Training in Drive at the dog park!

Here’s our session from 6th Feb at the dog park. Hot 29d afternoon. I took the opportunity to improve Sunny’s heat tolerance + drive/fitness working in this kind of weather.
1. Goal was to start in basic position under distraction and build on this. Using the crate if necessary. ✅
2. Sunny has a bark cue during our training which helps make her more active. I noticed that I didn’t use this cue today and I’m very pleased that she wasn’t barking during the work (only after yes). To counter her potential for frustration + adapting to a challenging environment I used “good” more often so she felt confident in the work and that a reward was coming. I also didn’t feel like I needed to help her bring more drive by using the bark cue (see 3.)
3. My other bad habit was when I sense that she’s becoming slightly less motivated “tired” I help Sunny along by holding treats in either hand and immediately Sunny finds second wind and puts alot more effort into the task. This is a bad move.. as everything we add we must take away before trial. At this stage of her training it’s also unnecessary for us to use luring. However since using the crate method and putting her away when she doesn’t come out pumped, I’ve stopped this habit and don’t have a need to carry extra treats in my hand to “help” her find more drive. She brings it! And she’s understanding it’s her responsibility to give me 100%.
4. Our next video will be on retrieves! We learnt new things with Steve on our Tuesday lesson and have already practiced at home with great success using his strategies. Very fun seeing baby progress to powerful TID retrieves which will come with time.
#competitionobedience #dogtraining #finnishlapphund #focusedheeling #k9pro #obediencetraining #trainingindrive #distraction #dogpark