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After watching the video, I wish I had rewarded Demi lower on the plank. I’m asking her to lift her head, and I should be encouraging her to keep her head down.
I am so sorry my a$$ is in the camera most of the time. Omg 😮
Hi Tracy,
Yes, you made sense in your last bit of suggestions. We continue to play the games, but I wanted to review the overhead cookie with you again. (Man, I could really use another set of arms, and a few goods knees wouldn’t hurt either!). I tried to keep my target hand lower – the hand overhead was a challenge. I think the face kissing and laying on her back are stress signals. I tried to make it funner and less difficult.
Around the wing was fun. This wasn’t her first exposure to this, but originally I wasn’t rewarding random locations, but rather requiring her to come all the way around. I think she was a bit surprised with the location of the treats at times.
Targeting and focus forward.
I struggled with the targeting with my hand over her head. I think I started out by just bringing my hand over her head with the reward. Once I realized what I was doing, it was an entirely new game when the treat was overhead, and she had to target. She got it, but by this time I think I had really worn out the game, and the exercise
Started out with foot targets again. Moved into the one-step send, and obviously started back too far. (I don’t recognize these things sometimes until I see them on my video 🤦🏽♀️).
Tried the restrained recall moving into the recall more quickly, and then changing holders, then adding human distractions. She appears more comfy again today. I was pleased with her actual recalls, but why does she come to me and then leave immediately? Is that ok, since that’s not the skill of the moment? Am I just not exciting enough and all of this nearby equipment is too enticing?
Perch work – although not on video, she is pretty good at moving her hind feet around with no pole on the ground. This was the first time with a pole, and I think this was definitely a challenge for her. In the end i was thinking she needed her head lower, but that didn’t seem to help either.
Today was a great training day in an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar peeps. Demi appeared comfortable. We are still dealing with undiagnosed discomfort in various joints. I continue to drag the tug on the ground for arousal, and try to avoid any oppositional tugging. I keep a close eye on her movements. More diagnostics next week …
Foot targeting was fun for Demi. In fact, my bad, but I couldn’t get the treats out of my pocket quick enough before she targeted again! When I got the treat thrown before she returned to the target, I was happy to see that she considered coming in to me, but she chose to return to the target instead.
I was happy with Demi’s performance for the blind cross foundation, but not mine. I really had limited connection with her. Probably could have seen her eyes more, and stayed connected, when I released her.
I loved the obstacle course concept! This was Demi’s first time with a wobble board, and she clearly told me she was uncomfortable with it. I didn’t push her during this exercise, but I intend to work that in isolation more. I’m looking forward to returning to this entire exercise again.
On the restrained recall I didn’t cut the parts between the exercises, because I thought it was important to see how happy her recalls were, but it was the restraint that freaked her out! She clearly didn’t want Christine holding her the first time, in the second attempt she was happier, and by the third attempt she was super excited to return to Christine to play. This was kinda an aha moment for me.
Not sure about our Motivated Stays. During this short training span I had so many questions in my head. She started out offering behaviors. I knew she was capable of differentiating between a sit and a down. I chose to use my voice and request a sit. Apparently it wasn’t as clear in her head as I thought – at least not in this situation. Just as I was about to abort due to confusion, I think she received enough reinforcement to determine that I wanted the sit. She finished stronger. Should I have just cut it off early on, or should I have accepted any behavior she offered?
Please excuse the 6 minute long video. There were a handful of exercises. 😬
Today we did some toy races. To be honest, I was surprised at her lack of speed. It could be she’s not feeling well, (she has a vet appt this afternoon), or it could be that she just wasn’t comfortable with the game. I will definitely continue play with this!
Trying to evaluate Demi’s behavior and reaction to different environments is a bit difficult for me. I have never had a dog like Demi. I could throw out a handful of words to describe her …. sensitive, bold, shy, soft, curious, wild, calm, spontaneous, …. she is one of these at any given time, yet I can’t come up with anyone word that would generally describe her personality.
Demi appears very soft, almost scared at times. Her ears rarely perk up, and her eyes are so asian-like, that she often appears very sad. We used to think she was super soft, and wondered if we would ever have an outgoing puppy. We have attributed much of Demi’s “softness” to the pain that we didn’t realize she was experiencing early on. As time passes, she feels better, and we are reading her better, I don’t think this is the case.
Demi is pretty comfortable entering a new situation. She is eager to do anything and if she does show any hesitancy, it quickly fades with a little encouragement. Indoors she does not appear to be on high alert, but if anyone comes to the door, or even into the room, she barks and the hair in her back stands on end. There is no aggression in her bark. It is either a happy greeting, or a “look I’m here” type of thing. Outside, she loves to run. She has no fear – in the woods, in an open field, in a pond – she’s bold and curious.
New dogs are not an issue. She greets them appropriately – slowly and carefully. She doesn’t jump or get playful until the other dogs initiates play. Noises are dealt with easily. I can’t remember anything specific. If she is startled, she recovers nicely.
Demi’s biggest issue appears to be her lack of confidence when Wilson isn’t around. Getting her in the car alone used to be a challenge. She would hide and roll on her back to avoid the car. She is getting over this lately.
Demi loves elk bones, Kong’s, or anything else she can chew. She does not destroy stuffed toys. As a greeting, Demi carries shoes everywhere, especially when excited. When we have been out of the house, when we return she grabs a shoe, and walks around talking to us. Quite pleased with herself. She LOVES body contact. I have never had a dog quite like this. She needs to be close at all times. I’ve never had such an affectionate dog, and I attribute some of this to her softness and need for comfort or closeness.
I do worry about Demi’s reaction when we get in a trial situation. Although she doesn’t display any adverse behavior at the moment, I know she is capable of it.
I tried some more shaping today. She already kind of knew hand touches, but they were wimpy and not very animated, so I wanted to try again. She was much, much better than in the past.
Then I moved onto spins. As an aside, Demi has been dealing with some joint issues for about 7 months of her short 11 month life. I would be happy to share our experiences with you if you’d like. I was happy with the spins for 2 reasons. First, she has never been so active and engaged before. I know this is because of the pain she was experiencing. We stayed away from spins in the past, so I was happy to see her performance today. I also felt the shaping was working – I’m anxious to see how we do with this again tomorrow.
Relative to yesterday’s lesson, I switched to a bigger box. (Recognizing her previous issues, using such a small box was really not a great decision on my part.). Anyway, I didn’t tape it so that I could use my 2 minutes 🙂 with the newer stuff.
Thanks for watching!
