I got there shortly before 7. My friend was there already, working with another classmate on her Aussie's shyness. The Aussie and my friend's dog were happily working for treats together with no issues.
Since I was early, we put the helper dog away and I let Sadie loose. She had a treat in her face for the first minute or so, to keep her occupied while the Aussie sniffed her, then his owner started working them both. Sadie has no problem with other dogs as long as she isn't leashed, so all she cared about was the cheese. The two dogs would SIT, DOWN, STAY, and COME on cue together. They even took a jump in tandem once! For the last minute or two I worked them. The Aussie was hand-shy at first, but quickly realized that I was quite free with the treats.
The rest of us then set up a short sequence: three jumps in a quasi-serpentine to a table, where you front crossed and ran back down the serpentine. It was laid out so the jumps were practically a straight shot for the dog, but got them used to the handling and seeing the angles.
Sadie was running better tonight. I had her at 12" at first, but she was way over-jumping. We went up to 20", and only knocked one bar the whole session. I was extremely pleased with her, as she followed my cues wonderfully. Even when we added 6 weaves to the start of the sequence, she took them with energy. It's wonderful to see her new, bouncing weaves.
Maxwell had trouble taking all three jumps. He could get any two, but would veer off from the third. I had him at 16" to start, but moved him to 20" as well, hoping to slow him down. I'm not sure it worked! He is so high drive... he would charge out and over the first two jumps before I could even set him up. He did stick the table beautifully, which is something I've been wanting to work on. His weaves were gorgeous, even with a send. And... he did get the full jump sequence once. For doing it right, I tossed his tennis ball rather than ask for the rest of the run.
Both dogs also got a little drive work through a tire. The club has a brand new break-away tire, which Maxwell demonstrated nicely on his second pass. It must not be fun to hit, though, since he cleared it ever time after that. For each dog I placed the reward on the ground 15+ feet beyond the jump. I set them up close, then simply asked them through. If they took the tire, I let them charge for the reward. Maxwell got his ball, and Sadie got food. I think this is especially good for Sadie, since she can get overly handler-focused.
I ordered a Ready Treat today from Clean Run. It's a single-shot remote treat dispenser, and I think it will be great to work on sends over the A-frame and dog walk. Excellent for Maxwell, since he's sooooooo much faster than me. Plus, I can use extra wonderful stuff like peanut butter in it, which the Manners Minder can't.
* * * * *
I had a conversation with Mr. Trainer about my frustrations with Maxwell. I am feeling much better about the situation, though it's still going to be embarrassing when class has to grind to a halt so I can catch my dog. I now have permission to train in class with a tennis ball when Maxwell has the floor. He'll be leashed at all other times in the room, with lesser rewards. There is also the possibility to gating off the back of the room so I can work on off-leash motion, using the gates to make the other dogs a bit less distracting.
I do have to remember one thing he said, though: Give Maxwell more breaks. I definitely mean to already, but I think I just end up doing different training (like the "Look at that!" game from Control Unleashed) instead of real breaks. Maybe I should make myself take him outside for two minutes every quarter hour. That should prevent my over-training, and give him a respite from the other dogs.
Hopefully these changes will start to have a positive effect on Maxwell. Only time will tell...
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