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Ok, so ask her to lay down and then commence with the game. All good. For the sake of time, we will take a short cut. 🙂
For now, just do one run per day. This goes back the Mental Resilience article. Did you read it? Lit’l Bit is mentally managing all of the stressors at the trial, including other dogs. She is freshest at the beginning of her day and then her mental reserves are depleted throughout the day. Make sense?
Patricia, yes it’s okay to comment! And that’s exactly what I saw in Marvel.
Laurie, it seems like she struggles when there is a lot going on, busy environments, lots of dogs barking, lots of people. What’s her behavior like at an all day seminar?
The counter-Conditioning and desensitization exercise specifically might not make sense for you, when it comes to a specific trigger. The concept, however, does apply. We will do it through various games.
Practice the protocol from the beginning. It will come back quickly. And then take it out into the world. Once you have relaxation at home, do it with people visiting the home, outside, in class but off to the side, etc.
This looks good! I would slow down your humans movement a bit more. It might not seem fast, but it is stimulating. Did you see how boring and slow I was? 🙂
Regarding the contacts, do you have access to UKI or USDAA? You can train in the ring for some classes. It sounds like just fixing the one obstacle is easy for Kaeto once he makes the mistake. It would be harder to go back a few obstacles and try the contact again. Are you able to get him to blow it in class or a seminar? What about a Fun Run?
Video always helps! Here’s how to start- use freezer dried treats and continuously crumble the treats onto the mat. It could be several minutes of this before Kelsie chooses to lay down.
Hooray!! I find doing this at least twice per week can make a difference for a dog’s overal stress levels.
Ok great! Then the games we will be doing in this course will help for her performance in the ring.
Just so that I can see, can you take video of Mango walking through a Home Depot or Farmer’s Market? Or through town? How is she around lots of dogs when you walk through crating areas?
It’s great that you have recognized the specific triggers. Would it be possible to as fellow classmates yell or make noise while you run? As soon as you hear the yell (the fellow classmate should be outside of the ring while you’re in the ring), you should immediately jackpot your dog with a handful of meatballs, for example.
Viewing the video is so helpful!
The first thing I see is that you are tossing the kibble. Even tossing it a few inches is stimulating. We want to create the opposite effect. Place the kibble on the mat between her paws.
Also, you are moving too fast for Addie. She gets easily excited so you have to work a litter harder to help her relax. What this looks like is moving much slower. Did you notice how boring and slow I was in my video? Lol!
Hi Laurie!
Weave poles is the place Marvel’s behavior broke down when he was mentally fatiguing. This was the “last hurdle” so to speak. If he skipped a pole or popped out, I’d let him keep going and then handled him back to beginning as if it was part of the course, make sense? The interruption of flow can be demotivating and dogs who are managing all of the environmental stressors have an even harder time with it.
Awesome!! Keep doing it. She will relax with time. The goal is that eventually, you can do this exercise at a trial.
This is great! Operant with a classical conditioning twist! Lol!
Try releasing Mango before she backs out of the harness, then toss the food away. This will help build duration of wearing the harness as well.
How is Mango I’m busy situations? Have you brought her to Home Depot? A Farmer’s Market? How is she when you have a party at your home?
