11 Months: Training - Day 161

I dropped a pencil today and Emma picked it up without thinking!

I gave Emma Monday off since I had appointments all day.  I also wanted to take the day to take stock of where we are in her training and where we need to go.  After months of building up to a retrieve and finally getting the budding foundation of one, I want to ensure I am not ignoring other important parts of Emma's overall training.

On Monday I was told she picked up a piece of paper, carried shoes to her handler and picked up her leash among other items during the weekend.  The family was amazed and pleased with her progress and willingness to help.  I was very pleased that their gentle requests lead to a positive result in her retrieve training.

On Monday the most I did with her was ask her to attempt to pick up items already on the floor.  She handed me a piece of paper, a bread tab and a wash cloth.  Amazing for a dog a short time ago would shut down and urinate if you wanted her to pick something up.  She's showing more and more confidence with each minor success and I am seeing her standing taller, with a happy wave of her tail and making eye contact.  Each retrieve is met with a happy cuddle moment and over half the time with a treat.

She seems to get stuck when the item is in her mouth, so I need to build up her give better, so I'll slowly work on that and build a positive feeling into picking up AND giving the item to a person.

Today, Tuesday, we visited retrieve again.  Why so much work on it?  It is a huge part of her job.  She'll be using it to open drawers, doors and helping her handler dress and undress.  She'll be using it to get items he needs or return dropped items when needed.  She'll be using it to carry a bumper to a helper when he needs someone to come to him and carry messages to and from people when asked.  Retrieve is a foundation which builds into important tasks for someone who needs them.

Today I saw a tiny rubber tip to one of my eSmoke cartridges on the floor and pointed it to her.  She picked it up, held it in her mouth, but was again stuck trying to give it to me.  I finally had to gently open her mouth and scoop it out.  So, off we went with a dead cartridge and had her pick it up and offer it to me.  When she got her mouth over my hand I said, "Thank you" and then offered a treat.  In short order she was spitting the cartridge into my hand as I said Thank You and before I moved to give her a treat.

We then worked for a bit on her leash manners.  They have been lacking lately and I wanted to see where they are backing down.  It's distraction - she was spot on with moving to release pressure on her collar and walking and staying on a loose lead when in the house.  This means I need to work those same skills in more and more distracting areas with a higher rate of re-enforcement and then slowly fade the amount of re-enforcement until she is automatically walking on a loose leash.

The rest of the week will be evaluating not only where she is, but determining what I need to work on to finish her training.  Emma is well on her way - I just need to fine tune for where we want to to end and begin the final steps for finishing her training by the time she's approximately 18 months to 2 years of age.

What an exciting development for Emma!

10 Months, 3 Weeks: Training - Days 150 - 154

I have a neurological disability that waxes and wanes and some days I wake feeling like someone has set every nerve in my body on fire.  I can have good mobility days were my balance isn't that bad and my foot movement is okay and I can have bad mobility days that make me look like the hunched hag shuffling along the streets in old movies.  Monday arrived with a bad mobility day, which kindly included a low energy day.  I was barely able to manage feeding and caring for the dogs and providing simple guidance without setting every nerve on fire.  I worked a bit of Zen and Target with Jack and included Emma in a refresher on her Target behaviors also.  She was spot on, not only remembering how to do a solid target on my hand, but closing cabinet doors and touching post it notes on the walls.

I then moved to a bit of Retrieve work with Emma, presenting a plastic egg to see if she would try to take it in her mouth.  I had no plan for her to pick it up, and was watching her body language to see if moving to oddly shaped objects would throw her off her rapid progress.  She was willing to try to take the egg in her mouth, but after one or two times of doing so shrunk into herself a bit.  I decided to play a bit with her instead and make things fun again.

On Tuesday I had no choice but to do laundry, even though I was worse than Monday.  The week before I simply didn't have a lot of energy, but knew a flare was coming.  I had rested as much as possible in hopes to keep it minor, but by Tuesday I couldn't even stand my arms resting on anything because it sent bone deep aches through my elbows or felt like I was rubbing my skin off.  My legs were burning as were my feet and anytime I stood it felt like I was tearing the skin and muscle off of the bone.  I was exhausted from the pain and nearly in tears.  I have nothing I can take to lighten the load when this happens and must endure the agony as best I can without becoming a sobbing mess.

I did no training with the dogs on Tuesday, but I did encourage Emma to try picking up clothes that fell from my hands when I was working with Max to retrieve my laundry.  Emma decided instead the bra that had fallen was a mat and laid on it.  I laughed at her and had Max retrieve my fallen clothes.

On Wednesday I could at least walk again and be outside without feeling like I was roasting.  I let the dogs play mostly, but worked with Emma on holding and handing me the pen when I moved my hand a short distance from her.  She did a great job with it and only got a little shy about the whole game.

When Ronda came to pick up Jack that night I had Emma take and then carry the pen to Ronda.  She would call Emma to her (Ronda was about 3 feet away) and Emma would wend and weave through the dogs and give her the pen.  Ronda would hand it back to her and I'd call her and she'd return to me.  She was having so much fun getting praised for giving us the pen she didn't realize she was training.

I was amazed and pleased with how well she carried the pen from point A to point B.  She kept a soft mouth on it, didn't drop it and held it until we clearly told her to give it to us.  What an amazing hold Emma has when she's carrying objects.

Today was the first day I felt human and had any form of energy in almost two weeks.  I spent a large part of the day catching up on paperwork and return phone calls, but wanted to address Emma's Retrieve one final time before Friday.  This weekend is a Con weekend (SpoCon is a science fiction convention I attend and will take Emma too early in the day for her public access outing) and I wanted today to be mostly relaxed and restful for the upcoming stress I will be placing her under when we go to pick up my badge.

The video attached is what happened when Emma had most of the week to think over what we've been working on.  Amazing progress!  Emma is now automatically picking up and handing me the pen!

What a wonderful breakthrough for Emma!

10 Months, 2 Weeks: Training - Days 147-149

Now Emma can pick up items and give them to me!

I know I had stated Emma's daily blogs were restarting and I had fully intended that, but then I had a major flare of my disability and the last two weeks have been a struggle to simply get through the day without falling over in tears and exhaustion from the pain.  As a result, I am behind by almost two weeks of blog posts, which I decided, since I am just starting to see my head rise above water again, to do in two large posts to catch everyone up.

Emma, on Tuesday, got the idea that maybe what I wanted was for her to take and then hand me the pen we'd been training with from progressively lower positions.  She didn't get the idea she could pick it up off of the floor and hand it to me, but she did figure out she could reach down almost all the way to the floor and then raise her head and hand it too me.  Too many repetitions of the same behavior still made her worried she was not doing it right, so I kept the 4 training sessions we did very short and with high energy and lots of praise.  Emma thrives on praise.

On Wednesday I didn't do any formal training.  With two hard days of retrieve work I wanted her to process and work through in her mind what I wanted.  I knew she was working hard on solving the problem because she became butt puppy again and was plucking plant leaves and chewing everything in sight, a sure sign she was working out stress and solving problems.

On Thursday I got some very high value treats and the pen and worked quickly from her head up and facing me when she took the pen and gave it back to her head near the floor and taking it from my palm and raising her head to hand it to me.  It didn't give her time to think MAYBE she was in trouble or MAYBE she was wrong and suddenly I just put the pen on the floor and she scooped it up and handed it to me.  I did some big hugs and lots of loves and praised the heck out of her and ended the lesson.  I didn't revisit it again until that evening.

In the evening we went from head high to head low in two rounds and she picked up and handed me the pen 3 times from the floor.  She was happy, engaged and enjoying her hugs and kisses when she gave me the pen each time.  I then went and got a dish cloth and put it on the floor.  Smart tat that she is, she decided I must be working on Mat behavior and laid on it.  I laughed with her and then taught her to quickly take and give the dish cloth and within three rounds had it on the floor.  Emma picked it up and handed it to me 2 times.  I was over joyed and we had a huge snuggle session after that.

On Friday Emma left for her grooming and went home afterwards to her family.

The break through of picking up and handing me both the pen and the dish cloth was huge.  Emma was, without question, not fearful or worried when we did these short sessions and the day off to think and work through the earlier lessons helped her solve the problem and realize she was making me happy when she did hand me items off the floor.  What a wonderful break through.

Emma has picked up two different types of objects from the floor and handed them to me at this time.  She is 2/3 of the way through Level 4 Retrieve!  She has done a plastic and cloth item and we'll work on metal and wood next with her retrieving.  After she confident with the smaller retrieve items I am working on, I am going to start adding new shapes, sizes and weights and build up her retrieve until she can and will retrieve, on cue, items I want off of the floor or other locations and bring them.  Emma is learning her first and primary service dog task!

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

21 Weeks: Training - Day 35

Max is In The Game!  He is focused and ready
to do what I ask to earn his reward of
my throwing the tennis ball.

In Training Levels: Steps to Success Sue Ailsby talks about the dog being In The Game.  This means a dog who is willing to work with you.  A dog who wants to learn.  A dog who thinks the value of the reward is worth the effort of the behavior you are working on.  This means a dog who is participating in the training process.  Today, Emma was not In The Game.

I tend to do a lot of my training from a sitting position and know I should watch myself and train from both sitting and standing positions if I want Emma to be fluent in a behavior.  I am falling under the simple law of laziness which states if I can do it with the least amount of effort I will.  In my case, not only is it easy to do it with the least amount of effort, but a lower level of pain.  Standing for prolonged periods of time increases my pain levels - I have to bend to deliver the treat, and standing alone increases my pain levels.  Thus, I will start and proof a lesson while sitting and have to start again while standing.

Recently, with rapid weather changes, I have been skipping the standing portion of our training.  Today I stood and Emma went into Wilting Willow mode again.  She refused the kibble I offered (clearly asking her to train while I stood over her for just kibble was not worth her effort) and would go and hide behind my recliner.  What to do?

I had decided that she needed to be loosened up a bit anyway.  She's got sitting and staring at me and laying at staring at me to get me to click down pat.  What she doesn't have it active, get up and move and try different body positions and explore her world to get me to click down yet.  What to do?

Shape her of course.

Emma is not In The Game.  She has hidden her
face when I asked for a down.  (Picture taken early in her training)

I decided to shape her over to my green chair and have her put her feet on it, but the moment I stood the game was off.  She wanted nothing to do with the kibble and me and went into hiding.  Instead of trying to push through the lesson and force her into a shaping session she wasn't inclined to try, I took mental note from Sue Ailsby's book again and remembered her saying, "If I have 10 goals for the day and don't accomplish anything at all except spending 5 minutes with the dog In The Game, it was a good day.  When this happens consistently, the dog begins to arrive in any situation In The Game and ready to work or learn." ^{Pg 33}

Emma has been out of the game for most of the week and I need her in it in order for her to learn.  What to do was abandon any plans I had and just get her In The Game today!  So, I started talking in a happy, excited voice and playing Catch Me If You Can and clicking every little thing she did and stuffing food in her mouth.  In short order she was In The Game and I continued to click for anything that she did to encourage her to explore and try to get me to click and feed again.  We bounced and played and laughed and barked and soon she was play bowing at me and I focused on the rapid play bows and clicked for them.

She also did Stomp Feet at me when I stomped my feet and shook her head and just had a gay old time.  Attitude barked, Max raced around the house and we had way too much fun.  I was clicking for bows and she soon was throwing them faster and faster and having too much fun doing that.  We finished our "loosen up Emma" session with a lot of play and fun.

Yes, we did get some goal oriented learning done today, but mostly, we spent the day getting In The Game, which I felt was way more important than any goal I may have set for the day.

Today's Lessons:

Go To Mat

Emma (21 weeks) sits in the box on her mat
while I a seated in my chair.  She doesn't know this
behavior when I stand - yet.

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 2 Go To Mat.  In this step she is asked to go to her mat from a distance of two feet.  We are still working on approaching her mat from different angles and I have not added distance yet.  When I first taught her to get on her mat it was in front of me and I was sitting.  I decided to work on that part of the goal first and once again started with the mat in the box.

Emma tends to go to the box and turn and focus only on me.  We spent a hazardous few seconds staring at each other and getting nothing accomplished when this happens.  She'll sit for a second and then do a down and still no interaction with the box.  In truth, Emma hasn't figured out the box itself is the key to the game.

Any slight head turn, glance at or movement toward the box gets a click and I have to be creative and encourage her to get up and try moving around the box.  Once we get started she'll start to put her nose in the box and walk around it, but overall, she tends to lay next to the box and ignore it.  It took half her meal to get her into the box.

I took a break and went to stand and shape her into the box again while I stood.  That was when Wilting Willow Emma arrived and she slunk behind my recliner and tuned out of the game.  I had given her a click for looking at the box and offered her a treat and she refused it and left the training session physically.  This is not an uncommon response from her right now and though I am uncertain why this is happen, I do have a solution as to how to approach the problem. A dog unwilling to work for the food and hide behind my recliner is not going to learn anything.

I picked up the box and put it up and thought for a few minutes on what I could do to encourage her to work for her food.  I called her out, but she simply trenched in behind my recliner and refused to join me.  It was then I decided it was time to give up on Go To Mat and go for In The Game instead.  For one reason or another she's disconnected and not participating in our training and it does take both of us to train - my teaching her a new lesson and her willing to learn it.

I have seen this before.  Max became bored or disengaged with our training for a while and I couldn't think around the "I must train this behavior" mindset to get around the problem.  I talked with trainers and friends and felt frustrated and angry that my dog was giving me the cold shoulder.  In truth, my energy levels were all wrong and he wasn't in the least bit interested in playing with someone with such low energy.  Once I relaxed and went back to play as a reward he and I rapidly moved forward in our lessons.

Between the advice from Sue Ailsby, my experience with Max and my recognizing that somehow the fun had left training, I decided to bring it all back again for Emma.  I started by saying her name in a high pitched voice and pretending to trot away from her (remember, I don't trot well) and calling to her.  In less than five seconds she was out and bounding around me in total glee that I was playing with her.

We played Catch Me If You Can, which is simply my  pretending to run away and her catching up with me.  Remember, I don't run well either.  Emma caught me with no problem and we had a high pitched "oh you got me!" party.  She bounded and barked and played with me for several more seconds and I offered a kibble and sure enough she ate it.  Once I saw that food was again acceptable, we began clicking for anything she did.

Sniff Max's butt, CLICK!  How surprised she was!  Poke Attitude in the face, CLICK!  Throw yourself to the floor, CLICK.  Stomp your feet, CLICK!  We clicked and clicked and clicked and suddenly she was play bowing at me, CLICK!  She started trying other things and found the click only happened when she play bowed!  What fun!  She started throwing them at me more and more and got lots of clicks.  By the time we finished her food she was ready for a nap, but clearly had enjoyed herself.

So, no, we didn't progress on Go To Mat, but we did end up In The Game!

Fun

Emma needs fun in her life.  We have asked a lot out of her for the past few weeks and not provided a lot of relaxation and fun with other dogs that want to play with her.  Max tries, but he's a bit over-powering and the fun she should have just isn't there.  Attitude and Dieter do not want to play with her.  The cat tries sometimes, but then it's all sharp feet and hissy cat and Emma is left wondering what happened to a game that looked promising.  I don't have the energy to keep up a good rousing game like she wants and thus don't play enough with her when we aren't training.  She's being asked to act like an adult dog when she's truly just a pre-teen in desperate need of fun and play time.

My yard is too small for such adventures and the school ground too big and with unsecured gates to let her run off her energy.  I fear she wouldn't recall and end up escaping through one of the gates at this time and simply won't risk her that way.  Since it's Friday and what I see is a dog who needs to run and play with other dogs, I am going to take her to the local dog park; if it appears the dogs in the park are playing well and won't get too rough with her, we'll go in and she can make a new friend or two there and run her feet off.

If that doesn't work, I may just take her to my friend Ronda's house and let her explore that yard and play with Chautze.  Though older, Chautze loves playing with puppies and should find Emma enjoyable company for about fifteen to twenty minutes.  Either way, I am seeking fun for Emma today.

When we arrived at the Dog Park on the State Line there were three dogs who were playing together with lovely body language.  I took Emma and Max out and started for the gates.  Emma, upon seeing the strange new dogs, began to bark at them as they came to the fence to check out who was visiting their playground.  Emma and Max met them at the fence and Emma began to wag her tail and get excited about going in.

Once inside the three dogs went to greet Max, accepted he wasn't into a big greeting ceremony and came to Emma.  She cowered a little, so they all said brief hellos and then came to check me out.  Emma was settling in nicely with the three new dogs when a woman came in with two Great Danes.  One was 1 year old and the other 6 months old.  The 1 year old had good dog manners, but the six month old had none and promptly began jumping on and banging everyone with her big feet.

Emma told her that she didn't like that, which seemed to excited the big lug, so I called Emma out and she and Max and I started to explore the rest of the park.  At one point we ended up bottle necked with the first three dogs and the two Danes and again Emma was being over powered by the Dane puppy.

I tried to free her and get her behind me, but the Dane puppy was to fast and got Emma rolled onto her back.  It was at this point Max came in and with a deep grumble poked the Dane puppy hard in the ribs and pivoted over Emma so she could escape.  He made it clear that she was his to pick on and continued to block the Dane puppy from Emma until we could walk away.

Emma enjoyed exploring the park and following Max around as we worked our way through the paths.  She sniffed trees and explored branches and bushes and galloped around.  Off and on I would call her back to me and she'd race as fast as she could, scarf up the treat I offered (cooked chicken breast with bacon fast on it) and race off to explore a new area.  She recalled 5 out of 6 times on the first call and each time 10 to 50 feet away from me!  Way to go, Little Girl.

When get got back to the entrance Emma was again mugged by the Dane puppy and when the owner, who saw me blocking the puppy from Emma, said, "Just let them work it out." saw the scathing look I sent her way finally called her dogs and went away from us, I decided Emma didn't need to remain there with a pushy and scary puppy who would push her to snapping and defending herself.

All the other dogs were polite and gave her the space she needed and she enjoyed her visit, but she was not going  to "work it out" with a puppy twice her size who was pouncing and bullying her.  We left at that point with Emma happy and tired.

I will plan other visits to the Dog Park and decide if she can go in only if I see dogs who are playing nicely and not bullying other dogs.  If I am not comfortable with the group of dogs or the owners present, Emma, Max and I will go somewhere else for off leash play away from home.

Observations

What a roller coaster week for Emma.  Crashing metal bowls and falling canes.  Scary cameras and loud vet office visit.  New locations to practice quiet behavior and a loud and busy class to try to learn in.  No wonder she fell out of the game and decided to hide from the world.  A playful and fun introduction to new things in her life is in order during this fear period, but she also needs play mates and fun and puppy time.  That bouncy, almost contained energy of a 5 month old pup shouldn't be lost just because we are training her how to behave politely - she should enjoy life and revel in it and I am hoping by next week we'll be able to work on more exciting lessons and over come more fears.

I look forward to next weeks lessons and seeing how far Emma has moved forward in her learning.  She's such a sweet girl and I do enjoy training her.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	5	2	2	3	4
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	2	2	2	1	1
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	1	1	1	Completed	1

21 Weeks: Training - Day 34

Emma (21 weeks) sitting on her mat in her box.

It was not Emma who woke me at 6:30 AM this morning, but Max.  I woke to the lovely sound of him bringing up the doggy equivalent of a hairball, followed shortly by the cat bringing up a hairball in the bathroom.  Why a dog decides the best place to empty their stomach is in a location that is difficult to clean up afterwards I will never know, but Max decided to empty his stomach between his bed and the wall.  Upon hearing the retching of both the dog and cat and my sitting up making unkind comments of animals and bodily fluids, Emma gave me a sharp yip to let me know she was alive.

Thus, my morning started with animals and body fluids and clean up duties.  I got my morning coffee and watched everyone run about the yard for a bit before starting our day of training.  As you remember, Emma had become stressed enough to need a break in training yesterday, but this morning work with her normal cheerful puppy attitude and willingness to earn her breakfast.

Since she is at that age where she's aware not all people are family, not all things are safe and some things might actually be scary, she's become a bit of a wilting willow in my home.  Silver bowls, new ceramic bowls, the vacuum, a dropped spoon, my changing how I stand or where I train all throw her into a wilting willow pose and slinking off to hide behind my recliner or in the office.  It's a normal part of growing up puppy, but I find it tiring when I turn to work on something new and she's moved half way across the house and sat staring at me like I was about to scald her with hot water.

This calls for confidence building for Ms. Emma.  Games she can win at.  Games that make her the smartest puppy on the planet for the day.  Games that challenge her, but don't frighten her.  What to play? Shaping of course.

For three days now I've been working on building up Max's back end awareness.  Though it may sound funny, most dogs are completely clueless to the fact they have back feet.  That thing that trails behind them, wags it's tail and bumps into stuff is a completely surprise when they discover it.  There are lessons one can use to improve back end awareness.  Learning to pivot from Front to either Heel or Side positions gives them an idea they have back feet.  Having them back up steps or over a board can also help them discover their back feet.  Max had learned both of those as an introduction to his back feet, so this week I found a fun shaped box that I though would encourage him to lift his back feet to step into it and make him more aware of them.

While working this game with him for his kibble, I worked with Emma to step into and explore a box with even sides.  In her current class she'll be asked to step into and sit in a box and I started that lesson with her before she even started her Puppy K class.  I plan to expand the lesson to teach her to curl into a small ball and lay with a low profile while working in public.  I am also using the box to make her more aware of the mat I am training with for Go To Mat in the Levels Training.

Today I worked with Max, who is an expert on putting his front feet in the box, but seems to forget he has back feet.  Or he'll put his back feet in the box, but not keep his front feet in the box.  He never truly learned to "step in the box" in class and only displayed he had an idea of it when he got into my laundry basket and sat on my dirty clothes one day when helping with laundry.  It is still a lesson we return to when I want to charge him up and get him to explore and play with shaping and one he enjoys.

Right after that I worked with Emma to get her thinking about boxes.  Boxes can be fun and I wanted her to see me get a box and get as excited as Max does when he sees me with a box and a clicker in my hand.  She tends to just lay next to the box, sometimes glance at it and then look at it and maybe sniff it. It takes time to get her thinking she can interact with it and make me click - but she's starting to get there.

Our box lesson morphed into our Go To Mat lesson once I got her thinking about the box.  I took pictures today of Emma and Max and their boxes.  Enjoy the lesson plan!

Today's Lesson:

Go To Mat

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 1 Go To Mat.  In this step Emma is asked simply to go to the mat and stand on it.  The criteria I have set for Emma is to have all four feet on the mat I have selected for her.  The mat I am training with at this time is a cloth bath mat which I can easily travel and is different than Max's standard mat.

I began by shaping Emma with the box.  She had shutdown the day before and didn't want to train.  With rest she was interested in eating and training and thus wanted to earn her kibble.  I set the box before me and clicked anything she did around the box.  If she looked at, walked around, sniff, sat beside, laid beside or touched the box in anyway she got a click.  In short order she was experimenting with me to find what I wanted her to do.  It wasn't long after that she got the idea that anything to do with the box got me to click.

Once I was getting her front feet into the box and her pawing or bowing into the box I worked on her getting her back feet into the box.  She quickly lifted both back feet, did a side hop and sat in the box.  Once I had her regularly stepping into and sitting in the box I went and got the mat and folded it and placed it in the box.

She was curious about the mat in the box and got clicks for exploring the mat in any way she could think of.  She soon stepped into the box and sat on the mat.  It was there she got several heavy rewards for being on the mat in the box.

I then removed the mat from the box and set it on the floor beside the box.  Emma promptly stepped onto the mat and sat.  I heavily rewarded her for being on the mat.  Each time I tossed a kibble to get her off the mat she returned and sat on the mat with all four feet on the mat.  We ended the session with Emma freely stepping onto and sitting on the mat on the floor.

This evening I reversed the process.  I placed the mat on the floor and rewarded Emma for any exploration of the mat.  In short order Emma was standing on the mat with all four feet.  At this time I am not requiring a sit or a down on the mat, just that she gets all four feet on the mat once she understands it's the Mat Game we are playing.

After half of her meal working with the Mat on the floor and her approaching it from different angles to step back onto it, I folded the mat and placed it in the box.  Emma promptly stepped into the box and sat on her mat.  I heavily rewarded her for sitting in the box on the mat and then would toss a treat in different directions to reset her.  She quickly and easily got into the box from several different angles and sat on the mat.

Every so often I lured her into a down on the mat in the box and heavily rewarded her down on the mat in the box.  Emma enjoyed her Mat Game both with and without the box today.  Emma is not ready to find her mat at distance yet, but can begin to work toward adding distance on her next lesson.

Funny Story:

Tonight, after working with Max for almost two years to get him to step into a box and sit with all four feet in the box, I got success.  After he got the idea he could put his back feet in and then pull his front feet into the box as he sat, we ended his session with the box by giving him the last of his meal as a huge break through reward.

When I went to get the pictures of Max and Emma and their box adventures I put their mats into their boxes and set Max's box down while I got the camera ready.  When I looked up Max was sitting proud as a peacock in his box! My camera wasn't obeying me and Max sat in that box for up to 3 minutes while I fussed with it.

I took his pictures, pulled up his box and pulled out Emma's box.  I have not trained Max with this box even once and when I sat the box down Max promptly stepped in and sat!  I guess he got the idea.  It took me telling him not to get in the box to get the above picture of Emma in her box!  Here are Max's box pictures.

Max steps in with is front foot to get into the box.

Brings his butt around to sit...

and sits in his box!

He sees a mat in Emma's box and steps in.  See how he's now lifting
his back feet to get into the box while his front feet are still
in the box?

Pivots in the box to get his butt in position.....

and sits!  And just encase you think he's cheating.....

all of that big butt is IN the box.

Observations

Emma is in a critical stage where she can become fearful of the world or bold as brass.  She is a soft personality who needs a little extra TLC when she's uncertain of something, but once she's recovered she is a bold girl.  Right now the world is a bit scary, so she needs exposure to lots of textures, strange people, shapes, sounds and smells to build her confidence.  She needs it in tiny bit sized bits that can build her confidence.  She needs each experience to be positive with high value treats and calm, steady reassurance from her handlers.

She is also growing into the "I don't think so" stage of life.  This is the stage where they truly begin to show their pre-teen behavior.  She's testing to see if I am serious about going into the crate at night for bedtime by hiding behind my recliner.  She tests the waters a lot right now.  As long as she continues to get consistent and fair handling from the people in her life, she'll come out of this stage a bolder and more confident dog knowing the rules applied, even when she did rebel and nothing harsh or harmful happened when she did.

Tomorrow Emma heads back to her owners for the weekend.  I have enjoyed our week so far and look forward to her new and ever changing personality next week on her return.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	5	1	2	3	4
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	2	2	2	1	1
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	1	1	1	Completed	1

21 Weeks: Training - Day 33

Play with humans, other dogs and herself are vital to a
balanced and happy dog.  Emma needs playmates who'll
romp and play dog with her to help with her emotional
balance.

When I started training Max I was so goal oriented all I could see was I needed to get in so much training per day in order to reach my goal by a given time.  I got up in the morning and trained him, trained him on each break during my work day and lunch each day and ended our day with training.  I trained him 7 days a week and took him to one class after the next without a break to think and take in the lessons.  Instead of polishing each lesson we worked on in class, I got them good enough and started the next class assignment and didn't revisit and refresh what we had learned.  In the end Max seemed to forget everything he'd learned.  He dropped out of the game and disengaged from learning and I didn't pick up right away what was happening.  Max's head was full and he needed a break to think about what he'd already learned.  In his case he needed one month of no training to recover from the over-load.

I warned Emma's owners that this could happen with her also, so I built in a take-a-break day for her.  A day of rest and no new lessons, just using already known cues and a full day of being a dog.    Instead of rushing ahead to the new lesson I am working on polishing the ones she's learned and building a new lesson on already know behaviors.  It's kept her in the game and ready to learn each week when we start.

Another reason Max will drop out of the game is when he's had a very stressful event.  A weekend working at a Science Fiction Convention or going to the local Fair where there are a ton of people closely pressed together and strange sounds, scents and animals are two examples of such stressful events for Max.  When such events happen I plan a down day for him and evaluate him on the second day to see if he needs another day of rest before re-entering his normal, "boring" work environment.

Emma had two very stressful days back to back.  She went to the vet and then had a spontaneous field trip on Monday and then a very busy, active and loud class last night.  I wasn't surprised this morning when she wasn't in the game.  Instead of trying to push through and train despite her ho hum opinion of the kibble and the lesson itself, I decided to give her a day off.  Thus, today you'll see no lessons worked on.

I watched her for a bit and saw a puppy who was exhausted and sleeping a lot.  She wasn't in trouble constantly like she has been lately (chasing the cat, stealing toys, taking off with a forbidden and prized object) and she wasn't trying to engage Max or the other dogs in play.  This, for a five month old puppy, isn't exactly normal - so I got on the floor and played puppy style with her.

In short order Max joined and Attitude tried to tell everyone to knock it off.  Emma was play bowing and racing around the house, or flopping on the floor and playing batty foot with me and Max was zooming around the house also.  I played catch me if you can and who's got your nose and would calm them down and take breaks when everyone got way to wound up.

In no time she was stealing toys, chasing the cat, playing with Max and taking off with my weekly sales flyers.  She was running through the house with prized and questionable objects and truly enjoying herself.  Instead of being pulled into herself and acting slightly shutdown, she's being a puppy again.

We'll continue to play games today and enjoy our vacation day so that tomorrow we can hit the books again and continue her training.  I truly think she needs play dates with young dogs who'll play back, but I currently don't have access to any.  I hope her owners find her play buddies they can plan to take her too and let her blow off some of the pent up puppy energy she has.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	5	1	2	3	4
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	2	2	1	1	1
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	1	1	1	Completed	1

21 Weeks: Training - Day 32

Someday Emma will learn to walk like Max does
next to a wheelchair with her handler.

Today Emma starts her Prep class at Diamonds in the Ruff and the chances of a family bringing a child with them is greater because it is a 6 PM class as compared to a 7:30 PM class like before.  Emma is uncertain about children around the ages of 5 to 10 years of age and barks at them when she sees them.  Once she's had a chance to meet the child she is fine, but the instant barking fit that happens when she does see a child while we are out is troublesome for her working future Public Access Training.  I woke before Emma at 7 AM and prepared some high value treats for her so she and I could stand on my porch when the kids in the neighborhood waited for the morning bus.

At about 8:20 AM the kids began to gather and I took Emma out on the porch.  The moment she saw them, right at the front door, she began barking.  I spent the time until the bus arrived and left giving her treats for looking at the kids (currently, even with a bark) and rewarding her for looking back to me when I clicked my tongue.  I had to move to partially block her view of them and let her primarily hear them, but by the time the bus arrived her arousal level had lowered and she was more focused on me and less on them.

It is my goal that by the time our mornings are warm and I can stand being outside more than a few minutes that Emma can be outside of the fence working on loose leash walking with the kids lined up a few feet away while they wait for the bus.  I suspect it will take us that long to achieve this goal.  She's in a major fear period and right now small humanoids are scary.

One thing I did notice is I will need to pick up something at Petsmart tomorrow.  Attitude has barely left my porch all winter to relieve herself and my front porch by my door smells  like a urinal.  I will have to get some enzyme deodorizer to de-stink my front porch.  The scent is extremely powerful with her kidneys not diluting her urine like they should and it's a very unpleasant odor.

Today is cold, but not slick and wet, so I intend to work loose leash outside of the fence with Emma for her lunch.  For breakfast we worked on Target and "metal bowls are not scary" again.  She won't put her nose in it yet, nor get near it to get kibble, but she's not skulking away when she sees the bowl any longer.  To aid her in not being afraid of the bowl I leave it in the middle of the living room when we are not using it and will over time start dropping high value treats in it all the dogs can have.  I may, for a bit, use it as a distance item also to have her go around it and really make it a nothing item in her world.

Since dropping the bowl scared her so badly, I am now sliding it a bit on the floor and tossing her treats and banging it softly and tossing her treats too.  I also drop items, on purpose, a distance from her and then toss her treats.  She'll be a full puppy, but hopefully the "sky is falling" reaction she's had to the bowl dropping or other loud sounds in the house will fade and she'll accept falling items in the house as part of everyday life.

I'll spend the rest of the winter and early spring working on getting her closer to the children at the bus stop without barking and then work on her Levels behaviors while strange children she's not met are nearby.  When the weather is much better I'll start taking her to outside of playgrounds while school is in session and work on her watching without reacting while children play.

Today's Lessons:

Target

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 4 Target.  I took a break from Target when Emma decided the goal of the game was to lay before me and watch me intently.  I had to think how I was going to change that behavior and encourage her to target a post it note on a wall or other object.  Today we revisited the lesson with a brighter colored piece of duct tape stuck to my end table and Max nearby ready to demonstrate the goal of the lesson.

Once again Emma was curious about the tape, but didn't really get the idea to touch it.  I clicked for her looking at the end table and eventually looking at the tape, but she wasn't moving her body to touch the tape.  I asked Max to touch and he got up from his Mat, came over and touched the tape.  That seemed to start the forward progression I wanted.

Emma would still lay down and stare at me and ignore the end table or tape, so I would either stare at the tape or turn away from her until she got impatient and moved.  Anytime she looked at the tape I would click and eventually hold off the click until she got up and pointed to it with her nose.

In the end she got the idea we were working on her touching the tape and did very well, but she still tends to stop and lay before me.  I will continue working on this in the one location until she's targeting the tape without thinking about it and then move it to a new location in the house.  Once we have that concept solid I will move toward her closing a cabinet door.

Lazy Leash

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 2 of Lazy Leash.  In this step Emma is asked to stand for a few seconds beside me with a loose leash and then take a few steps with me on a loose leash.  Emma has been doing well on this step, but not in higher distraction levels, such as going outside.  Today I planned on taking her outside to work on this step, which she has mastered in my house.

Once we got outside Emma was in full distraction mode.  She couldn't focus enough to eat a treat and was too busy trying to explore her environment to actually focus on the training.  Since I know she can walk through Petsmart and in my living room on a loose lead, I know it's time to work with her in the outside world to learn the lesson applies there also.

It's a cold day and without the support of Max or the cane I found I was in too much pain to work more than a couple of minutes with her.  She was unable to focus and learn and I was unable to bend and get her attention.  I will have to find a location where she can focus and begin practicing this lesson outside.

I believe a good spot to try again today will be at Diamonds in the Ruff while waiting to go into class and upon entering class.  I will update with how that second session progressed.

Prep Class

When we arrived at Diamonds in the Ruff Emma she completely surprised me by walking loose lead to the potty area behind the building and the returning and entering class completely on loose lead.  This all broke down when the German Shepherd across the room broke out in excited barking and lunged on it's lead, but I was very pleased with her ability to walk loose lead around the building.

Her previous class had been very small and there had been a lot of extra space between each dog while class was held.  This class is full near past capacity and each dog was nearly on top of each other during class.  Carol, the owner and instructor, directed which dog was to sit where to prevent any fights and thus Emma and I were placed between a tiny Rough Fox Terrier cross and one of Emma's cousins!

When Emma was with the breeder she had been the last of her liter who hadn't been purchased.  Her breeder included her into the liter she was raising, who was four weeks younger than Emma, and thus Emma lived with Pepper from 10 weeks to 14 weeks of age.  Pepper is bigger than Emma and very bonded with her handler.  What a lovely pup!

Emma was completely distracted and couldn't focus enough to learn anything in class.  She was busy trying to visit with the people next to us or the dogs.  She would give me brief boughts of focus and then turn her back and watch the world around us.  With 9 dogs in the room, I was not terribly surprised by her sudden breakdown in focus.  This was he busiest environment she's been in to date with me and I am simply boring.

My treat value was not good enough either.  Though hungry and at first willing to work for kibble and soft treats, she quickly lost interest.  Instead she was poking her nose in other dogs faces and putting her feet on other people and basically pulling on the lead as much as she could.

She went into "bucky dog" several times also.  It's like having a wild horse on the end of the lead as she rears up, bucks and fights against the lead before sitting and keeping the lead taunt between her and I and just giving me the "I'm not talking to you" stance.

I was in more pain than normal and her jerking and pulling on the lead and high energy was enough to wear me out early in class.  Though we tried to work on the in class lessons, she generally wasn't going to have it and wanted to play and interact with the other dogs.  The outbreak of barking and even when the one dog got so over excited he stuck himself under a chair and panicked didn't bother her; she wanted to play with the four month old puppies that surrounded her.

By the end of class she was throwing play bows and nose nudges and generally engaging in full play mode with Pepper.  If we had been able too, she and Pepper would have had a wonderful play session - but that wasn't in the cards with so many dogs in the room.  By the time she decided she had to play with Pepper she also decided to not pay anymore attention to me.  I was, at that point, in total management mode with her, since I didn't want her and Pepper to get every other dog in the room over-excited.

I will have to take super high value, over the top, can't believe you put that in my pouch, why haven't you given me that in the past, treats in her pouch for next weeks class.  I will ask Carol to not place Emma and Pepper next to each other, since Emma is more interested in playing with a fellow "liter mate" than listening to instruction and will have to ensure I take extra pain killers before arriving at class so I can keep up with the high energy, fast paced learning techniques for this class.

Until then, Emma and I will work on Focus in more distracting locations and some of her class home work.

Observations

Last night Emma's owner called and said they needed two skills at home right away and were worried if they worked on them they'd confuse her with what she was working on here.  I re-assured them they wouldn't and that she was ready to learn the two skills they need.  One is to go around their son, whom she'll be helping later when she's fully trained, instead of over him.  This is Level 2 Distance and she's ready to start Distance as a formal training plan.  I recommended they use their son as the pole in Step 1 and start teaching her to go around him while they support him and over time teach her to go around him while he's laying on the floor.  I also recommended they slowly add distance as per Levels instructions until she's able to go around him without thinking.

The other skill is for her to lay down between him and a wall while he is being tended to on his bed.  Right now she tends to lay against her owner and not by her soon to be handler and is therefore in the way.  This is Level 2 Down Steps 1 and 2 - duration.  I recommended several ways to help her understand what they wanted.

Remember we've talked in the past that Emma is uncomfortable doing a down when she is blocked on two or more sides and placing her between her boy and the wall does just that.  Her owner (We'll start calling her C and her son B)  said it just dawned on her that it is this reluctance to lay between people and objects that may be the problem and she may be right.  I said to plan a couple of training sessions with her and do Puppy Push Ups with high value treats and make her comfortable working in that area.  Once she's able to throw a down without fear there (which won't take long) the work on just giving them downs and start to add duration by 1 second increments.

If they need it a bit faster then use a paper plate and tape it to the wall where she can easily lick it and lay in a down beside B and let C do what she needs to for his care.  On the paper plate put some over the top, can't believe you gave me this, mushy food on it.  I found here she loves the Wilderness Duck & Chicken Grill by Blue Buffalo canned dog food.  It is grain free and high quality and easy to spread on a paper plate and would keep her occupied while she stays in that position.  Over time put less and less food on the plate and slowly fade it as she becomes comfortable and happy to lay where they need.

Or, have a third person click and treat her for duration while she's in position and slowly fade those treats as she becomes comfortable with staying in a down while C works on B.  A third person could also help if she breaks position and lure and guide her back to where they want.

The trick though is to get her ready first by making laying between B and the wall worth her effort.  I couldn't use her kibble to teach her to lay between Max and the wall here.  I had to use over the top, high value treats, at first and lure and reward her heavily for doing downs.  I watched her body language go from leery and frightened to confident and bold and when I had a strong, bolder attitude toward laying before the door I then did the Puppy Push Ups there and slowly worked to her doing just downs and then duration in that location.  It took me about three days to get to that goal, but it was a goal I had a clear picture on and one I knew we'd need for her future job.

That future job is happening now with her being asked to lay beside her boy and calm him while he is being cared for.  Whether they do separate training sessions on her building duration and laying between B and the wall, use a paper plate with soft food smeared on it or a third person clicking and treating for desired position and behavior, she is learning one of her first service dog skills - to calm and comfort him while a needed procedure is done for his care.

While she is laying there she can lean against him and apply calming pressure, or nuzzle him and provide a new place to focus, or lay quietly so he can pet her and relax while he's being cared for.  It is something her boy needs and at five months she can now provide.  It's exciting to see her learning her first steps in being a comfort and aid for her boy.  How exciting for the family!

So, while I work on Target, Focus, Go To Mat, Handling and Lazy Leash for her targeted lessons at my home, they'll be working on Down and Distance as needed behaviors in their home.  Please read and follow the instructions for the steps are on and don't rush ahead until you see her offering you the behavior, once you have that you can move forward.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	5	1	2	3	4
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	2	2	1	1	1
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	1	1	1	Completed	1

21 Weeks: Training - Day 31

Emma adores Max and mimics him when in public.

It's Monday again!  Over the weekend my paycheck from my other job came in and I planned this morning to rush it to the bank after I took care of Ms. Emma and her morning routine.  I woke early so I could meet up with the owner and gather my charge and was promptly called at 8 AM by a person who had attended my Friday class and wanted me to help them select a dog to train.

That first phone call would be the ongoing theme for the rest of the day.  I received no less than five calls today from people wanting to talk dog and starting to train one for a family member or themselves.     I missed a couple of them because it was re-check day with ears for both Emma and Max.

I worked with Emma on her two behaviors for the week and called ahead to the vet to let them know I would be bringing in both dogs.  The vet office wasn't the madhouse this time like it was the last, but I did see some sad cases go through.  One family brought in their dog and left crying without it, another learned their dog needed an amputation and a third came in for emergency surgery for a block bowel.

Emma was in good humor again and dealt well in the lobby with all of the dogs and cats there.  She was well behaved and happy to greet everyone, until an 8 or 9 year old girl came in.  The moment she saw her she began barking and it was only with re-direction that I stopped her.  This girl was not afraid and after Emma calmed asked if she could pet her.  I encouraged it and Emma relaxed and enjoyed the girl's very gentle and appropriate petting.

Emma and Max are both healthy again.  Their ears are in great shape and their weight is top notch.  Max weighed in at a lean 79.8 pounds and Emma at a whopping 20.0 pounds.  She's tall and lanky and growing at a great rate.

After our adventure at the vet office I stopped at a local E-Smoke shop I frequent and asked if Emma could come in and visit with them.  I didn't film this visit, since it was impromptu and I was there to actually make a purchase also.  The owner gladly welcomed her and said she was welcome to continue her training by making regular visits in the shop.  I must commend this man - he's always warm and welcoming to myself and Max and was very pleased with Emma's behavior - and he's allergic to dogs. What a wonderful small business owner.  If you e-smoke, please visit the tiny e-smoke shop on the corner of Freya and Sprague.

He said the most wonderful thing when we left - he said Emma was as well behaved as Max during her visit.  How great is that to hear?!

The remainder of our day was spent working on Emma's fear of the evil metal bowl.  I set it in the middle of the living room and let her walk and play around it and waited to feed her until I knew she was truly hungry and then added a bit of Attitude's moist food (Duck and Chicken Grill from Wilderness) to the kibble and set the bowl on the floor before her.  She ate her entire meal from the bowl, though at times a bit shy about it moving along the floor, she decided her tummy wanted that wonderful smelling food more than her worry about the shiny thing she had to put her head into.

Today's Lessons:

Focus

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 2 Focus.  In this step Emma is asked to hold eye contact for 2 seconds before the click.  We had spent a lot of time establishing that just making eye contact would get her a click and a treat and then very slowly built up duration until she could wait between 1/2 and 1 second before the click.  For her this was hard, but she started to get the idea and would do little head jerks and make eye contact to check her findings.  When we stopped we were up to 1 second about 30% of the time.

Today I was able to quickly remind her that making eye contact was paying and then worked up to 1 second.  I stayed at 1 second for several clicks and then did 2 seconds.  At first she could almost do 2 seconds, but her eyes would dart or she'd start to offer another behavior.  I dropped her criteria again and did repeated clicks for just glancing into my eyes and then looking into my eyes for 1 second.  She got up to 2 seconds 5 times today and 1 second 15 times today.

At one point she laid down and I cued her back into a sit to tell her that I wasn't looking for anything but her eyes moving to me.  She got the idea and settled into the behavior after that.  We will continue to work slowly to her offering 2 second eye contact up to 80% of the time before testing her.

Handling

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 1 Handling.  In this step she is asked to allow me, without fussing, to handle her face, ears, tail, feet and body.  I am in the pre-stages of handling her body for this step, so I clicked whenever my hand touched her.  She was comfortable with most touch, except when my hand, palm toward her face, moved in from the side.  She didn't flinch or react frightened, but would shift her weight away from my hand.

I spent the last half of her breakfast clicking for touching her and would off and on move my hand closer to her face and click.  In the end I was able to cup her face with my palm without her shifting her weight, but I will continue to work on that type of hand movement to make it less uncomfortable for her.

Emma will continue to work this until I can touch all parts of her body without her shifting her weight away from me or turning to see what I am doing as I touch her.

Field Trip

I stopped at a local e-smoke shop and got permission to bring Emma in with me.  She was excited at first and wanted to jump on one of the employees (not the owner), but the employee understood she was in training and gave her affection only when her feet were on the floor.  She quickly gained control of herself and began boldly looking about the room.  I had her on her harness at the time, since LLW was not the goal of this first, extended, non-pet friendly store - but instead the experience of being in a place that she couldn't actively explore.

Several patrons came in and she wanted to meet them and would pull heavily on her harness to get to them.  I did not correct her, but just held her in position until she relaxed.  She did try to jump on each of them, but never got contact because of how short I had her lead.  Her lead was not super short, but long enough to allow her to lay quietly beside me and not get to patrons as they passed us.

After five new people came and left the store and she wasn't allowed to greet them, she decided to lay beside Max and wait for me to finish my purchase.  At this point I praised her.  She did at one point see something outside of the store that was exciting and talked a bit under her breath, but overall she was very quiet and extremely polite for her first extended (20 minute) visit to a non-pet friendly location.

I did see her look at Max several times and mimic him by either sitting or laying down and being calm and quiet while I continued to discuss my purchase with the store owner.  When we went to leave the owner said Emma was a well behaved as Max (who by the way collapsed at my feet and fell asleep during my purchase).  I believe he was impressed a five month old puppy could have such self control!

He welcomed us to come back and train with her again.  Emma made a positive impression on this store owner.

Observations

It is clear now I need to take Emma to play grounds and other locations where children play and keep her under threshold while she watches them and is clicked for seeing them.  Something about young children frightens her a bit and I need to ensure she is comfortable with all sorts of people when she sees them.  I don't think she needs to meet them as much as she needs to be comfortable with seeing them.  One prime location will be on my front porch morning and evening when the school bus comes.  Over time I will work her to standing with the children at the bus stop and watching them get on and off the bus, but first she needs to feel okay with children upon sight.

She is teething again, this time molars, and her chewing has become the grand marathon of what toy can be destroyed in the shortest amount of time.  I recently bought new chews for the dogs and think it's time to take Emma chew toy shopping for near indestructible chews she will enjoy when in her puppy relaxation time.  I may have to put up all soft toys at this point since I am afraid she'll gut and eat the cloth and stuffing - which would be hard on her tummy.

Though this week we'll primarily work on Focus, Handling, Go To Mat and Target, she will be practicing her Sit, Down and Come in real life situations.  She is learning to do a sit or down as per my request at the door to go outside, recall from outside to come in and use sit or down at a distance or for a set amount of time to receive rewards when I am working around the house.  Though I am actively focused on only a limited number of items in our planned training sessions, all other aspects of Level 2 come into play in her daily life.  Communication asks the dog not be under foot when around humans, Zen is a daily factor with Attitude's high value meals and other dogs getting something she may not, Jump is used to get into the car or onto my bed, Relax is practiced during the quiet times when I am watching TV or snuggling on the bed and Crate is a daily factor for when she naps, goes to bed or I need to leave the house without her.  Though I may not talk about these items in our daily lessons, she does experience them as part of living within my home during the week.

With the onset of this week the last step of Zen, Traps and Defaults, will be a part of her daily living.  It is default to leave Attitude's food bowl alone, ignore something I lay in the middle of the room that is not for a dog and the cat has become a default Zen item also.  Hopefully we'll be well on our way to completing Level 2 Zen by the end of the week.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	5	1	2	3	4
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	2	2	1	1	1
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	1	1	1	Completed	1