I post so much on agility but I also do obedience. For years I have struggled with a happy working hound in obedience. Although most greyhounds can get through a CD it is hard to get a dog who wants to work. Many years ago I changed obedience trainers and what a difference in my dogs attitudes. They seem eager to work and will at times bark for their turn for training. Echo is getting ready to compete in Open obedience so I met my trainer Terry in the park for a run through.
What a happy working dog- I love it. Stupidly I didn't have Terry pick up the drop bar on Echo's drop on recall. The bar is suppose to be a reminder to the dog to drop. I stopped using it a few months ago because it was distracting. Her drop on recall is usually very fast although not reliable yet.
For people who are wondering what Breeze is doing I included a short training video of her learning to heel. Breeze generally doesn't work for anyone else but Terry took her to demonstrate how to get better heel position/front foot placement. Rather than have the dog bump into the handler and lag on turns she also wanted to demonstrate how Breeze was to pivot her rear end on corners to turn with the handler.
We ended the session teaching Breeze to have a happy fast recall. She is coming in for a toy and loves to tug.
For people who are interested in obedience with greyhounds I can't stress enough, find a trainer who is open to new suggestions and new ways of teaching. Watch how they interact with their dogs when they do well and when they do poorly. Watch how the dogs work them-happy?nervous?fearful?
A greyhound is not a Golden retriever or Border collie they learn differently. A greyhound gets bored quickly. Repetition is not their friend and they need a lot of lureing for the correct behavior. Lastly I would suggest taking private lesson for one on one attention.
