Monday, October 3, 2011

The Amazing Retrieving Greyhound

Wow! She was really thin and ripped when we first got her!
Sits, downs, stays, and now retrieval?  Is there anything this dog can't do?  We've only had Luna for three months and already she has learned so much.

Before adopting Luna I had decided that I would train my next dog to compete at AKC shows.  Not a bad idea if I had adopted a retriever or shepherd, but I gave myself a real challenge by selecting a greyhound. Greyhounds can be difficult to train for obedience (but why do they need it when they are already perfect?) and for this reason many people believe greyhounds cannot sit let alone retrieve.

I had never successfully taught a dog to retrieve.  Eris did not want any part of the experience and I blame myself for her dislike towards dumbbell training.  I really had no idea what I was doing and after awhile Eris gave up and refused to look at the dumbbell.  I recall telling my trainer that "Greyhounds don't do retrieval" and resigning from obedience shortly afterward.

I had to eat my words after watching the videos on Never Say Never Greyhounds (http://neversaynevergreyhounds.blogspot.com/search/label/Retrieving).  Here were retired racers who clearly loved the retrieve game.  I studied the instructional videos and decided to give dumbbell training another go, this time in a positive and game-like manner.  The results are fantastic!

Here are the results of just a few short weeks of training.  I hope to capture some better footage of us training in the near future.

4 comments:

houndstooth said...

Ha! When I started reading the beginning of your post, I was going to recommend looking at Never Say Never Greyhounds to you, but you've already found Jen and the girls! Another couple of blogs you might like are Aragon Greyhounds (they are AKC Greyhounds and they compete in a variety of things, including tracking) and Hiking Hounds, who also does obedience and agility with her two Greyhounds. I love seeing Greyhounds compete in agility and obedience!

Greyhounds CAN Sit said...

Wow, I'm very impressed! Luna has wonderful focus and attitude. Beryl would have given me the finger and walked off about 15 seconds into your video! Good luck with your training. I'm sure Luna is going to do well and you've got all NSNG experience to learn from:) Jen's blog is a wonderful resource for dog owners.

Witty Angel said...

I still can't get over how quickly she is learning. Every time we have a training session we end up pushing on the the next level. Thanks for the comments!

Never Say Never Greyhounds said...

Always wondered if anyone actually used the info I posted. Very cool! :-)