[ Post a Response | Ask Cheryl Carlson ]
Posted by Kathy W
on 11/2/2009, 2:40 pm, in reply to "Re: Drives of Dogs"
162.108.15.21
Thanks Howard I would love to come up and get your perspective on Ace and both my dogs for that matter. You were one of the ones I was hoping would have some thoughts on it.
Ace was pulling great initially in the snow drag work was no big deal, then spring came and the resistance was bigger, but for some reason and I'm still not exactly sure what the reason was (I'm not bright enough to have seen the problem) he got frustrated or something and started alligator rolling in his harness every time I tried to do drag work with him and he would lay there like he was dead (great for the neighbors if you can imagine). And that has continued all summer when I tried. Needless to say I got aggrevated and stopped working him.
One thing Karen said is that when he heels with me he crosses my body to the right looking for treats or something, but I've never used bait for heeling or obedience at all, the only time I've done it is during pulling at her place. When I'm dragging with him since I live in the city he has to be on leash and I can't keep up with his pace so I'm afraid he is getting leash corrections just when he gets to the pace he wants to drag. Karen is looking at it and it appears that he is running away from whatever is attached to his harness. He doesn't have any problem with the harness, but does seem concerned slightly with the stuff coming up behind him.
What we did this weekend is give him a job. He is doing sit / stay or stand / stay in the shut until I tell him to work and essentially come to me, but that doesn't help my drag work.
Karen said it may also be a shepherd (sensativity) thing, but after talking to Cheryl I'm not convinced because he won't out during bite work until you use extreme measures. Which is why I thought maybe I should try and get him to that same drive/intensity during weight pull.
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I know he only has to pull about 720 but I'd like to see if he can do more and actually compete with the big dogs. He's strong and smart, I'm sure it is just me.
Let me know your thoughts and suggestions for drag work and I'll give it a try.
Kathy
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