Ginger got away at dog training class tonight. Luckily, the property is fenced, so she didn’t really get away. She just got to tear wildly around the property for awhile until I cornered her and stepped on the leash.
When other dogs have gotten loose in the past, they want to investigate the other people and the other dogs. Not Ginger. She just wants to run and run and sniff and sniff. Aloof little Ginger couldn’t care less about the other dogs and people, which is maddening, because it makes her impossible to catch. She just wants to run.
Besides for that incident, she’s been doing great in training class. We’ve been working on sits, stays and recalls from longer distances, and she’s doing as well (or better) than the rest of the class. I just can’t let her get distracted or let her attention wander, because then she’s still liable to try and take off. Like she did tonight. Our training is definitely still a work in progress!
However, she has come a LONG way since we started the training classes a couple of months ago. We started working tonight on targeting a small lid (in preparation for agility contacts work) and she caught on immediately. We also have been working on loose leash walking during class. As long as I can keep her attention and keep a high rate of reinforcement, she’ll walk with me for a pretty long distance (20-30 feet). This is very excellent for Ginger, who is the master at pulling on the leash and not paying attention.