flopped on her back at the trainers feet for bellyrubs , and the trainer was really happy about that because she said if Izzy wasn't feeling completely safe and relaxed she never would have put herself in such a vulnerable position.
Then she asked me if I would feel comfortable if she let all of her dogs out, I said it was fine, I was actually feeling really good about the whole situation, Izzy didn't seem to be stressed at all, actually quite relaxed. So she let them out and they all went bouncing and playing around (notmal dog play) and Izzy stuck right by my side just watching them. The trainer commented on how Izzy want's to be right by me in case anything happened. Then after a while I let Izzy off leash while the other dogs were playing and she went off to investigate while the other dogs played, if they got within the two feet of her she would growl and they would calmly move out of her zone and continue to play. Once they even knocked into her and she didn't do anything, just continued to go about her business. She said she would have liked to have seen Izzy try and join in with the play, but if Izzy wasn't ready for that yet then it was fine with her.
Then she had treats and was walking around the facility and Izzy was following her with the rest of the dogs and she was focused on the trainer and didn't even growl once at the other dogs, she wasn't extremely close to them, but I'm pretty sure there was a few times where she was closer than 2 feet.
Then she got some treats and was taking turns feeding them treats and Izzy was doing great with waiting her turn with the other dogs, then she got high value treats and did the same thing, and Izzy was fine again. Then she told her dogs to down and Izzy dropped right into a perfect down along with them and waited her turn while her butt wiggled, lol
The trainer was like "Lauren, do you see your dog?!" I was SO proud
Then she gave me the treats and I did the same thing with dishing out the treats and everything was great again, Izzy waited her turn with the other dogs like a champ. She said if Izzy was aggressive she never would have waited her turn around the other dogs with such high value treats, escpecially with the way the other dogs were right over her head.
She put her dogs away then and showed me how to build ball drive with Izzy (she even showed me her dog Angel who was like Izzy when they started but now gets excited for the ball, chases the ball, picks it up and will carry it for three steps back before dropping it), and worked with the ball and Izzy for a little bit. Then she showed me how to start cone work for flyball with Izzy and we tested Izzy and found out she is left pawed . She also taught me how to switch Izzy from back brain to front brain. My homework is to work on ball drive, the cones and the back/front brain exercises. Yea, that's right, WE ARE IN! Wahoo!
She said she'd love to have Izzy come and she thinks she will be absolutely fine, that they only have stable dogs in the class and they usually work with one dog at a time while the others are waiting in their crates. The only thing we might have trouble with would be the pass at the start of the lane when the dogs run, but that we'd work on that when we get to it. She said they also have "free time" at the end of the classes where the dogs are all off leash, I think that will be good for Izzy, maybe she can pick up on how to interact with other dogs. She said sometimes she worries about body structure for flyball with corgis and that most corgis she sees are overweight, but that Izzy looks great and she thinks I've done really well with her and that she'll be a great dog to work with *beams* and that she'd make a great height dog.
Then she gave me easier directions home and we had no problem. All in all we spent about 2 hours there :SHOCKED:
One thing that really stuck with me was when she said "There's no reason why Izzy should have to sniff noses with every dog on the street or at an event anymore than you have to shake hands with every person at a party or introduce yourself to every person you see on the street." Or something like that.
*gasps for breath*
THANK YOU FOR READING!
First I got lost It was so scary, the place is 45 minutes from where I live, in a strange place, it was dark out, and I was trying to navigate and drive at the same time. I ended up in the ghetto, I just drove around until I spotted a hair salon and got directions. Then I got lost with their directions and ended up parking outside of the bar/legion to call the trainer, only to find out I had forgotten the number. I knew I had called her on my cell a few days ago, so I went back through and called every number I didn't recognize (talked to a lot of people I didn't know! LOL) before I got her. Turns out, the training facility is attached to the Legion! Yippee, pure coincodence!
So I drive around back and while I was driving I realized that I hadn't heard a peep from Izzy since I'd asked for directions at the salon and I called her name...no response. All I could think was that somehow she had died or hurt herself or something aweful like that (I don't know how she would do any of those, but I wasn't thinking straight), so I started flipping out and I was shaking so hard I could barely get the key in the slot to open the back and when I did I still didn't hear anything (usually she's up and moving when I open the back door) so I throw open the zipper on her crate...and out pops her little head, happy as a clam. I've never been that scared in my life.
At this point I was convinced the whole night was going to be a disaster because I was so not in a good state of mind (I was still shaking for like the first 20 minutes we were there, I think I was in shock) and Izzy usually picks right up on those things and gets wigged out too. So we get out, take a potty break and go in the training building.
Met with the trainer, talked, she explained what we were going to do, etc. Then she evaluated Izzy in a strange environment. She said that Izzy wasn't going full tilt to check everything out, and that she was stretching to sniff new objects and stuff but that her weight was foreward and she was moving foreward which was a good sign, she was happy with that.
Then it was time to get out one of her dogs (all shelties):
First she got out her middle(?) dog (not alpha or omega), Angel, and had me walk Izzy in circles around her and the dog. Izzy's eyes were glued to me and she didn't even look at Angel, so we reversed it and Izzy sat in the middle while she and Angel circled and Izzy's eyes still stayed glued to me (she commented on how great Izzy's focus was, WOOT!). Then she let Angel approach Izzy and when she got about two feet away Izzy growled, Angel backed off (not a scared, tail tucking run away, just a calm confident walk away) and she explained that Izzy was telling Angel she wanted space and Angel was fine with that.
Then she brought out Libby (omega) and we did the same circle thing and both dogs were fine. She let Libby approach and again at about 2 feet Izzy growled and Libby backed off. Then she held Libby still and had Izzy come and sniff her and Libby went submissive. Then we reversed that and I held Izzy and she let Libby come to sniff Izzy (one of Izzy's main issues is that she doesn't like other dogs sniffing her backside at all), and Izzy really growled. The trainer said that her sensativity could be because of Frodo attacking her back legs when they play (when he does this Izzy immediately stops the play), or it could be a herding thing where she doesn't want the other dogs behind her.
Then she got out Bella (alpha) and told me that if Bella thought Izzy was out of line that she might correct her, so of course I got worried. Anywho, we did the circle thing both ways, both dogs were fine, she let Bella approach and again at 2 feet she growled and Bella just let her alone like the other dogs had. She also had me take Bella and her take Izzy to see if Izzy was guarding me at all, but when I let Bella approach it was still 2 feet and growl, so she's not guarding me. Then Izzy did her trademark behavior and flopped on her back at the trainers feet for bellyrubs , and the trainer was really happy about that because she said if Izzy wasn't feeling completely safe and relaxed she never would have put herself in such a vulnerable position.
Then she asked me if I would feel comfortable if she let all of her dogs out, I said it was fine, I was actually feeling really good about the whole situation, Izzy didn't seem to be stressed at all, actually quite relaxed. So she let them out and they all went bouncing and playing around (notmal dog play) and Izzy stuck right by my side just watching them. The trainer commented on how Izzy want's to be right by me in case anything happened. Then after a while I let Izzy off leash while the other dogs were playing and she went off to investigate while the other dogs played, if they got within the two feet of her she would growl and they would calmly move out of her zone and continue to play. Once they even knocked into her and she didn't do anything, just continued to go about her business. She said she would have liked to have seen Izzy try and join in with the play, but if Izzy wasn't ready for that yet then it was fine with her.
Then she had treats and was walking around the facility and Izzy was following her with the rest of the dogs and she was focused on the trainer and didn't even growl once at the other dogs, she wasn't extremely close to them, but I'm pretty sure there was a few times where she was closer than 2 feet.
Then she got some treats and was taking turns feeding them treats and Izzy was doing great with waiting her turn with the other dogs, then she got high value treats and did the same thing, and Izzy was fine again. Then she told her dogs to down and Izzy dropped right into a perfect down along with them and waited her turn while her butt wiggled, lol
The trainer was like "Lauren, do you see your dog?!" I was SO proud
Then she gave me the treats and I did the same thing with dishing out the treats and everything was great again, Izzy waited her turn with the other dogs like a champ. She said if Izzy was aggressive she never would have waited her turn around the other dogs with such high value treats, escpecially with the way the other dogs were right over her head.
She put her dogs away then and showed me how to build ball drive with Izzy (she even showed me her dog Angel who was like Izzy when they started but now gets excited for the ball, chases the ball, picks it up and will carry it for three steps back before dropping it), and worked with the ball and Izzy for a little bit. Then she showed me how to start cone work for flyball with Izzy and we tested Izzy and found out she is left pawed . She also taught me how to switch Izzy from back brain to front brain. My homework is to work on ball drive, the cones and the back/front brain exercises. Yea, that's right, WE ARE IN! Wahoo!
She said she'd love to have Izzy come and she thinks she will be absolutely fine, that they only have stable dogs in the class and they usually work with one dog at a time while the others are waiting in their crates. The only thing we might have trouble with would be the pass at the start of the lane when the dogs run, but that we'd work on that when we get to it. She said they also have "free time" at the end of the classes where the dogs are all off leash, I think that will be good for Izzy, maybe she can pick up on how to interact with other dogs. She said sometimes she worries about body structure for flyball with corgis and that most corgis she sees are overweight, but that Izzy looks great and she thinks I've done really well with her and that she'll be a great dog to work with *beams* and that she'd make a great height dog.
Then she gave me easier directions home and we had no problem. All in all we spent about 2 hours there :SHOCKED:
One thing that really stuck with me was when she said "There's no reason why Izzy should have to sniff noses with every dog on the street or at an event anymore than you have to shake hands with every person at a party or introduce yourself to every person you see on the street." Or something like that.
*gasps for breath*
THANK YOU FOR READING!