Obedience course in Tromsø 13-15 April 2012

Six of the nine dogs participating in the course, here at a group stay. From the front: Qis (Australian Kelpie), Loppa (Lancashire Heeler), Qoralle (Australian Kelpie), Zizu (Mittelspitz), Bjarne (mix "wheaten schanuzer") and farthest to the back Micke (Border Collie).

This weekend I've spent most of my time at a course in obedience in Tromsø, unfortunately I've been ill too, so the first two days I wasn't able to focus much. Today, however, I felt a lot better so today has been very informative and interesting. I've also been able to take a lot of pictures, about 1000 photos, out of which 700 was from today (last day of the course).
It was very fun to spend time with other people that are as interested in dogs as I am. That doesn't happen very often.. But the most important part was of course that I have learned a lot of things that I can use when training my future dog. While on the subject, I got an email today from the breeder that we will buy our Danish Swedish Farmdog puppy from, and her dog has just come in heat! So if all goes well, me and Mads will go and get our puppy on the same weekend as my birthday (the end of August). Lets hope there will be a little female puppy for us in this litter!
But back to the obedience course. I learned a lot about how to effectively reinforce behaviors by using play as reward and when to rather use food/treats as reward.

"Do I have to give it back?" Micke, Border Collie, gives back the ball in exchange for a treat.

"I'll get it!" Mist, Border Collie, is rewarded with playing with a toy.

Qoralle, an Australian Kelpie, just about to start playing!

 It was really interesting to see how the owner worked with their dogs, who were at different levels in teir training. Many of the dogs were very young, but some were more mature and were very good already. Many of the dogs were practicing retrieving and I learned a lot about training dogs that were on different levels in their training.

Qis, an Australian Kelpie, is retrieving from a distance.

Zizu, a Mittelspitz (German Spitz Mittel), is learning the basics of retrieving.

Another thing that many of the participants were training with their dog was heel work. When competing in obedience your dog must not only be able to heel (with or without wearing a leash, depending on which level they're competing at) but also stop on command (either standing, sitting or lying down) while the owner keeps walking. This was very fascinating to me, and I had to smile a bit when I imagined trying this with Noor or Scott.. I know it is possible, especially after seeing the progress the dogs in the obedience course made over just one weekend, but it would take a LOT of work.. Think I'd better wait for my own puppy rather than starting with those two.. besides both of them have a lot of other, more important things to learn first..

Qoralle, an Australian Kelpie, heeling on leash.

Mist, a Border Collie, stays lying down while her owner continues walking.

One of the things I will definitely teach my puppy early is the "starting position", which is sitting on my left side, preferably looking up at me. All of the dogs at the obedience course were really good at this.. Maybe I should start by teaching Noor and Scott this? It can't be too hard, can it? I mean both of them know how to sit on command, they just need to learn where to sit..

Bjarne, a mix between Irish Softcoated Wheaten Terrier and some sort of Schnauzer, showing us a perfect "starting position".

Loppa, a Lancashire Heeler, is rewarded with a treat for staying in position.

It has been a very educative weekend for me, with a lot of nice dog people and dogs. And now I've reached the end of this blog post and still there were two more participating dogs that I wanted to show you pictures of! So here they come:

Eine, working type Labrador Retriever at a group stay.

Ferdinand, a second Lancashire Heeler with the same owner as the previously mentioned Loppa.

There were actually two additional dogs there, one German Shepherd puppy owned by a woman that has a dog training school in Tromsø, who came by both on Saturday and Sunday, and a very pregnant Whippet owned by the same person that had Bjarne, the "Wheaten Schnauzer".

Ella, a 12 weeks old German Shepherd. Here the instructor of the course shows us how to start playing with puppies in order for us to be able to effectively use playing as a reward in obedience training.

Jenny, the Whippet.

In only two weeks time Jenny will have her litter of puppies!