Looking around shows, on walks, in parks and even back at a couple of our own dogs, there are as many not easily trained collies as there as other breeds. Collies have their own associated issues.
There I go being breedist! I think labelling any type of breed can cause preconceived ideas to challenge and possibly limit you.
I like the fact that there are so many breeds and I believe you can use their breed traits to your advantage. What your dog was designed to do can help you know the areas to concentrate on.
My favourite example is turning. On an agility course changing direction quickly can help you get that much coveted red rosette. Collie's evolved to turn and twist quickly in order to follow a flock of stupid, erratic creatures. Not only are they physically built to turn quickly, IMO they are also mentally wired to enjoy this process.
A gun dog type of breed that is rewarded for going out to collect the dead game and bring it straight back, will often gain a lot of speed on a straight run and then lose confidence once asked to turn. With that kind of breed I would spend a great deal of time on ground work making turning a continual pleasure.
Other than taking time to be aware of these breed traits, I believe ALL dogs have three or four main requirements. These could be titled the 4 F's - Food, Family and Fun. You can probably guess the 4th but I'm not considering that under training LOL.
Getting back to Oddjob. Food - Pug's are known for their love of food and so this will be an advantage to me. Placement of reward is important in developing a good understanding of what is required. His food retention in the mouth still isn't too great. We haven't got Oddjob to do agility, for obvious reasons, but the groundwork we do with our dogs makes them great family pets first and foremost. He will also be helping with Wag & Tone so having a dog that enjoys learning is essential. Dogs like to please. However, if you can reward them at the right time and place you can train them so much better.
We had a lovely lady and dog start in one of our foundation class recently. They had a great relationship and the dog was game for anything. We commented that she didn't give her dog any treats or play. She said she didn't need any. After we explained that if the dog didn't know what a reward was, how could it know if it was doing things right or wrong; unless you told it, it was wrong. In our classes we use rewards to mark good behaviour in order for the dog to understand what is right. The next week the dog had a toy and the best treats you can imagine. They are going to be great at agility :)
Family or environment - Dogs are aware of whats going on around them. In order to learn they need to understand, and be comfortable in their surroundings. That's why we spend so much time socialising our puppies so that they can cope with different places they go to do agility. Confidence in their relationship with their owner makes this process easier. Consistency in your dealing with your dog helps and we'll cover that another time.
Oddjob needs to be happy to be around other dogs, in different places and on different surfaces. He needs to be happy in all weathers and we need to take care of any special needs he may have. Apparently Pug's don't deal well with the heat so I'll be getting one of those cool beds for him in the summer. One website says they don't like getting dirty or wet either- I don't think Oddjob read that one. He is quite happy getting dirty and we've realised already that small dogs, being nearer to the ground can get so much dirtier that a Collie :)
Fun - this is where the tugging comes in. Playing with your dog develops mental & physical relationships. Any game enjoyed between people and their dogs is great and for agility tugging is one of the best. Tugging is intrinsically rewarding as it is a way of tearing flesh apart in order to eat. If it wasn't inbuilt centuries ago then meat eating would not have been an option for the canines. Even if you are not doing anything at all with your dog in a form dog sport, tugging helps your dog to use a lot of muscles and expend energy.
So Oddjob isn't being encouraged to play tug because he's living with collies, he's being asked to engage in a highly rewarding games with me because he's a young dog that needs to burn off energy without too much impact compared to the amount of walking he'd need to do to burn off the same amount of fat.
Today he played tug with me every time we went out in the garden. He also dug up a stone and did a hoolie round the garden with it. What's that all about? For the benefit of his teeth this isn't something I'll encourage but if I ever need something to give him extra motivation it's a good thing to know about.
Then as a bonus he played with Rhyme. I didn't think it would be long as Rhyme is such a lovely playful dog. Oddjob offered a play bow and Rhyme bowed straight back followed by a big chase game. We do restrict how much our boys play as they can get a bit boisterous. However a little bit of play is good for them physically and mentally. After all it is great that they have a bit of dog fun too. Once again I didn't get my camera out quickly enough - maybe next time.
I did manage to get this though of a tired little pug - if you listen carefully you'll hear him snoring :)
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