CBC: An Update

Started Contact Boot Camp this past weekend...so I thought I'd post an update.

Lexi has (unsurprisingly) shown me that she remembers her 2o2o.  In the past week or so of proofing, distracting, encouraging, and challenging her on the dogwalk, I think we have managed to pull her off only a handful of times.  In class the other night she came off of her a-frame once (we don't have an a-frame here at home), but that was a huge improvement from the previous weeks!  

For Lexi, we've done the following:

• Taken her right outside as soon as we get home (no saying hello, etc...) as she is VERY excited
• Made her dinner and taken her outside with the food bowl, again trying to get her to break because she is so excited
• Ran past the contact
• Used other words to try to get her to break
• Sent her on the contact and stayed back
• Stopped with her on the end, and accelerated away (without releasing her)
• Placed an obstacle right on the other side of the dogwalk and reached over the obstacle to appear as if I was calling her for a RTH position

Anyways, those are just a few things.  Again, she's really doing great!  I just hope that it translates to a trial environment where she is even more amped up.  The problem is simulating a trial--she is smarter than that.  She knows when she can get away with it and when she can't.  I don't want to have to start taking her off for breaking, so let's hope this CBC works!

Bentley, on the other hand, is still displaying the same issues.  We haven't been able to practice with him as often because of our neighbor's dogs (Lexi ignores them, Bentley will fence chase them and won't work).  He is still hesitant at the bottom as if he doesn't know where his 2o2o is.  If you put a target plate down, he's good to go.  If you run to the bottom with him, he's good to go.  I'm not sure what to do.  We've tried fading both of these things and it works for the first couple times, and then he's back to creeping.

In a trial, he's so amped up that he usually comes down, creeps for a step, and then jumps!  We've been able to get him to do this a couple times in class, but almost never in the yard.

Either way, we'll keep working both of them.  I'll be interested to see how it translates for this weekend's trial.