A very packed class this one and learning lots!

Heel work

Artemis definitely works better with a particular biscuit and she did great.

About turns

We practised about turns.

An about turn is where you instruct your dog to heel and you turn clockwise 180 degrees and the dog follows you sticking close to your left leg.

A left about turn is exactly the same, you just turn anti-clockwise 180 degrees.

I was advised not to go around the dog, the dog has to go around you (almost walking backwards) and of course you have to keep moving.

The trainer taught me some footwork, which I could only do in slow motion! So when the trainer called left about turn, I had to slow down to perform the action. Artemis did well – she’s always after a treat.

Heel with positions

Next we continued walking to heel, then the trainer instructed a position (down, sit, then stand). Here you call out the position, ask your dog to wait, walk to the end of the lead, walk back to the other end of the lead, then walk to heel – all continuously moving.

Down: The first position was down. Artemis was at an angle here, but she waited whilst I walked to both ends of the lead and walked to heel fine.

Sit: The next position was sit. Similarly, Artemis was at a slight angle, but again Artemis waited.

Stand: The final position was stand. Artemis did really well and was not at an angle for this one. I was really impressed by this, because we only practised stand position in the kitchen at home with no walking or heel work, and this was a stand position after heel work and then followed by more heel work.

The trainer noted that when I walk to either end of the lead I give Artemis a wide berth, and suggested that I just walk alongside her, so I’ll try to remember that. Not bad on the first try.

Call your dog: Finally, we did call your dog. I was baffled, so watched the other owners. They called their dogs to come and proceeded to walk backwards, so that’s what I did with Artemis.

Then the trainer said to heel, so I got Artemis to heel. What I actually had to do was an about turn myself and I follow the dog’s direction and continue walking in the heel position.

Novice recall

Next we practised novice recall. It appeared that Artemis was just super excited, because in the first attempt I moved my hand to brush my hair out of my face and Artemis came running towards me! I hadn’t even called “come”.

On the second attempt, I made sure not to brush my hair out of my face! I called “come”, and she came hurtling towards me!

Angled recall

Very similar to novice recall, you just face perpendicular to your dog so they run towards you and then turn 90 degrees to a present position in front of your feet.

Artemis was fine with this one.

“A” recall

This is when you ask the dog to wait, walk almost to the end of the lead, ask your dog to heel and they are in the heel position on your left and you continue walking to heel.

We’ve been practising this at home without a lead. Today I had the lead to the longest length, and it started ok, but then when I called Artemis to heel, she came too quickly and I didn’t gather the lead up quickly enough. So perhaps this is better without a lead – she’s too fast!

Conclusion

Learning lots. Artemis is a quick learner – quicker than me! My footwork prompt helped with left about turn, but I can only do that command slowly, whilst Artemis is waiting for the treat.

The recalls were good, other than the hair sweeping which distracted Artemis. Then on praise and release after the recalls, Artemis decided to eat some grass a few feet away and I called her name 3 times to which the trainer reminded me that calling her name isn’t a command.

So I called come and Artemis came traipsing over to me! She definitely understands the commands, I just need to make sure I say the correct one to get her to do what she needs to do.