swekarin

The weekend was spent in a forest preserve where I had tracking training camp for the dog club.

It has been so much focus on competition obedience that
tracking has really not been happening. So I felt hungry for getting some great training for 2 days.

There is so much I can say about the superb weekend but what I will resorb the most was that the instructor was so hands on and engaged in every single dog and owner and what she said and did for me and with my dog totally worked!

I learnt a lot and what I saw and experienced this weekend is this; I am soooo f-ing booooring when it comes to training and playing with my dog. Plus I am a curling dog owner. I knew of this so not a surprise but good to hear it and also get ideas of how I easily can change it.

Also, what I have had a feeling of but haven't really gotten confirmed is that Lakrits really needs rough and hard play. She really goes bananas when I play really really rough. Now this sounds weird probably if you don't own a boxer. But by rough play, I mean pushing and tackling her....guess what, all of a sudden it is a piece of cake to get her to play and tracking with a much better intensity!

I feels so bizarre but the instructor totally showed me that this is what makes Lakrits get a better engagement, attitude and drive. Cuz what has happened is that not only has competition obedience interest and attitude totally gone down the drain, there is a lack of engagement and motivation in tracking too.

So by getting a bit rough, pep talking Lakrits and that the instructor helped me out correcting Lakrits so I didn't need to take stupid and unnessecary conflicts, we got Lakrits to change attitude and have a fine drive and pace in the track. Fascinating! But fun!

For me, best of all, Anna got her started to play amazingly fine and then Anna handed over Lakrits to me to keep playing while coaching me how to do it. Weird to explain but it totally works and Lakrits buys it. I haven't seen my dog like this happy crazy and willing to play in for ever!

This was such a great weekend for me and Lakrits. We had fun, we had inspiration and I felt that both me and Lakrits being engaged and motivated which is the first time since my melt down earlier this summer.

And what happened next.... yesterday Lakrits picked up this green ball and wanted to play tug of war! Wow!!!! And so I decided to go to the club to play the meatball race and just do fun silly things without putting any pressure on Lakrits that she needs to deliver. It was such fun time and I could tell that she totally expected booooring mommy. But realized pretty fast that shit we are having fun and she was very perceptive and tentative towards me. I could break her easily when she started to focus on other people and dogs.

i am trying so hard to find engement and motivation within me, my dog and together as a team and we sure did get this by hanging in the tracking forest. I haven't quit training but my motivation hasn't been there. And I know for a fact, don't train when not in the mood cuz I need to be a more fun person, I need to stop trying to make it perfect, I need to learn to play more rough with my dog. After all, she is a boxer, not made out of porcelain!