One distracted training session today. A year ago I bought a little-kid plastic skateboard, thinking it would be solider and less-rolly than Scuba’s real one. Well, not. It’s just as wide, but it’s only about 18″ long, made of noisy plastic. It rolls just as much, if not more, and it’s too short to be stable, so the least amount of pressure that isn’t dead centre flips it up, and it lands with a huge plastic bang, frequently turning over. I try shaping her to put paws on it, but when the first paw scoots and flips it, she won’t do it again until I lure it. We go through the whole meal with her telling me she doesn’t want to touch it and me trying all different ways of holding it so it won’t move too much. Eventually she decides she CAN put her feet on it, and I almost don’t hold it. Then she gives the skateboard Sore Paw – touches it with her paw without putting any weight on it. That solves all her problems. She can touch it and get a click, and the thing won’t flip. Soon I’m clicking for her moving it, which she does almost with a fingertip – pushing it back and forth, but still no weight on it. So, as far as teaching her to ride a skateboard, useless. For pushing through a problem, thinking of alternate solutions, not being scared of strange clattery moving things, good stuff.
