8 months 9 days
2011/10/01
Six times today Syn and I worked on the dog room. I started sitting in the room playing with Stitch, tossing treats around the room, while Syn sat on the stairs and wished she was with us. Then I'd get up and move to where I could see her, invite her to come into the room, and then go back to sitting at the grooming table. At first she'd come to the door and peek in and I'd toss treats at her until she decided it was safe to come in. Strangely, the hardest part seemed to be about 5 feet away from me. Once she got past there she was eager to come all the way to me, though her pupils were popped throughout.
After the first three sessions, sometimes she came into the room nonchalantly with relaxed eyes, and sometimes she peeked in the door and worried about it. Very odd. Regardless of how she came in, she was eager to jump up on the table. I stayed relaxed and happy, feeding her when she came to me, sometimes letting her jump on the table to play, sometimes playing with her on the floor.
So this evening when we started training for supper, I wanted to do something fun instead of diving right into duration on the down. My dogs have all retrieved their dishes - setting the table for their supper and putting the dishes away when they're done. Syn thought her dish was too heavy and too… metallic. She's got an excellent retrieve, so I started by putting the dish on the floor and shaping her to target it. Then I picked it up and started shaping her to put her mouth on it. That didn't take long - 20 reps. Then I put it on the floor again and shaped her mouth onto it. She got it right away and surprised me by starting to lift it almost immediately.
Within another 20 reps, she was happy to bring it to me and, sitting or standing, hold it until I asked for it. Then she picked it up a bit sloppily and it slipped out of her mouth...
and landed upside down. Now I've been using the same dishes for 20 years, and no dog has EVER been able to pick them up when they land upside down. They try for a few seconds and then look at me, asking me to help them. So I wasn't in a hurry, I thought she'd do the same.
Well, no. The Flying Squirrel is a bit more resourceful than that. She examined the dish for a moment, and then
just picked it up and brought it to me.
Next we worked on the down stay. She was a bit more settled this evening, and we got up to 15 seconds with little trouble
And then the sit. It quickly became obvious that she has completely forgotten what Sit means. Down has been paying off well for 2 days, and if I opened my mouth she'd go down, no matter what I said, so I shut up and went back to the beginning, luring a sit, getting her to volunteer it, and then very quietly starting to put the cue back on.
After the first three sessions, sometimes she came into the room nonchalantly with relaxed eyes, and sometimes she peeked in the door and worried about it. Very odd. Regardless of how she came in, she was eager to jump up on the table. I stayed relaxed and happy, feeding her when she came to me, sometimes letting her jump on the table to play, sometimes playing with her on the floor.
So this evening when we started training for supper, I wanted to do something fun instead of diving right into duration on the down. My dogs have all retrieved their dishes - setting the table for their supper and putting the dishes away when they're done. Syn thought her dish was too heavy and too… metallic. She's got an excellent retrieve, so I started by putting the dish on the floor and shaping her to target it. Then I picked it up and started shaping her to put her mouth on it. That didn't take long - 20 reps. Then I put it on the floor again and shaped her mouth onto it. She got it right away and surprised me by starting to lift it almost immediately.
Within another 20 reps, she was happy to bring it to me and, sitting or standing, hold it until I asked for it. Then she picked it up a bit sloppily and it slipped out of her mouth...
and landed upside down. Now I've been using the same dishes for 20 years, and no dog has EVER been able to pick them up when they land upside down. They try for a few seconds and then look at me, asking me to help them. So I wasn't in a hurry, I thought she'd do the same.
Well, no. The Flying Squirrel is a bit more resourceful than that. She examined the dish for a moment, and then
just picked it up and brought it to me.
Next we worked on the down stay. She was a bit more settled this evening, and we got up to 15 seconds with little trouble
And then the sit. It quickly became obvious that she has completely forgotten what Sit means. Down has been paying off well for 2 days, and if I opened my mouth she'd go down, no matter what I said, so I shut up and went back to the beginning, luring a sit, getting her to volunteer it, and then very quietly starting to put the cue back on.