Good Citizenship

[Checkers]

It's been a while.. but we were shown two different methods of finishing. Both start with the dog sitting in front as was mentioned....

In the first method the dog would move to your right and circle around you until they "finished" in the heel position. A lot of the beginers and their dogs seemed to prefer this method.

My favorite though was the other method. My dalmatian did this type of almost automatically from the very beginning. I start this on leash and again with the dog sitting in front. I very rarely use treats in my training because I hardly ever have a way of carrying them when out walking and I don't want my pup to rely on me having them to do what is commanded. Treats are for tricks is my motto hehe. Anyhow... as corgimom said you would take a step back with your left leg, somewhat pulling your corgi towards your left side as you do. Corgi should stay on your left side in this method... come towards you on the left... looping towards you. As your dog hits the back of the "loop" you would bring your left leg back to a comfortable standing position... which should encourage your corgi to finish the loop back to a heel position. In this method the dog does not actually circle your body... as all the work is down on the left side.

Honestly, I hardly ever use "finish" (which, by the way, is one of the commands you could use after your dog has mastered it without a leash).. and have not even tried to teach it to Checkers yet, but if you would like to try competing in obedience classes you will need this.. and it can be quite fun and impressive to show off to friends too .

[corgimom]

Checkers you are right, my trainer did show the other method with the dog circling around the person completely. In our class, we had used treats andin that case it seemed much easier for the larger dogs where their noises were up higher towards the people hands holding the treats

With Cody being so short, it was easier for me to do it on the left side as you described.

I still take treats with me when walking Cody - I don't give them as much.
I just put them in a fanny pack along with my cell phone; and potty bags bags.

[milles2]

Ahhh Bonnie! I feel your pain!

I tend to have treats and "Mr. I never get fed" aka Tucker, watches my hands thinking he's getting a treat popped in his mouth. I hold my hands out to show him I have no treats and that focuses him a bit.

Even in agility, my poor starved Corgi will watch my treat bag if I have it hooked onto my belt instead of my hands. I've tried wearing it around my neck in hopes he will look closer to my face. I've tried hanging it off/behind my back out of his sight, .... he still knows it's there.

[Chip's Mom]

Susan:

That is exactly what Chip does and when I start to reach for my treat bag, he does the command before I can get it out of my mouth and when we are heeling, I keep a treat in my hand and if he thinks he has performed sufficiently, up he comes on his hind legs after his treat as we are walking around the ring. I guess we should just start feeding them instead of letting them waste away LOL

[Fluffypants]

I'm so glad that Jackie isn't the only one!!!! She is amazingly good at telling whether or not I have treats. Even if I have the empty pouch, she knows they're not in there . . . and vice versa. And she stays laser-focused on them if I have them . . . the poor thing is SO famished . . .

[Chip's Mom]

I took Maybelle to the vet's today and got her stitches out from being spayed and had Chip weighed so I could buy more heartworm. The poor starving dog has gained 2.6 lbs so he is a whopping 22.6 lbs. Not bad for one little starving corgi.

[corgimom]

And you thought Chip was starving sounds like he is coming along just fine. Glad that Maybelle came through fine also.

[milles2]

OK, here's a topic: Keeping the treat in your mouth!

This is how many of the accomplished handlers do it. They keep the treat in their mouth, dog looks at their face, then they spit it at them or transfer it from mouth to hand to dog.

Excuse me.... Eeeeeuuuwwwwwww! But heck, always open to learning - I gave it a try! Now remember, I wouldn't excatly do this with kibble..... but in Agility I tend to have cut up chicken or turkey or roast beef for Tucker. I tried putting it in my mouth and when the time came, taking it out and handing it to him.

1) It's just not natural!!!!! Ick! 2) The Agility class is tought in a structure w/ a dirt floor. My hands get the gritty dirt on them and when I pop a treat in my mouth/take it out, I end up with sand in my mouth! 3) And of course there's always the jokes with my freinds and fellow handlers: hey, this tastes pretty good, why am I giving it to a dog?

If this is where we separate the men from the boys, the strong from the faint of heart, I guess we won't make it to the next level!

[Dillydoodle]

OK, so my training center wanted to do positive only training, using treats. Now I have a corgi that knows if i have the treat bag or not, and will work only if he gets cookies. I tried working with DIllon without the bag but still having treats, and the way it works it he will do something once beautifully- when not rewarded the second time he does it barely acceptable and the third time...what third time, no cookie, he is off sniffing for someone elses crumbs in class...I lose him completely. If i have treats- he does the most beautiful heel, halt,long sit and down stays, recall, figure 8, set up and finish you have ever seen..on and off leash in a room of 10-18 other dogs and owners... when i have no treats, well, he is more likely to run amuck! LOL! I wonder if i could dip my hands in lamb juice from his bbq lamb that i make for him for class and smell enough like it to earn a CD title


oh, on the reason for a finish, the finish and the set up are the same - just gets the dog to be on your left side, and ready to work...I love it and use it all the time when we are walking. I can sometimes use it when he is obsessing on something - to break that cycle...and sometimes it doenst work oh well, he is still a teenager...or so everyone keeps telling me !
Emilie

[Chip's Mom]

Chip will work in the agility field without treats - but in class, you best have something to give him or he steals somebody elses crumbs.

[milles2]

Doesn't anyone feed their Corgis? Are all Corgis absolutely wasting away???? I'm sure if we asked them and they could talk we would hear how totally deprived they are.

My agility instructor kept telling me to wean him off the treats.... the other dogs do it w/o treats.

I'm with you guys! For treats, he does great. W/O treats.... whatever! Cracks me up.

[Fluffypants]

Originally Posted by milles2@rpi.edu

OK, here's a topic: Keeping the treat in your mouth!

This is how many of the accomplished handlers do it. They keep the treat in their mouth, dog looks at their face, then they spit it at them or transfer it from mouth to hand to dog.

Excuse me.... Eeeeeuuuwwwwwww! But heck, always open to learning - I gave it a try! Now remember, I wouldn't excatly do this with kibble..... but in Agility I tend to have cut up chicken or turkey or roast beef for Tucker. I tried putting it in my mouth and when the time came, taking it out and handing it to him.

1) It's just not natural!!!!! Ick! 2) The Agility class is tought in a structure w/ a dirt floor. My hands get the gritty dirt on them and when I pop a treat in my mouth/take it out, I end up with sand in my mouth! 3) And of course there's always the jokes with my freinds and fellow handlers: hey, this tastes pretty good, why am I giving it to a dog?

If this is where we separate the men from the boys, the strong from the faint of heart, I guess we won't make it to the next level!

I'm with you Susan. I cook liver (yuk) for school. My trainer told me about the mouth trick one day at class, and it was all I could do to keep my breakfast down! That stuff smells, feels and looks absolutely disgusting . . . there is NO WAY that I want to know how it tastes!!!!

Emilie - the more I hear about Dillon's antics in class, the more he sounds like his cousin! Two peas in a pod, you ask? I say - DEFINITELY!!!! There is no way to fool Jackie when it comes to treats. She knows when I have them, and when I don't. If I don't follow through with the goodies, she doesn't perform the way I want her to. But if I have the goods, she's (usually ) a gem . . .