Over excited during obedience lessons

[gizmo001i]

Hi, hopefully someone can give me some advice. Bailey our 1 year old WCS is great at obedience when at home. He obeys the commands (i.e. sit, down, stand) and stays for over 2 minutes indoors and outdoors with people walking past and cats circling around him. However, once I get him to the obedience class where there are other dogs, he goes into complete melt down. He becomes so excited by the sounds, smells and sights that he hardly listens to any commands and doesn't stay still for more than a couple of seconds. It is getting to the point that I am beginning to think about packing the lessons in, but at the same time I don't want to as I know what he is capable of. I don't know if this is a typical cocker thing or if I am going wrong somewhere. But if anyone has any advice it will be very appreciated. It seems that he goes into sensory overload and becomes overwhelmed by it all.
Many thanks
Ian

[bizzylizzy]

That sounds soooo familiar!! I had exactly the same problem with Humphrey and it got to the point that we were both so stressed, I felt it was doing more harm than good. The trainer used to joke that Humphrey was "in Humphrey's world", it was like he was on another planet, nose to the ground and no focus whatsoever. In the end I gave up for a couple of months but then joined a dog club that offered training in a more relaxed environment and the difference is amazing! I put it down to a number of factors, don't know if any of these apply to you, but might help:
The new training ground is  much bigger and if Humphrey starts sniffing or becoming distracted, I move a bit further away crom the other dogs.
The trainer is far more laid back, gives encouragement rather than criticism and praises both me and Humphrey, which makes me feel much better, - that, in turn, makes me feel less stressed which Humphrey picks up on too.
The dogs are given adequate time to let off a bit of steam before we start and then have a beeak and another run around inbetween exercises.
All exercises are fun, the dogs enjoy what they're doing and are far more focused. They're praised profusely when they do well, but we just smile if they don't!
Humphrey is also older now (over 2), at one year, he was very exciteable.
So, in conclusion I'd advise, don't be afraid to have a break for a couple of weeks and/or have a look if there's another class or trainer that might be better for you, stay as relaxed as you can and don't compare your dog with any of the others as they all develop at different rates and all breeds have different qualities, a good, experienced trainer will recognize that.
If Bailey is stressed, leave the class early if necessary, if he's under pressure it does more harm than good and he's not going to learn anything anyway. It took us a while to get to this stage but finding a class where we both felt relaxed has made a world of difference but I think age also has a lot to do with it. Best of luck!

[gizmo001i]

Hiya Bizzylizzy, thanks for the reply. The class we go to is very good in that they accept Bailey for how he is and are very laid back with him. Also the dogs are praised a lot. However as you say, it is very close quarters with the other dogs and due to it only being a 45 minute lesson, there is no calm down breaks. I might have to see if there are any other places that have longer lessons and more room. But I believe the lessons that we go to are the only ones in our area that do the complete good citizens award, which I would like to work towards.

[MIN]

We had problems with gemma. all she wanted to do was sniff the floor, walls, corners etc . she had no interest what so ever except for scent training and recall ( she held the fastest recall and handbrake turn record).
In the end we went the classes  and did the best we could with her but the minute we got home we got her to knuckle down and all the training was put into action.  We continued until we decided that the classes were no longer helpful. They did tend to repeat week after week.
We knew Gemma would never get her good citizen award ( even now she needs to be through the gate first) but we have a dog that we can take anywhere, meet anyone and will come straight back to us at full speed if called or whistled (subject to what her nose is stuck in)

[bizzylizzy]

Hiya Bizzylizzy, thanks for the reply. The class we go to is very good in that they accept Bailey for how he is and are very laid back with him. Also the dogs are praised a lot. However as you say, it is very close quarters with the other dogs and due to it only being a 45 minute lesson, there is no calm down breaks. I might have to see if there are any other places that have longer lessons and more room. But I believe the lessons that we go to are the only ones in our area that do the complete good citizens award, which I would like to work towards.

We've just started to train for the, German equivalent of,  obedience award and although I never thought we'd do it 12 months ago, I am beginning to see it as a reachable goal now. Your classes sound good, so I'm sure Bailey will start and settle down. Another tip our trainer gave us is to make sure he's  hungry before you go (respond better to treats!), use good value treats and maybe give him chance to let off a bit of steam before you start class. I think 45 minutes is long enough, to be honest, Humphrey's usually losing concentration by that time.  ;)Best of luck!

[bmthmark]

Hi, hopefully someone can give me some advice. Bailey our 1 year old WCS is great at obedience when at home. He obeys the commands (i.e. sit, down, stand) and stays for over 2 minutes indoors and outdoors with people walking past and cats circling around him. However, once I get him to the obedience class where there are other dogs, he goes into complete melt down. He becomes so excited by the sounds, smells and sights that he hardly listens to any commands and doesn't stay still for more than a couple of seconds. It is getting to the point that I am beginning to think about packing the lessons in, but at the same time I don't want to as I know what he is capable of. I don't know if this is a typical cocker thing or if I am going wrong somewhere. But if anyone has any advice it will be very appreciated. It seems that he goes into sensory overload and becomes overwhelmed by it all.
Many thanks
Ian

I feel your pain as mine is a similar age (11 months) and is a right pain as he prefers to mess about.
Some weeks he is an absolute nightmare (e.g stays for 2 seconds, eats everything, pulls me around, generally wants to play with the other dogs) basically the clown of the class  I come away and think 'should I give up the training'
However some weeks he is perfect, he will stay for the 2 minutes and literally do as he is told. I then come away and think 'I'm getting somewhere with him'

Its very tricky for me to figure out why each week changes so drastically.

The training I go to is classed as gundog training but for me its for the obedience sides of things. They are very relaxed and always tell me not to stress as they know he is still very young and is learning. I like it as I like him to be around other dogs, especially as they are all cockers 

What bizzylizzy said 'The dogs are given adequate time to let off a bit of steam before we start' this I think definately helps me and Jett. I now get there 15 minutes early and this lets him to have a good sniff and meet the other dogs. This means when the training starts he is calmer and hopefully more focused.

I was also told by my trainer not to get stressed as they pick up that something is not right. So if he doesn't do something, simply don't worry about it.

Finally the trainer always tells me to end every training on a positive/happy note.

Personally I think its down to age as 1 year is still very young and lets be honest they just want to play and have fun 

[Ang-Bob]

It's really hard for young dogs to concentrate in an exciting situation, Cockers especially as they love everyone 
With dogs or any species you need to generalise the training to other situations other than at home. You may find you need to go back a bit & help your dog in new places, making things super easy & fun. If you can use food out on a walk for example that can help greatly & train as you walk.
Ask for a sit now & again, a down etc etc until you feel you can progress to harder stuff. Do some training anywhere you can, a supermarket carpark, the woods, on the street anywhere really just keep it short & fun for your dog.
Go at your dogs pace & make it fun, you will get there it just takes time 

[gizmo001i]

Thanks everyone. I do get Bailey to the lessons early in the hopes that he will calm down before it starts lol. As you have all said, he does have good and bad days at the lessons and at least I now know that this is fairly normal. As Bmthmark said, I think me getting stressed when he plays up doesn't help either, so I will have to try and remain calmer. Once again, thank you for all your replies and I will continue with the lessons and wait for the time that he calms down.

[Gazrob]

Hi I don't bother with obedience classes. Mixing with lots of other dogs just gets my dog in a whole lot of unnecessary trouble.  Some dogs like him some don't. The chances of him meeting lots of dogs when out for walks is minimal. It's not a real life situation. He sometimes meets the odd one or two. I rarely let him play with other dogs after having a few bad experiences but I do now and again. I do train him in obedience at home and everytime we go for walks with and without distractions. I keep the training very short just a few minutes at a time.

[PopPops]

I've just pulled Tolls out of an obedience class for the same reason. He's 10 months old next week, he just goes into a trance staring at the other dogs and frantically trying to get to them as if he's never been allowed to interact with a dog in his life, and is oblivious to me or anything I want him to do. After two sessions sitting on the floor with him just letting him look in the hope he'd desentize a bit I stopped as I think it's just building bad habits of getting overexcited and silly around other dogs and am noticing him starting to lunge and flap and hop at the sight of any dog in our vicinity.

The class is excellent, the trainers are very laid back, kind and so good with him, we have had some good weeks, but this just doesn't seem to be the time! I'm taking hope from Bizzy Lizzy's post that when he's a bit older we'll get there! He can do every one of the requirements, should have passed his bronze (but was having a maniac week the week of the test) and could pass his silver tomorrow - if he happened to be in the mood.

[Ambler54]

I gave up on classes when Rosie was 10 months, perservered until then, more for Me to learn to be honest.Rosie loved the class, thought it was play school.It was held in a small hall and We all had to sit on a stage until it was our turn to do something, knew it was time to give up when a) no one woukd sit by us as Rosie would just wind up any dogs near enought to play with and b) when I knew there wasnt enough wine available to get me over the stress of the evening.I kept up the training on our own and have now joined an agility group which suits Rosie.She has to watch, listen ,learn and She is picking it up really quick and I enjoy it too.

[Gazrob]

That's cool. I agree with you. I think it's much better to train by yourself with just your own dog. There's no way my dog would be able to handle obedience classes he would turn into a maniac. He learns much better when it's just me and him. He's calm but whenever he gets an opportunity to interact with another dog he turns into a maniac. I know I would get very frustrated with him. Training him on my own has not been easy I've struggled at times he's my first dog but he's nearly two now and he's turned into a very obedient (mostly) little man.