Even as trainers, sometimes we need more help. That is what I found as Suki and I made our way through our weave class. We have officially finished our 6-week online class to learn 2 x 2 weaves method. We struggled. But that is OK because we still learned along the way.
We had a great 3 weeks. We were on track. Then. Life. Work got busy. I had some technical issues with filming our progress therefore we couldn’t get feedback from our trainer. We stalled in our training. This can happen from time to time. Sometimes you can work through it on your own and sometimes not.
There were positive things even without staying on track. I consciously made time at least every other day to work Suki. We both loved that. I learned how to take better notes when working toward a training goal. I did master using my iPhone to video training sessions. I made sure Suki always had fun even if we didn’t move forward. I learned she is a fickle dog when it comes to rewards. One day the tug was important, the next it wasn’t. She kept me challenged finding items she was willing to earn for reward. I learned that too much exercise before practice was detrimental and so was not enough. A Kong or a walk around the park was just perfect and put her in the right frame of mind.
We haven’t accomplished the goal of straight weaves yet. But I sure did learn a ton during the 6 weeks that wasn’t even part of the curriculum. We certainly haven’t given up. We are going to take some private lessons and keep moving forward.
When you are training your dog (in a class or home), break it down afterwards and observe what you accomplished. Even if it wasn’t what you set out to do that particular day or week there was progress in your relationship with your dog. Isn’t that what we all strive for everyday?