A Borrowed Dog

A friend from the club is out of town this week, leaving her pup (let's call him Fake Mudi) and her foster to stay with our instructor. She was kind enough to bring them to classes yesterday, so I could work Fake Mudi during his regular class before Sadie's.

It's really interesting working a dog that isn't my own. I've certainly interacted with him a lot before, if mostly to offer free treats, but this is totally different. The poor guy is living in a new house, with a zillion strange dogs, and now he has to work for someone who isn't his mommy!

My friend has done a fantastic job with him. I quickly gave up on the leash. It just got in the way, and FM would turn on a dime to come when called. When I needed to, I could just hold on to his harness. He was more than willing to do anything I asked, and never seemed to get stressed.

His strengths:

• He has fabulous weave poles. I could send him from nearly any angle, and from quite a good distance, and he would find his entrance. He was not fast, but he was accurate. I definitely pushed him, giving him sharp angles. He made it nearly every time.
• Tolerance for frustration - Even when he got something wrong a few times in a row, the 'worst' behavior I got was him offering a wrap around an object. Usually it was when he was bored. He'd trot off, loop around a random jump standard, and come hopefully back.
• Attention - This is a double-edged sword. He has fantastic focus, but to the point that it gets in the way sometimes. He checks in constantly. This made him easy to sequence, though. (unlike my scatterbrained Aussie...)
• Contact behavior - My friend has him running all his contacts, and he seems to be very accurate. He keeps his head up, so I tossed food ahead on the ground, but he only missed his contacts a few time. And that was when we were practicing calls and sends on the teeter (tough new skills), so I'm not sure that should count.

His development points:

• Drive - I know my friend is working on this one. He's a great worker, but he doesn't always offer the speed or zest that one ideally wants in an agility dog. Happy to play the game, but that is usually enough for him.
• Attention - As noted above, her gets in his own way a bit. I specifically worked on this, with the instructor's recommendation, by sending him over jumps to a baited target. I'd hold his harness until he pulled towards the food, then release him.
• Self-control - This one sounds like the opposite of drive, right? But he so badly wants to please his handler that he has trouble sitting and waiting to be released. I worked on this with him at the teeter, only letting him walk it if he waited a second or two first. I think my friend can get nice stays with him, so this was probably 99% due to me not being his mommy. In any case, I'd say this is a good problem to have!

My friend has every right to be very proud of her little Fake Mudi. They are a great team, and he was completely willing to work with me also. He's a fun dog to work with!