Friday, May 10, 2013

8 Months: Training - Day 95

Emma taking a pencil from my hand.
In the afternoon Emma's owner called to say she would be picking her up shortly and I was a bit confused, having forgotten she was picking her up a day early and would be taking her the next morning to a very early grooming appointment.  It dawned on me why a few minutes later, but with all the issues with the server from my other job, it had completely left my mind.

Emma had been enjoying playing in the yard and really just relaxing.  Before entry into my yard meant a mad dash to find trouble somewhere, but now it means to find something to chew on (I am determining if it is appropriate or not and trading her when not) and relaxing with the other dogs.

She has a cute habit of sticking her nose through the holes in my chain link fence and watching the neighbors down the street, or sitting on the ramp on her rump and watching them intently.  She's not barking or reacting, just curious.

Three times a day a school bus goes by my home and running, screaming children come out of it and race around the neighborhood on their way to home.  She's still a bit barky about that, but I catch her attention and play the "Look At That Game" until she turns her back on them and watches me instead.  Once we were able to do this while the bus unloaded and we were by the front gate.  She's doing better and better with children at a distance and is slowly learning to be okay with strangers and children up close.

She does become shy and worried about strangers sometimes.  She hides behind me and refuses to move forward to greet them.  This is okay, but something to take into account when she's finally working in public.  She may be fine seeing and even walking around strangers, but not okay with a lot of them greeting her.  In public life I am asked if someone can pet Max at least six or more times per outing and I generally say no.  In her case, I would just make it standard practice -if wearing her working gear, no petting or greeting strangers.

Though I had stated earlier I would work on Lazy Leash this week, my plans changed.  My need to be available for the server work meant going out and working with the chair was not an option and since she's taking a Loose Leash class she doesn't need me working it this week until we have her homework for the class and can build upon it using the Levels Method.

Today's Lessons:


Retrieve

Emma is working on Level 4: Step 4 Retrieve.  In this step Emma is asked to touch three different objects with her nose.  I have been working Level 3 Retrieve with a knitting needle to build a good hold and then work her to the floor, like I did with the pencil.  Today she progressed very  nicely.  I trusted she understood what we were working on and she was able to hold the knitting needle in her mouth for 15 seconds.

Over the course of the day we got to her happily going to and trying to pick up the knitting needle.  Though she hasn't picked it up yet, she is progressing nicely on this skill.  After she can hand me the knitting needle I will work on her handing me a plastic and then a cloth object after this.

Observations

Emma has made some amazing progress on Retrieve, but she is not ready to start picking up and handing objects to me or her handler yet.  She's still working out the concepts of the process and by the end of Level 4 Retrieve we'll have a solid retrieve, but right now, she's still working on building and expanding her understanding of the retrieve process.

I believe her working on her other basics with her owners during the weekends and taking a class with them will help her transfer what she knows and display the same level of confidence and focus she gives me.  I look forward to hearing how they are doing in class with her.


Level 1
Zen Target Come Sit Down
Step Completed Completed Completed Completed Completed

Level 2
Zen Come Sit Down Target
Step Completed Completed Completed Completed Completed
Focus Lazy Leash Go To Mat Crate Distance
Step 3 2 2 1 1
Jump Relax Handling Tricks Communication
Step 1 1 1 Completed 1

Level 3
Zen Come Sit Down Target
Step 3 2 0 0 1
Focus Lazy Leash Go To Mat Crate Distance
Step 0 0 0 0 0
Jump Relax Handling Retrieve Communication
Step 0 0 0 Completed 0

Level 4
Zen Come Retrieve Target Relax
Step 0 0 1 0 0
Focus Lazy Leash Go To Mat Crate Distance
Step 0 0 0 0 0
Handling Communication


Step 0 0


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