Training the cattle dog, now 8mos old, to run with me safely continues. The cattle dog has turned out to be highly motivated by food. So I always take a baggy with me that has a little dog food in it, and every time she does something right, she gets a little kernel of food. She's extremely high spirited tho, so in order to set her up for success, I have to see problems coming. When we pass another dog or there's a runner coming our way, I get her attention. She knows that I have a kernel of food in my hand so from, say, 10m away, she's watching me, not the other dog or the runner, at their closest approach. Then it's "good girl" and she gets the kernel of chow.
Sometimes she's right with me, sometimes ahead and sometimes forward. I try to give her ~30m, but if she gets out of sight, say behind some bushes, I call to her and give her a piece of dogfood when she comes.
I have to be particularly vigilant at the busy street corners. If she is ahead of me, I have to watch what she is paying attention to. If we're approaching a busy street, and she's in front of me, looking forward, she may see a squirrel on the other side of the street and bolt for it. So as we approach busy streets, I have to watch what she's paying attention to and see potential trouble coming. Then I just call to her and that's enough to remind her that I always have a bit of dogfood in my hand. That little reminder puts her on her best behavior and by now she knows well that she's never to cross a street until she hears "ok" and I move forward.
So with this dog, praise had less of an effect on her than the labs, and she's so motivated by chow that it's pretty easy to avoid a situation that would require punishment. I just have to see trouble coming and, just as she's thinking about doing something wrong, reminding her that you're the source of treats.
She routinely runs 6-8mi with me, is perfectly happy to run in the low 80's and dismisses my attempts to give her water during the run.
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