Making some progress

[kazP]

It's only been about 4 weeks since I've started walking Abi again (I've had to use a dog walker because I broke my arm). Anyway... I'm trying to restore her recall amongst tons of other things (sigh). Here's a short video from today... still a way to go yet (I was so preoccupied with filming I forgot to ask her to wait before releasing her... grrr)

recall2.MOV - YouTube

recall2.MOV - YouTube

[kelpiemad]

Looking good I hope you continue with your training Abi is a stunning looking girl

[LOVEGSD]

Aww bless her, keep up the good work...x

[kazP]

Many thanks for the comments / encouragement... believe me, I need it!!!

Tomorrow we face a new challenge... we're going on a pack walk. I know this is no big deal for the majority, but it's a big hurdle for us (I have no idea how Abi will behave with other dogs). I think the plan is to walk them together for about 30 minutes, then depending on Abi's behaviour, we might let her off the lead... lol... my stomach is churning just thinking about it .

[jc24965]

Hopefully if she sees the other dogs behaving well, she will follow by example. Hope it goes well.

[gsdmags]

Well Done to you,Both
If it is a big deal to you, then it is, hope all goes well, and even if it is only for a short time, progress is being made, enjoy your walk.

[LOVEGSD]

Sounds great, stay calm and try to enjoy it, can't wait to hear how you get on..x

[kazP]

We met up with the lady and her 3 dogs as planned. Unfortunately one of her dogs had been attacked and bitten by another dog just a few days ago. This immediately made me anxious about exposing her dog to Abi who may not behave that well (unknown territory).

We began the walk with all dogs on the lead... surprisingly Abi was just sniffing the ground and not really taking that much interest in the other dogs. After about 20 minutes the dogs were let off the lead for 5 minutes before we popped a muzzle on Abi and let her free to join them.

Her first reaction was to run full speed to greet the dogs... nothing bad happened. Abi started darting around then running back to the dogs to try get them to play with her, but they were much more subdued and weren't interested in joining her.

The only bad incident was when Abi bumped into one of the dogs as she raced past them. After this, the dog she bumped into let out a small growl every time Abi got near it (I felt terrible), but on the plus side, Abi respected the dog's grumble and gave it space.

After about 30 minutes we parted company so that her dogs could have a more relaxed time. The lady kindly offered to do the same next Wednesday to help Abi (what a treasure).

My friend and I then took Abi off for a run in the woods (no lead) and to practice recall (this is going quite well, but we've not met with any real challenges, such as her spotting another dog - would she come back then? - probably NOT!).

We are also training her to walk to heel off the lead so that we can approach junctions calmly together, just in case we end up spotting something she needs to be leashed for. She is doing well at this. I can usually tell how well Abi has behaved by the amount of liver cake left at the end of her walk... the bag was almost empty so that's a good sign.

Although I took my camera I was too preoccupied to take any photos . I expect in a few weeks time I'll be all heart in the mouth when I remove her muzzle when she's off the lead.

[LOVEGSD]

Sounds like it went perfectly, the grumble from the dog she bumped into is a polite way of telling Abi to be careful and it sounds like she's heeding that well and if you walk regularly with this lady Abi will learn how to greet in the right way and the muzzle can come off.

You shouldn't be so pessistic about recall hun, you're doing better than you think so try to relax and go with the flow, jus keep practising it and be consistant and you will crack it. Abi will surprise you I bet!

Keep up the good work...x