Thursday, January 31, 2013

20 Weeks: Training - Day 29

Emma, 20 Weeks, fresh from her bath.
With the week coming to a close I decided to fill in some of Emma's holes in her training.  She can do a Sit without thinking, but her Down and Stand are not as well known.  I decided to use today working on Puppy Push Ups to tighten her understanding of all three positions.

I woke both dizzy, exhausted and with a migraine this morning, so I decided to skip training for breakfast and slow down enough to recover and not loose the entire day by pushing myself too hard.  I tried to get Emma to do a down by the front door and again she shrunk into herself and gave me a lot of appeasement behavior.  This is a sign that doing a down by the front door makes her very uncomfortable and I needed to make it less stressful for her.  I didn't feel well enough to address it at that moment, so I let her out and went about getting myself sorted out.  I gathered the dog bowls and decided the porcelain bowl I have been using Emma I would switch out for a stainless steel bowl so Max could pick it up for me.  A new problem emerged; Emma was absolutely terrified of it.

She shrank into herself, stood and skulked away from the bowl while giving me a ton of appeasement behaviors.  Strange, but I again was not in a position to deal with it.  I gathered up the porcelain bowl and put her kibble in it and offered her breakfast.  Remember, she eats from this bowl off and on when at my home, but again today she shrank and skulked away.  With a sigh I just poured her food on the floor so she would eat.  With the food on the floor, she gladly ate her entire meal.  Clearly I need to make bowls less frightening and will come up with a plan on her not being afraid of them later.  I'll probably use Target if I can, if not, I will ask my trainer friends for advise and go from there.

Once my head stopped pounding and my energy levels increased, I went to Costco with my son Walter and bought a bag of food for Emma.  Her owners have her on a different food than my dogs are eating and generally give me a large food storage bag of food to feed her with.  I ran out of her food after her breakfast and decided I needed to be certain I always had enough food for her at my house.

When we returned and had lunch I took her and my dogs outside and let them play in the yard while I took advantage of the exposed ground and scooped poop.  Anyone who lives in this region know that January is the month dog poop gathers unheeded in your yard, buried under layers of snow and frozen by near sub-zero temperatures.  This January was no different.  Most days were in the high teens and some dropped into the single digits.  Winds whipped and snows fell and the poop  went un-scooped for nearly a month.  With four dogs and a small yard this can mean a lot of cleanup on the first clear ground day.  Today was that day.

Emma enjoyed racing about the yard and playing with Max.  I had to call him back a couple of times because he got a bit rough, but overall the two played well while I worked in the yard.  I am, after this afternoon's adventure of scooping, considering putting corks in all of them.  At one point I turned and Emma was in one of my raised garden beds digging at my covered artichoke plant.  When I said her name she gave me a "what?" look and then went back to digging at my plant.  Looks like this spring I'll be teaching her to stay out of raised garden beds.

Since the metal bowl bothered her and doing a down by the front door bothered her I decided today to do training in that location and using the metal bowl for her kibble.  Below is the description of our success!

Today's Training:

Down

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 2 Down.  In this step Emma is asked to hold a Down for a longer and longer period of time.  In order to practice it in a real life situation I have started having her do Downs for life rewards, such as getting out of her crate or going outside.  When I started this she began giving appeasement behaviors at the front door, which told me that she was uncomfortable with something about doing a Down by the front door.

I suspected the problem was she was blocked on two side, one of them by Max.  I decided this afternoon to stand by the front door and ask Max to down where he normally does when we are about to go outside.  Emma joined us and I waited for her to offer a behavior, any behavior, to start her trying to earn her lunch.  She offered a Sit, the one behavior she's comfortable doing by the front door.  I clicked that and rewarded her.  I then clicked her standing, moving, looking at the floor and she suddenly decided to try a down between me and Max.  I clicked that and stopped rewarding the other behaviors.  It wasn't long before she realized the only behavior that got a treat was a Down and she began throwing them at me faster and faster and with less stress each time.  She finished her lunch being clicked for Downs only by the front door between Max and I or Max and the wall.

For her dinner I had Max again lay in his normal spot by the front door and placed her between him and I and the wall and sat on the floor.  I lured her into Sits, Stands and Downs and slowly worked to saying the verbal cue only for the Sits and Downs and using a combined hand and verbal cue for Stands.  This took approximately half of her meal.

For the second half of her dinner I worked with her while I stood.  She was allowed to move to a new location, but still by the door, but still needed to offer Sits, Stands and Downs to get clicks.  She continued her Puppy Push Ups and showed no discomfort with doing Downs by the door as we worked for her dinner.  Her Downs became quick and fluid and her tail was waving.  I saw no appeasement behaviors while I worked on Puppy Push Ups.

After her lunch I let her sniff the bowl I used to get her kibble out of and she was curious, but not afraid.  After dinner I again offered her a chance to check the bowl, but she began to throw appeasement behaviors.  I believe I will need to shape her to touching the bowl tomorrow for breakfast and then work again on Downs by the front door.

The big surprise came when it was time to let her outside again after dinner.  I lined up the dogs and asked Max for a Down and Emma threw herself to the floor!  It was nice to see that the little bit of clicker work by the front door has taken a lot of the spook out of the location.

Observations

I have noted that Emma is a bit of a wilting flower when she's frightened.  She easily shuts down and throws appeasement behavior when she's fearful.  Where Max can handle my loosing my temper at something and hear me swear for a moment or two, Emma is unable to handle it at this time.  Though I don't often loose my temper, I am not perfect and I am used to dogs with a tougher skin than Ms. Emma.  This means I have to be extra careful when I am working with her and she begins to wilt and throw appeasement behaviors.  I can't just laugh at her and give her a good thump on the ribs like I do Max when he startles; she can't handle that reaction and needs a softer approach to ease her anxiety.

Thankfully, she's a puppy who can quickly recover and gain a lot of confidence with a bit of gentle guidance.  A couple of thought out clicker sessions on something that bothers her and she rebounds with great confidence.  This ability will do her well in her job in the future, as long as we are careful to help her gain her confidence now and build upon it with continued loving success.

She is also wicked smart.  Where Max will still seek and find a treat that trails off when tossed at him, she's come to the conclusion that Zen means that if a treat is not slid to her or lands right at her feet, then it is not her treat and she's to ignore it.  This will work well in her future job, but can make some of her early training a bit more challenging.

She's learned to sit back and give "other dog working Zen" when I work with Max.  Her ability to pick up and retain on lessons means that if I make a mistake of letting her do something one time to often it'll be "okay" according to her learning theory.  Running away when she doesn't want something done is one of those things.  If she doesn't want to go to bed she will turn and walk off.  If she doesn't want to have her ears cleaned or her body groomed she does the same.  Next week I am going to teach her a "don't walk off" cue to curb this annoying habit.  Though not a "Levels" behavior, it will be one badly needed if she is ever loose outside of a fenced area and we need to catch her.

Attitude, who also had this habit. was taught "stop" and "wait".  Stop meant to stop moving and but her butt to the ground and wait for me to pick her up.  Wait meant to not go any further, but she could turn and walk in my direction or away from the item she was moving toward; it has saved her life more than once when she's escaped from the fence and was moving toward traffic.  Dieter also learned these words and recently demonstrated it when Walter left the gate open and Dieter was headed toward it.  Walter called out "Dieter, Wait" and Dieter stopped going for the gate and turned and walked to the corner of the yard, inside the fence line, instead.  This behavior is needed for Emma, who like Attitude, likes to play the "you can't get me" game.

I am going to teach her Whoa, which means to stand where she is and not move - period.  I will start Whoa training and continue working on Sit and Down when blocked on two or more sides until she's confident and comfortable with it.

Tomorrow we'll finish the "Down in front of the door is not scary" training and really get her enjoying throwing Downs to go outside.

Level 1
ZenTargetComeSitDown
StepCompletedCompleted CompletedCompletedCompleted
Level 2
ZenComeSitDownTarget
Step51224
FocusLazy LeashGo To MatCrateDistance
Step22111
JumpRelaxHandlingTricksCommunication
Step111Completed1

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

20 Weeks: Training - Day 28

She is just before Max so that one side of her is not blocked.
This is something she does normally and I will need to work with
her to show her she can be between Max and the chair and do
a Sit without concern.
Wednesday already!  It's hard to believe the week is going so fast.  Since Emma is no longer prepping for the Boy Scout presentation I decided to start our morning with a good snuggle and play and the work on a problem I've noted with her down cue.  She's unwilling to do a down facing my front door.  She becomes fussy and starts to shutdown if you ask for one, so I decided today to work on Max's "Park on a Mat" behavior while Emma and I did Puppy Push Ups by the front door.

She was still unwilling, to the point of not taking food, for a little bit and then seemed to break through and started to offer Sits and Shakes.  We slowly worked to downs by the front door and got into a good rhythm of Puppy Push Ups for her breakfast.

I realized that when asking her for a down she's between a wall and Max when it's time to go outside.  Once again, being blocked on both sides seems to really bother her, so when I was finally able to stand and work on Down with her, I moved the chair I had used to start the routine and set it where Max normally laid beside her when I was about to let everyone out.

She was able to relax and do her downs, but I think I'll spend the rest of the week working on her breakfast in that spot and turn Down by the front door into a fun game.

We have a busy day planned.  She has her field trip to Pet Smart, an early arrival at the Diamonds in the Ruff for a SD evaluation I will be doing and then class after that.    With such a busy day ahead of us, I plan to get a bit of computer work done early so I can focus on Emma's training.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Today's Lessons:


Down

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 2 of Down.  This step asks I add duration to her down.  She was doing okay up to 15 seconds, but I started to notice that she was reluctant to do a down in certain situations.  Part of it is confidence and part of it is we had not taught it to her in those situations.  As a result I backed up and began re-teaching down in new locations from both a sitting and a standing position.

One of those locations happened to be facing the front door.  She's using Down to earn rewards, such as going outside or getting out of her crate, but she doesn't understand what I am asking for just yet.  Today I started by sitting on the floor, but she seemed to fold into herself and sit in my lap instead.  I decided to give her a picture she recognized and brought out a chair and sat before the door.

Once seated she seemed to understand what I was asking for and began working for her kibble.  I stood after about half of her breakfast and a short time later moved the chair to her side so she was between it and the wall on the other side of her.  She was reluctant again, but still working for her kibble.  We ended with her giving me a 10 second down in that position, but I see we need a lot more work on doing things when she's blocked on two sides.

I will continue working Down in front of the door and with her blocked on two sides with different items until she's confident and able to do a down without thinking about it.

Field Trip


Emma did fantastic today.  She was excited to enter Pet Smart and was friendly and appropriate with all the dogs she met.  She did extremely well with loose lead walking today.  As you can see in the video she provided 99% loose lead walking and performed all of her Level 1 behaviors.  Her ability to control herself is increasing and she's gaining confidence daily.  I was extremely happy with her outing today.  The above video is the unedited filming of her time in Pet Smart.

Later we went to Diamonds in the Ruff for a make up class.  This new class had older dogs and Max attended with Walter and I.  I had expected to meet a client the hour prior to the class, but the client didn't arrive.  Emma and Max spent the time in the building both playing and relaxing.  Just prior to class I worked again on Loose Leash walking with Emma in the classroom.

This class was different than I expected.  Two of the dogs were dog reactive (on the other side of the room from us) and one was very frightened and worried.  Emma was totally fascinated by the dog next to us and would stand and stare at him.  I spent a lot of time re-directing her to me to break her stare.

Max spent about half the class across the room from us, but finally hit his limit of being away from me that long and so Walter brought him to me and he spent the rest of the class beside me.  Emma practiced some new tricks tonight while Max watched.  She practiced Back Up, Rollover, Spin and Twist and Crawl.  She did well with all of them.

The class ended with her going over agility equipment.  She happily walked the board, went through the tunnels and hoops and weaved through the cones.  She was bold and comfortable throughout the class.  When two of the dogs got too close and a spat broke out she remained calm beside Max and ignored them.

Overall, her behavior in class was outstanding.

Observations

Emma is emerging from this fear period with a new level of confidence.  She still have areas that worry her, like when Dana entered the building wearing a hat and doing a cued down before being let out of the house, but overall she is doing well.

She needs exposure to people wearing hats, funny clothes and glasses or head covers.  She barks when she's concerned about something and her barking at Dana when he came in with a hat on tells me she's not seen enough of this to be okay with it.

Tomorrow we'll continue working on Down and Lazy Leash so she can progress to taking short field trips into new locations.

Level 1
ZenTargetComeSitDown
StepCompletedCompleted CompletedCompletedCompleted
Level 2
ZenComeSitDownTarget
Step51224
FocusLazy LeashGo To MatCrateDistance
Step22111
JumpRelaxHandlingTricksCommunication
Step111Completed1

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

20 Weeks: Training - Day 27

Walter, Max, Emma and I at the Boy Scout meeting.
Emma was tired by this time and I asked Walter to hold her.
Well today is a big day for Emma, Max and I.  Today Emma will meet a group of Boy Scouts and help with dog safety education and disability education.  I hope she's got the hand shake down enough to show off a bit for the children.  I intend to take her dinner with us and have each child give her a treat while they reach out and touch her to pet her.  I want her thinking new people petting her is a great thing.

This morning went very well with her Lazy Leash and Tricks training.  She is advancing nicely with them, but I don't expect Ms. Excitable to keep her cool in the new location and walk like a champ on her lead.  I will use high value treats to walk her into the building and have Walter hold her while I do my lecture.

I am uncertain how old the children are, but have an outline of what I want to say.  I am going to engage them in the conversation about disabilities and service dogs and dog safety.  I will ask for volunteers to direct Max on some of his task training and participate in the trick we have worked on for the past week.  In the end, I will invite the children to give Emma a treat and pet her so she gets the experience of meeting a lot of new children.  The whole event is to last about 40 minutes total.

So, today's lesson plans are focused on Emma showing off a bit of what she's learned and Max being ready for his big day as demo dog.  I need to contact my friend Redd to ensure my props are ready and have them on board for when Walter and I leave.

What a great group of kids!  They listened well and were
very good with both Max and Emma.
I'll write up how the event went and post any pictures or video we may have once I get back tonight.

Today's Lessons:


Lazy Leash

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 2 Lazy Leash.  This morning I worked on her following beside me in the house once again.  She's starting to show signs she knows that the goal is to walk by me and not forge ahead or lag behind.  She's become much more comfortable turning when she's blocked between me and another object and she's doing her sits and downs in blocked locations at my side without complaint now.  Her confidence from yesterday has grown considerably.

Once again, I plan to take her outside and in the street to work on Lazy Leash skills, only this time during the day.  She did very well last night and with that success under her belt I believe daytime will be a nice rise in distraction without having too much going on.

Tricks

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 4 Tricks.  Since Emma was already comfortable with giving me her paw and picked up quickly I wanted her to give me her right paw when I offered her my right hand I have started working her in new locations and with new people to finalize the trick.  Emma is progressing rapidly on this trick.

I plan to work out on several tricks with her as she continues her training.  A good, playful and fun trick is always relaxing to train and work on.

Field Trip


Tonight Emma attended a Service Dog/Dog Safety awareness lecture with a troupe of Boy Scouts and their parents and siblings.  We went early to give Max and Emma time to adjust to the energy level of a large group of children between the ages of 5 and 10 years of age.  There were a few older than 10 and a few younger, but overall the average age was around 8 years of age for the children.

Emma seems to have problems with children of this age and tends to bark at them.  They seem to frighten her and I've been working on introducing her to more children of this age group to help her through that fear.  When we arrived a few of the children were already outside the building and Emma barked at them once Walter took her out of the van.  I was taking Max to a tree to let him relieve himself and called back to Walter to give her treats and redirect her.

In short order she calmed and we were let into the building.  She wasn't completely comfortable with the large number of active, running, yelling, laughing and busy children around her.  She barked off and on at the children and Walter and I both worked on re-directing her and asking for behaviors or working on LAT.

She finally stopped barking at the children and would pointedly look at them and then back to me when she realized she was being rewarded for being calm around them.  I could tell she was still nervous, but she was calming slowly and starting to just take in the busy environment.

At times she would look back and see Max calm and relaxed on his mat and give a bit of a huff and relax a little more.  She was able to, even worried like she was and with all the unbelievable activity that was happening around her, to perform her new trick with myself, Walter and two adults.  She was actually offering Shake as a behavior to gain treats.

The flag ceremony worried her a bit, so I used LAT to calm her as the flag on a long pole, carried by a child, passed us.  I again stuffed her full when they did a series of claps, screams and jumping around during the award ceremony.

Each time she became worried about what was happening she would move closer to Max and place herself between him and me so she was protected.  She never lost it so badly she was trying to flee, but she was clearly worried that this busy environment would harm her from time to time.

When I was introduced and began my part of the evening events, Walter sat asking her for sits, shakes and downs for treats.  She put her back to the room and focused on him.  From time to time I saw her shaking Walter's hand or peering at the children and back to him.

Max was the star of the night to tell the truth.  He was relaxed and calm.  The moment I laid his mat by the wall he curled up on it and remained there until I asked for him.  He picked up toys and put them in a basket.  He picked up laundry items and put them in the basket also.  He picked up a credit card, pen and a book and handed them to me.  The book I gave back to him and sent him to Walter to give it to him.

We built a training tool for Emma and Max (Thank you Redd for doing the actual construction) which is a board on hinges to simulate a door and a light switch on the other side.  I had Max "close the door" for the kids.  He was a bit distracted, looking about and sniffing things and sometimes picking up an item out of the basket instead of off the floor, but a lot of giggling told me that the group was enjoying the show.

I have known about this presentation for over a week now and spent that time teaching Max an interactive trick for the children.  He learned to sniff a container in each hand and indicate which one had the scent of mint in it.  I asked for volunteers and had about six hands come up, I picked two kids and told them exactly what I wanted them to do:

They were to hold the containers out in front of them side by side and Max would sit in front of them and then he would poke his nose on the right container.  Once he did I would say "Yes" and then the kid was to give Max a treat with their open hand, like one would give a treat to a horse.

The kids loved it.  Max's head snapped around when I said Yes and then he realized the CHILDREN were giving him treats.  He was completely involved.  Max loves kids anyway and now he was able to play a safe game with them and get a reward from them.

After the first two kids I asked for two more volunteers and every hand in the room shot up.  After those two kids did the trick with him, I said any who hadn't gone already could line up and do the game with Max.  Max repeated the trick 30 times with the kids and got a treat from each and every one of them.  He was stoked.

After that I explained that Emma was worried about them and if they could calmly line up and give her a treat also that would be great.  She took treats from the first five and then started to disengage and not take treats.  I sat with her in my lap and asked if they'd just walk by and say "Hi" instead.  The next 10 kids did and then five gave her treats and we repeated this until she calmed down.

The evening ended with applause and ending ceremonies and pictures.  I asked any children who took pictures with Emma and Max to please have permission with their parents because I wanted to post the picture on the internet.  The above two pictures were taken by a parent at the event, since my camera was acting up.  Thank you for sending them to me promptly!

The children were amazing and listened well.  I asked them questions and encouraged them to be part of our discussion on dogs.  I had Jake, who asked me to come, to hand out a Sofia Yin hand out about how to safely approach a dog and stated he had two other hand outs for anyone who wanted for their kids about dog safety also.

I truly enjoyed myself and was very pleased with how Emma recovered each time a fright happened.  She's in a fear period and tonight's event could have been distasterous without Walter's help.  He's a comfort to her and he listened well to my instructions on re-direction and reward for looking at the children.

Observations


Emma is worried about children 12 and younger.  She tends to bark at them and react with fear to them.  She needs more exposure to young children who are calm and active and see that nothing bad will happen around them.  Having Max present and being able to retreat to him when she needed helped, but she needs time to sit and observe children and become comfortable with them as humans also.

To help her with this I will seek and find places children play and she can be near without being mugged.  I will slowly build her up to greeting them and becoming more confident around them.

She's the type of dog who needs to observe from a distance before she decides if she wants to join.  She's a soft personality who can easily be shutdown if pushed too fast.  She is lucky she's being taught with positive re-enforcement, since traditional training would have quickly shut her down and killed her spirit.

Her entry into public work will be slow and at a pace that prevents her feeling overwhelmed.  She rebounded well from tonight due to the constant re-enforcement on her good behavior and safe retreat points to myself, Walter and Max.  What surprised me was she wasn't ready to meet and greet everyone there and became very reserved when we were there.  I was pleased to see her lay quietly beside me and watch the kids by the end of the event, and was even more pleased with her ability to do her Level 1 behaviors in such a busy location.

Though her loose leash walking wasn't perfect, she did try to keep her lead loose when she was able to focus.  For a young dog that is a nice accomplishment.  Emma is progressing well and I have no complaints about the wonderful, polite and quiet behavior I saw 90% of the time tonight.

Since Emma was able to perform her trick with myself, Redd, Walter and two adults in a new location, I am announcing that Emma has passed Level 2 Tricks for Shake.  I would recommend her owners to choose, plan and train a new trick to her to continue learning how to train new behaviors.


Level 1
ZenTargetComeSitDown
StepCompletedCompleted CompletedCompletedCompleted
Level 2
ZenComeSitDownTarget
Step51224
FocusLazy LeashGo To MatCrateDistance
Step22111
JumpRelaxHandlingTricksCommunication
Step111Completed1

Monday, January 28, 2013

20 Weeks: Training - Day 26

Max and Emma (20 Weeks) all shined up
for their big day tomorrow.
It must be Monday.  Emma was to arrive at my house at 8:15 AM so I set my alarm and woke early so I was ready when she arrived.  I fed Attitude, as normal, ahead of the two boy dogs and planned on training and feeding Max and Dieter prior to Emma arriving, but it is Monday.

The phone rang and it was my brother asking about the Nook we'd bought for our mother for Christmas and what operating system it used.  I had noticed it was well past 8:15 AM, which was the drop off time for Emma and was becoming concerned.  Normally Emma's owner calls me if she's going to be late and I had the news running in the background telling of cars spinning out of control and flipping into ditches because of the sudden freeze the night before.  I mentioned to my brother I was worried and he said I was over-reacting; except Emma's owner is generally prompt - be it arriving when stated or calling if she's running late.  I ended the call telling him I would give her a bit more time and then call her myself to make sure everything was okay.

The phone rang again and a nice gentleman captured me in a conversation about his service dog in training and wanting an eval after a bad experience she'd had which had made her a bit jumpy.  We talked about fear periods, my training philosophy and the upcoming lecture on Friday which explains a lot about what it takes to train a service dog and service dog laws.  During our conversation my call waiting kicked in and asked the gentleman to please call me back in a few minutes; I had thought it was Emma's owner, but it turned out to be another person wanting to inform me she was coming to the lecture and confirming information.

I called Emma's owner, who'd had a bad night the night before with her son, and asked if everything was okay.  She said she was running late and was about to call me when I called her.  It was now over an hour after I expected her.  I was relieved she was okay.

Emma's owner arrived 10 minutes later and we did a quick exchange of puppy and information and she headed out.  I then put Emma on her crate and had just run the ear wash through her ears and was cleaning them out when the phone rang.  It was the gentleman who wanted to setup the eval and learn more about the lecture and training in general.  We talked for a while and concluded with setting up an appointment for Wednesday.

I medicated Emma and Max's ear and scooped out their food.  It was now 10:20 AM and both Max and Dieter hadn't eaten yet, nor had Emma.

Emma (20 Weeks) still damp from her bath.
Due to the upcoming lecture and my need for her to walk with some form of control into the new location tomorrow, I am focusing on leash skills today.  I spent the morning meal (I am putting her back on 3 meals a day during training to better gauge how much I am working on a given skill) and walked her up and through the house asking for sits with her beside me.  It's a work in progress and lunch will be spent outside in the weather working on leash skills under higher distractions - even if it means we never get off of the ramp before she's worked her way through her meal and got some where with the leash loose and her in proper position.

Emma (20 Weeks) freshly groomed and puffy!
After feeding Dieter (who ate while Emma trained) and training Emma, I worked with Max on his trick for tomorrow - he's almost got it proofed and I think the kids will enjoy it.  When I finished training the crew I took Emma in and bathed her.  She needs to look sharp for tomorrow's meet and greet and there is nothing softer than a freshly bathed and groomed dog.

Emma has a full week ahead of her with a lecture, SD eval (she'll be crated for that) and new class, plus her first solo run into Pet Smart to train for up to 15 minutes on her Level 1 behaviors.  Leash work and basic refresh and remind at my house this week should balance her out nicely.

But folks, it's Monday, so take care of yourself!

Today's Lessons:


Lazy Leash

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 2 Lazy Leash.  In this Step the dog learns to keep the leash loose while standing or sitting and then when moving for a few steps.  I am working her in the house currently to keep her focus and keep the distraction levels down.  She needs plenty of experience and success at this stage in order to take it outside and to new locations and have continued success.

Emma is keeping the leash between us loose 90% of the time when working in the house now.  I was able to walk her from my living room to my hallway and turn at my bedroom door to complete the loop.

I have noted that Emma has worries about being between myself and another object.  This is something that will be a part of her life, be she a pet dog or service dog, and so I am using Level 2: Step 1 of Lazy Leash to gently coax her around between me, the gate and the wall in the hall.  As she moves to my side I give her several treats to highly re-enforce that being between me and other items is not scary and then ask for a know behavior such as Sit or Down and reward them heavily also.  By the end of our morning session she was able to do a Sit or Down without trying to scoot out to being in front of me, was able to turn and walk with two of her blocked by either me or a wall, gate or piece of furniture and maintain loose leash and stay at my side while walking.  It was a successful morning, so I am hoping our afternoon jaunt into the snow and ice will be a good start to self control when not in my home.

Our second session was after dark today.  Did I mention it is Monday?  Things went afowl with a damp Labradoodle and my need to run an errand.  By the time I returned home and she'd dried it was dark.  I am actually glad it was, the level of distractions outside were considerably less. I carried her to the street, deciding I didn't want to spend all night on the ramp trying to get to the street.

The work on teaching her to give into her collar pressure paid off.  She was able to walk by me on loose lead 80% of the time and do sits and downs mostly at my side.  She's finally figured out why I am backing up and is moving into position beside me when I do.  I am not asking for a formal heel, just her at my side and on a loose lead while we work.

We spent 10 minutes working on walking up and down the street in front of my house and she did fantastic.  When her brain fell out and she saw or thought she saw something exciting she would go to the end of the lead and I'd wait for her to turn and move to me.  I clicked and treated each success, which was a lot, and soon had a dog who was checking back and seeing where I was.

It's a start.  She's not ready for a store just yet, but she is getting the idea.  By Wednesday we can practice a bit of loose lead walking in Pet Smart and see how she does.

Tricks


Emma is working on Level 2: Step 1 Tricks.  I ran her through about three different tricks to see which ones I could get out of her by Wednesday for her final class.  She did Rollover, Spin and Shake.  She gets a bit flipply and floppy with Rollover and Spin, so I settled on teaching her Shake tonight.

She understands the concept of handing her feet to people, since her owners worked on that skill for wiping them when she came in from the outside.  She tends to throw her feet at your hands or hug them with both her front feet, so I focused on re-fining which foot I wanted when I offered my right hand only.  Since she'll be meeting new people tomorrow, a cute trick to show the group of children will be nice.  She was clicked only if she gave me her right front foot when I offered my right hand.  It's a perfect hand shake.

What surprises me is how soft she is with her feet.  I have noticed it before, but her self control with her front feet just amazes me.  She would pick up her foot, turn it slightly to the side and put her paw, pads down, into my palm with purpose each time.  I began attaching the verbal cue to this behavior tonight.

I worked with her while sitting on the floor and while standing and bending over her and while sitting.  She does this trick no matter the position I am facing her, which means she understands the goal, just needs the proofing on the trick to polish it up.

I will work on this trick some more to polish it up for Wednesday and demonstrate it in her class.

Observations

Emma is heading into another fear stage and finds being blocked or doing something at my side uncomfortable.  The solution is to build her confidence and give her lots of chances at success as we work through this fear stage.

Her teething is moving along at a solid pace and she's very interested in chewing on anything that will help bring her new teeth in.  It also means her food drive is a bit down and her ability to chew is a bit askew, so when working with her outside I will use high value treats mixed into her normal kibble.  Normally she's willing to work for kibble no matter where we are, but at a stage when her mouth is hurting and her distraction levels are high, using a high value, smelly treat will help re-direct her focus and bring her into the new game of training outside.

I checked her mouth today and am proud to announce I see four brand new adult canine teeth poking up through her gums.  She has brought in most of her front teeth between them and I see the first deep, behind the canines and in the molars, chewing today.  She is starting to bring in her next set of teeth already.  She won't be teething for much longer and will feel better overall when this is finished.

I won't see a "teething" behavior again until she's 1 year old and begins bringing in her 1 year molars.  Right now she's working on the front bi-cuspids and should soon work back to the first molars in a couple of weeks.  I will be glad when teething season is over.

Level 1
ZenTargetComeSitDown
StepCompletedCompletedCompletedCompletedCompleted
Level 2
ZenComeSitDownTarget
Step51224
FocusLazy LeashGo To MatCrateDistance
Step22111
JumpRelaxHandlingTricksCommunication
Step11111

Friday, January 25, 2013

19 Weeks: Training - Day 25

Emma visits Home Depot on her first solo run into a new location.


We end another week with Emma excited to see her owner and ready for a weekend of fun and play at her home.  She did a lot this week and made some nice progress.  I am very proud of her.

I woke ahead of Emma again today at 7 AM.  She stirred as I got up and waited quietly for me to let her out.  Once out she bounced around the house, but stayed quiet as we headed for the front door.  I am glad she's learning that quiet behavior will get her the rewards she desires.

We didn't do much today, just worked on Sit and Down during our morning and mid-day training.  I had mentioned earlier that she lost a tooth and she's starting to find chewing kibble a bit troublesome, but she's still working for her kibble.  The time between giving her a kibble and doing the next repeat is a bit extended as she works the kibble around in her mouth and tries to find a grip on it to chew it; it's actually kind of funny watching her tiny mouth working so hard and so fast to get the kibble chewed so she can earn the next one.

She enjoys the morning cuddle while I drink coffee and has finally learned to just join us in the bed and not romp and bounce and try to start a game of wrestle.  She joined me as we watched an episode of Castle and settled quickly into a ball against my ribs and slept while I played with her gums and lips on her face.  This is a prelude to brushing her teeth.  I don't want to run a brush over here gums just yet; they are inflamed with teething and brushing her teeth and gums now would actually be painful.  I run my fingers gently on her gums and rub softly, which actually relieves from of the soreness, much like rubbing a baby's gums when they are teething.  At first when I played with her face this way she would flip her head or try to chew on my fingers, but now she just lays there and enjoys the gentle and loving contact.

She's also grown more comfortable with grooming.  I have a brush designed for her curly coat which I use on her at least twice a week.  She has two hair styles I've discovered over the weeks - bead-head or puff ball.  She was in serious bed-head mode today, so I set her at my feet while I sat in the chair and groomed her.  Before when I did this and she wasn't on the top of her crate, she would wiggle and turn and nibble at the brush or my hands.  Today she stood still and allowed me to groom her legs, haunches, body and face.  I remove her collar when I groom her and make certain I get a good brushing behind her ears and along her neck.  When I finished she was in full puff ball mode.  It's so strange having a dog who has muzzle hair that needs to be brushed and is so bushy when I am finished brushing her.

The difference between brushing her and brushing Max is huge.  When I am finished with Max hair is still falling out of his coat and I have enough hair in the plastic bag beside me to knit a whole new Labradoodle.  On the other hand, when I am finished with Emma I have a tiny tuft of hair I remove from the pin brush - not even enough to knit a button!

Between her ear infection and her teething she was a bit off today and not as bouncy or excitable as normal.  By 2 PM I decided she needed to nap and went into my bedroom where her crate is.  I opened the door and she walked in without complaint.  I closed it, covered it with a heavy blanket and didn't hear a peep from her until almost 3:30 PM when she woke and made a small stirring sound in her crate as I checked in on her.  What a change from the prison riot I was dealing with for her naps.

She's also, all week long, been entering her crate without complaint for naps, my showers and her bed time.  She even pushed open the door and raided it for toys when I was doing something in the bedroom and she followed me in.  On a regular basis she enters to raid and remove her blanket, two cuddle stuffies and chew toy that she sleeps with.

She's finally ready to start working on entering her crate for training and learning the cue for going in.  She seeks her crate for comfort and play things.  It's good to see the crate is again a positive thing in her life and she's enjoying it as a place to rest, whether I am in the room with her or not.

Since we started the napping in her crate while I am in another room she's become more comfortable with my leaving the room without having to follow and know where I am at all times.  This is a level of independence a confident dog needs and I am glad to see it.

Next week will be a big week for her.  She'll enjoy a night at a boy scout meeting on Tuesday, a new group of dogs in a Head Start class on Wednesday and her first solo run to Pet Smart to work on Level 1 behaviors.

I have asked her owners to focus on Sit and Down for the weekend.  She currently believes that she must be facing her handler when she does both and needs more practice earning life rewards with down.  I asked them to work with her being comfortable doing a sit or down at any position around them - be it beside, behind or any point in between them.  I also stated I have noted that if she is blocked on one side by a cabinet, chair or wall she is uncomfortable and wants to scoot out of the tight spot.  I asked they spend a lot of time working her between them and something else to make it clear she's okay in those spaces and doesn't need to fear them.

Hopefully she'll return on Monday with the ability to transfer those lessons here and again at the Boy Scout meeting.  On Monday and Tuesday I want to focus on Loose Leash walking to make it easier to get her from one location to another.  Right now her leash skills are weak and she can't proceed beyond Pet Smart with her public access training until they are stronger and she can do a sit and down while at my side.  Once we have those skills in place we can begin walking through new locations again and extend her learning in businesses.

Today's Lessons:


Sit

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 2 Sit.  In this step we now add duration to the distance she's just learned.  Emma has just begun this lesson and can only handle working up to 2 seconds before she gets up to join me.  She can handle my walking away from her at any angle, except behind her.  If you remember, I talked about working around the clock in relation to her.  I was able to walk away from 3 O'Clock to 9 O'Clock without her shifting her position and needing to turn to watch me.  At this point I am working within that range to keep her from breaking her sit and extending her time in a sit.

Down

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 2 Down.  In this step Emma is asked to wait up to 1 minute in a down before a click.  Since we will not get a 1 minute down without a click in one lump, I am working her slowly past each point where she becomes too fussy or worried I have forgotten to click.  Today I checked the Level 2: Step 1 Down Come After which stated I was to take items out of my pocket and eat them, thus working on her impulse control while in a down.  I spent half of our practice on Down doing this and found she was not tricked by my reaching into my pocket and eating chocolate chips.

The second half of her Down lesson I worked on duration.  I was able to get to 14 seconds 2 times and did a lot of "random" clicks in between each extended down I asked for.  In truth, she never got up while I clicked and treated her - so her down is actually extending without her realizing it.

Emma will continue to work slowly on extending her ability to wait for the click while in a down.

Observations

Emma had a rough week between teething and an ear infection this week.  She had ups and downs on her energy and focus levels and needed more down time and rest to recover from her infection. I offered her plenty of play time and rest time during the week to help her heal from her infection and get in the amount of chewing she needs to bring in new adult teeth.

This period of her life will be a mix of focus and lack of interest because of the changes her mouth is going through.  Like an infant and toddler bringing in new teeth, she is grumpy and in pain from the process of bring in her adult teeth.  Thankfully it doesn't take nearly as long for a puppy to bring in new teeth as it does a human child, nor is a puppy near as grumpy about the process as an infant.  What it does mean is she needs extra time to chew and work on breaking teeth through.

The ear infection robbed her of a lot of her normal energy.  Though she is a puppy with an off switch and can settle and rest without much prompting on my part, she does have her bursts of energy where she over tires herself and can't relax.  Tethering her or placing her in her crate to rest and relax is important to help her refresh her energy reserves.

She's also in a new fear period and needs a bit of extra guidance through it to help her with new situations.  Home Depot this week was a bit exciting and frightening.  Though the entry was a "known" location, since she'd gone into many other store entries by this time in her training, the sounds and smells of Home Depot were new and a bit frightening to her.  The gentle praise while bringing her focus back to me helped her with that fear and end on a positive note.

What she is not ready for is entering and going through such a big and loud store as Home Depot at this time.  She needs to explore Pet Smart a bit more and work on her leash and basic skills a bit before venturing into a quiet store - like my local Safeway or the dollar store near me.

I look forward to next week's lessons!

Level 1
ZenTargetComeSitDown
StepCompletedCompletedCompletedCompletedCompleted
Level 2
ZenComeSitDownTarget
Step51224
FocusLazy LeashGo To MatCrateDistance
Step21111
JumpRelaxHandlingTricksCommunication
Step11111

Thursday, January 24, 2013

19 Weeks: Training - Day 24

Emma is busy and enjoys playing with toys during
her down time between lessons.
Today is the first day in over a week I woke with only a low grade headache.  I am used to having daily headaches, but the ones I've had for the past week were far above my normal.  Emma, having seen barking and bouncing to the door didn't work the morning before, exited her crate without a peep and went to the front door quietly today.  The cat, Dieter and Max were all quiet.  It was a huge change from the past few days of riots in the morning.

I also woke today in less pain than I ended the day before in.  My back had been on fire and my joints screaming the night before when I headed to bed.  This morning they ached, but weren't burning.  This lent to an increased level of energy which could quickly be used if I didn't plot my day properly.

I had planned to take Max for a bath while Emma napped, but when her nap time arrived I had company and decided instead to use the quiet time I was granted during her nap to clean my house.  I haven't actually properly cleaned my house since I started training Emma.  I don't know about others, but when my house if out of order, so am I.  My friend, who stayed for about 30 minutes, had left and Emma was sleeping, so I dusted and cleaned my kitchen. When she woke I continued and finished the floors and cleared out the fridge.  I felt more energized as a result and enjoyed my evening training with the dogs without the "I have to clean my house" back burner nagging at me.

Emma is clearly feeling better today.  She was full of it, playing with toys and starting play sessions with Max.  She kept trying to play with the cat by chasing her or cornering her and poking her with her nose.  I finally turned to her and said, "Leave the cat alone" and Emma turned, looked at me and walked away from the cat.  She's starting to apply Zen to life situations.

I again only focused on two formal lessons today, which does not mean her entire day isn't some learning experience.  Level 2 Communication asks that the dog give space to the humans around her by moving out of their way.  Emma has been learning this all along, I just haven't accessed where she is on the steps.  Level 2 Zen asks she learn self control with dropped items and items that are not hers.  She's been learning that slowly over time by my continued monitoring of her behavior.  Level 2 Sit and Down ask she use these skills to gain life rewards, such as going outside, getting a reward such as a toy or greeting a person.  These two are things we apply to her life when she's not formally training.  Level 2 Handling asks that she allow people to handler her feet, ears, mouth and body without fussing.  I have been doing tiny bits of this in the morning when we snuggle, when I groom her and whenever I handle her.  She's had me medicating her ears daily this week and I play with her gums and rub my fingers on them to prepare her for tooth brushing.  I also play with her face, feet and body when we cuddle.  Though you may only see two formal training items listed, her day is full of lessons because I can't ask her to turn off her brain when I don't have a clicker in my hands.

Since she can no longer join the cheese line in my house, she is getting Garbanzo beans when I medicate Attitude.  I use Easy Cheese to give Attitude her tiny pills.  I bit of Easy Cheese on the pills allows her to lick them from my finger tips and swallow them, so when I pull the can down I give each of the animals a small squirt of it from the can.  Emma may be allergic cheese, so she can no longer have any when I dole out the morning treat.  Instead, I give her one of the Garbanzo beans from the open can in the fridge.  She loves them!  I also use them as a reward for medicating her ears.

Today's Lessons:

Focus

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 2 Focus.  In Step 1 Focus Emma was asked to locate and glance into my eyes.  She's finally started offering this behavior as one of the items in her toolbox, so I am not asking for longer glances before I click.  I actually started on this step last week, but wanted to ensure I wasn't rushing her.  Today she gave me regular 1 second eye contact and occasional 2 second eye contact.

Emma needs more practice with eye contact with more people.  She's still throwing her head and offering other behaviors for eye contact, which means she's not figured out all I am asking of her is eye contact just yet.  This morning I was getting a lot of head movement and body movement when working on Focus.  This evening she settled down and started to give me meaningful eye contact on a regular basis.  The more she practices this behavior the better she'll become at it.

Down

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 2 Down.  This step asks that Emma remain in a down for 1 minute before a click.  I laddered her up to 10 seconds several times and then began a random click pattern between 1 and 10 seconds.  She was able to do up to 10 seconds five times in the morning.  In the evening she was able to ladder up to 10 seconds 10 separate times.  I was able to also work just beyond 10 seconds a few times.  I got up to 14 seconds before she broke her down.

Emma needs to remain on Step 2 until she can calmly and without fuss remain in a down before moving to Step 3, which asks that she remain in a down while the handler walks away ten feet.  Until she can remain in a down without fussing.

Special Events

Today Redd dropped by to use my internet and brought her 5 month old great grand-daughter with her.  Emma was very excited, but learned she had to remain calm when meeting new babies.  Max, who loves babies, was very gentle with her and at one point when Emma was too excited sat between the baby and Emma.

Emma began to bark at the baby when I had her standing in my lap.  For Emma, this strange tiny human was frightening.  We talked to Emma softly and she finally moved in and sniffed the baby.  The moment she did her tail began wagging and she kissed the baby and nuzzled her.

At one point Emma became to excited and began clawing at the baby with her paws and Max started to tell her to knock it off, while Attitude barked at her and nipped her ribs.  I decided it was time to end Emma's visit with the baby and scooped her up and put her down for her nap.

Emma is uncertain about young children.  In the vet office she barked at a 5 to 6 year old child and today at the baby.  I think the Boy Scout meeting she'll attend next week will help her with her reactions to children.  I will have each child give her a treat while petting her to help socialize her to children.

Emma will be going to her owners tomorrow night to spend the weekend.  She's had a busy week, though a bit slow with my not feeling well and her having an ear infection.  Hopefully next week she'll get a bit more work in on her other Level 2 skills.


Level 1
Zen Target Come Sit Down
Step CompletedCompletedCompletedCompletedCompleted
Level 2
Zen Come Sit Down Target
Step 5 1 2 2 4
Focus Lazy Leash Go To Mat Crate Distance
Step 2 1 1 1 1
Jump Relax Handling Tricks Communication
Step 1 1 1 1 1

19 Weeks: Training - Day 23


On most days I wake with a headache.  I have accepted this fact as a part of my life and most days the headache eases within an hour of waking - most days.  For the past five days I have woken with an ever increasing headache that lasts the entire day.  It's a sign I had done too much and was both over tired and stressed.  The week before I had over extended myself and needed several days to recover, so I suspect the extended headache was a left over from my not slowing down enough.

I woke with a migraine just before Emma stirred in her crate.  The moment she heard me she gave a yelping bark and then went silent.  As I stood I found my balance was so unstable that I needed Max to help me maintain it for a second.  He stood quietly waiting for me to gain my balance while I rested my hand on his head and then headed out of the room with a typical German Shepherd half bark, half whine, half yowl.  I felt it shoot right through my skull.

I let Dieter out of his crate and then went to Emma and released her.  Emma has developed a habit of bouncing off of Max and me while barking and racing around the room before doing a yo-yo bark and bounce run to the door.  This high level of activity sets off Attitude, who barks with annoyance from my bed, causes Max to do GSD Speak with a bit of grumbling and growling at the puppy and Dieter to sound like a bag of marbles has hit the floor while he trots around me with his nails clicking.  The cat joins the fray as well, yowling at me to tell me she's starving and I've never fed her in her life.  With my head about to split I had to make a choice between screaming at all of the animals or finding a way to convince the instigator (read, Emma) to stop winding up the household.

I chose the later.  I stopped in the kitchen and faced a wall while Emma bound and barked behind me.  In short order she fell silent and I turned to continue to the front door.  She started again and I turned away from her again.  It took three rounds, but she finally decided silence would get me out of the kitchen.

Because I was running on a migraine and low energy I decided I couldn't train more than 2 items each day and will continue to focus on one or two items in a day while she is with me.  I am also training Max and by the time I finish his meal and hers I have spent almost an hour straight training in the morning and evening.  I just can't keep up this pace and thus will focus on a couple of items each day and really get the idea in her mind before introducing a new item the next if needed or continuing with something I think she needs more focus on.

By the evening my headache was raging, but not a migraine any longer.  Only problem was my back had lit on fire and I was aching all over.  A sure sign I was staying up too long and not getting enough me time.  I decided to delay this blog post until the next day as a result.  So, this is actually Wednesday's blog post and contains Wednesday's lessons.

Today's Lessons:


Lazy Leash


Emma is working on Level 2: Step 1 Lazy Leash.  In this step she is asked to move away from the pressure on her collar.  It teaches her that keeping her leash loose is her responsibility and not her handlers.  When I take her out she will occasionally plant her butt and sit with roots embedded to China.  This skill will teach her not to do that anymore.

She is starting to get up and move away from the pressure when it is applied to her collar.  I am holding the lead close to the clasp and watching for the clasp itself to drop from a vertical to a horizontal position.  Once I see the movement I click and treat her.  She is able to do it to the right and left, but back and forward still cause her to plant her feet.  She needs more work on this step before moving forward.

Target

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 4 Target.  In this step Emma is asked to touch a post it note when it is stuck to a wall or other object.  Emma is starting to understand the goal of the step, but tends to stall and default to a down.

Last week I was working on her duration during a down, and she seems to have gotten the idea of that lesson and is now applying it to this lesson.  In the morning when we were working on this step I found I didn't have the ability to think through how to get her to stand or sit up and continue with the lesson and felt myself becoming frustrated.  Because of that I choose to end the session and give it a break until evening.

In the evening she once again defaulted to a down, but my patience was longer and I could think enough to lure her back into a stand.  Once she got the idea I didn't want a down she did focus on the lesson and finally, in the end, touched the post it note with just enough force to shut the cabinet door I had placed it on.  Since Step 5 asks she close a cabinet door, I figured combining the two lessons would help her understand the practical use of this lesson.

Emma needs more practice with either a post it note or painters tape on a wall and other objects until she's giving solid and purposeful contact with the note with her nose.

A few times I tossed a treat to reset her when she was working Target, but she wouldn't get up to get them.  If I dropped the treat right next to her or between her feet she would eat it, but she was giving me full Level 2: Step 4 Zen without my even asking for it.  Emma has passed that step as a result.

Field Trip

Walter and I took Emma and Max to Home Depot.  Since Emma has had several trips where Max modeled entering a store before she did, I felt she was ready to solo an entry without Max modeling the behavior.  Emma entered the store with confidence and excitement.

She was able to do a sit on cue, but not a down.  She was also too distracted and excited to take treats while there.  I used praise and affection as her rewards as a result.  She got to meet a friendly stranger and enjoyed about three minutes of working in the entry of the store before I returned her to the van.

Walter and I then left her in the van while Max, he and I went into Home Depot to buy supplies to make a training tool for turning on light switches and closing doors.  The amount of time, the sounds and activity in the store would have been too much for Emma and I didn't want to flood her at this time.  She also does not have good enough leash skills to work within a non-pet friendly store at this time.

From now on I will take her solo to Pet Smart to work on Levels behaviors.  I want her to be able to walk and work in a store environment which is pet friendly before taking her for her first walk about in a non-pet friendly store.

Since I was not feeling well enough to download and edit the video of Emma's field trip I have instead attached a video demostrating the basics of teaching leash skills which are very similiar to Lazy Leash.


Level 1
Zen Target Come Sit Down
Step CompletedCompletedCompletedCompletedCompleted
Level 2
Zen Come Sit Down Target
Step 5 1 2 2 4
Focus Lazy Leash Go To Mat Crate Distance
Step 2 1 1 1 1
Jump Relax Handling Tricks Communication
Step 1 1 1 1 1

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

19 Weeks: Training - Day 22

Emma, 14 weeks old, didn't know that night
she would be having so much fun learning.
I woke before Emma this morning at 7 AM.  I sat up to find her just stirring in her crate and Max just rising to stretch and meet the day.  I let out the dogs and then returned for our morning cup of coffee and snuggle in the bed.  Emma enjoys this morning routine and settled close against me.  Max joined us and laid touching her.  He's grown used to the new dog in the house and doesn't mind her physical contact now like he did when she first arrived.

After our cuddle we did a quick training session on Zen and Target with Emma.  Max worked on Zen and his new trick.  With Attitude's health declining I spend a bit of extra time feeding her before the other dogs so I know she's eaten.  For Emma the time Attitude is eating is very hard, but she's accepted that she can't put her nose in Attitude's bowl and try to steal her food.  It's the beginning of Food Bowl Zen and she's showing a lot of self control when Attitude is eating a high value food such as canned Salmon and Garbanzo beans with crumbled freeze dried food mixed together.

I just crated her for nap time and she's scratching and screaming in her crate in protest.  When I shower she is quiet in her crate and when we go to bed she is quiet in her crate, but nap time is a different story.  It's a long protest about being jailed when the rest of the household is up.  It will take time for her to adjust to this new routine, but her nap time is when I can get her blog started and worked on, do some housework and give my dogs a break from the busy puppy.

Today for the first time Max goes to her crate when she is protesting and sits with her for a bit to quiet her.  It works.  With him present she quiets and settles until he leaves her sight.  I've never seen him check on her before and I find it a good sign he's considering her part of the family now.

I decided, since Max kept coming out to tell me the puppy was upset, to drag her and the crate out into my kitchen and after watching her for a moment realized the problem wasn't that she was in the crate as much as it wasn't "night" time and thus dark.  When I had Dieter crated when the kitten was first coming out and he wasn't ready to be loose with her at night, I had to cover his crate so he couldn't see her because he'd start to claw and whine when he saw the kitten.  I went and found a heavy blanket and laid it over Emma's crate and low and behold she went silent and fell promptly asleep!  Okay, so sometimes the human can be a bit slow!

Today's Lessons:


Zen

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 4 Zen.  I want to build up her ability to wait for a treat and eventually to not get the treat on the floor.  To do this I am also doing a bit of Step 5 Zen which is dropping treats on the floor and giving her a different treat.  Emma has been backing away from dropping treats for a week now and so I knew she could handle this.  I worked on it first while sitting in the chair and dropping treats around my feet and hers.  Each time I clicked she didn't get the newly dropped treat on the floor, but the one from my hand.  When I had dropped all the treats from my hand (about half, since she ate the other half as rewards) I would pick them up and continue to drop one and treat with one from my hand until I was out of treats.

She was a master of the Dropped Treat Zen while I was sitting so I changed the picture.  I stood and took her into the kitchen.  We had to start from the beginning again, which was fine.  I dropped the treat at my feet, she went to get it and I covered it with my foot.  She worked and fussed at the treat under my foot and finally moved back and got clicked and I slid the treat to her letting her know I was giving it to her.  We worked on this until she had earned 1/4 of her morning meal.

By the time I finished I was able to rain treats around her and she just laid there and looked at me.  I was also able to build back up to 10 seconds before the click and giving her the treat.  She is learning quickly and adjusting when I change the picture for her.

Target

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 4 Target.  Latent learning, something dogs use to figure out what you are trying to teach them, means the dog, during a break, nap or a overnight, mulls over the lesson they've been introduced to and generally come back further ahead than when the lesson ended.  Emma slept on our targeting lessons last night and returned today with a stronger understanding of what I wanted.

I placed the post it note on the edge of my chair first and she immediately targeted it with her nose.  After a few quick successes I moved the post it note to the side of my end table and again she quickly targeted the note.

I started attaching the cue as her nose moved to touch the post it note.  A couple of times she got stuck and would sit and stare at me, so I would say, "Touch" and she'd turn and poke the note with her nose.

Right now her nose target on the post it note is just a brush by, no real pressure applied.  I will continue working on the post it note until she is making strong purposeful touches.  I may by some painters tape and use it instead.  What she really needs is a stable target on a vertical surface to touch and I believe the painters tape will work better overall for helping her learn targeting with her nose.

Puppy K

Emma is doing very well in her Puppy K class.  She got to meet two of the puppies outside of class and though a bit shy about it, she was curious and willing to engage in a bit of friendly sniffing.  The Springer and Lab puppies played together while we waited for class to start.

I worked on Level 2: Step 1 Go To Mat while waiting for Emma and I to participate in class work. Emma quickly picked up she was being paid only when she was laying on the blanket I had folded and laid next to me.  I would toss a treat off of the mat and then wait for her to return to it and lay down and tell her Yes and give her a treat.  When she chose to sit next to it or lay next to it I didn't say anything.  It didn't take her long to figure out it had to do with the mat.

At one point I looked up and noticed Emma was the only dog in the room who was turned and completely focused on her handler.  She had her back to the rest of the room and was ignoring the busy puppies around us while she focused on me.

Emma is progressing nicely and our practice on Zen and Mat work during class really helped cement the ideas for her.  She is doing well with meeting new dogs, though she hasn't had enough play time with them yet to learn how to play with other dogs.  She's enjoying working with not only myself, but Travis and Dana and she's truly enjoying going to class.

On my return Walter reported that Max, who has had separation anxiety since I adopted him, is doing better each week with my leaving.  He stated Max had whined the entire time I was gone, but this week he only whined a couple of times and nudged the door handle on the front door a couple of times.  The transfers between my home and her owner's home, having her babysat when I am not able to take her with me and having new people work with her has helped stave off a very difficult behavior for Emma, one in which I have spent the last three years working on with Max.

Next week Emma will get to meet a bunch of Boy Scouts during one of my lectures and then attend a new class with new puppies on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.  I have already signed her up for Prep Class for next month and look forward to her moving into more advanced classes as we continue her training.

Observations

Anyone who's raised a puppy will say there is a point between when a puppy is cute and sleeps as much as it is awake and the period just prior to turning into a teenager where they sleep much less than they are awake.  Emma is in that new stage.  If not forced into a nap, which she badly needs, so is busy with toys, chasing the cat, jumping on the adult dogs and getting into everything around the house.  She's between toddler and pre-adolescent and it's a difficult age for any owner or puppy raiser.

What's harder for her is she's not feeling well right now and her busy bursts of energy is taking away from her healing.  I allow her plenty of play time, an important part of any child growing, but I also know a scheduled nap right now is needed for not only her, but the rest of us in the house.

She's quiet in her crate with the blanket over it and if for a while she needs to be a parrot in order to take her naps, that's fine, as long as she does take her naps.  I have been so active and busy and going in and out in this cold that I am coming down with something myself and find I need more time to rest myself.  I hope whatever I have passes quickly - there is nothing worse than an active youngster in the house when you yourself don't have the energy to get a cup of coffee.

She has a sweet and bold nature, but she is also one of those dogs who likes to sit back and watch things before jumping in.  I saw that yesterday at the vet and many times in new situations with her.  She'll happily sit back and watch and take in what is happening around her before joining the fray.

Though Level 2 seems to take a long time, this slow down in her progress is expected and welcome.  She'll exit it with stronger and better skills than most dogs twice her age.  What she has learned has already turned her into a polite and wonderful dog.  She's recalling from outside when I whistle, call her name or call for all the dogs to come in when it's her play time outside.  She is able to sit or lay by me in a chaotic environment and remain calm and under control.  She has gained a wealth of self control and acts like a much older dog in her basic manners.  She's still a puppy and has her puppy moments where her brain falls out, but overall, she's turning into a fantastic little dog.


Level 1
Zen Target Come Sit Down
Step CompletedCompletedCompletedCompletedCompleted
Level 2
Zen Come Sit Down Target
Step 4 1 2 1 4
Focus Lazy Leash Go To Mat Crate Distance
Step 1 1 1 1 1
Jump Relax Handling Tricks Communication
Step 1 1 1 1 1