The Spaniel Annals

Ruckus’ development from rally novice to obedience novice trialing has required a few major changes, the biggest one weaning him off my cheerleader voice.  He got too dependent on my voice in rally, which was not really his fault when I was using my voice (overusing, I think) to build up his animation and intensity.

But regular obedience trialing allows the voice only between exercises.  So we needed to gradually turn off my cheerleading voice while still maintaining his attitude.  Truth be told, I was seeing some lessening of intensity even by the end of his rally novice performances, so I knew we needed something to change.

So before this first fun match, we’ve moved to toys, specifically a frisbee that Ruckus loves.  I’m seeing much better duration and attention, and just an overall sense that Ruckus is “getting it.”  While I noticed when I watched this video that I was still using my voice a lot, it was less to cheer-lead, and more to remind him of what he needed to do.

The frisbee is now invisible in my armpit, but of course he knows I have it.  We’ll keep building duration and attention in different places, and eventually progress to the toy not on my body all the time.   I’m really happy with the progress and attitude I’m seeing here.