tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56239952061827956752024-02-07T17:27:20.003-08:00Raising EmmaEmma is a Labradoodle service dog for a young man with Cerebral Palsy. Her job is to assist him with putting his arms back on his arm rests, picking up his room, cleaning up her toys, helping him undress, making/turning down his bed, deep pressure and getting help when he needs it. She will have other in home tasks that will make his daily life more independent.CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.comBlogger172125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-64421486195683790372014-09-30T11:06:00.001-07:002014-09-30T11:06:52.708-07:0024 Months: Graduation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Graduation</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
This will be Emma's final blog. She is graduating today. She has moved from Service Dog in Training to Service Dog today. The last task we were fine tuning has been adjusted to meet the needs of her handler and she now knows to stand on a stool and turn on or off a light on cue. She's learned to go across a room when cued to do so and she's learned that the task is complete when the light switch is flipped and her feet touch the floor again. It took us 2 months to build this from a basic understanding of flipping a switch to standing against a wall to overcoming a worry about the stool to finally combining many links in a chain to build the task for her handler.<br />
<br />
In all, Emma has learned 52 cues in the time she's trained with Tao Service Dogs. She's learned to retrieve, turn down a bed, make a bed, help with undressing, cleaning up a room and more. She's learned to remind her handler to raise his arm when it hangs, to go get help when he needs and how to lay across him and provide comfort when needed. She's learned a lot since she was 14 weeks old and starting this journey.<br />
<br />
Today Emma heads home with her family to begin her career as an In Home Service Dog. Tao Service Dogs wishes Emma the best in her career with her handler and much joy to the team.<br />
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Here is a list of the cues that Emma has learned since she began her training.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #990000;">The Basics</span></h2>
<table border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"><b>Cue</b>
</td>
<td style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"><b>Meaning</b>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Emma</td>
<td>Turn and look at who called my name and give eye contact (focus)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Leave It</td>
<td>Turn away and don't touch, pick up or sniff what I am looking at.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Sit</td>
<td>Fold up my back legs and put my bottom on the ground</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Down</td>
<td>Put my elbows, belly and hips on the ground</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Off</td>
<td>Get off of what I am on</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Come</td>
<td>Run to my handler when my name is called or they say Come</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Settle</td>
<td>Settle down and relax</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Stand</td>
<td>Stand in place without moving my feet/stand up without stepping forward or backward or sideways</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Back</td>
<td>Step back several steps</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Left</td>
<td>Turn left</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Right</td>
<td>Turn right</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Around</td>
<td>Go around something</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Stay</td>
<td>Don't move or change position</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wait</td>
<td>Puase but I can change position</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Let's Go</td>
<td>Start walking with my handler</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Go to Mat</td>
<td>Go to a mat and lay on it until released</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Crate</td>
<td>Get in my crate</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Load Up</td>
<td>Jump in Car, on scale or in tub</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Heel</td>
<td>Move to my handler's left side and face the same way they are</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Side</td>
<td>Move to my handler's right side and face the same way they are</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Front</td>
<td>Sit in front of my handler facing them</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Rattle</td>
<td>Shake off as if to release tension or remove water from my fur</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Potty</td>
<td>Go to the bathroom when told</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2>
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="color: #990000;">Service Dog Cues</span></h2>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"><b>Cue</b>
</td>
<td style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"><b>Meaning</b>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Take It</td>
<td>take what is offered in my mouth</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Hold It</td>
<td>Hold the item in my mouth</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Give It</td>
<td>Give the item in my mouth</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Get It</td>
<td>Pick something up and give it to my handler</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Bring It</td>
<td>Bring what I have to my handler</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Look</td>
<td>Look at my feet or on the floor for something to pick up</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Leash</td>
<td>Pick up my leash and give it to my handler</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Pull</td>
<td>Pull something with my mouth</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Push</td>
<td>Push something with my nose</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Close It</td>
<td>Close something with my nose</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Paw</td>
<td>Give my paw or put my paw on something</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Touch</td>
<td>Put my nose on something</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Light</td>
<td>Turn on or off a light</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Find It</td>
<td>Find something</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Go</td>
<td>A moving command like "Go Give to" for delivering notes or giving an item to someone</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Go In</td>
<td>Go under a table or in my crate or even through tubes for agility</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shoes</td>
<td>Go get my handler's shoes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Socks</td>
<td>Remove my handler's socks</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Basket</td>
<td>Put an item into a basket or trashcan</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Keep Going</td>
<td>Keep looking for an item</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>That's It</td>
<td>Found item, wait for instructions</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Step Up/In</td>
<td>step onto or into something</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Get Help</td>
<td>Carry a bringsel to the first person I can find to tell them my handler needs help</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Show Me</td>
<td>Lead the person back to my handler</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Paws Up</td>
<td>Put my paws up on something</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Make Bed</td>
<td>Pull covers to head of bed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Turn Down</td>
<td>Pull covers away from head of bed</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #990000;">Tricks</span></h2>
<div>
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"><b>Cue</b>
</td>
<td style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"><b>Meaning</b>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shake</td>
<td>Give my paw to someone so they can shake it</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>High Five</td>
<td>Touch someones palm with my paw</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tada!</td>
<td>Take a bow</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-28235830762081007172014-08-21T21:24:00.002-07:002014-08-21T21:24:39.863-07:0023 Months: Proofing Behavior<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Emma had been a rock star for a long time with the light switch. She had quickly gotten the idea to push up and pull down to flip the switch and once I taught her to stand against the wall and work with a switch with an extender we had the first inkling of a full blown task.<br />
<br />
She started to target and work the switch without the extender in my bedroom, but once again, I had to break the behavior apart to rebuild it. I didn't mind. She quickly got the idea again and was really enjoying herself. It was time to start having her "help" around the house by doing light switches as I needed and to build distance.<br />
<br />
I got her doing the light switch in the bedroom nightly and had built her up to about 5 feet from the switch, which still wasn't a bedroom distance to it, when it all seemed to fall apart. She started to shy away from the task, refuse food and even began showing fear signs. I was confounded.<br />
<br />
I started to work with her to rebuild from the base up and she was shutting down. I didn't understand. I couldn't figure out why she was suddenly pulling out when, even with visiting dogs, she had been doing so well.<br />
<br />
I have not, since then, gotten more than 2 feet away from the light switch and can only do one or two repeats with her before she starts to shy and pull out of the game. I did one morning ask for the light switch and then ask for a well known behavior and then the light switch and three or four well known behaviors to build up her joy again. It had been gone for a bit and I worried.<br />
<br />
She went on vacation with her family for 6 days at one point and again for 4 days at another. When she returned she was in a good mood and playful, but not in the game. I had expected that and took the time to build her back up to playing the training game with me.<br />
<br />
I also switched between the light switch and the door task. I finally got her pulling with enough force to pull the door open, even with resistance, and got her consistently pulling it open on cue. There is no distance on the task. It took me all that time to build up good pressure on the pull cord and a consistent effort with the right amount of pull to get the task. She tends to just mouth the cord and look for her reward and I had to carefully craft the task for a consistent sharp pull to open the door.<br />
<br />
After that I noted that my door tends to swing back shut when she lets the cord go. I went to train her to hold the door open by holding the cord and she became fretful. I stopped at that point because I had to rethink how to have her open the door and keep it open long enough for her handler to go through it. I have since solved that and will have her do a shoulder block instead, so I need to finish up and polish the task for her handler.<br />
<br />
That leaves us with consistently crossing the bedroom to turn on or off a light switch. She isn't close to it yet. She needs to learn to block the door, which she's starting to get, but it worries her when it touches her. This worry is less than trying to teach her to hold the cord, so I think we'll be okay.<br />
<br />
But there is one other thing. She's back to up and down training, which makes getting the behavior so much harder. Some days she's okay and can handle the stress of the training and some days she's not. Lately it's been more of the later.<br />
<br />
I was informed by a member of the family that she'd been taken into public access recently, right around the time I started having problems with her overall training. Though not very busy stores, even the low level public access training she's been doing has created long term fall out during the week when she returns to me. She's barking non-stop again. She gets going and simply cannot stop herself. She's easily stressed and frightened again. She's showing all the signs I saw after a single 10 minute outing when training her for public access and it's affecting her ability to learn - again.<br />
<br />
Which leads us to this week. I have started using Practical Application as a way to progress her learning and dropping the formal, more stressful, training to get her to advance. I had to do this before with her retrieve when she found it unduly stressful. It worked and today retrieve is one of her favorite tasks.<br />
<br />
Today I had a man from Avista come and work on the house. He was here for about an hour and during the last five minutes he went outside to check my meter. Emma lost it. Though she'd been friendly and calm with him in the house, the moment he was in the yard she completely lost her mind and was even growling at him. She cannot do public access, she is stressing enough she is becoming fear reactive due to her insecurities with strangers.<br />
<br />
All day long I ask for her best known tasks and throw in her newer ones to build up distance. She's up to 2 feet, but it's a shaky 2 feet. When I ask for her to get the light she goes and checks my Baker's Shelf first and then looks to me and then dances in circles and finally, with reassurance and guidance, gets the light. I, by the way, get the same thing when I am right next to it.<br />
<br />
Today she went straight to the light and with joy flipped it on and off when I needed. This is excellent. I will continue to work this until she can cross the room and do the light at night, which I still ask for and get the basic idea of doing lights built up.<br />
<br />
Since her handler's light switch is too tall for her, I'll also take time next week to build the idea of standing on a stool. This should solve the problem and make things easier on her overall. I just want to split this fine enough she is successful.<br />
<br />
She is opening the door with the cord on her own when she wants to find me. This means she has the idea set well in her mind and next week we'll begin working distance on the door. Right now, just working one item on distance should be enough for her.<br />
<br />
This week, taking a slower and quieter approach has calmed her overall. She's not doing the rolling barking nor is she constantly alert barking or destroying every stuffed toy she finds. It's a step back to the calmer, more confident Emma I had achieved prior to her latest fall apart.<br />
<br />
Hopefully I'll start seeing some forward progression again with Emma and get her to doing a solid and proofed behavior with the light switches and doors soon.CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-40977234016267800052014-08-21T20:50:00.000-07:002014-08-21T20:50:11.049-07:0022 Months: Training - Days 346 - 349<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Tuesday</b><br />
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Emma didn't arrive until Tuesday due to her handler sleeping late and Emma not being ready on time. I had an appointment with Haute Paws Grooming for the boys and to train Pi and was due to arrive between 9:00 AM and 9:30 AM. I received the call that Emma wasn't even on her way at 8:40 AM and told her family to keep her an extra day because I wouldn't be home to receive her due to my appointment schedule.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She arrived shortly before 10:00 AM Tuesday morning. I again I had a full day planned. My Mom and I are clearing out my garage so we can fix it and use it for proper storage. I had spent the weekend sorting what we'd already removed from the garage and Mom had arrived early so we could clear out more of the contents and send them to my Mom's house for the upcoming yard sale we'll be doing. I had already trained Malcolm and done my morning chores and now had to work with my Mom until the heat sapped both of us. Since I would be doing lifting and carrying I knew my day was done. I would be both exhausted and in pain by the time Mom and I was done.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I fed Emma when she arrived and called it a day. Mom and I worked until Noon and Mom left with the truck loaded for bear. I had to rest and take something for the pain, since the injury from my fall over a month ago is still bothering me. After that I headed out to Spirit's appointment and on my return I was so wiped out I needed to laydown for a while to recover. The day was over for all of us at that point. I fed them when the house cooled and took a painkiller that night so I could sleep. Emma received no formal training.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
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<b>Wednesday</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
The painkiller wiped me out for a lot longer than I expected. My afternoon appointment had been cancelled and that left me with just one appointment in the evening. I worked with Emma on opening the bathroom door and light switch tasks. Emma was able to pull open the bathroom door with it lightly closed, but needs more practice to get consistent on the amount of pressure she offers. She is not one to put her weight into anything she does and it takes a lot of confidence building to get a consistent pull on a door to open it. We have a ways to go still.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She is working the light switch on the wall. To make it easier I have an extender on the switch. She was able to turn on the switch 6 out of 10 times the first time we worked it. The second time we got 8 out of 10 times and I was able to attach the cue by the third time we worked it and got 9 out of 10 times of her turning the light on. It is time to work on her turning on and off the light on cue.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I do believe she needs the extendor to make the task easier. The extender I am using is just a bit of tubing I cut to make hitting the switch easier. Since she is just able to reach the switch, the extender gives her the length she needs for success when working a light switch. The problem is, when she gets very excited she can knock it off right now. I need to affix the extender permantly to my switch to see if that doesn't make it eaiser for her and Malcolm overall on working light switches.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
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<b>Thursday</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Busy day today. I worked with Emma on light switches today. In the morning we worked on building distance for turning the switch on when cued. At first I was directly beside her and slowly took one step at a time away from her until I was 5 feet away. She was able to turn on the light 10 out of 10 times when I was beside the switch, but only 6 out of 10 times when I was five feet away. I will continue to work both close and distance until I can cue her across the room and get a 9 out of 10 result.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In the afternoon we went for a walk. She had no treats on the walk and ignored all dogs that barked at her, which included the Husky, Chocolate Labrador and Stompy Feet and his brother. She never looked at the Chocolate Labrador or Stompy Feet and his brother, but she did react a bit to the Husky, who was a new dog on our walk. She is now ready for a new route with a new set of dogs to build up her ability to walk by barking dogs on her walks.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We ended out day working the light switch. She is having problems turning the light off when working the wall. This has to do with height and the fact she pulled the extender free. She did try using her paw and could turn off the light this way, but it seemed to confuse her about turning the light on and we went from 10 out of 10 times of turning the light on to 3 out of 10 times after the extender was off of the switch.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I will return to this task without distance and see if I can't affix the extender to the switch in a way that prevents her pulling it free when working it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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<b>Friday</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
I must once again apologize, but I simply cannot remember what happened on this day. I do know that Emma was doing okay with the 5 feet away on Thursday and it fell apart on Friday. It stayed that way and my next blog post will discuss the issues I have faced with Emma and distance training for her final two tasks, but what exactly happened on this day is beyond my ability to recall.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-77733600938447830482014-08-21T20:45:00.001-07:002014-08-21T20:45:48.484-07:0021 Months: Training - Days 342 - 345<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_7f13_47c4_f556_4ebc" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xKTlEAtn1QLOUAbd7Ri6Gxy6zwVZuQeQzJq4I6WfACaB9ZqU-MZY4zs38K8wzWd7q_e_cr0H3wdvlLy4InfnYjHnq5X844HoUsTsIi1WQ4XP28jzN_7jbMtvOstdzZcW2ALQN-WFa4_5/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xKTlEAtn1QLOUAbd7Ri6Gxy6zwVZuQeQzJq4I6WfACaB9ZqU-MZY4zs38K8wzWd7q_e_cr0H3wdvlLy4InfnYjHnq5X844HoUsTsIi1WQ4XP28jzN_7jbMtvOstdzZcW2ALQN-WFa4_5/s1600/002.JPG" height="240" id="id_5480_a934_eb97_9029" style="height: 240px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just over a year ago we lost Ms. Attitude. Emma, on the<br />
other hand, still tries to help me type the same way.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Monday</b><br />
<b><br /></b><i>I must apologize - I was overloaded and Emma's blog fell way behind. Any video I commented I would include I am unable to at this time. I am releasing these posts so that Emma's blog is updated and will write a blog post catching every one up to how she's doing soon.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
I tire easily and can be over done by too much chaos in my life. I have had a lot of chaos and with the addition of Chevy for 17 days of board and train, I was left over the weekend so exhausted that Malcolm and I used the weekend to recoup our strength. I wasn't fully up to snuff by Monday morning, but at least I was dressed, showered and had coffee in my by the time Emma arrived. She was on time and rearing to start her day.<br />
<br />
She spent the weekend working as a service dog for her handler. She did the tasks she's been taught and continued to proof her Go Get Help task. She's polishing her skills, building the teamwork between her and her handler and learning to understand him when he cues her.<br />
<br />
As per my instructions, she was to be cued by him and if she didn't understand, cued by a family member to help pair his cue with the ones we've taught her already. This pairing won't take long and soon he'll be able to cue her to help him and she'll understand.<br />
<br />
I gave her time to play in the yard and settle in before taking the crew in for breakfast. I fed Max and Dieter their full meals and Malcolm half of his and while they were eating setup Emma's meal and got the material I would need for her training session ready. She works for her entire breakfast now and it seems to cheer her up to do so.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_4a75_9ab9_e362_772d" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJCrkNiJ0Ruwh71lXRn9PzWzvpZUZarh_ewiuYbmGySV5MxEp0S2bj9c-oIkWwBFUEjdBWATtvnD2iZ4geVWofi8t4O_MW3YEkwFx42-TCz4RgqJjrwpAlBkMyNpA5vnJVMxMjZHnrCs5/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJCrkNiJ0Ruwh71lXRn9PzWzvpZUZarh_ewiuYbmGySV5MxEp0S2bj9c-oIkWwBFUEjdBWATtvnD2iZ4geVWofi8t4O_MW3YEkwFx42-TCz4RgqJjrwpAlBkMyNpA5vnJVMxMjZHnrCs5/s1600/008.JPG" height="240" id="id_62a_fbc9_43a_36aa" style="height: 240px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the light board I have been using.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I setup in the kitchen with the x-pen blocking it off and the light board I made at the beginning of Emma's training to begin light switch lessons again. When she was four or five months old I had introduced it to her for the purpose of teaching her to close a cabinet door. At the time she got interested in the light switch and I let her work out how to flip it off and on. I haven't revisited that lesson since. When she saw the light board she went straight to trying to push the "cabinet" side of the board, but when that didn't work she went to the light switch and began working it. Amazing how much they remember from their early training when you use shaping to get the behavior!<br />
<br />
We also worked on Go To Mat. She goes to it and lays on it, but tends to have most of her body off of the mat. This behavior is being created so the family can have a default mat for door greeting and help her better control herself when people are at the door.<br />
<br />
I had her approach the mat from different directions and settle on it and got her more on than off the mat. I then started clicking for rolling over onto a hip and putting her chin down. Once I could see her lay down and automatically roll on her hip and I could see she was more relaxed and calm I began knocking on the cabinets. I did it soft at first and then built up to a solid normal knock. She did fantastic, but right now it's a kitchen behavior and needs to be moved about the house to help her better generalize the behavior. Once I have a solid generalized behavior I will attach the cue of a door knock for her going to the mat and waiting quietly until released to greet her guests.<br />
<br />
She was flipping the switch by the end, but needs more work and eventually to learn to stand up against the wall to do the entire behavior.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_4791_8cb2_511e_866b" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiht-Ead9y81UOzzvXTmeF_7KxKOl7efxu217wSNn-RzxWVpWwQSr1U3P3zNsuMwNsvUbtiY9hWMUKdwWqpDeT1lpl-NOMaI8pMIM8DEXDfy893tIeFd-nC83JPeDJ_r-Ywl1vhLepI3dzp/s1600/MaxLightSwitch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiht-Ead9y81UOzzvXTmeF_7KxKOl7efxu217wSNn-RzxWVpWwQSr1U3P3zNsuMwNsvUbtiY9hWMUKdwWqpDeT1lpl-NOMaI8pMIM8DEXDfy893tIeFd-nC83JPeDJ_r-Ywl1vhLepI3dzp/s1600/MaxLightSwitch.jpg" height="214" id="id_64b2_2d13_29c1_f4ce" style="height: 214px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eventually Emma will be doing this!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Tuesday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I didn't set my alarm last night. I didn't have an early appointment or anyone coming over early in the morning and late last night I started to feel sick and dizzy. That feeling really wouldn't leave by morning. I still have Emma's blog to update, but I was so done last night that laying in bed the bed was spinning.<br />
<br />
This morning I was still dizzy and feeling like I was trying to walk through mud physically. It wouldn't be until almost 5:00 PM that I figured out the problem. I had rheumatic fever as a child and have valve damage from it. Sometimes my heart goes into an irregular beat and that makes me feel sick and exhausted. I remember a day when working for Benchmark it got so bad that I had to lay down right where I was and rest for about 20 minutes to be able to continue to work. I had more than one of those days when working for Benchmark and thankfully, I was working from home and could stretch out and let my heart settle back into a normal beat.<br />
<br />
We worked on Go To Mat and Light again today. This time I gated off the office to make a new training room and brought the mat in with us. The video attached for the day shows how Emma's lesson went. Note: Emma understood she was to settle and rock onto one hip and put her chin down, but she missed that we wanted her to do that on her mat as part of the exercise. The fact she's settling off the mat as a behavior was lovely to see.<br />
<br />
We went to the kitchen to work on Light again. I setup the x-pen to block off the kitchen and we worked again on flipping the light on. She was struggling a bit at first, but slowly got the idea. In the end she was on fire and even though our time expired on the timer I didn't want to loose the sudden breakthrough she was having. I had a few kibble remaining and we worked for them as I attached the cue. She's doing good, but this is not a proof or even functional task yet.<br />
<br />
I started to really feel out of whack during Spirit's appointment. I had felt pretty bad before I went, but during her appointment my chest was hurting and I was feeling flushed. When I got home I returned a phone call to a potential client and I was having problems tracking and even speaking. It was after the phone call I decided to lay down.<br />
<br />
The dogs followed me in and I changed into my night clothes and laid down - it was then I checked my heart beat and could feel it taking three or four powerful beats and then a long pause and then repeat the sequence. It then went into normal rhythm for a few blessed beats (probably about 20 or 30) and then it would beat normal, not as strongly as it had been, and then speed up and then slow and speed up and then back to the three or four powerful beats and a long pause. Well no wonder I felt like crap!<br />
<br />
It would be a major effort on the dog's parts to wake me 2 hours later. I had Malcolm get up on the bed and lick my lips (I jerked, gently pushed him away and went back to sleep) and then was starting to wake as I heard a lot of tap dancing on the floor by all of them, especially Emma. I was considering getting up when my Mom called to check on my schedule for the week. I think she realized that trying to work on my garage when I am not home isn't working out and is trying to work within my work schedule.<br />
<br />
I am feeling much better now that I slept and my heart is beating normal again. It looks like it's time to make another appointment and talk to my doctor about this. This will be Malcolm's first appointment at my doctors, so it will be interesting.<br />
<br />
<b>Wednesday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>Emma is up to consistently turning the light switch on and is now working on turning the light switch off. She got it the first time, but seemed to forget what she was doing afterwards. She makes me laugh as she's trying to solve the problem. She grips the switch and growls low in her throat at it. It's the first time I have ever heard her get frustrated. She used to just give up when she couldn't get it the first time, but now that the pressure is off of her she's working twice as hard to solve the problem. She's wagging her tail more, is out from behind the recliner more and is starting to speak out in frustraion while working hard to solve a problem. It's great to see.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She is also working hard on the Go To Mat lesson and really enjoying it. I see her wheels turning and instead of folding into herself she makes a new effort and checks in to see if she got it right. It's all new and the first edges of being 100% in the game. There is still a level of hetancy in all of her behaviors, but I am seeing more of her emerge now that she's not pressured into being something she's not.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I am about to move her to standing against the wall and working on a switch once we have a solid stand with duration. Until then, we'll keep working on flipping the switches and getting the behavior under stimulus control.<br />
<br />
<b>Thursday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>Emma has grooming on Friday, so Thursday was her last formal training day. Grooming days are hard on both of us. She starts her morning happy to head out and explore the yard and then munch on her breakfast. She's overjoyed I am taking her somewhere and can't wait to get in the van. Once in the van she rides well, though I can see a level of stress that Malcolm doesn't display. She doesn't just lay down and relax like he does, but stands stiff and watches closely as we travel down the road. She loves to go, is a bit worried about the travel itself. At the groomers it starts. We pull in and she begins to shake. I put on her lead and take her in and she paces in a frantic attempt to get me to take her back out. She's low to the ground and giving overt stress signs, yet her groomer doesn't really recognize them. When the groomer takes her lead she presses her nose against the door leading into the kennels because it's the nearest door, but she's still showing strong stress signs and her groomer just says, "She looks fine to me" and shurgs off my concern for her growing fear of being at the groomers. Poor girl is afraid and no one there is really aware of it. Unfortuantely, she needs to go and it's the end of my week with her, but I hate seeing her so stressed and fearful each time I take her.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Thankfully, I wouldn't face that until the next morning. On Thursday we worked on her mat behaviors again and this time I did it at the front door. I crated both Malcolm and Dieter and placed Max on his mat. I knocked on the door once she was relaxed on the mat and Dieter started to bark, which caused Malcolm to bark and thus Emma began barking under her breath. I waited until she calmed again and rinse and repeated until she was just boofing lightly, but not trying to get up. It went well enough.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I go up to opening the door and pretending someone was there and rewarding her for staying on her mat. I did a lot of strange things at the door and the entire time Emma stayed on her mat and worked the lesson. It went well overall.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We then went to work on light switches. I had decided to work on Paws Up to the light switch in the hall. Emma easily stood against the wall and after several times being rewarded for standing against it I began building duration. She started to try the light switch, so I put an extendor on it and worked with her. To my utter suprise Ms. Emma flipped the light on! WOW!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It was a fanstatic end to the week. She's off next week with her family, so we'll return to this when she returns.</div>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-60132739752095140592014-06-22T19:43:00.001-07:002014-06-22T19:43:47.789-07:0021 Months: Training - Days 337 - 341<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKJMLl8ibr6URoIjaN7DcObuewgjqncC5PrqTmWccJqYEf4IDw_KncphWPucSFnPgxb0GHUmUVVAExdLHFl07vol6TpcDhah4oeZRCJGbHlFtisH8JIbHfU72TKG_5n5G7jMkqz8A_UkK/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKJMLl8ibr6URoIjaN7DcObuewgjqncC5PrqTmWccJqYEf4IDw_KncphWPucSFnPgxb0GHUmUVVAExdLHFl07vol6TpcDhah4oeZRCJGbHlFtisH8JIbHfU72TKG_5n5G7jMkqz8A_UkK/s1600/012.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma loves playing outside.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Monday - Friday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I love dogs and I love working with them. I especially enjoy watching them solve a problem, be it one I give them or one they create for themselves. I love the pure joy of a puppy just discovering it's world and exploring everything with reckless abandon as they paw, taste and poke something new. I find a dog whose brain is engaged and desires to try something truly energizing; I also find a dog who needs emotional and mental energy from me to get them engaged extremely exhausting.<br />
<br />
Chevy had returned prior to Emma's arrival on Monday and I had already trained Malcolm his morning lesson. Malcolm energizes me. He engages, tries, explores and makes me laugh. He gives more than he takes in any lesson and I find myself walking away with a lightness that makes me feel great.<br />
<br />
Chevy is not like that. He actually reminds me of my son Walter, who is autistic, and I would spend the entire week yet again trying to get Chevy engaged. He was a huge energy drain. I had to watch him closely to ensure I rewarded the stuff I liked and redirected from the stuff I didn't want him doing. I find that the constant monitoring stage of a dog who doesn't have all of the basic skills needed for good communication highly draining.<br />
<br />
Emma is an energy drain of a different sort. She is engaged, explores and desires to join the game, but finds it scary sometimes and is highly needy of emotional support. Emma can tire me out fast when she's in the nose nudge, chin on leg, eyes pleading, jump in lap stage. Even though I have given her lots of praise and rewards and comfort during Chevy's stay, Emma was strained and showing a lot of her high stress signs. During the course of the week she would destroy no less than four toys, go into constant rounds of rolling barks and be extremely hyper and needy all at the same time.<br />
<br />
She worked fantastic on her first day on her mat behaviors and got up to 8 out of 10 times of laying on the mat and beginning to relax by rolling her hip and putting her chin down. We even got up to knocking on the cabinets. She was enjoying the lesson and really working it, but she's never been 100% into the training game and I can see that caution that says "if I get this wrong my world will crash" in her body movements. I have to force myself to smile when I train her (I am not a smiley person by nature) and make sure she's dead solid on on part of a skill before advancing it to keep her up and engaged. It is exhausting.<br />
<br />
I would spend the rest of the week working on practical application of her skills. She's near completion and needs to begin "working" daily in my home to build confidence and proficiency on her skills. She is bringing me my socks (even diving under my bed to get them if needed) and helping turn down my bed and make it in the mornings. She's retrieving things around the house as needed and practicing her deep pressure task daily. She's "working" for me at this point and doing a very fine job of it.<br />
<br />
The Deep Pressure task, which I have yet to get a good cue for, is simply putting her legs and chest across my legs and letting me rub her back, neck and shoulders. She's up to standing and holding that position for up to 15 minutes now and has that happy content smile I like to see on her face. I have been training it all along, just haven't really spoken of it. She loves to get attention, but had a bad habit in her youth (still does) of simply leaping into someones lap for the attention. I converted that to "asking" for permission by placing her feet on my legs and then further directed it to her laying across my lap and then built duration up. She's been practicing and building up duration now for months and is now ready to begin applying it to her handler when home.<br />
<br />
This task has two benefits. When her handler becomes upset it's a way for her to be with him and calm him. He can rub his hands in her fur and she'll stay there as long as he needs to calm down. She can also lay across his legs in a way that doesn't add pointy bits, but even pressure with warmth seeping into his muscles to relieve pain. I am teaching Malcolm the same task (for pain in my case) and he's up to 2 minutes across my lap already.<br />
<br />
Some weeks I use practical application of known skills to cement them in her mind and see if any of them need tweaking to make them better. She's solid on the tasks she knows now and can do for her handler. On Friday, when I sent her home, I asked that they have her begin her job in the home.<br />
<br />
She is to retrieve for him if needed, take things to him if asked for (such as the remote control or clothing), turn down and make his bed, help him undress and practice and proof her "Go Get Help" task in the home. She is to pick up his items and put them away, pick up her toys and put them away and help put his laundry in the basket for him. If he becomes upset or is in pain and needs deep pressure she's to provide it.<br />
<br />
While doing all of this he's to cue her and if she seems to not understand (after a pause) the family is to direct her and help her understand his verbal cues. After about 20 or 30 times of cuing her himself with them cuing a second or two later they are to wait longer and see if she understands his cue; if not, they are to continue pairing the cues until she's following his direction.<br />
<br />
Chevy is not returning next week, so we'll be able to work more on the door task and begin work on the light switch task for her. I have some minor research to do to see what else she can to to help him, but at this point we are proofing, cleaning up and making her tasks as solid as possible for him.<br />
<br />
We will continue to work on door manners and self calming techniques.CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-19422872256802663622014-06-17T00:57:00.000-07:002014-06-17T00:57:47.668-07:0021 Months: Training - Days 332 - 336<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrigx-ITOGwwiZMnVsv98QTcCEluVdUoHL1B2vRDXiW6y0wjbZv74nRq6aPts6mRa2t4CMUafiAtkhaF6-rINpN6fwCQAPuNv2ExQbM7dOO9amFnzTFlGbalJiSSXKrfytvQpglwgKl-Ul/s1600/036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrigx-ITOGwwiZMnVsv98QTcCEluVdUoHL1B2vRDXiW6y0wjbZv74nRq6aPts6mRa2t4CMUafiAtkhaF6-rINpN6fwCQAPuNv2ExQbM7dOO9amFnzTFlGbalJiSSXKrfytvQpglwgKl-Ul/s1600/036.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma spends a lot of time watching the neighborhood.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Monday - Friday</b><br />
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A service dog lives in an ever changing world. In a single shopping trip the dog may be bumped, touched or startled several times. I have had Max, my personal service dog, hugged suddenly by small children, his faced grabbed by a pre-teen who then pushed her face quickly into his, a pre-teen roll by on those shoes with wheels in them and slap his rump as he went by, a child run up a bus aisle and trip over him (she kicked his face when she did) and more. He's been attacked by several dogs, had strangers pet him without permission and at least once a trip to the local Winco had a child put out their hand and run it along his back as they walked past us going the other direction. He's been barked at by other dogs, screamed at by children, stepped on by people and had boxes dropped less than a foot behind him, fallen on when someone lost their footing and landed on both of us (I was in my power chair), stepped on when sleeping in a movie theater, was pressed into a wall when the elevator we were in filled beyond capacity and yet more. If you think it's easy being a service dog, it's not. We ask these dogs to live in a world in which anything can come around the next corner or something unexpected and frightening may happen and we expect them to handle it without barking, freezing or attacking. It takes an unflappable dog to work in public.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Emma is not unflappable. I have taken her out on different types of public access training and she's never slept quietly at my feet nor has she relaxed once. She can't just put her head down and tune out the world and focus on her job. She does this thing with her head where she looks like a little bird glancing about. It's cute until you realize it's her trying to take in every aspect of her world because she doesn't feel safe. She either walks with her head up, her body stiff, her tail rigid and high while making these bird like movements as she tries to take in all points of the compass or head low, tail down, body arched and steps slow as she starts to shutdown and withdrawal from the stimulus overload. In either presentation her mouth is closed. If she didn't have the top knot she does, I would see knitted brows. I see ears that are either flared so far forward she's in high alert or set back as she tries to make herself small.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">These body postures go away when we go on regular walks, though I still see the quick glances and hyper alertness when walking. She enjoys a good trot with the power chair, but the moment something changes in her environment, such as a dog or person appearing unexpectedly, she's on high alert and the happy Labradoodle smile (open mouth, tail slightly higher than her back or even and waving gently, body relaxed and fluid) leaves and the tense worried Emma returns. She's fearful of strangers in general and startles without good recovery from sudden frights. On the days she can go out to work toward public access she would, to someone who doesn't recognize the stress signs, appear to be doing fine, but once home the internal struggle she fought between her training and her fear shows. She refuses to eat, begins hiding behind furniture, begins destructive chewing and startles even with the slightest movement on anyone's part. She also becomes highly demanding for attention. I refuse to take her out if I see overt fear signs in the home, which include classic body posture of ears back, head low, body low and tail tucked. I can't see adding to her stress for the sake of training; it's not fair to her.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">She did extremely well on a quiet day in Riverfront Park, but still had stress signs. She spent most of it with an open mouth, loose body and good ear and tail position. I had occasions where she'd startle and curl into herself and I'd have to take the time to give her reassurance she was still safe. She had times she became so alert she couldn't hear me or respond to known cues, but in a quiet park setting she had 95% good and 5% high stress as compared to when she goes to a store where it's turned the other way.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">But it's more than that. A service dog needs to handle stress in all aspects in their lives. The ever changing life of living with humans, including visiting dogs and people, requires an ability to handle that stress and not have emotional fallout later. Emma internalizes her stress. She is super excited to see my friends and family she's grown to know as her extended family over the past 2 years. She's madly in love with my mother and Ronda and truly enjoys a good cuddle with my friend John. It's taken several visits with John and his dog Yoda before Emma was able to handle the stress of Yoda coming into the home - John commented on that. My Mom has commented she's doing better, but she too has noted how easily Emma can shy away from something or go off and hide away when we are busy with a project around the yard. Where my dogs and other trainees see the visits as a fun way to meet new people, become involved in what we are doing to the point of being a pest and then eat without issue later in the day, Emma does not. She stays away from the projects we work on, dashes to find a new spot to watch us from a distance when we move close to where she is and it's hit or miss if she'll eat later. She only joins us when we are done with the project and are sitting quietly talking about the next project. Emma is not secure in her world and asking her to enter into an even bigger, scarier world outside of home is not right.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I have taken her to the local smoke shop and even there, when it's me and the employee only, she cannot relax. She's still looking around rapidly, unable to hold a position unless heavily paid for it and never just relaxes and puts her head down. She simply can't relax when away from home.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I have a friend whose dog was much the same and in hindsight realized the alert, quiet dog that she worked was really a stressed dog who was holding all of that stress inside. The dog showed many of the same issues Emma does. He didn't eat well or at all if he was stressed by public access training and at times wouldn't join the training game because of stress. He knew his cues, performed them flawlessly and worked for his handler out of love, but he never relaxed when in public. He had been taught how to put his chin down and appear relaxed in public, but when touched the tense muscles could be felt. He is no longer with us. He had a breakdown at 3 years of age and went into full Additions Disease. He had passed his public access training at 16 months, worked from 16 months until just prior to his 3rd birthday and was a solid working dog until then, but he was internalizing all of that stress and it resulted in the ultimate price - he had to be euthanized because he couldn't control his bowels, shook when a leash was touched, even if it wasn't for him, and had lost 15 pounds because he refused to eat most of the time. He was under constant medical care at the time, but his crisis was so serious that no medication helped him. The first signs of his breakdown was his starting to refuse to walk more than a block from his home; six months later he was gone. He was a Standard Poodle.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Poodles tend toward Additions Disease as a breed. Emma is part Poodle and thus at higher risk. I do not want to push her into a job she's not suited for, though she is trained for, just to raise the number of graduates in my program. Her health, mental and emotional wellbeing is far more important to me. I have spent most of her life building up her confidence and we've built it up, but not enough. Emma simply is never going to be confident enough to deal with the challenges of public access.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I have worried for her, had her sleep next to me, fed her, cared for her medically, physically and emotionally and loved her since she was 14 weeks old. I have sat back and felt great sadness when she's shied between one click and the next. I have felt frustrated when she's sniffed her food and given overt fear signs and walked away, though she's eating in a different area from the other dogs and there is nothing to be afraid of between one feeding and the next - she simply has days that focusing enough to eat is too hard. I have cuddled, reassured, reinforced and rode the roller coaster with her from one day and sometimes one minute to the next.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Don't get me wrong, she doesn't live in a constant state of fear. I would say most of the time she is a happy dog who loves breathing and enjoys life, but there are things in this world that frighten her badly and those things will be faced daily in public. Tight spaces, people standing over her, people bending toward her, strangers touching her, sharp sudden sounds, rattling sounds, strange dogs, odd surfaces and quick movements all frighten her. She loves to play, she lives to run, she enjoys a good bone and truly enjoys contact with the people she loves. She's willing to try, even if she is fearful, to make her people happy.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">When she was six to twelve months old she found learning to retrieve horrifying. She withdrew, fear peed and spent an enormous amount of time behind my recliner. It took lots of consults with lots of trainers to split her lessons thin enough to make them reinforcing and not adversive and once she learned the task she loved it. Today she finds great joy in retrieving objects, but some objects still frighten her. When she was younger a metal bowl was the most horrifying thing on the planet and it took me 8 months of fine splits and lots of DS/CC work to make metal bowls okay for her. It took a year to make her comfortable with traffic and walking by it.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">She just doesn't do change well. I run a business in which I must take in board and train dogs to work with. Max, Dieter and Malcolm all welcome the new guest and continue to train, eat and play well. I see Malcolm join the new guest in play and eagerly work on his lessons without issue. He's young and sometimes the new guest will bang on the x-pen I use to block off my training area and give my trainees space to train and think and he'll tell me by his ears and his leaning away that it makes him uncomfortable, but when I redirect the noisy guest he returns to training without concern. Emma cannot do that. She can't focus on the training with the new guest outside of the x-pen for a day or two and needs confidence building lessons again to bring her back on task and if the guest bangs on the x-pen she's done with the lesson, unable to take treats and needs physical reassurance she's safe.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Buddy threw her for a total loop when he was boarded for 7 days. She and I worked on confidence building skills and by the end of Buddy's stay she was able to return to task training with a bit more confidence, but I could still see she was worried about Buddy. Chevy wasn't as bad of a disruption for her. She continued to eat, unlike when Buddy visited, but I did have to add moist food to make her eat. She did train, since Chevy is crate trained and thus was out of sight during her lessons. She returned to over reacting to changes in her environment again - barking without being able to stop at small changes outside of the fence line, destructive chewing (she destuffed my chair and killed 3 stuffed toys) and spent a lot of time either demanding attention or staying a distance from the group of dogs. I continued to give her the physical, mental and emotional support she's always gotten from me, but that simple change of a new dog was enough to disrupt her. Malcolm, Max and Dieter shrugged off Chevy and Buddy's arrivals, continued their training and eating and normal behaviors like they hadn't arrived. Malcolm even engaged both Chevy and Buddy in long games of tug-o-dog, Catch Me If You Can, Keep Away, Tag and for Buddy wrestling and Chevy laying quietly watching the neighborhood and communing - all of this while still doing excellent public access training, in home training and acting like himself without stress fallout.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Emma loves doing her tasks. She lights up when she gets it right. She LOVES to pick up items I have dropped, closing cabinets, playing the Go Get Help game and Turn Down/Make Bed game, Nudge Arm game, helping with pulling off socks, pants and jackets/shirts and showing off her advanced basic training. She has a fantastic sit, down and stay. She has an exceptional recall and truly loves playing Touch as a game. She is willing to try learning something new, but each time we approach a new task or an advancement of a task she becomes worried, shy and withdrawn for a bit until she solves the puzzle. Each task I have listed has been carefully crafted while working with a dog who approaches learning with both joy and fear. She loves the attention training gives her, but when she thinks she may be wrong she stresses herself into shutdown.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">This means Emma has been career changed to an In Home Only Service Dog. She can go on trips with her family to hotels as long as she isn't taken out for public access work in the stores and restaurants. She doesn't do restaurants well. When I had taken her she growled and barked softly under her breath when new people were seated nearby. She was fearful of being under the table and never did relax and go to sleep during the meal. She will be fine in a hotel room where she's not pressured by sudden changes and can perform her tasks in a controlled environment. She'll enjoy her walks with her family, be a huge help to her handler in the home and provide unending love and laughter with her silly, sweet, soft and bouncy personality. Emma is not a failure, but a young girl who just needs a soft hand and predictable world in which to thrive.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Emma worked this week on her confidence building skills by working on Go To Mat (shaping it) to begin some work on self calming behaviors and finalize her door greeting manners. She also worked on her tug task for opening doors for her handler so she can either go get help or even help him leave his room or a room when working in the home. She had to return to basics and relearned the task with the cabinet and has started again at working it on the door to my bathroom. Once she's comfortable with the door on the bathroom I'll have her family work with her in her home to learn how to work those doors when cued.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">She has light switch tasks, finalizing her Turn Down and Make Bed tasks and deep pressure task to finish. The deep pressure will be used to calm her handler when he becomes upset and helping to relieve pain on bad days. The light switch task will be to help with turning on and off lights as he needs. She needs polishing on Clean Up and Laundry (which is taking his clothes and putting them into a basket for him) and final polishing on greeting guests in a controlled manner. I will look to see if there are any other in home tasks she can do to make her handler's life more independent in the home and work on them.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Emma has learned to learn and so as her handler discovers new things he'd like her to do for him, she is fully able now to learn those things and add them to her list of tasks. She will become stronger at her job and they will become a team once she's graduated at the end of summer and they've spent six months on being a team together.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Please remember, Emma didn't fail. Emma worked through strong fears, built confidence and learned a lot of amazing things to get where she is and where she's going. She's a remarkable, loving, sweet girl who simply needs a more predictable world than public access was able to give her. Emma's story has not ended, but is just beginning as we learn what all she can do to make her handler's life fuller.</span></div>
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CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-90494359145300358112014-06-17T00:54:00.000-07:002014-06-17T00:54:23.008-07:0021 Months: Training - Days 327 - 331<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiq1Sm7lmFROwJo4A242ExqDryukW89ve3ZkjD4rPeRmbjxpGM1xRXGPQuQTCmQyDZvPBAq_rBNdfwvsrf85pJxT3pskYgAlq6ybtkGtmINzTn6Ude-5EF32J7FNjAP_4Gsqy5w2DZAH5A/s1600/034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiq1Sm7lmFROwJo4A242ExqDryukW89ve3ZkjD4rPeRmbjxpGM1xRXGPQuQTCmQyDZvPBAq_rBNdfwvsrf85pJxT3pskYgAlq6ybtkGtmINzTn6Ude-5EF32J7FNjAP_4Gsqy5w2DZAH5A/s1600/034.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She loves her outside time.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Monday - Friday</b><br />
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After a long hard push to catch up the blogs, get new material into my business site and input media so the blogs could be published (meaning, I spent my entire weekend doing nothing but working on blogs) I ended up so exhausted I forgot to set the alarm for the morning. It was Emma's arrival on Monday that brought me around from the land of the dead. She arrived at 8:25 AM and I was groggy and exhausted. After a quick shower, meal and coffee on board I set out to train Ms. Emma.</div>
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Each day I go to train her it's a gamble if today she will work for her food or not. She took the first kibble I offered, though was worried by my inviting her into the bedroom to work on her Turn Down task and start to train her Make Bed task. She kept jumping on the bed and then rushing off to stand by the door and I finally called her onto the bed and we got into a rousing game of bitey hand and pawing me. After that she was up to try her training. It took about 2 minutes to calm her enough to get her focused to work on her task training.</div>
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She is doing well on her Turn Down task. She takes the blanket and walks it back to about halfway down my king sized bed and pulls it almost far enough back for me to climb in. She clearly thinks this is a funny game and gets all kinds of playful when she does it. It is clearly a task she enjoys and I am glad to see that. I really don't want her to hate her job and I try to train the joy into the task each time I train a new one; sometimes training that joy can take longer than training the task. If my approach to a task when training it saps the joy out of the task itself, I stop the training, evaluate and retrain until she finds the joy. It's important that any working dog enjoy the work they do.</div>
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I then reversed it and had her take the blanket and carry it back to the head of the bed. She's not very good at making a bed, but it's at least a great effort and should give her handler a level of joy. He can, for the first time, turn down and make his own bed with simple cues.</div>
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I then took her into the living room to work on her tug task. I put Malcolm up in the crate and we worked on tugging open the bathroom door. She can now stand between me and the wall on the other side, but she's still a bit worried by my blocking her that way. She had been flying high after a second rousing game of bitey hand and pawing at me and doing rollovers on the bed, but now wilted a bit and refused her kibble, which she'd just been eating with relish a minute before.</div>
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I worked with her for a few more seconds and she finally, after the third offered kibble, ate one and then got into the tug game. There is a reluctance I don't like seeing. She's waving her tail at me, but she's not as into this game as she was with the last one. I think I need to take her back further and rebuild the joy in tugging open doors. This could easily become a task that results in fear and shutdown if I don't step back and build the joy in the task.</div>
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In the afternoon I had a long client consult. I had to run to Elk to evaluate if Chevy, a silver sable German Shepherd, could come and stay for a few days to begin training for becoming a service dog. He is a seven month old pup who has a very ill and disabled handler who has been unable to maintain his training like she'd planned when she first adopted him. She'd been stronger when I saw her last, but due to major health changes, she's in a state that she needs serious help with Chevy's training. I spent two hours doing the intake consult and then returned to pick up a new collar, food and other items I would need for his stay. In total I was gone for 6 hours (2 spent in travel, 2 spent on the consult and 2 spent on getting required items for Chevy and the household). Emma did well with the prolonged stay out of the crate, but I could tell she really needed some attention and spent the rest of the night giving her affection and playing with her.</div>
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Tuesday brought Chevy into the household. Since I knew he was arriving and suspected the adjustment period to a new dog in the house would throw Emma for a bit of a loop, we trained prior to 7:30 AM. I worked on Turn Down and Make Bed again and Door (for working a door). She loves the bed tasks, but is still struggling with the door task. She is targeting the cord and was more willing to work with the door, but isn't really pulling hard enough to open it yet.</div>
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When Chevy arrived I introduced him to each dog separately and spent the first 2 hours after his arrival just getting the household adjusted to the new family member. Malcolm and Chevy had way to much fun learning how to play together and running around the house. Max and Dieter made it clear they were fine with him as long as he left them alone and Emma was spending a lot of time with me because Chevy really liked her and kept pressing his chin on her back or hips and trying to hump her. I kept directing him away and protecting her until he lost interest and went about his business.</div>
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Emma really didn't like the special attention Chevy gave her and I don't blame her. She doesn't know him from Adam and he was being way to friendly. I could tell she appreciated my protection and after Chevy finally settled in she spent time laying in my lap soaking up pets while the house spent the day playing. I needed the break as it was. I had a migraine and needed some downtime to recover before Spirit's consult.</div>
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Chevy is crate trained, so when it came time to leave I crated him and headed out. Emma was happy to see me when I returned 2 hours later and happily ran in the yard and then settled to chew on toys. It was a quiet day with the dogs playing.</div>
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Wednesday was play day. I plan one play day a week for the household. I find they all do better with a single day off during the week and can really focus on lessons if they have a full 24 hour period to think over what we worked on. Emma enjoyed playing with bones, doing some wrestling with Malcolm and barking at everything in sight.</div>
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It was a good choice, since Emma ate only half her breakfast, even with the moist food in it and no other dog invading her space. She was wired for sound and almost everything she saw not only sent her into barks, but so over threshold she couldn't stop barking even though she clearly was trying. She was in higher need of physical affection, more skittish with movement and overall showing high stress signs.</div>
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I ran with Malcolm to pick up dog food with the help of my son Wayne. In the short time I was gone she destuffed my recliner. She hasn't been destructive like this in a while, so I noted the stress she was feeling and spent the rest of my time with her while the boys played. That evening I had a client consult, so I left her loose again while Max and I went on the consult. We had no further incidents with the recliner, but I had to hand feed her dinner because she was unwilling to eat from her bowl. The extra attention helped and she started to relax by bedtime.</div>
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On Thursday we worked on confidence building skills using Level 1 behaviors and play. I fed her her breakfast as a whole and spent the time training using praise and affection and play as her rewards. She did very well, but was unable to do a down, even with Chevy crated and the training area blocked, so I knew trying to ask for anything requiring concentration would be out. Instead we worked on her strongest behaviors and build up her happy feelings to improve her confidence and sense of safety.</div>
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That evening we went over to Auntie Ronda's house for a play date. Emma loves to visit Ronda's house and spent a lot of time sniffing and exploring and then played a bit of Catch Me If You Can with Malcolm and Jack. After another long exploration she came and curled up in Ronda's lap and then when Ronda got up to work on dinner she came to my lap and napped for a bit. She spent a lot of time enjoying good sniffs, barking at people passing and off and on just running to run. She was tired, but happy when we left.</div>
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Friday was grooming day. I just fed her breakfast and we worked on play for fun and used her Level 1 behaviors to improve her mood. She happily played with the x-pen down and Chevy crated. She was able to do a down finally and was truly enjoying the playful games I asked of her. She even offered to target cabinet doors and cords on the doors as part of the games.</div>
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I find leaving her at the groomers hard. I know her groomers are good to her and take very good care of her, but she finds the place frightening, despite how well loved she is there. Please understand, she has one of the best groomers in town and they are very good to her at all times, but the noise and racket which is standard with a grooming shop is unsettling to her and every time I take her in she's happy to trot in with me and then suddenly is trying to pull me to the front door to leave. She is subdued when she visits my groomers on the times I have taken her in for a day of hanging out while Max and Malcolm get groomed and I work with Pi. The difference at my groomers and hers is, my groomer has never done more than let me put her on the table to brush her coat or trim her nails if they need to be done. No bath. No blow dry. No long clippings and trimmings. My groomer is a location she gets nothing but treats, while her groomer is where she gets a bath, dried, clipped and trimmed without me or her family present. She finds her groomers a scary place, not because they do anything bad to her by our standards, but they do groom her and she is not happy with how much care must go into her coat. Poor baby makes me sad whenever I see her trying to leave and I must hand her leash over to her groomer and she's walked into the back room. I wish she felt better about the place, but I know the people there take the best possible care of her they can.</div>
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It's been a long week, but one that have given me a lot to think about. I have Chevy for another seven days and see I need to find a better way of building up Emma's confidence so she feels more secure in the home when she's with me. Poor girl just doesn't do change well.</div>
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<br />
<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_60a6_1572_6f19_9e26">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_610f_e105_93b8_87d5">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_331_2eda_35e3_cc72">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_359a_3427_cccb_f7f7">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-27371137849315811952014-06-02T00:29:00.000-07:002014-06-15T22:54:27.405-07:0020 Months: Training - Days 323 - 326<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;" id="id_e562_f0df_e0f6_4e19"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDgxYVuQSVFNC_7aLmNp-zwkUYVQTjxL59yH-CU1ssmwQ1ov1r68eeeQ9x6D4UCQ-4yf7O_FN2VYnvbCOKaJeAThJnHjwH9MYBTz3Vkg0Wi2k0vTniJctu2zp-l4a3hd1LTP4gTJfawGZ/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDgxYVuQSVFNC_7aLmNp-zwkUYVQTjxL59yH-CU1ssmwQ1ov1r68eeeQ9x6D4UCQ-4yf7O_FN2VYnvbCOKaJeAThJnHjwH9MYBTz3Vkg0Wi2k0vTniJctu2zp-l4a3hd1LTP4gTJfawGZ/s1600/014.JPG" height="240" width="320" id="id_d248_8b53_1e59_7958" style="width: 320px; height: 240px;"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice to see her looking into the camera.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Tuesday - Friday</b><br>
<div>
<b><br></b></div>
<div>
Emma arrived at 8:09 AM on Tuesday and was in a happy mood when she sauntered into the house. She didn't set the house off like the did the week before, which was good, but the moment she jumped into my lap for snuggles I had to ask her down to keep her out of my face. She took it well and we spent several minutes with me rubbing her body and talking to her while she smiled at me.</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
I was sore and not feeling well on Tuesday, so we spent the morning with Emma and Malcolm playing in the yard while I tried to get the napalm burning in my joints under control. The pain was bad enough I was on the verge of tears and knew if I tried to push through and train it would only result in a poor training session. Instead, the dogs enjoyed their playday for the week.</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
On Wednesday Yoda came for his training and I saved off her training kibble for the visit. Once Malcolm and Yoda were done with their training John and I worked on Emma's "Go Get Help" task. It is hard to train it without someone to help. I have a bringsel for her to use and after the months of teaching her to take items from me, hold them until asked to release it and carry it where I want her to. It had a reason for that long process of training a solid hold and this task was just one part of it.</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
I had her take it when John was a foot away from us and had her take it to him. We've played the "Go Give" game with her in the past, now it was turning into a new task. She took it to John and he thaked her for it and gave her a kibble. She lit up. We played it as I increased the distance between us and soon I was in the bedroom and John the living room and she was doing an out of sight delivery. Once she was stable on that leg of the chain I then had John ask her to "Show Me" and have her lead him back to me and reward her when she did.</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
By the end, though the task was shaky and we'd taken many breaks, she was doing the entire behavior chain. It was a fantastic training session and Emma was overjoyed playing the game with us.</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
On Thursday Vanessa came over and we played the game again. It took no time for me to get into the bedroom again and Vanessa, like John had the day before, changed where she was standing when Emma was out of sight and Emma had to "find" her. Once she was, again, solid on the first part, taking the bringsel to Vanessa, she asked Emma to "Show Me" and Emma raced back to me and spun for her reward from Vanessa!</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
That night I took the dogs over to Ronda's for play time and found a toy a lot like a bringsel in the yard. I handed it to her and sent her out to Ronda at a distance of about 50 or more feet. Emma happily took it to her and when Ronda said, "Show Me" Emma raced back to me like a lightening bolt. It was lovely to see! She truly enjoys the "Go Get Help" and "Show Me" tasks!</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
On Friday I sat on the patio with Emma and rewarded her anytime she looked away from what was happening around her to me and she was doing great when we started. She was, in the very beginning reluctant to eat, but picked up on it quickly and was really offering nice focus when between one and the next kibble she just shutdown and quit. I accepted that she hit a stressor somehow and put the game aside and groomed her.</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
It was a short week, but we got a very nicely proofed task. I am hoping by next week to build up her tug tasks a bit more and start on her light switch task. Emma has another short week next week with her grooming appointment ending our week, but I think it'll be good for her so she regains her balance fully.<br>
<br>
<br></div>
<b>Level 1</b><br>
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_9925_a93f_1e4f_994e">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br>
<b>Level 2</b><br>
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_50f4_e482_8ae3_7567">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br>
<b>Level 3</b><br>
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_bce6_621f_f1da_9caa">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br>
<b>Level 4</b><br>
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_95bd_ff64_f4df_467c">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
<td><br></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-30092941627146417812014-06-02T00:15:00.003-07:002014-06-02T00:15:58.508-07:0020 Months: Training - Days 318 - 322<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesKHkuM6nx6m-S2Ffkt8BjrLIvYFZ-ubbz5jC1d-ei_WdoZebiYy5YaZPx1bg3kylGGSM8LQJ8_-XZKyxQHYiYVMUtjuTNTEmI0cBjT8T9Ji3ivimpGP7IWxBRBw2eQT0yt8f4mXkzvSK/s1600/019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesKHkuM6nx6m-S2Ffkt8BjrLIvYFZ-ubbz5jC1d-ei_WdoZebiYy5YaZPx1bg3kylGGSM8LQJ8_-XZKyxQHYiYVMUtjuTNTEmI0cBjT8T9Ji3ivimpGP7IWxBRBw2eQT0yt8f4mXkzvSK/s1600/019.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma loves her Auntie Ronda.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Monday - Friday</b><br />
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Poor soft Emma. She arrived a bit late on Monday, but it was expected. Her owner called and told me that an unexpected issue with the schedule happened and wanted to let me know she'd drop off Emma as soon as she could. I was happy to get the phone call early in the morning telling me of this change in plans - it helps me to figure out my daily routine.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Emma had ended last week wound up and stressed with the arrival of Buddy. She was beginning to display her stress signs - increased barking, need for attention and hyperactivity. I had expected the same when she arrived. Though the morning had started with both boys (Buddy and Malcolm) a bit off and grouchy with each other, by the time Emma arrived we were back into our normal happy routine. Malcolm was okay with my playing with Mr. Wiggles (the Labrador wiggle is too silly) and was getting his attention. Poor Max has to push in to get my attention and I have been taking extra time to give it to him - he's been on the back burner for a long time and needed me to tell him he's my favorite again.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Emma was like a lightening strike in the house. All of a sudden the whole house was out of balance again. It was amazing to see. Her stress bled off so much that the whole house wouldn't really settle down for the remainder of the day. Yoda would drop by for a training session and would feed off of it also and not really focus on his lessons. Buddy and Malcolm would be off balance in their play for hours and it would just be one of those days for all of us. It wouldn't be until I took her and the family over to Ronda's house to play that Emma would relax and the house would settle in and not be a catalyst for chaos.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She was eager to join training on Monday. I had her come up to me and work her Level 1 behaviors with the other dogs near. Her problem is working as a member of the family, as a part of a group, and I need to show her she's stronger than she thinks. She did very well and it looked like we'd have a good week together. I had planned a day off on Tuesday, since it was Buddy's last day and he didn't have a play day to just be a puppy yet.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We ended our day at Ronda's with Emma happily exploring, trying to join in the games of Catch Me If You Can and getting cuddles. Ronda commented on how tied in knots she was and agreed she needed to get her legs stretched out and just play. She was giving us the happy Labradoodle smile by the end of the night and being her silly self. Her muscles had relaxed and she was clearly doing better.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Tuesday she played in the yard, but I could see it again. She was barking at everything outside of the fence, something she has learned not to do most of the time, but she was back to the high pitched, over the top, can't stop alert barking and rearing up on her hind legs while doing it. She was chewing hard, rendering sticks and other items she could to small bits of debris. She was shooting out of the door and hiding more when I stood, even though I was giving her lots of loves and telling her how good she was. I have been wearing a treat pouch on my hip for over a week so I could reward Buddy and all the other dogs for anything I really liked seeing. Emma has been getting rewards for quietly watching the world outside of my fence, recalls, laying quietly near me and more. She has been rewarded constantly for all of the good things she does, but it's just not enough to keep her feeling safe and secure. It's maddening some days to have her suddenly crumble when she was doing so well.</div>
<div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
Wednesday morning she was so shutdown she refused to eat. I accepted this. Buddy had gone home the night before and even with her curled up with either Ronda and I while we watched a movie at the end of the night at my home, she woke this morning still feeling strained by Buddy's visit. I normally give her 1/4 cup of her food when I feed all the dogs. Max, Malcolm and Dieter all eat in the living room and Emma eats in the kitchen with me blocking the others from bugging her while she eats. She sniffed her kibble, turned and walked out of the room. I picked up her bowl and called it for the day. She was clearly in need of one more day of downtime to regain her balance.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She played in the yard all morning while I worked on getting ready for an afternoon client consult. I had found the plastic poison dart frog she'd taken off of my TV entertainment center and chewed the legs off of. I found the legs, neatly dissected from the body and laying on the blanket by her. It's missing both back legs (found and can be glued back on), a front foot, a knee and has a tooth mark in it's butt. She hasn't taken something off of my tables or entertainment center and chewed it in a long time, so I was correct in my assessment of her stress.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I watched her through the front door as she lay on the dog bed on the patio and really went to town on a bone. She was back to the high pitched alert barking and she was back to not being able to stop herself once she started and a few times I couldn't figure out what she was barking at. She was still feeling that way when I left for a client consult at 1:30 PM. I returned at 4:00 PM to find she and the house were in good shape.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She calmed this evening. It's Wednesday at 10:25 PM and I saw the first calm, quiet behavior I have been cultivating for months now. She sat on the ramp and watched the neighborhood with her normal intensity. She did bark a few times, but her brain was back in gear and she came readily for her rewards when I cued her to come to me. She laid down and chewed on a bone like any other dog on the planet, wasn't shooting out the door or hyperactive any longer. The day off was good for her.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When I fed her she ate with gusto. I gave her 1 1/4 cup of food for dinner and she ate every bite and licked the bowl. She didn't even hesitate to eat when I set her food down and I didn't have to coax her to come and check her bowl this evening. She readily came in before I called her name and had her head in the bowl before I had stood back up. It was good to see.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I am hoping we can return to some task training to end our week. DJ, who Emma knows, comes to stay tomorrow. Emma has always been comfortable with DJ and DJ is only staying until Memorial Day, so won't be here when Emma returns next Tuesday.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Right now, Emma is stretched out on her side in my recliner and is sleeping soundly. It's nice to see her out and in view after this period of insecurity. I will continue to build her confidence and make her life in an ever changing world easier to handle. The best thing for Emma will be giving her the coping skills to deal with change. She's taught me a lot in patience, how to deal with a soft and fearful dog and how to build confidence in a dog who easily retreats and hides when she's stressed. Emma has a sweet soul and lovely personality and with a bit of shoring up on her confidence, I do believe she'll have a very happy life when she graduates this coming fall.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On Thursday Emma worked on her "Clean Up" task in the yard. She did great. I used the bone bucket, which is a planter I use for holding their bones to keep my yard and patio cleaner, and a pair of socks for her to work with. She was very good at it and really showed she had the idea of what I am asking. She needs to practice "Clean Up" at home and build the behavior into a solid proofed task.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On Friday Vanessa came. Emma was showing stress signs all week with hyper active behavior, constant high pitched barking and shooting out of the house like a bullet. I knew Vanessa was bringing a full sized vacuum, so decided to work on Emma feeling comfortable with the sound of a vacuum that size and did Level 1 behaviors with her while Vanessa cleaned the house. Emma did very well and really shined. It was a high note to end on for the week and I was glad to see it.</div>
<div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-39374536216608048762014-05-17T01:38:00.002-07:002014-05-17T01:38:48.113-07:0020 Months: Training - Days 313 - 317<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPon4YljnnNZVfLMDp9ujlYrhlPfKFRhn3s9CS6hAxG5jZ5_zkEJV4QygOj9hrH2Ib0Up9XPcQdJy-sF0cy9u5OebkNlQV1kEGsbsT-TK67rfrbUaaTqyRwCTYUOSzr1lMMDNvtbrvQ8cW/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPon4YljnnNZVfLMDp9ujlYrhlPfKFRhn3s9CS6hAxG5jZ5_zkEJV4QygOj9hrH2Ib0Up9XPcQdJy-sF0cy9u5OebkNlQV1kEGsbsT-TK67rfrbUaaTqyRwCTYUOSzr1lMMDNvtbrvQ8cW/s1600/007.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No, she's not learning to water the lawn! She decided<br />
to sniff the faucet. Silly girl.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Monday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Emma arrived when I was training Malcolm, which put his training on hold for about 40 minutes while the household settled in for the week. Tomorrow the household will be disrupted again when I take in another board and train client for a seven day stay. Buddy, a 6 month old Labrador puppy, will be staying with me while his owner recovers from surgery.<br />
<br />
I had a doctors appointment and couldn't train Emma right away. Since I had already prepared her meal while training Malcolm, I fed her a portion of it to keep her stomach from becoming upset. I wouldn't get to her training until after my appointment.<br />
<br />
I left her with Dieter and Malcolm loose in the house for an hour and half while I was at my appointment. I am very happy to report Emma has been consistent on being left alone loose in my home at this time. I would later leave her not once, but twice, loose in the house while I was away walking Max first and then Malcolm. She was perfect both times.<br />
<br />
Today we worked on her Turn Down task. I took her into the bedroom this time and we worked on the bed. She had way too much fun with the training and you'll see the goofy, funny, lovable Emma that I work with daily. This is a side of Emma the camera never seems to capture. The playful Emma. I am so happy everyone finally gets to see it!<br />
<br />
The video speaks for itself, enjoy!<br />
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Emma - Turn Down Part 3</div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Roadwork:</b><br />
<br />
I have a new board and train pup arriving tomorrow for a seven day stay and knew today would be the only day I could escape for an hour or so and work Emma in a new location for her roadwork. After walking Malcolm and Max on their normal route, I packed up the power chair in the van and loaded up Emma for a trip to Riverfront Park. Please visit <a href="http://malcolmsquest.blogspot.com/2014/05/public-access-of-parks-ponies-and.html" target="_blank">Malcolm's blog post</a> for the weekend for pictures of the park and some history on it (his Sunday write up) for those who don't live in Spokane.<br />
<br />
On weekends the park is packed with families and people. On weekdays it's a quieter place and perfect for Emma's first ever trip to the park with me. We took the same route as Malcolm, only we stayed for only a mere hour due to Emma being at a different level of public access training.<br />
<br />
Our entry on the big bridge had her worried a bit. She was showing some stress on dealing with the sounds of the river raging below, even with us in the middle of the bridge, but was taking treats without issue. I was pleased to see her start to relax when I scanned ahead and saw a trigger stacking event about to happen. On our left was a jogger coming at us, on our right was a skateboarder coming toward us. I parked directly between them, got Emma's complete attention and fed her through the two passing us. She glanced over her shoulder at the jogger, but quickly looked back to me.<br />
<br />
I treated her for looking but not touching people as we passed. I treated her for skateboards, bicycles and dogs and joggers. I treated her for walking nice beside the chair and for crossing onto new footing. I took her to the fountain (no ponies or train today) and she was completely comfortable with the fountain. She looked at it for a bit, more worried by a dog nearby than the fountain and then sat, looked at me and gave me the famous Labradoodle smile with a relaxed, open mouthed pant. We headed for the statues.<br />
<br />
She sniffed each statue and had no problem meeting any of them. She was calm and happy and giving me the Labradoodle smile.<br />
<br />
We crossed the wood bridge and there was two dogs who weren't well controlled by their handlers. I watched how the dogs were behaving, decided we could pass with distance and was treating her on a 1-2-3 Treat past when one of the dogs tried to pull to her and the owner was following - I took her lead to bring her closer, gave more distance and sped up the chair and got her past without contact. She was shoulder checking for a few feet and then set into trotting along with me.<br />
<br />
We check the seagulls and ducks, no geese in the water today, and she was very very very very very interested in them. We'll return to counter condition to them and learn to ignore them. She lost her footing when a bird flew overhead and she followed it with her head. I had to laugh at her silliness.<br />
<br />
We stopped by a screaming child and some bicycles and watched birds and after a bit of worry and stress she suddenly sat and gave me the Labradoodle smile and happily took her treats.<br />
<br />
We went to the reflecting pools and looked over the edge of the bridge. She was curious and after a few seconds looked back to me smiling! I was flabbergasted with how well she was doing and was tickled to the bone too.<br />
<br />
We crossed to the narrow bridges and as we approached I watched her body language. She was at first a bit worried by the sound, but with careful treat delivery she relaxed and we entered the first narrow bridge without problems. We stopped and looked at the raging falls until she relaxed, sat and gave me the Labradoodle smile! OH MY GOODNESS!<br />
<br />
Then we trotted along the narrow bridges like she'd done it all her life. When we got to the same metal plate that upset Malcolm I slowed and watched her. As soon as she put her foot on it she jumped and spun to look at it. I took her back and let her explore it and she walked on it the second time. Fantastic!<br />
<br />
We left the second narrow bridge and she did her only drive by sniffing when someone spoke to her - will work on that. We crossed to the same side of the street as the van and a couple with small dogs got out of their car. She was concerned at first, but with careful treat delivery and stopping to chat for a few minutes she decided to ignore the dogs and gave me the Labradoodle smile while she sat next to me.<br />
<br />
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/f0nny7tZKFc" width="459"></iframe></center>
<center>
This is the bridge we crossed!</center>
<br />
<br />
We then went to the van and the only real serious stress signs I saw was when I pulled the ramp out. She stood behind my chair and watched and relaxed after a couple of minutes. I loaded her in the van, she laid on the bench seat while I loaded the chair and ramp and we headed home.<br />
<br />
She played like a trooper, didn't eat (not surprised, I had just fed her 1 cup of food on our outing) and settled in for a rest when it was time to come in. No overt fallout from our trip!<br />
<br />
She was not hypervigilant or fearful or over threshold the entire time. What a remarkable change in her - all the months of counter conditioning, confidence building, desensitizing and careful re-entry into the world has truly paid off and she's starting her journey with a newly found level of confidence. I am so proud of her!<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjivpuF4wni_aUEEQPoFch_6J2IlBrEVMj0x4ZtMtrEaupg48jTAFwwdyR45uX8jZT51rJ3LeLF257Agswnn4XTIk5-1wHs0r98YK7i82QI63Dcc57fDD3APn-Q7yYS9dlHkHhUg0mHyOSA/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjivpuF4wni_aUEEQPoFch_6J2IlBrEVMj0x4ZtMtrEaupg48jTAFwwdyR45uX8jZT51rJ3LeLF257Agswnn4XTIk5-1wHs0r98YK7i82QI63Dcc57fDD3APn-Q7yYS9dlHkHhUg0mHyOSA/s1600/012.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buddy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Tuesday</b><br />
<br />
I mentioned yesterday that I have a new board and train arriving for a seven day stay. His name is Buddy and he's a 6 month old Labrador mix. He's not as far along on his training as the rest of the household and hasn't spent anytime with me outside of a few lessons very early in his life.<br />
<br />
Today I picked him up at 5:00 PM and brought him home for his stay. Since I knew this would be stressful for Emma I wanted her training this morning to be fun and light so she would have the emotional energy deal with my expected long absence and his arrival.<br />
<br />
This morning we worked on her "Say Your Prayers" trick. I have never taught this trick before and thus Emma and I are feeling it out together. I know what it looks like, but not how to get there. I am working on figuring out the parts with her. She's a trooper and willing to try the different approaches with me. It's been a lot of fun, but I do need to solve it soon to get it all put together. She enjoyed herself and I see another trick developing out of it. The more the better, they can make her handler laugh on his hard days.<br />
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Emma - Say Your Prayers Part 2</div>
<br />
<br />
Today was a busy day for me and Emma spent a longer than normal period of time loose in the house while I was away. She managed a 4 1/2 hour stay in the house without any damage to the house. Thankfully tomorrow has no scheduled appointments and I can spend it with the dogs here and give them my full attention.<br />
<br />
Emma is not bothered by Buddy. She said her hellos and went off to do her own thing. Since Malcolm is totally focused on playing with Buddy she is no longer the target of his demands for play. She relaxed and enjoyed the evening in the yard cuddling with myself and Ronda, chewing on bones and barking at everything she could think of.<br />
<br />
She's now curled beside me while I type up her daily report. Tomorrow should prove interesting with three trainees in the home. Hopefully I'll be able to take all out for a quick trot with the chair to work on roadwork and get some solid training in.<br />
<br />
This morning I did shower Emma. Her coat had that feeling human hair gets when it hasn't been washed for two days. First thing in the morning I removed her collar and cuddled with her for a while and then slowly prepared myself and her for the shower. When I had the water running I called her and asked her to enter the shower. She did and waited for me to enter and close the door. This is a huge change for her - she's been hiding when I prepare to shower in the mornings and over the past week she's decided to remain and even offered last week to join. I am glad to see she's becoming comfortable with showering.<br />
<br />
After her shower and rub down, which she loves, she stayed by me as I dried and danced and smiled at me. I do believe she's learning to enjoy most of her grooming! I let her go outside to play so she could mostly dry before I used the dryer on her. She stood calmly while I dried her and is no longer showing a lot of fear when being brushed, but still is uncomfortable with her face and head being groomed, but we are closer to her finding grooming a bonding experience instead of a torture that must be done for her own good.<br />
<br />
After her grooming she played and promptly got grass and other debris in her coat. Sigh. At least she had fun.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow I hope to have a better training and bonding day with her and the other dogs. It should be interesting with the new addition for the week.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPi20M2fh4Us_jpcgwJEL4PRwcPmZT6gj3Ugjw6yCwaUgPO1lkK-tLs2GCBWb10e41MrHC167K0g2l6C-nQJW_ZDsSSQx_CgV87dI_sVTOk8dEk0J7aO90gSqNOz6gewLCqhQbrkHi8h1f/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPi20M2fh4Us_jpcgwJEL4PRwcPmZT6gj3Ugjw6yCwaUgPO1lkK-tLs2GCBWb10e41MrHC167K0g2l6C-nQJW_ZDsSSQx_CgV87dI_sVTOk8dEk0J7aO90gSqNOz6gewLCqhQbrkHi8h1f/s1600/008.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She loves to explore the yard - and eat it. She really<br />
loves to eat the yard.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Wednesday - Friday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Poor Emma just doesn't do well with change. On Wednesday I noted a change in her mood. I had crated Buddy to keep him out of the other dogs bowls when fed and put her food in the kitchen like I normally do for the small amount of food I feed her before I train her. She sniffed it and looked at me with that shy nature of hers and then after a minute or so decided to eat.<br />
<br />
I knew then I would have to work on shoring up her confidence again and set aside any new training for the week. For me, Emma's emotional state is far more important than her training. If Emma is fearful, stressed and worried all the time she won't do well in her everyday life. She'll also suffer long term health issues. Making her comfortable in her skin is far more important to me than if she learns to turn a bed down or pull open a door or any other task she's to learn.<br />
<br />
The video attached is my working with Emma to build her confidence. When I was training Malcolm, Buddy was clawing, banging and climbing the x-pen. I knew I wouldn't be able to work with Emma with Buddy doing that, so I crated him and moved her as far away in the kitchen as I could. As you'll hear, Buddy didn't take to crating well and he was able to see me. This was day two with Buddy and now on Day 4 he is quieter in the crate, can see me alone in the kitchen and not cry and handle my taking Emma into the office and not break down, but on Wednesday, Buddy was fully protesting his confinement.<br />
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Emma - Confidence Building</div>
<br />
<br />
On Thursday she refused to eat and the old, low to the ground, head down and back roached with her tail tucked and her face taunt had returned. She was stressed badly and I knew she wouldn't eat in the presence of the other dogs. I took the time to pet and love on her and put her bowl up for a bit.<br />
<br />
I had suspected this would happen, which was why I went to confidence building. Instead of making her wait for her dinner I decided to work in a different area of the house after she'd had some time to relieve stress in the yard. She went out with the dogs with such force she launched my crushed cans off the porch. This behavior is typical of her being extremely stressed, so I gave her a good two hours to play. She chewed on bones, ate grass, barked at every tiny thing and explored.<br />
<br />
I then took her into my office and worked Level 1 behaviors and desensitizing her to Buddy with her breakfast. She ate it all and was in a great mood by the time we left the office. Buddy was clawing and crying at the door, but for her that was less worrisome than if he'd been climbing the x-pen or screaming in his crate and rattling it.<br />
<br />
John and Yoda came over and Emma played in the yard while we trained. After they left I tried to cuddle with her, but she wasn't feeling it for some reason. Even though I invited her into my lap while I tried to rest between John leaving with Yoda and Vanessa arriving to clean the house, she only settled for a minute or two before crawling out of my lap and laying down behind my chair.<br />
<br />
She enjoyed loves from Vanessa and played while she cleaned the house. After that we left for Ronda's house and she played in Ronda's yard for 3 hours. It was this play time that really seemed to relax her and she finally was able to climb in our laps and settle by the end of the night.<br />
<br />
On Friday she again wouldn't eat, so I set her food aside to work with her after playtime. She did good on her Level 1 behaviors in the office with the door shut and this time all I heard at the door was deep snuffling of Max's nose along the seams.<br />
<br />
I let her play for a long time in the yard and noted the wound up, out of control energy that comes when she's having a bit of fall out. I called her in, groomed her (though later it wouldn't look like it) and spent time cuddling her and sending her to play before my client consult. Ronda and I had discussed it and I felt leaving her in the house during my consult wouldn't be the best thing for her. Instead, I sent her to Ronda's to play with Jack and Buddy.<br />
<br />
Ronda reported she ran, explored, played Catch Me If You Can, wrestled and had a good time. Whenever Buddy got to wound up Jack quietly split him away from Emma and would engage him in play. She played solo with Buddy and Jack each and the three of them played together well. She was in a fantastic mood when I picked her up 3 hours later.<br />
<br />
When I got home, completely numb from exhaustion, my neighbor kids came over to do small chores for a chance to play Kinect. Both are pre-teens and Emma happily climbed in their laps and soaked up hugs and kisses and loves. She was happy as all get out when her family came to pick her up.<br />
<br />
She did have problems with leaving the gate to jump in the van, but with a bit of encouragement she got in. She's not comfortable with their new van yet, but should soon learn to enjoy it as long as they reward her with affection and high value food rewards while she rides.<br />
<br />
It was a rough end to her week, but she did improve on her confidence in many areas. She just doesn't do good with big changes.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-32789119098234202432014-05-11T02:52:00.001-07:002014-05-11T02:52:11.326-07:0020 Months: Training - Days 308 - 312<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_64iIhwz0ls2r5vZqYzfGrf8BW0R4kqnp7oZmsKlvZOAS_QsvesyooS4OcaomKqpHa4CSLP6519AceN9zVtxEZBzowUaadu_Xld7LefME_WJmhjEibKJE3xUYTES2OGwVqouQwtBdzlPO/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_64iIhwz0ls2r5vZqYzfGrf8BW0R4kqnp7oZmsKlvZOAS_QsvesyooS4OcaomKqpHa4CSLP6519AceN9zVtxEZBzowUaadu_Xld7LefME_WJmhjEibKJE3xUYTES2OGwVqouQwtBdzlPO/s1600/014.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma is finally getting used to the camera.</td></tr>
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<b>Monday</b><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I have been having a horrible time sleeping lately. Last night I worked until 1:00 AM on making the media to plug into Emma and Malcolm's blogs and had gotten the last two videos for Malcolm built and was trying to publish the second to last one when Comcast had an outage with the phone and internet in my area. It stopped me in my tracks and I threw up my hands and headed to bed. I had saved the files to disk for later upload, but without the internet I couldn't even update Malcolm's weekend blog. It's almost midnight now and I just published the two blogs Malcolm had in the cue and am starting his weekday blog. I still have Emma's blog to complete.<br /><br />Thankfully, the past two days my neighbor has been silent. He's been playing his music late most nights. Though not blaring loud, he has his bass set so low that he's creating low frequency sounds and no matter of sound buffering nor how low he plays it, it penetrates and vibrates long into the night. If he just turned off the bass itself he could play his music without disturbing people, but he loves that stupid thing and when I do finish my work at night I can't sleep because of it. My sleep thus has been disturbed because he normally starts playing it about now if he decides he'll play until 2:00 AM. I can't sleep because I am waiting for the sound.<br /><br />So, my start on the morning was rough. I had slept poorly and woke several times between going to bed and my alarm going off at 6:00 AM. At least I remembered to set the alarm this time!<br /><br />I was weighing whether I would shower Emma this morning and came to the conclusion I wouldn't. Though the day was cold and wet, I felt she would be okay playing in the yard and airing out for a good part of it. It wasn't a penetrating cold, just chilly. She had been groomed on Friday and I didn't feel another bath so close to her last would be good for her.<br /><br />I wasn't sure what time she would arrive and was pleased when her owner called at 7:30 AM to inform me she would be late due to an unforeseen absence of Emma's handler's caretaker. I thanked her and went about taking care of the kitchen, getting my shower and feeding the boys. I want to thank them for the call because it made my morning go much better knowing about when she'd arrive.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A while back I started to train Emma to pick up items and put it in a "bucket". The bucket at the time was a small laundry basket no more than a foot wide and it freaked her out. She was afraid of the laundry basket, refused to get close to it, much less put anything in it. In past blog posts I talked about clicking and treating for interacting with the basket without even trying to get to the final goal. In the end we got past the basket itself and she struggled with the idea of holding her head over it to put something in it. We moved past that and built a rough start to picking up and putting things in a basket.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Her owners have since been working on it and she does carry her handler's socks to a basket and put it away at night. Thing is, it would be nice if she expanded that skill to picking up her toys or his items and putting them away on cue. The trick is building a chain in which she picks up all the items on the floor and puts them away in a single cue to conserve her handler's energy. I started building that chain this week.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I filmed it so you'll see how she's doing. I am pleased that the "bucket" no longer frightens her. She's even putting her head into the bucket I used to get treats and pull toys out. I started with toys and worked to clothing. She is picking up each item well, carrying it to the bucket and targeting the bucket with good accuracy. She is a bit hesitant at times, but as her confidence grew that faded. I have attached the video of her training. It's a slow process to build a chain, but Emma is making it look easy by the end of this lesson. It does not mean she has it just yet, but she's getting the idea.</span><br />
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Emma - Clean Up</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Our day ended going to Auntie Ronda's. Malcolm, as you'll hear in Emma's video, was in a mood today and bugging the crap out of Max. Max was also in a mood today and Emma seemed to join it. It was an undefinable thing that said if I didn't get some energy burned off I was going to have a long and difficult day with the three of them. I know why Malcolm was off, he's having a hormone flush as he enters a new phase in his growth, is a teenager and a young high energy dog with more energy than the sun right now.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /><br />I called Ronda and asked if she wanted us over and when she said sure we headed her way. On the way out I went to let the dogs go from the gate to the van off lead. This training has been in the works from the day Malcolm came into my life also. I have a full blown protocol for the dogs going from gate to van and van to gate off lead. It is a skill I want my dogs to have and is not a "required" skill for a service or even pet dog. It is a vital skill in my book for any of my dogs.<br /><br />Yesterday, while I was unloading the van from the groceries I left the latch for the gate down and let the gate rest in a closed position. While inside and putting some of my groceries away the gate blew open. I stepped out to find both Max and Malcolm standing beside the van waiting by the passenger side slider. This is why the training I do for off lead loading into my van is important. I am bordered by two busy streets - one two blocks away and the other one block away. I don't want my dogs setting off for the hills if an accidental escape happens.<br /><br />The protocol goes like this:<br /><br />I take the dog to and from the van on lead a minimum of 100 times before I ever let them off lead. They must have recall with distractions and distance as well and the 100 times between van and gate gives me time to train that. The 100 times also sets a default pattern for the dogs. It's like driving when tired and thinking you need to stop at the store and finding yourself home before you realized you missed your stop. It's that type of auto-pilot.<br /><br />Once they have the first link in the chain trained, I start the second link - Van to Gate. To do this I ensure there are no cars, people, dogs or small animals nearby before opening the gate and then releasing the dog from the van. If the dog jumps from the van, on cue, and runs straight into the yard we have done enough repetitions; if not, I need to back up and build the default behavior. Recall is vital here since if the dog doesn't enter the yard on auto-pilot, I need to be able to recall them and direct them into the yard.<br /><br />I do this type of release to the yard 20 times. After that minor distractions (never cats, cars or kids) are permitted while they proof the behavior.<br /><br />I then go to the next link - Gate to Van. I open the passenger side slider on my van for the first 1/2 step of training this. I want them to exit the gate and go to the open door without hesitation. I normally load the dog up on the driver side, but in this instance they are very aware of the open door because it's an automatic door and I open it with them at the gate. If they go from gate to van I got it, if not, we need to back up and work going to the van from the gate more.<br /><br />I start proofing the behavior (go to the van when out of the gate, go to the gate when released from the van) by leaving both the van door and the gate closed. I do closed gate first and once they are solid at waiting for me to get around to them, I then do the van door closed. When the van door is closed they default to the driver side, but wait patiently for me.<br /><br />This training, which Malcolm is in the proofing stage now, is what kept both my dogs by the van. I am basically teaching them that if they are out of the gate they go to my van - end of statement. It's a default safety feature for the dogs. Emma knows it and is proofed on it. Max knows it and is proofed on it. Malcolm is 3/4 the way through the training right now and it appears he's got it well enough he didn't wander off. I am so very glad I taught this behavior to them!<br /><br />So, today, when we got the gate and I popped the door I was fully ready to let the dogs out and into the passenger side of the van. Then I saw the neighbor cat, closed the van door and walked each dog individually out to the van on lead. I don't expect the dogs to ignore the neighborhood cats, especially an impulsive 9 month old German Shepherd. Max can and does recall off of cats when I miss and he sees them, but it took me two years to train that and both Emma and Malcolm don't fully have that level of recall. Emma is very close, I can recall her when she's running to bark at most things; some are just to distracting and where I am working on with her recall right now.<br /><br />Emma was first and she made me laugh. I keep claiming she's half Lipizzaner horse and today she demonstrated that. She bolted out the gate when I cracked it open and then sat back on the lead bucking and rearing at me like a wild colt on a lasso. I had to tell her to stop because she was winding herself up and loosing her mind.<br /><br />Once loaded we headed over to Ronda's. When I turned the corner I normally do to go there Max started to get excited. When I turned the second corner Malcolm and Emma did too. They were in full blown spin, bark and whine mode by the time I pulled up at Ronda's. I got out of the van and stood at the gate with the dogs still in the van and waited until they calmed.<br /><br />Having them jump out in the hyper excited mode which they arrived in only makes for a higher level of excitement the next time we arrive. I have decided they need to be calm and happy to get the reward of play at Ronda's.<br /><br />Max was the first to calm down and I released him from the van, Ronda opened her gate and he calmly walked in. Good. I also, by the way, proofed this behavior at Ronda's house for the same reason - if they escape at Ronda's house I want to ensure they are defaulted to my van. Had I not proofed it here, when Emma leaped out of my van last week when I was dropping Dieter off, she could have run into a busy street only a few hundred feet away. Instead she ran straight to Ronda's gate without second through of going anywhere.<br /><br />Emma calmed second. I let her out and Ronda opened her gate and Emma sauntered in calm and quiet. Perfect.<br /><br />Malcolm took forever to calm in the van. Once he did I took him out on lead and walked him to the gate and spent almost 15 minutes outside of the gate until he calmed down enough to enter. We both knew I wasn't going to get perfect calm, but we got past leap on Jack's head, scream and go into hyper mode and re-engage brain stage of calm for him. He finally sat, for a brief second and I opened the gate and in we went.<br /><br />He wound back up and I spent another 5 to 10 minutes inside on lead while he overcame his desire to jump on Jack's head and finally gave me a second sit. I then released him and he trotted off and went into proper play mode. It was a lot of work, but well worth having the dogs enter with self control as compared the mad rush that normally occurs.<br /><br />They played for about 3 hours. Emma was so pent up on energy herself she joined Jack and Malcolm in wrestling, Catch Me If You Can and rips around the yard. She explored and even went to bound onto Deva's back. I think she thought it was Max she was about to pounce on, but about 2 feet away from Deva's rump realized who she was, reared up and stomped her feet and did a quick course change and ran off. Ronda and I laughed at her.<br /><br />She cuddled with both of us also. She had great time and soon was content to hang out with us and sometimes go off and explore. She was also soaked from the wet grasses and the downpour of rain that came.<br /><br />The worst thing that happened to her is Jack peed on her while she was sniffing the grass. We had to laugh at her. She was sniffing as Jack raised his leg and peed on her hip. Her head snapped up, she shot away from him and then spun staring at her hip. She did two or three spin and then flopped in the grass and rubbed Jack's cooties off of her. Yes, we cleaned her up after that.<br /><br />Malcolm was at a full run for a good 10 minutes before he slowed. Max was also at a full trot or run for 10 minutes before he slowed. They were really wound up!<br /><br />Malcolm played with the dogs on the other side of Ronda's fence (playing fence chasing) and Catch Me If You Can, Wrestling, tug-o-war and ran like a mad dog. His big What The Heck moment for Ronda and I was when he stood in the pool and peed in it. Apparently it was the pee day! Ronda and I dumped the pool after that. Malcolm actually didn't slow down or calm down for 2 hours. The adults spent most of that time telling him to cool it. They did it properly and not in a way that would harm him. Once he calmed they all ignored him.<br /><br />When we got home the dogs ate and all fell soundly asleep. It was a great day!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0h4zBwBGG6MprX9zjpIowN9zc78eabO041xVQSqpIFKU0MV07EU338-_UT8ICiyV1kPWyQPxfVu33Y7ZhQKOB-CoWBSLYJBSlcOVwZeeAZjyUHHvy6HEa6Hok93G6kvciXRqWDyihQfI6/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0h4zBwBGG6MprX9zjpIowN9zc78eabO041xVQSqpIFKU0MV07EU338-_UT8ICiyV1kPWyQPxfVu33Y7ZhQKOB-CoWBSLYJBSlcOVwZeeAZjyUHHvy6HEa6Hok93G6kvciXRqWDyihQfI6/s1600/001.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She was groomed on Friday and looks really good.</td></tr>
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<b>Tuesday</b></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I finally got the blog posts I had been working on published last night. I worked until past 3:00 AM to build the media and plug it in. I experimented with Emma's videos and created new opening credits and end credits and added music to them. It was the music that would cause me a problem in the end. I need to find a piece I like that is free domain use so that YouTube doesn't block my videos from being embedable. I ended up providing links to the two videos I created for her, but they aren't available on mobile media (tablets or phones) and this isn't acceptable for future videos. I will have to find a solution that works all around.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">With as late as I went to bed, staggering and mentally exhausted, I decided not to set my alarm. I had written up Malcolm's Monday entry but not Emma's and knew that if I didn't get more than 3 hours of sleep I would be good for none of the dogs. I woke close to 9:00 AM and the dogs were still sound asleep when I did. We got a late start, but it was a good morning.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I fed Emma half her breakfast and planned on training her for the second half when my IPad reminded me I had a client consult at 11:00 AM. I went in to shower so I could head out for the appointment. Ever since I started showering Emma on Monday's she's started to hide behind my recliner when I strip to shower. Mind you, this is not good for the ego when the dang dog runs from you when you are naked.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Today as I stripped I looked to the bathroom door to find Emma watching me with her head lowered and crouching slightly. I told her she was okay and I had no intent to bath her. She wagged her tail and took a few steps into the bathroom. This is good to see. It did bother me that she ran to hide when I went to shower in the mornings. I opened the shower and turned it on and to my surprise Emma crossed the bathroom and stepped right into the shower stall and turned to watch me with the water falling on her rear. I laughed at her and said she was welcome to a shower if she wanted. She stepped out and then turned and stepped in. I smiled at her, took off her collar and told her she could choose to shower or not. She stepped out and stepped in one more time. I was tickled and amazed - I've had to carry her into the shower with me until this point.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I stepped into the shower and slowly started to close the door while watching her. She moved to step out and I told her she could go. She offered a new behavior and I like it, but I had no requirement she bath with me. Giving her the choice to enter and exit today should make future showers easier for both of us. I would rather she stepped in under her own power than my carrying her in.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">After my appointment I returned and let the dogs play for a bit before training Emma and Malcolm. Emma had been crated for the first of 3 outings for the day and I always give her time to really blow off steam after a crate session. She does well in the crate now, but she needs to release stress when let out. It's a needed skill, but she's not totally comfortable being in a crate.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Today I brought out my big laundry basket and worked with Emma. Her confidence is much better than yesterday. She quickly picked up and put items in the basket. The trick is teaching a more advanced part of this. If she's asked to put something like shorts or pants or a shirt into a basket she doesn't fully get it in. I worked on her picking up what is hanging out of the basket and push it into it.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">She is starting to get the idea, but we have more work this week on really cementing it. I am using a pair of men's summer shorts to train this and once she's good with that I will add a shirt and then pants. Once she's persistent and understands the steps we'll build on the chain until she can "Clean Up" on a single cue and really get the job done for her handler.</span><br />
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Emma - Clean Up Part 2</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">After training her I left to go to my Tuesday appointment with Spirit, another client dog. I left Emma loose in the house this time. I have found multiple times in the crate really upset her and we end up with a lot of fallout for a day or two. Leaving her loose prevents that and I do want her to be a reliable dog loose in her home if needed. I was gone for about 2 hours and she was excellent.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I had spoken with Ronda about going to Home Depot with her when she went later in the day. Malcolm and Jack will be working together when Ronda and I go out on our adventures and we want to train both boys to work with us and ignore the other when suited up. Emma is not up to entering non-pet friendly stores just yet while we work toward her public access goals.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I called Ronda when I got home and we arranged to go a short time later. I let Emma play in the yard and have fun while I ate some food. She loves to curl up on the dog bed on my new patio and chew on bones and I could see her happily chewing away from where I sat. After a bit I suited up Malcolm and headed out. I was gone for another 2 hours and Emma was loose in the house again. She was spot on and did fantastic. She was even calm and happy when I returned. Emma has gone a long way on this training and I am very happy with her.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Training her to be comfortable alone in the house is important. There will be times she needs to be left behind and if she doesn't know how to handle it she'll have a hard time when it happens. Taking the time to leave her or Malcolm behind when I run errands, do public access runs and client consults helps both learn to be comfortable alone as well as with me.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">She ate dinner with gusto, played hard and is curled against my leg sleeping now. It was a good day for Emma.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiq1Sm7lmFROwJo4A242ExqDryukW89ve3ZkjD4rPeRmbjxpGM1xRXGPQuQTCmQyDZvPBAq_rBNdfwvsrf85pJxT3pskYgAlq6ybtkGtmINzTn6Ude-5EF32J7FNjAP_4Gsqy5w2DZAH5A/s1600/034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiq1Sm7lmFROwJo4A242ExqDryukW89ve3ZkjD4rPeRmbjxpGM1xRXGPQuQTCmQyDZvPBAq_rBNdfwvsrf85pJxT3pskYgAlq6ybtkGtmINzTn6Ude-5EF32J7FNjAP_4Gsqy5w2DZAH5A/s1600/034.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love play day!</td></tr>
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<b>Wednesday</b></div>
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Nothing much happened today. I needed to edit video so I didn't spend the entire weekend doing so and find music that was royalty free for the videos I am making. I also wasn't in the right mindset to train the dogs and realized that early. Both the dog and the human have to be in the game and though I am certain both Emma and Malcolm would have been, after my marathon day yesterday I wasn't.<br />
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Instead they have enjoyed a day of rest and playing in the yard and I have enjoyed a day of taking it easy and working on computer related material. Nothing much happened, but we had a good day doing it.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrigx-ITOGwwiZMnVsv98QTcCEluVdUoHL1B2vRDXiW6y0wjbZv74nRq6aPts6mRa2t4CMUafiAtkhaF6-rINpN6fwCQAPuNv2ExQbM7dOO9amFnzTFlGbalJiSSXKrfytvQpglwgKl-Ul/s1600/036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrigx-ITOGwwiZMnVsv98QTcCEluVdUoHL1B2vRDXiW6y0wjbZv74nRq6aPts6mRa2t4CMUafiAtkhaF6-rINpN6fwCQAPuNv2ExQbM7dOO9amFnzTFlGbalJiSSXKrfytvQpglwgKl-Ul/s1600/036.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She loves to watch the neighborhood.</td></tr>
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<b>Thursday</b></div>
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Since Emma's handler can't use his arms in a meaningful way and has spent his life depending on others to do tasks most of us take for granted, I am working on training her some simple everyday tasks to help him and while doing it teaching her to learn. This last part will permit her to pick up a new task on the fly in only a few minutes.<br />
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When Max learned to learn he was able to pick up a new task in only a few minutes and need only a couple of days of work to proof it. One of the tasks I taught him in about 3 minutes was to flip the dishwasher door to me so I could close it. By the time I taught him that task Max had already learned to problem solve, be persistent and shape with fluency.<br />
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Emma has been learning to shape, building persistence and problem solving skills. She is almost there, almost on the cusp of becoming a remarkable dog who can pick up a concept in a few minutes and fly with it. The video for today shows just that!<br />
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We are working on learning to pull the covers back for going to bed. Once she understands this concept we will work on her pulling the covers up and make the bed. For her handler this will be the first time he can do something for himself with his bed covers. Over time her owners can train her to put his covers back on him at night when he kicks them off, but for now, let's just learn to turn down the bed.<br />
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There is a lot of good in this video. While watching you'll see Emma started uncertain why I had the basket upside down beside her and she was tentative about the lesson. As the lesson progressed though you'll see she improves in confidence quickly which results in improved interaction with the blanket. It was a wonderful progressive curve. Very proud of Emma's progress now - she's starting to fly with her task training.<br />
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Emma - Turn Down</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can we visit Auntie Ronda next week?</td></tr>
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<b>Friday</b></div>
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After such success on Thursday with the Turn Down task I wanted to revisit it and really build it up. She is doing so well on it. As the video will show, she really got the concept and after sleeping on it was doing an even better job of moving the blanket and pulling it back for the size of the "bed" I had her working with. I was very pleased with that progress.<br />
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Her family enjoys church and church related events and I felt one of the tricks Emma should learn is to pray. I have a picture of the trick in my head, but trying to solve it on the edge of the basket didn't work. I'll work on it again with a chair and lure her head into position and build up her duration, but I believe if Emma could "pray" with her handler it would be a bonding between them that he'll enjoy.<br />
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So, I spent the end of her lesson working on learning to pray. I need to break it down a bit more for her, but she is making a real effort to solve the muddy picture I gave her. It was a good end to a long week and she was clearly enjoying it with me.<br />
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The good of this? She is offering putting her feet on something that even a month ago would have frightened her badly. She's making efforts to solve problems, even when she's not sure what I want she kept trying and didn't just give up. This is the beginning of persistence and lovely to see. The face she's offering behaviors when I am not clear is a sign of problem solving. That too is wonderful. Emma is becoming a true thinking dog that can learn quickly and on the fly. I am glad to see this development.<br />
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She spent 20 to 30 minutes loose with Max and Dieter while Malcolm and Yoda worked on a lesson. She is no longer causing damage to my home when left between 30 minutes to 2 hours, though 2 hours is the outer most limit I would trust her alone at this time. She is still making a racket when I leave, though it quickly quiets, it tells me she is not fully comfortable being alone in the house.<br />
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The week was productive and I'll continue to visit the tug tasks that Emma is working on. She has been on a long and difficult journey getting here, but the past few months of working on confidence building, tug task work and more has lead us into a new frontier in Emma's training. I am excited about this new development.<br />
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See ya next week!<br />
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Emma - Turn Down Part 2</div>
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Emma - Say Your Prayers</div>
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<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
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<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
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<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
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<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
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<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
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<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
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<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
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<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
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<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
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<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
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<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
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</tr>
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CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-35217715324420746782014-05-06T02:37:00.004-07:002014-05-06T02:37:53.591-07:0019 Months: Training - Day 303 - 307<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_573c_d0de_df7d_f2d3" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXkR1Tqb2TzgvG8X1MpP6I4yZPPk5rHdNKaKQro8aONZIcUZbBoByA5XUfEbBQ-xowgOoXUkvbp-Dx6BWTDbFq-LVS5E-sPf5m2_J4Nf7eyS98v9EAPUvsKiZJrBGTyBBabiPnvPzahURu/s1600/046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXkR1Tqb2TzgvG8X1MpP6I4yZPPk5rHdNKaKQro8aONZIcUZbBoByA5XUfEbBQ-xowgOoXUkvbp-Dx6BWTDbFq-LVS5E-sPf5m2_J4Nf7eyS98v9EAPUvsKiZJrBGTyBBabiPnvPzahURu/s1600/046.JPG" height="240" id="id_450b_204_63d8_4813" style="height: 240px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She's waiting for the ball to be thrown!</td></tr>
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<b>Monday</b><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Resting yesterday and ending with such a fantastic public access outing re-energized me. I woke this morning feeling more human and not nearly as foggy. Since it is Monday and normally I plan to bath Emma on Mondays to remove the perfume scent from her coat, I took the time to clean up my kitchen. Yes, again it looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off and I had dead food in the fridge to be removed.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It was a quiet start to our morning with the boys calm for the most part. Malcolm was clearly feeling the strain of not getting a lot done during the week. He's been cooped up with the weather and as a result I was seeing a lot of tiny behaviors that tell me he's going out of his mind. He was stealing socks, washcloths, potatoes on the porch and more. He was sneaking cat food from the bowl and raiding the cat box, something he hadn't done in a long time. All of these tiny behaviors combined with his poking Max into grouching at him and pestering Dieter as well as running and being a nut job in the house off and on told me he badly needed to burn energy.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I hadn't been feeling good for days and had neglected his need to be a pup and run and play with friends or just burn off excess energy. Bless him, he's laid by my side as I've slept off migraines and curled quietly for hours in the house while I did my best to regain my strength and reduced my pain to a functional level again. At almost 9 months of age, it was a lot to ask of him and he came through like a trooper.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Emma, during the weekend, had traveled with her handler to Montana and spent the weekend in a hotel. I knew she would need a day to process her adventure and recover herself, so today was a perfect day to set up a play date. Her owner called at 8:17 AM to let me know she was running a bit behind and would arrive shortly. Emma arrived at 8:45 AM and was in great spirits. I had worried about her mood after a long weekend away and was very pleased to see she was doing well.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She did great working with her owner on remembering to walk loose lead. She's now leaping back into heel position when her owner stops and continues to reconnect and focus on her as they walk up the ramp. Today was the best ever hand off to date. She walked up to me and made one attempt to launch at me to say her hellos, stopped when she felt the lead and then walked up to about one foot from me and sat and remained calm. Excellent work Ms. Emma!</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I let her and the boys play in the yard for a few and then brought the crew in for breakfast. At first I thought I would get some training in, but decided that Emma would do better to have the day off, so everyone got their full meals. I then took Emma into the shower with me and bathed her. She doesn't like it much yet and when she saw me preparing to shower she went to hide. I went to her and carried her in with me and gently washed her.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She loves, and I mean loves, to be towel dried. I had wrung her out in the shower stall by running my hands through her coat to remove excess water and then gently squeezing her coat to get even more out. I then took the towel and began to towel her off. She leaned into it, did a wiggle and squirm into the pressure of my hands and smiled up at me. When I stepped out of the shower with her she stayed at my side and let me use a second towel on her and ate up the rubbing down. When I went to dry myself she kept pushing her body against my legs and putting her head into the towel as it hung down and would look up at me with big brown eyes and a doggy smile. She simply loves the feel of being rubbed down with a towel.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I gave her about 20 minutes to recover from the evil shower and got myself ready for the day. I then pulled out the blow dryer and dried her. Malcolm, the goof, rushed in and played with the end of the hose. He likes to put his mouth over the end and poof his cheeks out. I laughed at him and gently began drying Emma. As I blew the hair on her feet he went to bite the "toy" I was blowing and stopped when he felt her leg. I asked him to leave, but this was too much fun and he played with the air with the tip of his nose. He did the same when I was drying her ears and I had to tell him not to bite her ears. He put his nose on my finger tips as I used the hose, poked her in the cheek and muzzle and generally was a pest the entire time. I kept sending him away, but he was completely engaged with the blower. Malcolm loves the dryer. Emma does not.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She did much better drying this time. I had never used one on a dog that needed their ears and head dried before and after our last adventure with it I contacted some friends who have coated dogs that need blow drying also. I got some great tips on how to make it more comfortable for her and help her become more comfortable with the entire handling process. She will have to be groomed all her life, including bathing, clipping and blow drying and if I can make it easier on her in general then I will. Today she laid down while I blew her coat and wasn't shaking nearly as bad as she did last time. A few more times of gently working her with the dryer and she should be more comfortable with that part of her regular care.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I gave her another twenty minutes after the drying and then brushed her out. She is much better about this and it's becoming, for her, a bonding experience. She's always hated being brushed and it's been a long road to make it more comfortable for her and reduce her stress when I brush her out. I am seeing regular improvement.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I called Ronda and asked if she wanted to watch Emma and Malcolm while Max and I went to a client consult. She agreed, since Jack was in dire need of burning off energy too, and I ran them over. I was away for 2 hours and when I returned I had two happy, tired and content trainees in Ronda's yard. I stayed for another 2 hours while Max ran off some energy and Malcolm, Emma and Jack had a great time playing. Malcolm and Jack are an excellent play match and for a long time it was just Malcolm and Jack playing while Emma happily cuddled or explored every corner of the yard. At one point Emma engaged Malcolm in a game of Catch Me If You Can and she outran him like a bandit. She was so happy and full of life as she flew around trees and through the yard with Malcolm laid out and chasing her.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We ended the day with everyone exhausted. I brought them home and fed them and watched as each and every one of them went to their corners and dropped off to sleep. It was a well spent day letting Emma recharge her batteries and burning off pent up energy in Malcolm. Somedays, you just have to let them be dogs and learn through play.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Check out that intensity!</td></tr>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Tuesday</b></span></div>
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Last night Max, after two hours of play, collapsed in the living room and slept hard. When it was bedtime he struggled to his feet and did the old dog walk to the bedroom and folded onto his bed. I am seeing more of that. Today, he was still struggling to stand and when we went into the yard later he seemed to get his energy back and played, but tonight again the stiff and sore walk was back. When I went to let him out for the last potty run he laid by the crate and just watched me. Once the first dog up and at the door, I now have to call him and ask him to go out. He really struggled hard to stand and then lumbered out like he was an ancient dog. My heart is breaking. My once athletic boy who could go all day long and be ready for a full night no longer can. I may have to make the very difficult call and retire him now, long before Malcolm has finished his training. Max is tired and stiff and sore and is partially retired as it is. He helps when I truly need a sound dog at my side, but the time is coming that I will be announcing his final working day. Tonight, I feel like curling up in a corner and just bawling.</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I had intended to return to working in tight spaces and work on task work with Emma, but when looking at my call log I saw I had a call from someone needing information about service dogs. I had already fielded two of those calls during the morning and knew I had a client consult with Spirit in the afternoon. Talking on the phone wears me out and by the time I called the client who had left a message I was already feeling drained. We ended talking for over two hours about her needs and what we could do to help her locate a trainer in her area. She is on the East Coast and a trainer closer to her would be a better option than working remotely, but I stated if we can't find a trainer in her area, I would work with her remotely. I did suggest reading material and means of building a task list for her dog and other strategies to continue her journey. She's on a great start, just needs the guidance to finish her dog's training.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">By this time the half meal I had saved for both Emma and Malcolm weren't going to be used for training and I simply accepted it. I fed them both the last of their food for the morning and rested for a bit and let the burning and rubbery feeling my arms had from holding a phone so long abate before cutting up treats for Spirit's consult.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I left Emma crated and Malcolm, Max and Dieter loose when I left for about 2 1/2 hours. It may seem like I am not teaching them anything when I have to leave them behind to do a consult, but the truth is, I am teaching them a vital service dog skill - how to be alone. I have been, since he was a baby, preparing Malcolm for the times I would need to leave him home when I went out and he's doing very well with it. Emma, too, has been prepped from the start and she's had on and off difficulties with it. Max, when I adopted him, had serious separation anxiety. It took 3 years to build Max up to being alone and not having major breakdowns.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">By leaving them for periods of time throughout their growing, Emma and Malcolm are learning that my or their handler leaving them behind is not a bad thing. I had, for a time, worked on Emma being loose in the house, but had an incident in which she ate my floor. I have been crating her since, unless I take one of the dogs out for a walk, which is within her tolerance level. Right now, Emma is up to 30 minutes loose in the house without causing damage to my home. Malcolm is up to 3 hours without causing damage to my home. Max is up to 4 hours without causing damage to my home.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When I left today for the client consult I had a chorus of song from the house until I hit the end of the ramp and then the dogs went silent. Later I would need to return to the house to calm them when I went to do roadwork with Malcolm. There is still a level of stress in being left behind and once one dog howls the entire house joins in. I have more work to make my trainees comfortable with my absences.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My visit with Spirit was fantastic. She was 100% better than last week. Her handler did a great job of doing her homework and Spirit is now eating with gusto and has even added the weight she needed to her frame. She was in a fantastic mood, not mouthing me at all and barely doing so with her handler, and her jumping is 1/8th of what it had been the previous week. Fantastic job, Team.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I worked with Spirit on Zen, Target, Sit and Focus today. She has a hard time with Focus and is easily distracted. For a 12 month old dog, I am not surprised by this and so have assigned Focus and It's Yer Choice to her handler as homework. It was lovely working with such a sweet girl who is truly intelligent and willing to learn. I look forward to Spirit's lessons.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On my way home though, I could feel the amount of energy I used working with Spirit. I was sore, my legs and arms felt heavy and drained and weak. Thing was, today is the first day in many that we have had warm and dry weather. When I got home I let the dogs out to play and struggled with ever increasing weakness in my legs and arms as I picked up the yard before I stopped and let it go yet another day. With the yard picked up I sat for a bit and considered what I could do with Malcolm and Emma, who truly need me to pick up my game, and ensure they learn something new today and practice important skills. Roadwork came to mind. It was one of the few things I could do and no longer be on my feet, which was vital at this point.</span></div>
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<b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Roadwork:</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I took Malcolm first and left Emma loose in the house with Max and Dieter. Where earlier in the afternoon it was Malcolm and Max who gave a bit of a fuss when I left, this time it was Emma who cried out and started Dieter and Max howling. I was still getting ready to leave the yard and just wheeled back up to the door and told them to cool it. Emma is not comfortable being left loose in the house and I'll back down and build her up to the 30 minute mark again.</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When I returned home I exchanged dogs and hooked Emma up. She was very excited, but ready to go. She wanted to lead the way at the beginning of the walk, but with careful treat placement where I wanted her head to be she fell into place and was spot on and trotting like a pro beside me. She had no problem with traffic, is up to every 7th to 10th line in the sidewalk for reinforcement, but remains every car coming from behind for treats. This is her second roadwork this year and I don't want to rush her on traffic training just yet.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We had a bicycle approach from the front while we were crossing the bridge. I treated her for looking, for every 3rd line in the sidewalk on the bridge (which she continues to have no problems with) and again when the bicycle directly passed us. She barely blinked and continued without breaking stride. She is aware of curb cuts and the chair and safely enters and exits them now.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She heard a dog bark and perked up, but didn't jump or react to it. I treated her for each dog bark we heard and she settled back into simply loving going for a walk. I decided to do the "Tunnel of Dog" now knowing the bottle neck at Stompy Feet's house. The Springer was no longer out, but the German Shepherd across the street was. She never even looked at him as we passed. Dancy Feet continued to sleep. We stopped about 10 feet before Stompy Feet's house and I watched her to see if we'd continue forward or go back and take a new route. She is just gaining confidence and I don't want to flood her. She was alert, but not fearful, so we continued.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I took her down the center of the street to give more space and watched her closely. She was concerned about Stompy Feet, not the dogs to my right. She never even glanced at them, just watched Stompy, who appeared loose and went at speed with me by the house. She took a single treat during our passing, but never ducked, darted or reacted. When we passed she puffed up and trotted with purpose on the rest of the walk. The second German Shepherd on my right didn't even phase her.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It appears Emma's concern is for dogs that appear loose and a few more times through that area should help her feel more confident before I find the next route for the two of them. She crossed the bridge home without issue and was in fantastic spirits the rest of the night.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Overall, the roadwork was a fantastic success and both Emma and Malcolm really shined tonight. Emma's confidence is clearly improving and her fallout after a stressful event is next to zero now. The worst I am seeing is she's digging in my gardens. I can go through an entire weekend without my gardens touched and 5 minutes in the yard and Emma's dug up my raspberries, rose bush and front garden by the roses. Not sure why, but she's got something against my gardens.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It was a good day.es here</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_b7a6_cec6_b7e1_60e8" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmuq6qJmRmj7hhDxCHK_cCdxP9Nuvt8pQkeB_Mhs7ve4Hkx416eAcBIWAo6SHZbPQ66tCU_3OVUGNQjVwhsednFf4oJ6NlSwQ3HwzYJV7s7E0XGhJ-A-FHlamId_TxmlqYaBI3GWZLcRur/s1600/019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmuq6qJmRmj7hhDxCHK_cCdxP9Nuvt8pQkeB_Mhs7ve4Hkx416eAcBIWAo6SHZbPQ66tCU_3OVUGNQjVwhsednFf4oJ6NlSwQ3HwzYJV7s7E0XGhJ-A-FHlamId_TxmlqYaBI3GWZLcRur/s1600/019.JPG" height="240" id="id_153b_a2e8_398c_4d3c" style="height: 240px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma loves cuddles.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Wednesday</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I was exhausted last night when I entered the blog post for Emma and Malcolm. To save time I just wrote the front end to cover what both dogs had done and then wrote up their individual training in a single post and copy and pasted. Today I cleaned up the mess I made of that and entered the beginning media for the blogs. I still have a ton of video for this week to edit, but it's almost 1:00 AM and I am just writing up Emma's blog post after having finished Malcolm's update for the day.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I was so tired, as a matter of fact, I didn't set the alarm like I normally do and all four dogs permitted me to sleep and wake on my own. It was almost 8:00 AM when I did wake and Emma was laying by me and staring at me as if I had stopped breathing at some point in the night. Even with the late start, she didn't go over her excitement level and was quiet as we padded to the front door and started our day.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">She's in a fantastic mood this week and doing well. Though we've had highly excitable moments, they've been moments and not days. She is truly enjoying her roadwork and today really worked hard on her training. It's a non-definable quality regarding her, but I can sense her confidence is bolstering and she's handling life better overall. Whether she had been a service dog in training or not, I would have spent months building confidence with her because she should have a right to live without constant anxiety and fear in her life.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Today I setup the x-pen in a line along the counter so that it was a very narrow "hallway" for her to work in. She had an exit on both the front and the back of it and each entry was met with a quick and invited exit to relieve pressure off of her and give her a chance to review what had just happened. I mixed half of her breakfast with Ajus powder (small amount), water and a small spoonful of moist food to make a slurry of yummy high value kibble. Since I was asking for a very difficult behavior I needed to raise the value of her breakfast and this was the best way to achieve that goal.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">At first she didn't even want to enter, but with slow and careful reinforcement for approximations to the final behavior (walking through the tunnel) she did offer the behavior I asked. I then slowly worked on her doing Sits and Downs in the confined space. She was worried, again, about Malcolm so I sent him to his crate for the lesson and sent Max out of the room. Dieter stayed, but she is less worried about him. When he was in the way I sent him away and she worked hard with me by the end of her lesson.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">At first she was very slow with her Sits and couldn't do a Down. She would back up to give herself some open space for her Sits and eventually could do them in a more confined space. I was alternating the Sits and Downs and low and behold, she offered a down in a confined space all on her own!</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I saw her confidence improve as we worked in each 3 minute Round and by the last one she was doing very well. I am going to give her one day off from this type of lesson and review it again on Friday before we leave for her grooming appointment. Overall, Emma did fantastic today with learning to work in confined spaces and is building her confidence yet again.</span><br />
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For some reason I can't embed the video:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0q90dw2O5I" target="_blank">Emma vs The Maze - Part 1</a></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Yoda came today and after letting everyone say hi and wind down from first meeting I let Emma loose in the house with Max and Dieter while we worked on Malcolm's CGC behaviors. I will soon be training Emma to do CGC practice also, since she too needs to pass it before passing her PAT for her graduation. For her CGC, she'll need to pass it with her handler, but giving her practice to achieve this goal will make it possible for her to do so. The only areas I am worried for her is walking through a crowd and meeting a friendly stranger and grooming. She's a bit shy in those areas, so I am approaching her training for CGC by building up confidence and will then do practice runs on the CGC with her also.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">When I left with Malcolm to work with John and Yoda I could once again hear Emma yowling behind closed doors. Next week I'll work on her being calm when we first leave. She is quiet and waiting at the door when I leave, but I may have to run the camera when I go and see what all of the dogs are doing behind closed doors to find out what I need to work on to improve her ability to be alone.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">After we returned from training, approximately 30 minutes later, she was in good spirits and my house was in one piece. At this point, I am not ready to leave her loose in the house for longer than 45 minutes. John and I visited while the dogs played in the yard. Emma got loves from John and did her own thing. Where once she was in the fray of the play, she now prefers to do her own thing. She enjoyed a good bone and sniffing about and just hanging out.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><b>Roadwork:</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">It was a nice day today and we spent most of it outside. I had decided to take both Emma and Malcolm out for roadwork and was preparing the treat pouch when Ronda called and told me she was doctor ordered to go on walks for her recovery from surgery. I told her the length of our route and offered for her to join us. Jack came to visit today!</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Emma and Malcolm were over the top excited to meet him again (even though they saw him Monday) and after some play I put up Emma, Max and Dieter in the house and set out with Malcolm for the first walk around the route. Emma again protested. Got to work on that.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">When we returned she was hyper excited and barked and bounced around me reconnecting. Once she calmed and Ronda was settled in, Emma and I went on a solo walk around our route. Ronda can only go around once and so she stayed and watched the dogs while Emma and I went out.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Emma went from my house to the far side of the bridge and into the neighborhood we walk without a single treat. She is checking in with eye contact and is walking like a little trooper with the chair. She is turning well with the chair and with a slow enough turn stays in alignment with it as it turns.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Once in the neighborhood she could hear dogs barking in the distance and not react. She is walking very nicely with the chair. I did give her rewards for ignoring dogs barking as we passed. About halfway through our route there was a big dog barking and running his fence on the other side of the road. Emma watched him, never slowed and didn't react otherwise. She is handling barking dogs well, if I can get her to look away once she notes them she'll be less likely to upset dogs she's passing.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">A couple was out working on their yard. They know I train service dogs and are wonderful socialization people. I stopped and offered her the chance to say hi. She went to them with caution and put her nose on their fingers and then turned to me. This is a marked improvement to her previous "go say hi" exposure. They didn't push petting on her and she did all the work of touching them (her choice) and then backed up to me without fear. The caution may slowly fade with time, but if it doesn't we'll just keep her okay with seeing strangers and recommend not having her petted by strangers.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">We went to the Tunnel of Dog and the chocolate Labrador that had been out when Malcolm and I passed was still out. We went to the far side of the road and passed with only mild curiosity from her. She ignored the Springer in the next fence over also. When we got to Dancy Feet he was up and looking at us, but didn't react to our passing. She ignored him. She never looked over at Stompy Feet today. I was doing a 1-2-Treat pattern as we passed and she was solid and not showing signs of fear. The Doberman on the other side of us was out and barked at us and she never looked at him.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Once again, passing that "tight spot" in our walk seems to have improved her confidence. She was puffing her chest and walking taller when we left the neighborhood and started back home. A bicycle was coming toward us on the sidewalk. She was okay with this and when the man hopped off the sidewalk and passed us she had her back to him. She jerked a little but quickly recovered. She walked along the bridge back home without issue. I gave her a reward for every 3rd car that passed us to continue fading treats.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">We entered our home neighborhood without incident and returned home with tired but smiling. That's the big thing about these walks. She has this big silly dog smile on her face and is clearly enjoying every minute of the walk - even those moments when I challenge her idea of "safe" when passing new dogs or strange objects. While on the walk there was one of those mini bikes (the annoying ones that I wish was never invented) running the neighborhood and it either approached behind us, passed from the front of us and at one point zoomed by us from behind and she never blinked. She is totally loving the walks and finds just going rewarding. This summer should really get the miles on her to build up her confidence that she needs!</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">We ended the day with cuddles and play in the yard. She ate her dinner well and zonked out when I closed the door for the night. It was a good day!</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_7615_14a1_e654_d02c" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRtxe_ozpcIGvf_Tz4PZJZGWbi8fqZW6hHxG8jD6mxEZc5vnMCFKZQeXfwyDpBAolwMLfEySb1-DlbrWPZdBxouZpMTwm4slBjg9GHSftMdZlEPCSFJS3i6A-BW3iWmH092bSsDTzXaB7s/s1600/043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRtxe_ozpcIGvf_Tz4PZJZGWbi8fqZW6hHxG8jD6mxEZc5vnMCFKZQeXfwyDpBAolwMLfEySb1-DlbrWPZdBxouZpMTwm4slBjg9GHSftMdZlEPCSFJS3i6A-BW3iWmH092bSsDTzXaB7s/s1600/043.JPG" height="240" id="id_d8df_fa1b_bd54_f79b" style="height: 240px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tiresome Fivesome reunion tour.<br />
Left to Right (Back to Front): Emma, Dieter, Max, Jack<br />
and Malcolm.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Thursday</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Play on Monday, roadwork on Tuesday and Wednesday, working on tight spaces on Wednesday and then a fun filled day of play and practicing staying with someone other than her handler. I had a scheduled appointment for grooming for Max and Malcolm and had intended to take Emma with me like I always do, so hadn't done any morning training. I fed her and the boys their breakfast, let them play in the yard for a bit and packed up what I'd need for working with Pi, Max, Malcolm and her.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">She was thrilled when I harnessed up Dieter and grabbed leashes. She was raring to rush to the van each time I took something to it before packing up the dogs and I had to ask her to wait at the gate until I was ready for her. She was in a fantastic mood and really having a great day.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I had, the day before, realized that it was going to be over 70 degrees and without the air conditioners installed for the season yet, my house would range between 85 and 95 degrees inside. I had pulled some of the plastic down for the season so I could open a window to get a cross breeze when the front door was open, but with me gone for hours, Dieter was at risk of overheating during my absence and I asked Ronda if she would check in on him. She said she would, but it would be better if my senior dog stayed the day with her.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I loaded all four dogs into the van and headed to Ronda's before leaving for my appointment with Max and Malcolm. I had off loaded Dieter and put him in Ronda's yard when I went to leave with my 3 charges and that was when Emma launched out of the van and ran to the gate and looked back at me. Ronda just opened the gate and let her in and we agreed she clearly wanted to stay and it was okay. It changed my plans for her, but in truth, I think she had a much better day staying with Ronda than she would have at Haute Paws just hanging out with me.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Ronda said she explored her yard for a long time, never blinking when I pulled away. She got a good play session in with Jack. She loves to run and she truly loves to run a figure eight around Ronda's trees in the back of her property. She had gotten on a good game of Catch Me If You Can with Jack and ran so hard and so fast he stopped playing. Ronda told me she made three more loops before she realized the game was over and ran back and enticed Jack to play again.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">At one point she fell asleep with the rest of the dogs (Ronda's 5 and my 2) and napped for a while on the deck with them. She cuddled, played, explored, got loads of treats for recalls from the fence when she decided to bark at something and had a grand time. This is a big change from the same little dog I dropped off and would just sit in Ronda's lap watching for my return and clearly worried. She trusts I will return. She trusts that Ronda won't hurt her and she trusts that she's safe in Ronda's yard. The fact she is overjoyed to go there now tells us she loves her dog days at Ronda's.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">When I returned she was overjoyed, bounced like a manic ball at me and was in great spirits. It was a great day for her and as it came to a close she flopped against my ribs and fell into a deep sleep completely content.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_da86_418b_bc96_48d7" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Oi-rdlogq_GdtDW-n8MegAfNtHmdO6Ry4Rsi72t0Dr1_cunBXYuTpvBQidT_M_uzhsBrrxAltthbPMdLsmXr0Rb7VyFvK9SkVqSTLf_-9UEEmCwa0AL5SJ5Q7f4SMORSuDPg8KIvBuxC/s1600/044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Oi-rdlogq_GdtDW-n8MegAfNtHmdO6Ry4Rsi72t0Dr1_cunBXYuTpvBQidT_M_uzhsBrrxAltthbPMdLsmXr0Rb7VyFvK9SkVqSTLf_-9UEEmCwa0AL5SJ5Q7f4SMORSuDPg8KIvBuxC/s1600/044.JPG" height="240" id="id_3e50_257a_b4b3_ab0a" style="height: 240px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See ya next week!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Friday</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Spa day for Emma. Normally on the mornings I take her to her groomer I don't worry about training her, but with migraines and two days off this week, I decided it was important to revisit the tight spaces lesson before the weekend.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I fed my three boys and fixed up her breakfast with a bit of moist food and water and made a kibble slurry out of it. I set up the x-pen and worked the lesson. I filmed it and you can see the results below, but this is what I noted:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Emma didn't have as big a boost in confidence as she did previously, but a nice progression on it.</span></li>
<li><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">She volunteered to enter the space and even volunteered targeting the x-pen.</span></li>
<li><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">She still has serious latency on her Level 1 behaviors, but with each pass through improved.</span></li>
<li><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">She offered extended time in the tight space and had to be asked to step out to relieve pressure so she could try again.</span></li>
<li><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">At one point she pushed past Dieter to get to the spot we do the cues and didn't retreat like she had early in the lesson.</span></li>
<li><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Malcolm was loose and for the most part sat behind me watching, but when he did get in her space she would quickly retreat.</span></li>
<li><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">In the end of the lesson his being in the space with her did not result in a retreat.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I do believe she had a confidence boost between the earlier lesson in the week and this one, but not one as dramatic as the week before. I think overall it will boost her confidence to try harder things and really test her abilities and therefore, believe it's now time to start putting it into a working real life lesson.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">After getting her training done I packed up Malcolm and her and headed to the groomer. She has one of the best groomers in town who takes a lot of effort to build her confidence and make the experience positive for her, but they are running a business and need to get her bathed, dried and clipped whenever she comes in. Emma is just not comfortable with any of it and has become reluctant to stay in the building when we enter. She tries to leave by pulling toward the front door and ends up shaking. I think I need to work on her going there on NON grooming days and really building a positive association with the building.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Her groomer is not doing anything to make her fearful, it just is. With some extra work on teaching her to be okay with the entire grooming process I believe we can make this required part of her care easier on her.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">It was a busy week and one in which a lot of fantastic things happened for Emma. Next week promises to be a good one.</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I can't embed this video either:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1QN6uT8i4c" target="_blank">Emma vs The Maze - Part 2</a></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-19065319017135723952014-04-27T00:04:00.002-07:002014-04-27T00:04:54.067-07:0019 Months: Days 299 - 302<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvP4Y2NTBUyrixSLbazTjPvrbb6v6jWTzV3IKf8g3UMRx2TFZIKG2bTf5ab7yl2pWOKz-3xn3LhUEFu58pDaBkeKffggTlkAsphsDzPa4_Rl17AMNgi5lRIqJT4aRQ_P6dJfmIiZibruGD/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvP4Y2NTBUyrixSLbazTjPvrbb6v6jWTzV3IKf8g3UMRx2TFZIKG2bTf5ab7yl2pWOKz-3xn3LhUEFu58pDaBkeKffggTlkAsphsDzPa4_Rl17AMNgi5lRIqJT4aRQ_P6dJfmIiZibruGD/s1600/001.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wet Doodles are pathetic things.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Monday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It wasn't until bedtime that I noted a message from Emma's parents. They wanted to drop her off at the top of her drop off time instead of the bottom. That's fine, I am up so if they make that choice I am available to receive her. I texted them and told them that and found I couldn't really sleep. I was tired, which is why Malcolm's Sunday write up looks off, but I couldn't sleep. I was also in pain from playing pool and needed my body to stop protesting as loudly before sleep could take me away - that or get so exhausted I had no other choice but to sleep.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That made starting the morning harder. I figured Emma, two weeks out from her groom, would have the deep perfume scent in her coat again and unlike the week before, which had an amazingly warm day for her to spend her time airing out and the scent dissipating playing in the yard, today was cold and damp. I decided, after waking and seeing the low hanging clouds, that I would have her shower with me.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I let Malcolm just cool his heels while I made coffee and relaxed. Emma was due at 7:30 AM, but I wasn't truly surprised when I got the 7:40 AM phone call stating her owners were running behind and were heading out. Emma arrived at 8:00 AM and an amazing thing happened - Emma walked loose lead from the car to the gate in a single run without putting her nose to the ground.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you remember, I talked about what loose lead walking should look like and today I saw it in action. Her owner was walking normal, arm loose at her side, lead up the right length and they walked together in confidence to the gate. It was a thing of pure beauty. It took three or four stops on the way up the ramp, but each time Emma remade a connection with her handler like she does with me when I stop and they could start again toward me. It took twice for Emma to try to reach me without getting over excited, and when she did she chose to walk past me and pretend I wasn't there and then turn to me and looked up. It was the best ever hand over she's done, even better than the one on Friday when I walked her to the care taker. It was a pure joy to watch the sudden connection between them.</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I let the crew out and held Malcolm's collar until he calmed and sent them to play for a few minutes. After calling them in I fed them their meals, giving Emma half so I could take her later for a public access run. I had decided to take her and Malcolm out, but didn't want to run them out at the same time today.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She went to kiss me and confirmed she needed to be bathed. I had thought about it Friday when I was running my fingers in her coat and it felt dirty and stiff, which is a sign the oils her coat produces due to being a Labradoodle, were getting heavy. I set up the shower and carried her in. She doesn't like showering or getting a bath and I won't call her to put her in and ruin her recall, which is fabulous. While I was carrying her she scratched the inside of my left thigh. Okay, nails need to be done too.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I use baby shampoo on her so I don't totally strip her coat. I got her bathed and the water turned a muddy brownish grey color. Yep, she needed a bath. Technically, she needs a weekly bath to keep her coat soft and clean. She doesn't have fur, but hair, as a Labradoodle and like our hair, it gets dirtier faster than a dog's fur does.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
After wringing her out and rubbing her down with the towel I let her run in the house while I got ready. I now had scratches on the inside of both thighs. Since I don't have a removable shower head, the only way to rinse her off completely is to lift her into the water and she caught me again when I did.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The break after the shower was needed. She can't go from shower to dryer right now, but we'll get there. I got dressed in my caftan and combed and braided my hair and then sat on the front porch with the dryer and dried her. She doesn't like that also, but at least she was 99% dry now. I gave her another break and let her play a bit and then groomed her. She also doesn't like that. The last thing I did was trim her nails. Yep, she doesn't like that as well. Poor girl was certain I was out to get her by the time I finished, but she got a lot of jerked venison while I brushed her out and did her nails.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She looked great, her coat was soft and she smelled of fresh baby shampoo. All is good. I had planned on taking her out, but after my orthopedic appointment and finishing up Malcolm's public access I returned with my back on fire and exhausted. I thought if I ate something and rested a bit I would be up to taking her out, but it became clear I wouldn't. I bagged it for the day and called her into my lap and we watched Star Trek Voyager while I stroked her and loved on her.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I fed her the remainder of her daily meal at dinner and she ate every bite. It was a good day for training handling and seeing what needs extra work. I need to make showering a bit more enjoyable and the same with the rest of the process of making her public access ready. It's a shame she has a coat that needs so much work to maintain when she truly doesn't enjoy any of the process to care for it. I will work on improving that for her.</div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHTinGtSuhq9XjzLwi8qs2knB9gm4i2jLBX8gm-U3gNSBeoZEtpAnJGXt0MYNu3omPP_7-kzoxPQEy0FvoNleW9Wd4bpuv_zTOyPC4C9ZFHQ2nh3kx0M8Nl9Y9p_miLO0RRmZk_QjdClxG/s1600/MalcolmEmma.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHTinGtSuhq9XjzLwi8qs2knB9gm4i2jLBX8gm-U3gNSBeoZEtpAnJGXt0MYNu3omPP_7-kzoxPQEy0FvoNleW9Wd4bpuv_zTOyPC4C9ZFHQ2nh3kx0M8Nl9Y9p_miLO0RRmZk_QjdClxG/s1600/MalcolmEmma.bmp" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma is learning to work with higher distractions.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Tuesday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I have been doing to much and this morning told me exactly how much I had been doing. Sometime during the night a weather front had come in and it was pouring rain when I woke. I couldn't get warm, my legs were fatigued and burning and I felt unstable when I walked. I also had a hard time just waking. Emma has gotten so good about waiting quietly for me to wake and let her out and thus the rest of the house is quiet when I finally pull myself out of bed.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Last night, at 10:30 PM, my brother Shawn called to chat. I had been in the middle of editing Malcolm's blog and lost an hour of writing time to chatting with my brother. I finished up, but was sore enough and to the point of over exhaustion that I couldn't fall asleep. I had gone, briefly, to Walmart with Max to pick up some Pepsi Max and Iron Man 3 from Redbox on the credits I had remaining from my free trial with them. I have two days left to use them and a set of movies I wanted to see. Iron Max 3 was one of them. I ended up laying in bed, in pain and exhausted, watching the movie until almost 2:00 AM before I could sleep.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That meant I was, again, working on less than 4 hours of sleep when morning came and I just couldn't get myself going right away. It happens like this - I have a busy week like I did recently and I end up the next week thrown for a curve recovering and still busy as heck. This week is splattered with appointments, including going to see Spirit, a new client, today. I try to schedule my appointments in the afternoons so I can use the mornings to do training and keep the routine for starting our day as steady as possible, but somedays I stumble through that morning routine.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Since I couldn't warm up I decided the cost of raising the temperature in the house was worth it. I set the thermostat higher and slogged through showering and feeding the dogs their morning meal. I fed both Malcolm and Emma half of their breakfast and took a break waiting for the sharp edges of my pain to subside with the OTC pain medication I had taken.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I was tempted to take the morning off, but too many of those and both of my trainees won't progress. Instead, I decided today to combine their training. Malcolm needs to work on Go To Mat and Other Dog Training Zen. By his age Emma had Other Dog Training Zen down pat, but Malcolm is a bold, confident, inquisitive dog who finds it very hard to not be part of everything that is happening around him. Emma is a soft, gentle soul who prefers to be off to the side and out of the way. They couldn't be more different.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I gathered Max's furry mat I use when we go out to the con's to protect his elbows when he lays on concrete and set it up in the corner of the kitchen by the stove and counter. I then setup the x-pen into a wide flat V shape to work Emma on being in a confined space and feeling secure. I worry for her, she's soft and has a lot of worries in her and somedays it's a battle to shore up her confidence. Somedays she seems like she'll shatter into tiny bits if the world says boo and the next she's forging into territory I would never thought she would. She makes my head hurt sometimes.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Malcolm concerns her when she's training. Since she has such sound Other Dog Training Zen, his bold thrusts in to join the play sends her off to let him try what I was training her. He needs to learn to lay quietly to the side like Max and Dieter does and not send her to her corner when she's the one I am working on. Today was the start of that.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I had no plan to train Emma something new, just work in a new location, inside of the three sides of the x-pen, while Malcolm worked on solving how he got the other half of his breakfast. I would only ask her for her Level 1 behaviors and watch for improved body language and decreased latency on her cues as we worked. I video taped it and share it below.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Malcolm improved with each 3 minute Round and soon he was staying in his corner and not bothering her. The more she saw I insisted he not pester her, the more confident she became. She started to stand taller with her head higher and her latency decreased. We finished with a bit of targeting with a spoon and then targeting the wire of the x-pen itself. The last thing I did was make it make a soft sound - which at first scared her, but each time I did I gave her a treat and soon she was willing to make it rattle herself (she tried on the last kibble) and clearly recovered from the soft sound. I will increase the volume of that sound as she improves and with time will narrow the area I ask her to work in, but while we work this concept, we will do it with her Level 1 behaviors to watch for confidence and decreased latency to ensure she's emotionally doing well. During this training I will work Malcolm on Mat behaviors to ensure he learns to wait when I need him to in the background and he doesn't need constant micromanagement when I am out.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Why is Malcolm's need to go and wait quietly where I ask him important? When Max and I shop we have a routine at the check out counter that took me a bit to train. As we pull up to the end of the belt I park him under it in a down or a sit and drop his lead. I then work at unloading the cart by walking around it and using it as a brace to prevent a fall. I am exhausted by this point in my shopping and shaky on my feet, but it's easier to have Max parked and staying safe tucked under the belt while I unload the cart. I then cue Max to get up and hand me his leash. When I am paying I have him lay between me and the counter and then follow me to the end of the belt and lay while I bag my groceries. He then stands on cue, picks up his leash and hands it to me so we can leave. The store is highly impressed with this display, but none of it would have happened had Max not learned to lay where I asked him and stay until I released him and I taught him while I was doing something that took my attention (or appeared to) away from him.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Malcolm is starting that early training. Eventually I'll be wandering about the house and tossing him treats while he lays where I put him and waits to be released. I will work from being within feet of him to stepping out of his sight. Emma has learned this lesson and learned it well, but Malcolm is just beginning this journey, and like Max and Emma, he's starting it on a Mat to give him a better idea of what I am asking.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Emma's ability to handle stress is improving, especially since her weight is finally back to where it should be. I have been feeling her ribs, backbone and skull and she has the right layers of muscle and fat over all points. I can no longer feel her hip bones easily and she's building muscle on her hips and shoulders. She was being fed enough, don't get the idea she wasn't, she's just a roadster and was burning more than she was taking in and increasing her intake has made all the difference. She is doing very well eating 2 cups of food a day to keep that tiny body properly fueled and I do believe it's stabilized her mood overall.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Her problem is she's hyper vigilant and tends to react and not recover well to her environment. It could be simple experience or it could be an underlying anxiety and without a bit more work on her level I won't sort it out. Every time I think, "That's it, she just can't do that" she surprises me and suddenly explodes with confidence. I had a period of time where I was certain she'd be career changed because of her extreme reaction to learning to retrieve, a primary skill, and then suddenly she got it and it's her favorite thing to do. The same with removing clothing. She was so soft on her pulling and worried about it and now she loves it. So, with Ms. Ever Changing Mood, it's worth seeing if a bit of patience and breaking things down won't make her suddenly fly and show me up.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This morning, when I was getting ready, I asked for my slippers and she got them with her tail wagging, her body in that super happy mood she gets on a retrieve and her eyes flashing. I also asked her to get a sock from under my bed, which she did with joy, and when I put it on the first thing she tried to do was remove it and I swear she was laughing at me when she did it. She sure had me laughing. So, who knows, maybe she'll suddenly get it and when she does just settle into her skin.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Comparing Malcolm to her is unfair. Jack is her closer counter part for learning. Her family has told me that she's making leaps in her learning at home. I am to the point of showing her what I want, sending her home for the weekend and her solving the problem and applying it to her handler. Jack would and does do twice as much and works four times harder for Ronda than me, and Emma is that way with her handler. With her, I suspect the relationship with her handler will make a huge difference for her.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Malcolm has a strong relationship with me, but he also has a strong personality. He takes the world in as a challenge and tackles it with relish. Jack and Emma have never been that way. The stand back, evaluate and then decide if they are okay with it. Malcolm rushes in, decides maybe THIS situation may be a bit much AND THEN tells me. It's like having a Ying and Yang in the house when training, but the challenges each presents has made me a stronger trainer.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I do train all day. Settling while I am working on the housework, watching TV or working on the blogs teaches them how to relax. Following me about and exploring what I do teaches them curiosity and allowing them to explore and check it gives them experience with new objects. They have to have manners going out the door, use their cues throughout the day and learn each moment they are with me. Just because I have a scheduled time for formal training doesn't mean I am not, in some way, training them all day long. They don't live in a vacuum and thus can't turn off their brains when I am not holding a clicker. Each interaction is a lesson. Each behavior praised or affection given is reinforced. Each behavior that they get away with, from eating every stuffed toy in the house to digging in the yard is also reinforced (self reinforced) and each time I approach them I am either teaching them my approach is safe or not - Emma is the only one who seems always worried about my approach, not because of bad interactions, but because she is a worrier. Bad Dog in my house is something that gets tails wagging. Calling them idiots of buttheads when I find them doing something they shouldn't (according to me, not them) results in curious looks and happy tails because it's said in a soft and affectionate manner. Emma is just so very very soft she at first worries when I come into her view - I always reassure her she's fine, but that low level anxiety concerns me.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Today I found Malcolm had taken one of my slippers into the bed while I showered. He hadn't chewed it, but apparently thought it should be able to watch Iron Man 3 with him. I came out, saw the slipper and Emma shot out of the room, stopped and looked at me and then returned with her tail wagging. All it took was my brow knitting to send her away and a smile at her and my telling her she was goofy to bring her back. I looked at Malcolm and said, "Slipper?" and he cocked his head to the side and looked me in the eye. Two different personalities. Two different dogs. Two different ways of dealing with stress. I said, in a playful voice, "Bad dog." and Emma began dancing around me and smiling up at me. Malcolm cocked his head with his doggy smile in place.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My standing gets a glance from Malcolm and Emma shooting out of my way and checking in to see what I am about to do. Never have I harmed her, but she is just a very sensitive dog. She reminds me of Attitude in that way. Attitude was a bit skitty around me, but trusted me utterly. Jack did the same thing; I'd get up and he'd shoot out of my way and then return to see what I was about to do. It's the difference in how Jack, Emma and Attitude face the world. Attitude never met a stranger, could enter a building with confidence, but god forbid you moved something near her or made a big noise. Jack grew comfortable with things moving about him and Emma, with careful training is - she was terrified of my power chair when I introduced it to her and now jumps up and rushes to me when I sit in it because all good things happened from it. She just needs time for me to decide if she can generalize that the world is safe or not.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Jack did in the end, Emma is in the process of learning to generalize the concept. She's showing promise in many areas and if I carefully slice this right she may show me the heights she can go to. She's surprised me many times, I will be pleased if she does yet again.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Malcolm doesn't worry me at this time. He's becoming more tolerant of strange dogs, children and can go to new locations and really shine. He to may surprise me, but so far, I am not worried about how he's progressing. He doesn't have his basic skills as solidly as Emma, but he's also only 8 months old. Emma has very solid basic behaviors, except her leash work and her focus, and has a lot of her tasks built already. She's in a new phase of learning and with this phase we'll see if age and careful introduction makes her the dog we have hoped for all along.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/wXck6v1wAfU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Malcolm & Emma Part 1</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilzLcNInAmuv_2cjTwg_jnduQApzai8FyKX5XlhXujc2oQekY7VKIpad8nyaGriU1P_Bpm7vwH1cH_96EkX2wjngOv2rJ7truPLrutwbTlfgn5Z4PeoOjmhfmnrh-1rlJL8vAVJB_ccRHc/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilzLcNInAmuv_2cjTwg_jnduQApzai8FyKX5XlhXujc2oQekY7VKIpad8nyaGriU1P_Bpm7vwH1cH_96EkX2wjngOv2rJ7truPLrutwbTlfgn5Z4PeoOjmhfmnrh-1rlJL8vAVJB_ccRHc/s1600/002.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma: "Think she's still breathing?" <br />Max: "Hope so, I don't have thumbs to open the food container."</td></tr>
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<b>Wednesday</b><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Yesterday I worked for the first time with a new client dog. She's a lively one year old Boxer cross named Spirit and she's absolutely lovely. She has a deep desire for physical affection and when I arrived it became clear she wasn't feeling up to her best. She hadn't eaten that morning and not matter the value of treat we offered, she was not interested. This was the same dog I had met only the week before that was food driven and willing to work all night for food. It threw me for a loop for a bit, since I was there to work on some behavior problems and begin filling in foundation skills and build up to task and public access skills with her.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She's a rescue that was acquired through another program that didn't finish her training. She has a solid sit and down, some understanding of leash work, but her teenaged brain is fully on fire and she hasn't had the full level of socialization and introduction to public access work that her handler requires nor does she have any tasks. It angers me when a client calls whose been failed by a program and truly needs a fully working dog.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The handler is dedicated and extremely sweet. She had already started the dog's homework from the week before, did her personal homework without fail and provided me a list of tasks she needs the dog to do to assist her. I had asked her to get the training material I work with and read the introduction and begin Level 1, which she did. I asked her to pick up a second book which related to her health issues and look through an appendix which listed tasks a dog can do for her and check off the ones she needed for herself. She did this without fail also. All of her needs are very attainable and realistic. She's going to be a great client and I am angry that such a fantastic person would be given a dog too young to work full time and not trained for her needs when she so badly needs the dog up to speed.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Spirit is a powerful dog with a mouthing problem, common for her age. She is also a jumper and has poor impulse control right now. She doesn't know how to work around busy traffic and loud trucks frighten her currently. Careful counter conditioning should help her, once we can begin roadwork. She, like Malcolm, also doesn't know what to do when she sees strange dogs, so counter conditioning again is required to give her the tools she needs for her job.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">With her not working for food I said I would just work on building a relationship with my new client. In this case, I have been asked to spend 40 to 45 minutes with her working her myself and then the rest of the time spent talking to the client about that week's homework. I have little doubt that Spirit will flourish with her assignments with such a dedicated handler.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Spirit loves to play. She's a teenager with a load of energy and play is a lovely way to learn. I decided if she wasn't up to food just yet, we'd just use play and affection, something she does value, as her rewards and put the clicker up for the day. I tested her body handling and found her to be a funny girl. She flopped into my lap and rolled about with pure joy. She leaned into my neck with her big head and just let me rub on her. She doesn't mind her tail, body, legs or feet being handled, but her head sends her into fits of mouthing and head throws. I could lift her ears and lips by the end of our time together, but it was a lot of careful work to get her there.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Her mouthing is normally fairly gentle, but she gets excited and pinches with her front teeth and she did this several times during our lesson. I played Dead Hand with her. Each time my hand ended up in her mouth it went dead and as long as she didn't pinch, it remained dead and no longer fun. If she pinched I made a small, sharp sound like a pup and she'd stop and look up at me with her lips resting on my hand. I played Dead Hand until she let me touch her face softly on the side and finally to touch her lips and lift them, she flipped her head and popped her mouth over. With time, she'll trust me touching her head, but she also needs it with her human. This is a dog I'll have to teach a different greeting procedure too when in public. I do believe the same one I used for Max will work just fine for her - or even better, the one I used for Malcolm.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She's a jumper also. She jumped on me and her handler a lot. I have to click for four on the floor once she is up to eating again. Teaching her to keep her feet down is important for her primary job, but that willingness to jump up on her handler can be channeled into a task later. One task her handler will need is much like one I need, deep pressure therapy. She will be a dream to teach that behavior - she was flipped upside down with her hips in my lap showing all her girl parts to me at one point. She is truly a lovely dog and I was laughing as I rubbed her belly and watched her lay in total contentment for almost 5 minutes.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She loves tug-o-war, but doesn't know the rules yet. We played and slowly she learned to release, but that play was grueling for me. My arms, neck and shoulders where jerked badly with a full blown bully breed tug-o-war game and the felt like mud afterward. She was calmer after a round of it and soon laid not far from me watching the world through a window. A lot of positive things happened and an assignment list came with it.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She doesn't head snap when she hears her name. I assigned the Name Game. She needs to learn to eat. Discussing her eating patterns with her handler I found some days she decides to eat some or none of her food and she's lean as all get out. She could do with a bit more weight. That tiny acorn that I let grow into an Oak Tree in Emma is developing with this lovely girl and I just don't want to deal with another dog that I don't know one lesson from the next if she'll eat or not. I assigned Teach Your Dog To Eat. The family has a 12 year old daughter that Spirit loves, but mouths a lot and climbs and jumps on a lot. I assigned that when Spirit jumped on the daughter that as long as she was in a safe spot (not able to fall and get hurt) to cross her arms and turn away and call for an adult to remove her. The daughter is to carry a stuffed toy at all times and if Spirit goes to mooch her to put the toy in her mouth instead; I do not want a child playing Dead Hand with the dog. I assigned the adults to try Dead Hand, but if she got to pinching too much, to also use a stuffed toy and transfer the behavior to the toy. The family is also working on Level 1 with her, once she knows to eat.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It's a lot of homework, but Spirit needs rules and boundaries and we are setting them now. Once we have those set and she learns to communicate via Level 1 we'll be on our way to tackle the bigger goals of her training.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Why do I mention this? Because I paid a high price for the tug-o-war game today. I woke with a pinched nerve in the base of my skull on the left side. My neck and shoulders were very sore and very stiff from the jumping and tugging. I was psychically exhausted and had a major migraine. I struggled to get out of bed and bless Emma, Max, Malcolm and Dieter they all just watched me until I could get up. With the migraine I was sick to my stomach and dizzy. I was also touch, light and sound sensitive.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I got them fed, feeding Emma and Malcolm only half of their breakfast and noting all four dogs didn't have enough food for the week. Emma's parents had promised to bring more food when they dropped her off and I informed them I didn't have enough food for her for the week, but they hand't returned with it yet and I wasn't even sure if I had enough to feed her dinner. I knew I didn't have enough to feed my three dinner in the bin.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sick to my stomach and ready to fall over, I called my son and informed him that our plans to meet on Friday to get food wouldn't work. I needed food asap. Walter, who'd called early this week had asked if I needed to go soon for dog food because he needed cat food. I had told him yes, and we both thought we had enough to make it to Friday. When I mentioned I needed to get food today, Walter stated he too didn't have enough food to feed his cat. It worked out and Walter arranged to come in the afternoon to go with me to pick up dog food.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I staggered back into bed and crashed out for 4 hours. I woke with the worst of the migraine gone and still feeling sick and exhausted. At least I wasn't about to toss my cookies because of the pain. The rest of the day, except for a required run for food for my boys, was spent cuddling with Emma or just relaxing in the house. It was better I regain my strength and not loose my temper because of pain. Emma was in a fabulous mood and enjoyed chewing bones, practicing asking to get in my lap and relaxing.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKSf3w5kxPflW0Ogyk0SS76nknV0BEP6hGWI0h-FgSPL0S9XR343kUrPUATXctyPJpz4IcQNOPfUpiPQXTjNNy97LckqW3eik297oB2_CsnMMA2i5KpLTaXfx2vQAi0PpAwzn-4LycSmts/s1600/MalcolmEmma2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKSf3w5kxPflW0Ogyk0SS76nknV0BEP6hGWI0h-FgSPL0S9XR343kUrPUATXctyPJpz4IcQNOPfUpiPQXTjNNy97LckqW3eik297oB2_CsnMMA2i5KpLTaXfx2vQAi0PpAwzn-4LycSmts/s1600/MalcolmEmma2.bmp" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma's confidence really improved!</td></tr>
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<b>Thursday</b><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Our week comes to a close with Emma. She's left for an adventure with her family in Montana and will return on Monday. That meant today I wanted to get some more review on doing behaviors within a tight space and then spend extra time grooming her up for her trip. If you remember, on Monday I had given her a bath, blown her coat dry with the new dryer and then brushed her out and trimmed her nails. On each day of the week I endeavor to brush her, even though she finds it unpleasant, so that her coat doesn't get snarls in it and the loose hair from her Labrador side is removed from her coat. I don't always achieve this goal, since my arms and hands can be extremely painful and her coat can become too long for me to easily brush out. This week I managed to brush her out everyday, which left her coat soft and clean.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Today was the deep brush, which takes about 40 minutes to complete. Malcolm had me giggling while I was doing it. He had been laying in my recliner while I sat on the floor with Emma gently brushing out her coat, rubbing Show Shine into her ears, muzzle and tail to make the much longer hair easier to groom and then running through her coat with a tight toothed comb to get the extra snarls and loose hair out. Malcolm poked her in the ear, kissed her face and at one point laid with his chin on her shoulders and lovingly looked me in the eyes. I don't think Emma was terribly amused by this, but she stood silent while I brushed, teased and fluffed her coat.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I had woken tired and painful with the pouring rain and deep chill of the day. I had struggled to get our day started and was running the best way to configure the x-pen to advance Emma's tight spot training and dreading the required house cleaning I had to do. I hadn't touched my dishes all week and it looked, again, like a nuclear bomb had been set off. I was just about to get up and do the dishes, so the video I made didn't make me look like a slob, when Max went into "someone's here" barking.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It was John, who was stopping in to see if I wanted him to bring out Yoda again for another training session and to inform me his old Husky was failing health wise. He's 14 1/2 years old and Shiloh has had some health issues in the past. He was in the ER the night before and John isn't certain how much longer they'll have them. I feel for them. The price of loving an old dog is loosing them one day and I am facing that myself as my boys age.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">While I was taking with John I loaded the dishwasher and after he left a few minutes later I finished up the kitchen. I have a very small kitchen, so looking like a nuclear bomb going off in it doesn't take much. I then configured the x-pen like a octagon with a wide opening, setup the mat for Malcolm and started the training. Remember, when you watch today's video, I am not feeling well. I had been way overdone yesterday and today I am feeling better, but still flying on low fuel. My timing is off and my ability to split my attention is poor. Malcolm's getting up and coming to join the party has more to do with lack of reinforcement than anything else and is all my fault.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My observations of Emma as we trained pleased me. Though still a little unsure, she's more confident in this training than the previous one in the week. She's not as worried about the x-pen any longer, can handle other dogs nearby better and is more engaged overall. Her latency is low, which is great, and she was able to try new things within the confines of the space I gave her. I have yet to get to truly tight spaces, but this amount of space is working okay and once we revisit and see if she's really up and flying we'll make her space smaller and retrain again.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the beginning, when Malcolm came into her space she went to move away and showed discomfort. In the end, this only happened after she picked up the glove and tried to give it to me. Her ability to work with her close improved and should continue to do so as her confidence improves. I will not train her a brand new idea, such as a new task, with other dogs near, but now I can begin proofing with dogs near as a type of distraction.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After that we spent the day cleaning and grooming. I groomed Emma after our training session and then Vanessa came over to work on the house. She cleaned the living room floor and we then went into the bedroom and organized my closet. Actually, Vanessa did and I told her what could be thrown and what I was keeping. She did a great job and it took the 2 hours she intends to help me around the house each week.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Emma spent most of that time out in the living room just hanging out. When we would take breaks or just sat chatting at the end, Emma climbed in Vanessa's lap and got loves. Malcolm, on the other hand, spent most of the time chewing on a piece of wood he brought in, putting his nose in everything and truly not being a big help. Max showed him that the best way not to help is to be directly where the human was going and Malcolm learned the lesson well.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It was a quiet day, but a good one. Emma made good progress on her lesson and is less sulky when I am grooming her. In both Malcolm and Emma I am seeing improved self control, maturity and self entertainment. Next week with Emma should be exciting, since we can return to task training again. Malcolm will pick up on Level's training and improve his Go To Mat and Stay behaviors.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/763Wh1T1VQI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Malcolm & Emma Part 2</div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_c674_68e6_49b8_3098">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_d9de_ab26_787_9983">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_d30d_1bbf_ca57_c986">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_62a3_b50a_e389_7344">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-11669757285646897452014-04-19T16:44:00.001-07:002014-04-19T16:44:23.425-07:0019 Months: Training - Days 294 - 298<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_38ac_d52d_c836_27ae" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiq1Sm7lmFROwJo4A242ExqDryukW89ve3ZkjD4rPeRmbjxpGM1xRXGPQuQTCmQyDZvPBAq_rBNdfwvsrf85pJxT3pskYgAlq6ybtkGtmINzTn6Ude-5EF32J7FNjAP_4Gsqy5w2DZAH5A/s1600/034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiq1Sm7lmFROwJo4A242ExqDryukW89ve3ZkjD4rPeRmbjxpGM1xRXGPQuQTCmQyDZvPBAq_rBNdfwvsrf85pJxT3pskYgAlq6ybtkGtmINzTn6Ude-5EF32J7FNjAP_4Gsqy5w2DZAH5A/s1600/034.JPG" height="240" id="id_ed8d_2454_ac2e_1800" style="height: 240px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roadwork, tug tasks and more....what a week!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Monday</b><br />
<br />
Emma arrived 1/2 hour after drop off time today. I had, previously, decided the household schedule would no longer be delayed waiting for her arrival and was in the middle of the next stage of Malcolm's modified training plan - he started roadwork the week before and needed more work on behaviors for passing homes with fenced dogs.<br />
<br />
I had to shift his training plan by 1/2 hour so that when I had Dieter and Max barking in the yard I was within sound ordinances and not completely annoying my neighbors. I was working Malcolm on Levels behaviors when Emma arrived, but was about to send him and Max and Dieter out for playtime since it was 9:00 AM before returning to training.<br />
<br />
As a result I just let Emma loose in the yard to explore and play before starting her day. After her owner left she went to my front door and nudged the handle asking to be let in. I opened the door for her to let the boys out and caught up Malcolm to prevent him from mugging her to death. It's been a week since they saw each other and on Monday's Malcolm mugs her with joy when reconnecting. Malcolm is being taught a more appropriate greeting for friends and family dogs and holding him until he calms helps.<br />
<br />
Emma was busy towering over Dieter and poking him and Dieter was busy grumbling at her. I told her to "Get off that Dachshund" (a sentence I never thought would be an almost daily utterance) and she broke off and headed out to play. I let her play with Malcolm for about an hour.<br />
<br />
I finished Malcolm's training and then called her in to free click her for any behavior she chose to offer to loosen her up. She offered Sit, Down, Tada, Back Up, Spin, and Target. When asked she gave me prompt Shake and High Five and as I started to cue behaviors she was spot on and with no latency, except for Sit. For some reason her sit is shaky, so we'll tighten it back up. She was happy, engaged and taking kibble without hesitation. It was lovely!<br />
<br />
For our next round we returned to one of her last tug tasks. She needs to learn to pull a full sized door open or closed. I chose to use my front door and use the tug I have attached to it. She was thrilled and targeted the tug and worked up to taking it in her mouth and finally pulling. Though she doesn't have a hard pull, she was moving the door and she backs up when she does it. It's a good chain and just needs more work to make it a good solid one.<br />
<br />
I have used only one type of tug with Emma and I have a different type of tug on my bathroom door. It's a bumper type tug I put on the door when training Max to teach the same behavior. Max uses it to open the door for me now when I need him too. After a solid Round with Emma on the front door, even with Malcolm moving in and out of our training area, I sent her out for two minutes of play.<br />
<br />
On our next Round I moved her to the bathroom door. The front door was closed halfway, thus creating a shadowed area in half of the entry. I was standing to the Emma's left, thus blocking her from the living room and Malcolm was sitting by me hoping for more food. He's never full from what I can tell.<br />
<br />
It was this blocked in position that worried Emma and where moments before she was eagerly taking food she couldn't now. I opened the door all the way, moved to the other side, sent Malcolm out and Emma was back in the game. Emma has problems with body pressure - I will need to solve this if she's to work in any location that blocks her in. Max has had to work in tight spots in public and if Emma can't it will impede what she can do for her handler.<br />
<br />
On our third Round she just stopped trying at the door. I sat with her and had Malcolm sit about two feet away. I knew the problem was Malcolm being close and I just wanted to turn Malcolm being near her into a good thing when she's learning. She can train with Max right next to her and Dieter right next to her and even Jack right next to her, but Malcolm throws her for a loop. I normally crate Malcolm, but he's started Other Dog Training Zen and I am leaving him out about half of the time we train to build up that skill.<br />
<br />
Emma simply shut down for the last 1/4 cup of her food. I sat and cuddled her for a while and then sent her out to play for a while. It was actually a good start to the week and gives me a good picture of what I need to work on. Time to research body pressure and how to help a dog be less sensitive to it.<br />
<br />
My son came over with a woman who will be helping me around the house. Emma was thrilled to meet her and I noticed something about her - her normal 15 minute, out of control, coming out of her skin with excitement behavior is greatly reduced. The change in food has helped calm her. I had suspected that she not only didn't like the food we had been feeding her, but that it was part of her uncontrollable excitement. She calmed in a matter of two minutes and never got as wound up as she normally does when meeting new people.<br />
<br />
Overall her entire nature is calmer. This is a good thing. Excitability was becoming a major problem for this dog and I was hoping to find a reason for the worst of it and it appears we have.<br />
<br />
After the company left I let them play for a bit and then crated her for the walks of the day. I had started Emma on roadwork last year with the power chair, the only way I can get any distance and real exercise for any of the dogs in. She started terrified of the chair and over came that, then too distracted to walk in a straight line and not risk being run over and we fixed that. I then started her on traffic training and she freaked. She just couldn't handle the sounds or movement of traffic. I pulled back further and would drive the chair and her and Max to quiet neighborhoods and work on just walking with the chair with Ronda and Deva at the time.<br />
<br />
We worked known neighborhoods with known dog yards and had Emma on one side of the chair and Max the other. The first yard, a pair of yapping Yokies sent Emma into fear peeing. This was with her on the other side of the street from them and Ronda and Deva as a barrier between her and them. It would continue that way all summer we tried roadwork.<br />
<br />
She did straighten out and work with the chair nicely. She did extremely well with placement and position, but she risked life and limb when a dog barked, even in a distance, by freaking out. For her safety, in the end, we stopped the roadwork and found other healthy ways to expend her energy and build her muscle.<br />
<br />
Today I took her out last. I had walked Max and scoped the neighborhood I would work the dogs in. I then took <a href="http://malcolmsquest.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Malcolm</a> on a highly successful and very adventurous run (read his blog to learn of his walk today) and returned to take Emma.<br />
<br />
I made the choice to let Emma tell me how much she could do. If all she could do was get to Park and back we did more than before. My original goal was to the edge of the bridge and back, but once on the road that plan changed.<br />
<br />
Emma is able to enter and exit my gate while on the wheelchair leash. I got her up on the sidewalk with her head up, her strut in place and her having a good time, though a bit looky loo at first. There was stress, but it was mild stress, not the freak out, put herself in danger stress of last year.<br />
<br />
I am going to share a portion of Malcolm's blog post with you - it explains the bridge and why this is a milestone for Ms. Emma today:<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_d465_1f4e_78e1_480" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYqo8aeEkJi37-2BE4N7bP8dvg5nJZcBq5hTuJuI83HUK25s4mz1y_r-26iMQz3pIiwwz-xYd23O2CPUNiIsd-W0CRvLGwbm-B5NOztHP1iBI2VFF9SbKeeeKzq_vYjT_TiXat66p0-P-o/s1600/bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYqo8aeEkJi37-2BE4N7bP8dvg5nJZcBq5hTuJuI83HUK25s4mz1y_r-26iMQz3pIiwwz-xYd23O2CPUNiIsd-W0CRvLGwbm-B5NOztHP1iBI2VFF9SbKeeeKzq_vYjT_TiXat66p0-P-o/s1600/bridge.jpg" height="267" id="id_155a_fdb0_1914_db30" style="height: 267px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Park Road Bridge, Spokane Valley, WA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>There is a bridge I go over to the neighborhood we are working this week. This bridge spans the freeway, which means roars of trucks and the whine of tires and all those freeway sounds are flooding us as we go over the bridge. Next to us is a two way street called Park Road (Spokane Valley Washington) which has a single lane going North and a single lane going South. Next to each lane is a bicycle lane and in the center is a painted median. I use the West side sidewalk currently working the dogs. On my way to our walking neighborhood I am facing the South bound traffic directly next to the sidewalk, on the way back Malcolm has his back to this lane as cars approach from behind and travel within a few feet to his left. When we are on the bridge cars passing heading North and South, plus all of the freeway traffic merges into a multi-directional quagmire of sound and when I was first training Max to work with the power chair and taking him for walks, returning with traffic behind him upset him a lot. I have posts in other forums of my careful counter conditioning to that bridge. I was not about to let Malcolm become fearful of that bridge like Max had been, so when I am crossing it I do exactly as I did for Max. Right now he gets a treat for every line in the sidewalk and with time I'll space that until he doesn't need it anymore. I also give him a treat for every car passing right now and will slowly change that to every car passing from behind and then fade the treats. It's worked, Malcolm has no problem with the sensory overload of this bridge, doesn't react to trucks, motorcycles or anything that passes us from behind and is perfectly good on the bridge.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>At the very end of that walk is a double curb cut and Malcolm now handles it very nicely. We then go from a sensory overload into a quiet little neighborhood where we roll along the side of the sidewalkless streets; thankfully traffic is very low.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Imagine soft Emma facing this location with her head high, her step frisky and taking treats every line in the sidewalk without hesitation. We reached the edge of the bridge and she was still eager to go, so we went. I did for her the same as for Malcolm because I also don't desire her to be afraid of this bridge. It is the main route into three or four of my pre-planned walking routes for the dogs.<br />
<br />
Emma trooped along that bridge like she'd done it all her life. She took each treat and chewed happily and trotted with all the sound and her confidence grew. We reached the double cut curb and she navigated it with ease and off into the neighborhood we went. We didn't have a single problem from turning with the chair, staying in good position and enjoying her walk until a dog behind a 6 foot wooden fence barked and she nearly came out of her skin.<br />
<br />
I have to say I was watching her trot along at about 4 or 5 miles an hour and she looked in pure heaven. She was glancing about and lifting her nose to take in the smells and looking like she could go all day long if I let her. She was completely enjoying herself and it was beautiful to see.<br />
<br />
We did stop to meet a man I know along the way. He was in his yard watering it when we were passing. He was tall, lean and wearing a baseball cap. Emma is a bit leery of strangers when out in public settings and I wanted this man to say hi. He is very appropriate with dogs and he just put his hand out and Emma was rewarded for looking (she lowered herself and backed up a bit and looked to me and got a treat) and then sniffing (standing a bit taller, backing up less and more animated) and finally touching his fingers with her nose three times - all on her choice and no pressure other than an offered hand. Each exploration was met with a bit of tripe or cube of ham or soaked kibble and she grew confident by the end. It'll take more meetings like this, but she'll learn strangers of all shapes and sizes are good if I pick the right people to meet her.<br />
<br />
When the dog barked she did a 180 flip in the air and turned to face that direction. I stopped, gave her three or four treats and then cued her to continue. She recovered a few seconds later and off we went.<br />
<br />
On the final horn of our walk is a street with dogs I know are out in their yard. One is Dancy Feet. He is a Rottweiler/Boxer mix with Wobblers. The other two are Stompy Feet and his brother. They are black, stout dogs with prick ears and long (extremely long) black hair. I suspect they are a mix of some sort, but I don't know what. Dancy Feet is on our right as I approach and Stompy Feet and his sibling are on our left one house further down.<br />
<br />
Dancy Feet has been very calm as we pass lately and just laid on his porch and watched us. Emma had no problem with him. I can see Stompy Feet through a set of bushes and started a approach, turn and retreat routine with Emma to get her near the yard. She was on the opposite side with Stompy Feet and his sibling on her left. I did three approach and retreat with each approach being a bit closer before she noticed them. We then worked past them, with both Stompy and his sibling making a gruff racket at us. Emma was a bit excited and a little fearful, but she didn't freak. She looked once and barked under her breath and then took the rapid fire treats I was giving her and flew past the house. The change in her once we were past was remarkable. She stood taller, her head held in the "I am the queen of the universe" setting and her step so proud she was trying to lead the chair. It was so nice to see.<br />
<br />
We returned to the bridge and with each passing car and each line in the sidewalk I gave her a treat and she never once reacted. She was still on cloud nine getting past Stompy Feet and even when a big truck rolled past us she didn't flinch.<br />
<br />
We ended with a tired and proud Emma who returned home standing tall and carrying loads of confidence. This years roadwork proves to be much more successful!<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hvVKB3wIx_c6VkMoa5OIYGCdbyK-nvGt4Chi9ZRgNN7asek0jfoFixqse6uIXpreX62sQnMrUT3KXPT0yE0-FI5CzxeUll60nLSAqBstFG-O0IBh_moU9bkMrtdGQ1AQcjbrooj9MQg0/s1600/052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hvVKB3wIx_c6VkMoa5OIYGCdbyK-nvGt4Chi9ZRgNN7asek0jfoFixqse6uIXpreX62sQnMrUT3KXPT0yE0-FI5CzxeUll60nLSAqBstFG-O0IBh_moU9bkMrtdGQ1AQcjbrooj9MQg0/s1600/052.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma loves playing with Jack.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Tuesday</b><br />
<b><br /></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I just couldn't get started today. I recognized the feeling. I had done too much the day before and with a previous week of hectic appointments and near disasters and a full weekend of working Malcolm, I had hit a wall. Before I would have pushed my way into it, struggled against it and only made the remainder of my week a declining curve of energy. Now, after so many hard crashes that have taken me days to recover from, I decided today would be the play day for the dogs.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Malcolm looks like an adult dog and it can be easy to forget he's still a puppy at heart. He is still physically, emotionally and mentally maturing and it means he still needs to be a puppy and I still need to cherish his silly moments and laugh at his antics. He's a funny dog with a sense of humor and a zest of life that rejuvenates me in ways I cannot explain. I watch his new discoveries and his bold explorations of his world. The sound of the smoke detector is a new sound or the sight of a teenager wearing a backpack a new bit of data for his brain to mull over. Even our walks expose him to a world he's never seen before and if I focus only on his training and turning him into the working dog I need, I'll miss his childhood and all the joys an 8 month old pup brings.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So, I plan days to be nothing more than his owner. To laugh at him when he stuffs his face in a bucket of water and flings the water around or his sudden bursts of energy as he leaps and bounds in only the way a young animal can. I revel in his head cocks, his curiosity and his clear eyes as he takes in the day and literally enjoys being alive. How could I not and not forge the bond that will carry us through our partnership together.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This morning the sky hung low with gray clouds laden with moister. I could feel the chill of a early Spring day before I even opened the front door of the house and let the dogs out for their first potty break. Both Emma and Malcolm raised their heads when I finally rolled and took my deep cleansing breath, but waited until I got up to let them out. The entire household has learned that barking and going nuts makes me go back to bed, so they all quietly padded out to the door. There is a silent excitement to start their day and I have to remind Emma, who starts to bounce up and down like a rearing horse, to calm herself and wait for me to release her. The opening of the door confirmed my impressions of the day - it was chill and damp and just one of those days you curl up with a good book and a cup of tea and tuck under a blanket and retreat from.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Once the dogs were back in I headed back to the bedroom with my warmed coffee and pulled up the forecast for the day. It threatened rain. I looked out at the dull gray sky and agreed. It said the afternoon would be warmer, but I suspected it would rain by then and that meant roadwork, one of the few things I could do with the dogs, would be out. Okay, what to do with two high energy youngsters and a grouchy old man?</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I called my friend Robin and we caught up, shared our successes and discussed some training ideas for Emma. She's having problems with being in tight spaces and Robin had some great training ideas to improve her confidence. Just what I needed. I shared my insight from Debi Davis regarding working a duckling with a power chair and we discussed many other details only friends find interesting. It was a great conversation and one that really helped me focus Emma's training for the week. She's coming up on working tight spaces for tug tasks and after seeing her reaction the day before I realized I needed to take a step back and rework that part to make the rest of her training more successful.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I let the dogs go in and out and play in the yard and finally called Ronda. I wanted to see how she was doing, since we hadn't talked much during her recovery from her surgery. Jack has graduated during her recovery. He's done the last of his public access training, polished skills she needs and is doing his job. Jack and Ronda are our first graduating team and I am so very proud of them. Jack is a young dog also. Ronda said he was driving her nuts because she couldn't burn off the energy he has and invited us over - another reason for the call. I figured she'd be up to a visit from the crew and there's nothing better than an afternoon of playing with known and safe dogs for my trainees.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We headed out shortly after the rain fell. I was eating lunch when I called Ronda and needed to run a quick errand before we went to our destination. I was having issues with convincing myself to move and leave the house - which happens more often than I like to admit and was just thinking of the best way to get the crew to the van when I heard the patter of rain on my roof. Good thing I decided against the roadwork, it would have been a miserable wet and cold event.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The last time I took Max, Malcolm and Emma to Ronda's to play I let them out the front door off lead, popped the side door to the van and opened the gate for them all to load up. Emma was so hyper excited she shot out the front door like she'd been shot out of a rocket and flew down the ramp like a Greyhound and then ran through the gate and leapt into the van while barking in a rapid fire bark of hyper excitement. I wanted to prevent that. Just because we are off to do something fun doesn't mean all the rules of calm and happy behavior is out the window.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I dressed Max, gathered Malcolm's gear and lead and picked up Emma's lead and she went into hyper excited mode. I ignored her and walked Max to the van and loaded him up and left him to get Malcolm. I put a lead on Malcolm and walked him loose lead to the van and loaded him and left him to get Emma. Emma was still bounding off the clouds and I went about gathering my stuff until she sat and vibrated and waited until that decreased into happy dog emotional state. Had I put a lead on her while she was as excited as she had been I would have been rewarding and reinforcing that excitement. Just giving her time to burn through and choose to calm herself gives her the tools to self calm and keep herself under better control.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When I opened the front door she shot out like she was on a fire and hit the end of her lead. She chose to return to inside and sit and look to me. I cleared her to go again and she did it a second time, but not as hard as the first. Again she came in and sat and I cued her to go again. This time it was controlled and she was in a calmer state when we started for the van.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I need to mention something about walking a dog on a lead - it should be just like walking along holding a person's hand. The handler's body should be completely relaxed, their grip loose and comfortable on the lead, the hand and arm relaxed at the person's side and the stride normal and comfortable like both human and dog are taking a Sunday stroll along a park lane. The human shouldn't be changing their stride to keep the dog with them. They shouldn't be holding the lead in a death grip. They shouldn't be holding their arm out straight or upraised or tense. They shouldn't be so worried the dog will make a mistake that the dog is left with nothing but micromanagement. The lead shouldn't be so long the dog has a chance to get 3 or 4 feet ahead or to the side, but instead held about 6 to 8 inches from the dog's collar where it can easily be loose and relaxed and the dog can get information from the lead sooner when needed. It should be as comfortable as walking with a loved one - a dance of shared responsibility.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When walking the dog, just walk. The handler should have their head up, their shoulders squared and an air of "nothing is wrong" about them. They should also be watching from the side of their eye to see if the dog is ABOUT to hit the end of the lead and stop before the dog does. No jerking on the lead, no commentary, just stop. The dog will look back to see why you stopped and in time, with practice, will learn they are to return to your side. Emma will do this when I stop.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Emma's lead is extremely wide and extremely long and it makes holding the lead comfortably hard - so I wrap 90% of the lead in a loop in my left hand and have about 6 inches of lead between her and me and start walking. I watch in a way that makes her think I am not and when I see her get distracted and start to go to the end of the lead I just stop. My hand is still at my side, my body is still upright and when she turns she sees me looking down with a neutral face and she quickly prepositions herself to my side. I had to do this 5 times for the first half of the ramp. She was highly excited, but the stops gave her a reminder that I expect her to walk loose lead and next to me with her shoulder by my thigh. Once she remembered she walked loose lead to the gate, walked out the gate with no problems and then tried to shoot to the car. Two more stops and one turn and walk away (she was really excited) and she got the idea and walked loose lead to the car.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In other words, be it Max, Malcolm or Emma I insist on leash manners. If they sniff I back up and continue to back up until they are able to look up and focus back on me and retry. I do it as often as I need to. I set my time up so that I can take the 10 or 15 minutes extra it takes to get the dog where I want on a loose lead. In the beginning I give myself 30 minutes or more depending on the dog's age and amount of training. If I am in a hurry I don't carry them, but put a harness on them and clip to it and they are allowed to pull all they want - it's not their flat collar. Loose lead on a flat collar is a must - no matter how exciting the world is.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">With Emma loaded in after a successful reminder on leash manners, we headed out and completed my errand and went to Ronda's house. Ronda and I had discussed Malcolm's problem with going over board when greeting Jack and what we needed to do to stop him practicing the behavior. Here is where Malcolm becomes the over excited, out of control and overboard dog in the group. I let Max into the yard first and then Emma. I insisted Emma walk to the gate loose lead and enter under control, not shooting in over excited. The goal is to create an emotionally balanced dog and have them also enjoy their lives. Allowing times when they loose their mind and become so excited they can't think is not good for them for overall behavior as a working dog.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Malcolm was last. Ronda would have Jack on lead while I kept Malcolm on lead and Malcolm would not be able to greet Jack until he was calmer than his shoot to the moon excitement he normally does. It's a progressive stage thing that we need to work on so that in the future Jack and Malcolm can work together and/or meet in the store and Malcolm doesn't loose his brains.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ronda let her dogs out and came out with Jack on lead. Malcolm was struggling to rush everyone, crying and whining and sounding like we were torturing him. We weren't, but he was that excited. Emma was happily exploring and Max was off doing his own thing and Malcolm was in a brainless frenzy trying to drag me to Jack. We were over ten feet apart.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It took us 10 minutes to get Malcolm to calm. Each time he sat and looked up to me we took a step. Each time he wound back up I stopped and he had to return to calming himself. At this point in learning this new behavior food would have been lost on him. He was too wound up to really figure out anything more than what we worked on - Stage 1, calm yourself fool to move forward.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After the first two times he went to rush into Jack's face and I walked him away he got the idea and finally he got in some licks and came back as I walked him away. Four more approaches and he finally stood by Jack completely calm. I told him Yes and released him. He and Jack went off to play. It was a lot of work for a brief moment of "THAT'S IT!" and off they went - running and wrestling and having a blast.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He played in the pool and ran and wrestled and ran with the neighbor dogs on the other side of the fence and barked and played and ran. He chased with Max and Jack when we played fetch and even brought the ball back once. He emptied about half of the pool by digging in it and putting his face in it. He "Poked the Bear" several times with Deva, Sheba and Chautzie. Poking the Bear is our term for boundary testing with the adult dogs that normally don't desire him nearby. All three girls tolerate him well, but don't play with him. Sheba has bad hips from having been hit by a car and then not having them set by her previous owner before Ronda rescued her. She is lumbering and sweet, but she doesn't desire a frisky pup in her face. Chautzie is a 13 year old Rott/Bully mix and is simply uninterested in a young dog. Deva is 7 and doesn't want any dog near her when she has a bone or ball - she tends to hover over her prize and bark in a high pitched tone when she's telling another dog to go away.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sheba had crawled into a cool spot under the steps of Ronda's deck when Malcolm went under to mug her and say hi. She gave him a very appropriate correction and he came out yowling and protesting she had removed a limb and then ran off to play. He went to kiss Chautzie and she looked up from her comfy bed on the deck and grumbled at him. He turned and left. He spent a large amount of time laying "just near" Deva while she had a whining high pitched fit at him and would move in, slowly, lick her face and then move out. He wanted her ball and was trying to convince her to give it up and she refused. He was playing the "I'm not poking you" game as we call it and she very appropriately told him "like is not fair" by not sharing her prize. a lesson he needed and after almost 10 minutes accepted.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He was tired and clearly spent, but he just wanted to play and would get Jack to join him. Jack is telling him appropriately when he's gone too far and then the two of them run off and wrestle and play Catch Me If You Can and Tug-a-Dog and other games and really ran out their energy. Malcolm didn't stop and start to rest and say, "Yup, that was fun" until 2 1/2 hours after we arrived and didn't really stop and take long rests until 3 hours after we arrived. Pent up much, Mister?</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">During this time Emma explored every corner of the yard. She ran and played and sniffed and marked and had too much fun. She would come up and cuddle with us for long periods and then head out and explore every corner of the yard. We had a good laugh as she followed Jack and Max and lifted her leg, yes her, and peed over their marks. I keep saying I did that poor girl a disservice raising her with all male dogs. Attitude was in her life for a short time and was not healthy and she was playing and involved with Max and Dieter and Jack for most of her life. Attitude died this month one year ago. That August Emma started to lift her leg to mark as she followed Max about my Mom's yard and I catch her often lifting her leg and marking behind the boys. Today she was in full marking behavior. Silly girl.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She barked at passing dogs and people and simply had a good time. She was clearly enjoying herself and really loved nothing more than to run about with her nose down and checking out every new scent she could find and then seeking even more to fill her brain with. She loves her play dates at Ronda's and always explores and really enjoys herself and then goes into the rips and runs the yard like a wild dog. She can cover ground too - Ronda's yard really lets her get her full speed on.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It was a lovely day of being dogs and learning new lessons. Like children dogs learn as much through play as they do through lessons. Young children have scheduled playtime during the school day and get less of it as they mature and move into Junior High and High School. I think that is a shame. I think our children should have scheduled breaks for being teenagers as much as they did for being children. Just because play changes as they mature doesn't change the fact that social interaction with peers continues to give important lessons.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Malcolm is learning about patience and communication with his kind. He's learning to recall from distractions when I call him back from running the fence or barking at someone passing. He's learning to play with breaks and recognize when he's accidentally hurt or frightened another dog. He's learning about social structure, older dogs, small dogs and how his body moves. He's a teenage dog, but he's still in that grade school need for playtime.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Emma is learning to be part of a group and be okay not participating in all of the games, that as a mature dog she can select to do something by herself and it's perfectly okay. She's learning independence and dog communication and recall from distractions (her recall is fabulous) and how to take breaks between play sessions. She's learning how to calmly meet a dog who doesn't want to play and how to choose activities that meet her mood at the time.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A lot of learning happens in play. Very young children play house, pretend to clean and cook and go to work in preparation for adulthood. Puppies and young dogs do also. All young animals do. Watch any documentary on Africa and watch young wild cats - play is how they learn to hunt and eventually support themselves. For our pet dogs, play is how they learn boundaries, understand their peers and take pauses so they can control their own excitement level. With a proper adult dog, teenagers like Malcolm, learn how to play for short periods of highly arousing play and then take breaks and just hang out and explore together before returning to highly arousing play. If he doesn't get the clue when his appropriate play companion tells him it's time for a break or a pause in the game, the adult dog tells him in several appropriate ways which include walking away, becoming a bit vocal or anything that doesn't cause the pup harm physically, emotionally or mentally.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A pup who cannot take those pauses, stays at a heightened arousal state and doesn't learn self control is a pup who cannot work in public because of poor impulse control. Both Emma and Malcolm have learned well the lessons I desire in play. The trick is not to have daily "dog park" like play dates, but occasional ones that supplement their overall exercise program. Walks, human interactive games, training and nose work all play a part in teaching a balanced dog who can go from a play session to working in a store without issue. The varying exercise types prevent an overload of stress hormones and adrenaline. A single type of play can backfire even with a pet dog.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Today was our once or twice a month I take the crew over to Ronda's and let them just blow steam and really work out their energy for the day. The day ended with calm, quiet and tired dogs. It was a great day!</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjWTvw7k-T87CNLjevpzKVEhmP9f1is2oaOE7xsLtWPmQZm6fjVUFLexLKxybrWiblauVzxo5jHz87CQs_dsnlFO0hosghYypAK7-xlEFfEXD65h6E7Ykli_tIXOKHaVoZq6CxJlF92fcW/s1600/blogger-image-1591568584.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjWTvw7k-T87CNLjevpzKVEhmP9f1is2oaOE7xsLtWPmQZm6fjVUFLexLKxybrWiblauVzxo5jHz87CQs_dsnlFO0hosghYypAK7-xlEFfEXD65h6E7Ykli_tIXOKHaVoZq6CxJlF92fcW/s1600/blogger-image-1591568584.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Off to help another dog feel safe.</td></tr>
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<b>Wednesday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>The sky was dull grey again. Clouds laden with rain hung low as I staggered out of bed to abuse the alarm. I have to say, Emma has finally decided that waiting for me to wake fully up is a good idea; she just laid and waited for me to finish my morning of alarm clock abuse before quietly stretching and getting off the bed and walking out with the boys for the first outing of the day. I, on the other hand, could feel the effects of this weather front deep in my lower spine and my legs. Even the short distance from my bedroom to my living room was enough to make me feel like I had drained all the fuel from the muscles. There are days I wish I could just bounce up with enough energy to face my day and not worry if today is the day I need to put aside half of what needs to be done.<br />
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I gave her half of her breakfast and saved the other half for later in the day. I had plans for her, since I had a client consult, and she only eats about 2 cups of food a day most days. A full belly at night makes our mornings much easier I have found and she's less likely to have an upset stomach in the morning.</div>
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My kitchen looked like someone set off a nuclear bomb in it and my fridge was a biohazard zone, but I simply didn't have the emotional, mental or physical energy tackle that part of my house. I actually barely had the energy to focus this morning. The weather and last weeks spoon marathon really took a lot out of me. I spent the morning waiting for John and Yoda to arrive watching Warehouse 13's latest episode, drinking my coffee and eating my meal and using my IPad.</div>
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She was a bit taken back by Yoda when he came into the house. He's big, and I do mean big, and she's a tiny mite next to him. He stands 30 inches tall and weighs almost 120 pounds. He's big and lumbering and sweet as all get out, but she was clearly having a problem with how big he is and so I went to let them out. She got trapped between Max and Malcolm, who had a spat on the porch (not a fight, but a spat as in siblings snarking at each other) and it was a bit much - she yelled like she'd been murdered and then ran to me. Okay, we'll just give her a hug and send her back out. She was fine after that and even checked Yoda fully out in the end.</div>
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After John left I setup the house for Max and Malcolm to remain loose and decided not to leave Dieter loose with them. I gave both boys a raw bone, but didn't have one for Dieter and really didn't want a bone spat while I was gone with Dieter in the middle. I crated Dieter and while I was getting what I would need for Emma, the 1/2 cup of kibble with a cube of tripe chopped into it and the leash in my hand, I waited for Emma to get past the bounce and hyper excitement she gets when she thinks I am taking her out. There is no point in putting her leash on when she's like that and reinforce the behavior.</div>
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It took about 2 minutes to get the van and when we arrived at the client's home it took about 5 minutes to get to the front door of the apartment complex and another 3 minutes to go from the lobby to her door (which is about the same as walking to the van) just to ensure she was walking in the right position and on a loose lead with her head up and not ping ponging beside me. I do have to say, she was 100% better this time than the last time I brought her to this client's home.</div>
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This was her third visit to this client and on each one I have worked on shaping the final behavior I want. On her first visit she was distracted and unable to lay still for most of the visit. She explored the small one bedroom apartment and checked in with me and was nervous. On the second visit she spent about half of the time exploring the the other half practicing just laying near me, but not in a proper position yet. She was nervous, but not as nervous as the previous visit. This time she spent maybe 5 minutes exploring at the end as a reward and the rest either providing demos or laying in a proper tucked tight position, facing the same way I was, against the side of the chair I was sitting in.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
This was not easy for her. She wanted to sit up, put her chin on my leg and demand my attention, move out of position and turn laying out in "traffic" facing me and was fussy for 2/3 of the visit. The final 1/3 she got the idea. Each time she went out of position I gently guided her back and heavily and only rewarded for her being in a settle against the side of the chair tucked "out of traffic".</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Traffic, by the way, is where she can be stepped on. When she's working she'll need to tuck tight against the chair where she is the most protected from being stepped on, especially as a black dog, when at a rest with her handler. Teaching her to tuck tight against the chair I am sitting in, be it a regular chair or my power chair, teaches her how to tuck out of traffic and be safe. Insisting she remain in a settled position until called upon and returning it when what was needed was finished, starts her very early and highly important public access skills for going to movies, dinners and social events.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She was not anywhere near as nervous as she's been in the past. As a matter of fact the moments of worry was more that I wasn't paying attention to her or my hand was moving over her head and was easily resolved by letting her know what I wanted and rewarding the behavior. She was eager to demo retrieve steps and happy to eat the last of her breakfast.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I use Emma for this client because she too has a soft dog and I have told her in the past the troubles we had teaching Emma to retrieve. Her dog is no where as soft as Emma and he's progressing at a much faster and with a better attitude than she did when learning to retrieve. Emma is a huge moral booster to anyone who sees her retrieve now. She loves to retrieve. She derives joy doing a retrieve. She makes it clear that a solid retrieve and a solid hold can indeed be taught if patience and effort is put into the dog and worked at the dog's rate. I truly feared at one point that I would need to career change her because asking her to do a retrieve was so adversive for her - then she burst out the other end and became a top notch retriever.</div>
<div>
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<div>
She also models the behavior for a small dog who also has a beard. Murphy is a Shitzu and like Emma has a beard. It seems that dogs of similar structure learn better from each other. Jack didn't get the idea of a retrieve watching Max, but he did Emma. Emma didn't get somethings watching Max, but she did Jack. Murphy is closely watching Emma and mimicking her. Today he started to do the take and give game and for the first time really took off on it.</div>
<div>
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<div>
At the end of the lesson a bag of treats Murphy's handler gave us fell by my chair between it and the end table. Emma tried a head on approach to pick it up for me, but couldn't get to it that way. It took a bit of direction, but I got her to go around the chair and come between the end table and the chair. She wasn't sure what to do next, so I lifted the edge of the bag for her. Yes, I could have gotten it myself. I had a perfect training opportunity for her and decided to use it. This will be similar to her getting something that fell between her handler's chair and a barrier and teaching her to approach from behind to get to it and then coming back around makes her retrieve more useful.</div>
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<div>
She got the back and brought it around and gave it to me and I dropped it back where it had been and sent her back in. She went right in, picked it right up and came right back with it. We had a celebration. We then worked on doing her bow in a new location and had a bit of fun and let her explore. Overall, the entire 1 hour and 40 minutes we were there was a wonderful advancement in proper service dog behavior. I was very happy.</div>
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<div>
Walking back to the van was a different story. She needed repeated resets in the lobby and again on the walkway to the sidewalk and out to the van. I had to be about 10 feet from the van before she got it and walked perfectly. She was exhausted and happy to return home.</div>
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<div>
She chewed bones and relaxed for most of the rest of the afternoon. I needed to run to the store and took Max, so I left her loose with Malcolm and Dieter for the 30 minutes I was gone and came back to a fully intact house.</div>
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<div>
She needs more work on focus in new locations and more work on her leash work. I also need to meet with the family to work with them on ensuring her leash skills remain good. I think helping them relax and be more natural when walking with her will aid her in keeping solid leash skills. Right now, her skills are not good enough to enter a non-pet friendly store and until they are we'll continue to work in other locations to build up her basic leash work.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKoGDBfOe917DF2UXuvH_9JYZt7Wq-7cibB5BOzdUH3GiXiQDywL0i9znIEofULLuGbVKK2HMupJsCzSEHOh0TDnD1uPR97fAZ9TJ9woyB4SrF41UuioE1M_wubTXlyBGAFv9sXUq9E8c/s1600/blogger-image-210243465.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKoGDBfOe917DF2UXuvH_9JYZt7Wq-7cibB5BOzdUH3GiXiQDywL0i9znIEofULLuGbVKK2HMupJsCzSEHOh0TDnD1uPR97fAZ9TJ9woyB4SrF41UuioE1M_wubTXlyBGAFv9sXUq9E8c/s1600/blogger-image-210243465.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another dog needs my help.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Thursday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>What a full week this has been for Emma. She again attended a client consult and played the roll of a neutral dog for a training exercise. I have a client with an 8 pound Min Pin named Coco who is under socialized and fearful. She becomes fretful of dogs when seen on walks, fear charges when they enter her home (which some do when family members visit) and resource guards her toys and food. I have my work cut out for me, but we are already seeing remarkable progress with Coco. Her owner is dedicated to her and does her homework faithfully. She, more than I, will make the difference in Coco's recovery.</div>
<div>
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<div>
Since she's a bit of a pill when first meeting dogs in the home, I left Emma in the van with Max. This is a good lesson for Emma, since she needs to learn to wait patiently in the car if needed. She is doing fantastic with this part of her training and was sitting quietly in the passenger seat waiting for me when I came out 30 minutes later. Mind you, right now I can do this because the weather permits it. Shortly none of the dogs can wait for me in the van safely due to heat and earlier, in the deep cold, I would not have asked it of them either. This time of year and early fall are the only times I can help them learn this vital lesson.</div>
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<div>
Coco had calmed with Malcolm working with her in the home, so when Emma was brought out Coco didn't even react to her. Emma was more excitable than Malcolm and thus a new energy level for Coco to learn about. They've met before when Coco came to visit at my home for an afternoon, but it's been a while since that day. Emma spotted Coco and looked at her with interest and then went to explore the smells of her new environment.</div>
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<div>
I have a problem with Emma's nose being stuck to the ground and on constant high sniff mode. I am working on it, but if she can't learn to walk with her head up it will affect her future. I took her across the street and stood on the sidewalk across from Coco. A car passed us at that time and Emma startled and lowered to the ground. I quickly rewarded her for looking to me and she recovered.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She was excellent as a neutral dog. Though she wasn't walking well on the lead, she wasn't focusing on Coco either and thus made it possible for Coco to work on her lesson. Emma is still weaving a great deal on lead, she pulls hard and tends to keep tension on the lead and constantly forgets that there is a human holding the other end. Walking her is tiring, unlike walking Malcolm who doesn't even feel like he's attached to the lead. I am working with her on paying attention to her position and walking properly, but it's just not happening. Her distraction level is simply to high when she's out in the world.</div>
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<div>
We moved back to the sidewalk where Coco was working and Emma, now able to focus on me as I reminded her I was on the planet, sat alert and happy beside me. She fell into a perfect working mode at this point and it was a moment of magic. Coco worked another lesson and we moved to the side on some grass and Emma forgot I was on the planet. Coco on the other hand forgot Emma was on the planet also and was doing amazing with her lesson. Her owner has great timing and really works hard on the lesson as we practice her homework for the week.</div>
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<div>
We practiced Emma and Coco walking by each other on the sidewalk while Coco worked on her lesson and Coco was spot on as was Emma. It was a moment of magic that both Coco's owner and I were happy to see. Only last week Coco couldn't have done what we asked today and here, with focused work on her homework, Coco was flying forward on her skill set.</div>
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<div>
After that Emma and Coco had a lovely greeting and Coco was very comfortable with her. Emma is a very gentle dog and Coco responded well to the soft greeting Emma offered. We did practice counting "1. . 2 and Let's Go" so Coco didn't get over her head in a greeting and could do a quick 2 second "hi how are ya" and walk away before she had time to react. Emma, who knows this type of greeting, was perfect.</div>
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<div>
Emma worked with Coco for about 30 minutes and did fantastic and really helped Coco with her lesson. Good girl.</div>
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<div>
We headed to Target so I could get some supplies with a gift card a friend sent me and I left her and Malcolm in the van while Max and I did our shopping. It took us a total of 10 minutes to do our shopping and I was about to leave when I thought, "What am I doing? This is a perfect place to train!" and shut off the van. I took Emma out and spent at least 5 minutes walking her from the van to the front of the building. The distance was less than 100 feet.</div>
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<div>
She was rubbernecking at the cars, people and birds flying overhead. She was moving her head like a tiny raptor seeking prey and her body was almost vibrating with energy. I want the dogs happy in their job, but her level of excitement is not functional. I'll have to revisit Target twice more to see if she improves.</div>
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<div>
As we passed the doors the very sensitive door sensors set them off and they slid open. Emma ducked and jerked closer to me to get away from them. I stayed calm and gave her a treat, which she was taking well, and went by the next one, which did the same. She again jerked, but not as bad. By the third she looked and then looked to me. Excellent.</div>
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<div>
There is a bench about 8 feet from the last exit door, which is a double set of doors that don't slide, but swing out and then bang on a set of rails on each side of them. The pneumatic control makes a wheezing sound as it starts and then hisses and the doors snap open rapidly. As we sat the did just that and she jerked badly again. I gave her a treat and then began treating her for looking about and looking back to me.</div>
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<div>
It was really busy today, despite the early hour and constant downpour. About 80% of the people had small children between the ages of infant to kindergarten. As many passed they'd smiled at her and commented on how cute she was. She saw men with and without hats, women in head scarfs and long flowing coats. She saw a LOT of children either being carried, walking, running, riding in carts or pushed in strollers. She saw people using umbrellas. She did very well with all of that.</div>
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<div>
At least three friendly strangers were given permission to pet her. She was not wearing her harness, since I want to re-socialize her to strangers and don't want her seeking attention in harness. She is shy meeting a new person. She ducks low, lowers her head and goes up to them to sniff and then suddenly is okay and warms up and enjoys meeting them. Each time she met a stranger I gave her a treat and by the third one she was more upright and confident.</div>
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<div>
She had problems with cars passing behind her in the parking lot, so each time one did I fed her a treat. She soon stopped paying attention to the traffic sounds. I will need to take her to the truck stop nearby and work on her listening to big trucks and feeling okay by their sounds. I did the same with Max when he tried to bite the tire of one driving by us on a walk one day - it was one of the few times I grabbed him and pushed him on his side out of total fear. I took him to the truck stop and asked a driver if he could check the truck and then we went and watched them move about for about 15 minutes - after that he was much better about them. She needs to do much the same. Find out they are BIG CARS and then see them move and hear their sounds and relax around them; currently they terrify her.</div>
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<div>
The door popping open with that wheezing sound and then a stream of people spilling out of it suddenly bothered her also. Again, I gave her a treat each time it opened and people came out. Soon she was not paying attention to it or the people any longer.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
She did try to reach out and sniff people as they walked by and her head kept moving in that raptor type movement. She was physically stiff and really never calm, but she did well for her first time there and I am hoping to see calm by the third time. She is such a different dog from Malcolm who just takes things in and sits fully relaxed and blase about the world about him. He never reacted to the sounds of traffic behind him and ignored the people all together. The only thing that bugged him was that door and even that he soon tuned out as I fed him a treat each time it opened.</div>
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<div>
She was unruly on the leash on the way back and it took almost 5 minutes to return to the van. All told we sat outside of Target for 15 minutes and she did make progress on some of her trouble spots, but it is clear we need to rework the location to get to really calm behavior.</div>
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<div>
After that I took her to the bank. The bank is quiet enough I can see how she's doing in a business and gauge other locations to take her into. She was unruly on the leash and it took me 3 minutes to walk 15 feet. She was better indoors, but it took a bit to get her to just sit at my side and wait for our turn. She continued the tiny raptor movements. When we did our transaction I was at a desk, so I had her tuck before my feet. She did, but couldn't maintain the position and I had to send her back in twice more.</div>
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She was just as unruly on the leash to the van. At this point, the bank and pet friendly locations are the only places I will be working her indoors.</div>
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<div>
When we returned she was excited and happy, but I saw no overt fall out. She played a bit in the yard and then came in and crashed out for her nap with the boys. She was happy when Vanessa came to help clean the house and handled the vacuum and steamer with her normal caution. She curled in my lap for a while as Vanessa did my living room floor and then went and laid in my recliner as she did the kitchen.</div>
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<div>
After that I had to leave for another client consult. Since it was a new and unknown dog both Emma and Malcolm stayed home. I crated her with a new raw bone and did the same with Dieter. She got her smaller crate, which she's more comfortable in and Dieter got the big crate. Malcolm was loose in the house. I was gone for 2 1/2 hours and when I released her she was calm and happy.</div>
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<div>
She has become a dream to crate at my home. She enters when cued, remains quiet and is calm when I release her. She needs to build up slowly at home and at her Grandma's home in her home crate the same way. Start with putting her up for 1 minute and build up until she can be left for longer periods. Don't lump the behavior and go for 4 hours in the crate when she has only worked up to 10 minutes. I built her up over the course of a week from 1 minute to 1 hour, but I did it in 10 minute increments after working up to the first ten minutes.</div>
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<div>
She ate all but the last 1/8th of a cup of her dinner. I suspect I fed her about that much extra during our training today. She was quiet and calm after dinner and went to bed and promptly fell asleep when I setup in the bedroom for the night. I have not seen any overt fallout yet, but will watch tomorrow and gauge if she can handle one more outing this week or just needs to work on going into tight spaces for her lesson.</div>
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It was a good day.</div>
<div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW2VnK7euX57YU2c97VspQVFhAC7UcK8QI7SYyZA6CllRYFZv_ntcXIZajqnqR9yHCeugwR_22njz3EI_7Nr2o5bbUByOPQiQEZKOhDeJgGhacqvIfuKNdosTOTq5LEOLw7ov3dVKJs1LM/s1600/Tao+Service+Dogs+019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW2VnK7euX57YU2c97VspQVFhAC7UcK8QI7SYyZA6CllRYFZv_ntcXIZajqnqR9yHCeugwR_22njz3EI_7Nr2o5bbUByOPQiQEZKOhDeJgGhacqvIfuKNdosTOTq5LEOLw7ov3dVKJs1LM/s1600/Tao+Service+Dogs+019.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What a week! I need a nap!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Friday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>Emma has a very busy week with a lot of stuff happening in it. On Monday she went for her first run at Roadwork and did very well. On Tuesday she got a day of play with Max, Malcolm and Jack at Ronda's house. On Wednesday she attended a client consult. On Thursday she attended a second client consult and went to Target and the bank. Today was a day of rest and recovery. That was an awful lot of stuff happening and she just needed to slow down and process what happened this week.</div>
<div>
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<div>
She enjoyed her day sleeping and running in the yard off and on and just hung out with the family. She hadn't shown any fall out from the busy week and giving her a day off before she went back to her family was a good end to a long week. She ate well when I fed her and seemed to truly enjoy just relaxing around the house for the day.</div>
<div>
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<div>
At 4:00 PM I took down her leash and leashed her up after she stopped jumping, but before she was completely calm. I had spoken in the morning with Robin and she explained that she had taught calm leash manners to her dog a bit backwards by rewarding calm after the leash was on and as he improved each time she worked on his relaxing when the leash was attached she worked back until his leash didn't mean anything more than to relax, even if she picked it up to put it on him.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
I decided that it was worth doing with Emma. She's just not relaxing once the leash is on and that excited behavior is carrying into everything she does. I want happy, but relaxed behavior when she's heading out to work. Today I gave her a half an hour to work on relaxation on the leash. I sat reading a book on my IPad and rewarded her for sitting, laying down and eventually putting her head down and then built duration. By the time the family came to pick her up she was about half asleep again and relaxed. She wound up on hearing them, but we were at a much lower point than previously.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When she excited and barked I took her back in for a second and tried again. I got the door closed and she barked again (she can go into excitement barking) and I backed her up each time. She walked with a lot of control and quiet to the gate. It was the most controlled and the calmest she's ever been. She exited the gate and with a few stops and waiting for self control, got quickly to her hand off. It was the fastest, most controlled and calmest pass off we've ever done. I will continue relaxation protocols with her leash and teach her to physically, mentally and emotionally relax when she has her leash on.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It was a long week but a good one. She made great strides on her skills this week and the change in her food has clearly helped her calm down. I am looking forward to see how much more she calms as we move through the first 6 weeks on her new food. Next week should be enjoyable.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_3d21_1493_ac8_77a6">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_d23b_e0f9_28af_d302">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_e243_9f9f_5a5e_9916">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_f846_b9_423f_af5d">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-47802625538397577542014-04-04T17:28:00.001-07:002014-04-04T17:28:04.965-07:0019 Months: Training - Days 290 - 293<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6xde4B0D6T1SZUBUeFBjTKHLom5ITb5yZhWx8ykXATPRyEMTKLP77jdudEPzHyX6i3F55WLZ6jLGt5KtF8pAiiBLJqq3FPJVMILOLPYoV9kEKkGruk1zwsAc9vv8NfG8eWKwwdepWe8ze/s1600/054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6xde4B0D6T1SZUBUeFBjTKHLom5ITb5yZhWx8ykXATPRyEMTKLP77jdudEPzHyX6i3F55WLZ6jLGt5KtF8pAiiBLJqq3FPJVMILOLPYoV9kEKkGruk1zwsAc9vv8NfG8eWKwwdepWe8ze/s1600/054.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma loves outside time.</td></tr>
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<b>Monday</b><br />
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Are we already nearly at 300 days? Wow! Hard to believe we've been on this journey this long. A lot has changed since Emma first arrived for training. Attitude, Emma's mentor for proper dog behavior has passed, Jack joined the family and we had a brief visit from Maura while she was fostered before heading off to find her new home and now Malcolm is being mentored by Emma on proper dog behavior. What a change for Ms. Emma to be the adult in the family teaching the youngster it's rude to jump on her or try to take her bones or toys. Emma went from a pup who barely knew to hold her bladder in the home to a young dog who aids her handler on the weekends and continues to learn important tasks to assist him. It won't be long before a video will be compiled of Emma's skill set to show the world what she's learned on this journey.</div>
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Last Friday when Emma was picked up I was told by her owner that she would arrive at her normal time on Monday. I was relieved. As I stated in earlier blog posts, Emma's late arrival has affected the flow of the first day of the week, which seems to set off a chain reaction for the remainder of the week. I don't do change well at times and with my disability flucuating any change can throw me into a loop. I live by a schedule for a reason - if I don't things simply don't happen.</div>
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I am struggling to survive on a very narrow income and to do so I must make contact with clients who called during training time and left messages during business hours and arrange appointments to meet and work with them. This is part of the schedule I set for myself and the dogs to ensure there is power, food and gas available for the entire household. On top of that I finally have health insurance and can continue to explore what the cause of my disability is. This means a series of appointments with physical therapists, neurologists and other doctors. I have accounted for those appointments in my schedule also. I have applied for social security disability and must meet those obligations as well - which includes appointments to determine the extent of my disability. A seemingly minor change in my schedule can result in a major chain reaction in my week and that has been happening for the past few weeks.</div>
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At first I was told that Emma would be arriving closer to 9:00 AM instead of between 7:30 AM and 8:30 AM. Since Emma regularly arrived at 8:30 AM I had worked my schedule around that arrival time. A half an hour change actually changed the entire morning routine, but could be worked around. In the end, Emma arrived regularly at 9:30 AM instead of the time I had adjusted the schedule to. That half an hour made a huge change in the day and threw the entire works into a mess.</div>
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With Emma arriving on time this week it meant putting the schedule back to what worked best for me and the dogs. I wake between 6:00 AM and 6:30 AM on weekdays. I tend to hit the snooze a few times because it takes about half an hour to get my muscles to relax enough to allow me to walk more than the 1 to 2 feet to my alarm clock to press the snooze. By the time 6:30 AM comes I have relaxed the muscles in my legs enough that a major crippling cramp won't happen and I can go to the front door and let the boys out for their morning potty break. While they are out I get my first cup of coffee and prepare their meals. I had used to wait for Emma to arrive for breakfast, but stopped when her arrival time became unpredictable and it left Malcolm, Max and Dieter extra excitable and grumpy due to a late breakfast. </div>
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By 7:00 AM I have showered normally, fed Max and Dieter their morning meal and lately fed Malcolm half of his to calm his ravenous appetite due to a sudden growth spurt. By 7:30 AM I have trained Malcolm and started the first of my morning phone calls. By 8:30 AM I am exhausted but not hungry yet. I have never been hungry when I first wake, not even as a child. I generally don't eat my first meal until late morning. Coffee is my morning staple and keeps the migraine I am threatened with daily at bay most days. On bad days, I do all of this with a blinding migraine that makes each movement of my body make me feel like I am about to tip off the planet and light and sound extremely painful.</div>
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By 9:00 AM it's time for the dogs to play in the yard. I don't let them out sooner because of the bus stop. It's still the school year and the kids gather between 7:30 AM and 9:00 AM for the various buses that come through the neighborhood. The bus stop is only a few feet away from my fence line and I don't think it's fair to the parents or children to have 4 or 5 dogs barking their fool heads off at them. I also have seen the unsupervised children come up to my fence and reach over it, even with the dogs going nuts and their ruffs standing on end. For the safety of both the children and the dogs, I keep the dogs in the house during bus time. I have 3 to 4 bus times during the day and must regularly check to see if parents or children are gathering near my fence before letting the dogs out.</div>
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During their first playtime I go out and pick up after the dogs. With 4 to 5 dogs in a small yard it is important to clean the yard as often as the weather permits. This is where things had started to fall apart. Though I had moved up Malcolm's training during my wait for Emma and fed the dogs on time despite her not being present, playtime was held at bay waiting for her arrival and it led to a riot in the house. After a long night of sleep and being awake and at the prime time for their physical and mental activity, the boys were going crazy waiting for permission to go out. Malcolm, a young teenage dog with a lot of energy and after a nights sleep truly needs to go play.</div>
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I had kept them in so they wouldn't interfere with Emma's arrival and coming into the yard, but was left with Malcolm running laps in the house and banging on the front door begging out. Max was grumpy with Malcolm's antics and wanted to run in the yard too. Dieter was grouchy too with Malcolm banging the chair he lays in and trying to get him to play. By the time Emma arrived the boys were in a heightened state of excitement and were reacting to any sound they heard. Today I decided I didn't care anymore. If Emma couldn't arrive on time the schedule that had kept the house in balance and the boys happy would be kept.</div>
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I had finished my morning routine by 8:30 AM as per normal and received the phone call from Emma's owner that she was leaving the house at 8:47 AM and would be arriving after 9:00 AM to drop her off. I took both Max and Malcolm out to play. Dieter was offered, but decided to snooze on my chair. Both boys were running and playing in the yard while I picked up behind them when Emma arrived. Malcolm was overjoyed to see her arrive and I had to call him three times before he let me take his collar and allow her in without being molested.</div>
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I let them play for almost half an hour in the yard after her arrival. It was just afte 9:30 AM when we went back into the house. By now my blood sugars were down and I had to eat myself. I gave Emma a 1/4 cup of her food to keep her stomach from becoming upset and made myself breakfast so I could take my medication and keep my pre-diabetes under control. By the time I had finished eating it was 10:00 AM. By this time my mental clarity and physical energy is at it's lowest and I have to push to train Emma and not just push it off to another day. A simple change in schedule can affect the entire day for me - I have only so much I can give with clarity and by 10:00 AM I am entering my daily muddy thought process and nearing my required rest period. I had taken many breaks during the preceding hours, but by this point my pain levels have risen to an all time high and I simply need to stop for a prolonged period of time to prevent my collapsing for the remainder of the day. Training through that required rest period means I am spending energy I'll need for the rest of the day and thus by the end of the day spending the next days energy and thus the cascade starts.</div>
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It may not seem like a huge thing to many, but when working with chronic pain and fatigue and a limited amount of energy that can be spent during the day and during certain times of the day, a simple shift of half and hour to an hour in a schedule can lead to a huge change in the entire week. For me, it can be the difference between having the energy to take the dogs out for public access training or not and even if I can train with any level of focus. The past few weeks the cascade has resulted in my training plans falling apart and my focus evading me. I am truly hoping soon my schedule can get back to normal so both Emma and Malcolm can benefit.</div>
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I spoke earlier about Emma's excitability. Emma is, by definition, a very excitable dog. She can easily be wound up with a happy voice or a stroke along her body. She can go from perfectly calm to bouncing off of the walls in a single second. She finds the handling of her leash or harness extremely exciting and for her it's like waking on Christmas morning and finding a 100 presents under the tree every single time. For Max and Malcolm, my picking up their leashes and harnesses is like waking on Saturday morning and its cartoon time. I prefer the Saturday morning excitement. That excitement has a level of control and thought involved; the Christmas excitement is out of control.</div>
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Last week I worked on her accepting my touching and then lifting and finally putting on her leash with Saturday morning excitement and she did very well. I also reminded her she could give into the pressure on her collar and not pull. This week I will expand on that concept and explain to her how she can exit the door of the house and go to the car with calm control and still enjoy herself.</div>
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I worked for one 3 minute Round on just giving to the leash. Last week she was tense and would lock her muscles and fight giving to the pressure. This week she was fluid and moving nicely with the leash. The only direction she's still resisting is forward, but the time it took her to unlock her muscles and move into the pressure was only a few seconds, a marked improvement from last week. We'll continue to explain the need to give to the pressure and make it a natural behavior for her again.</div>
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I worked for one 3 minute Round on just walking with a loose lead beside me in the house. While I work with Emma I have Malcolm crated, since his "Other Dog Zen" is weak right now and she doesn't need him pushing in right now. I will start working him on Go To Mat (GTM) to help explain this behavior over the course of the week.</div>
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I then worked on several 3 minute Rounds of her exiting the house without bolting out the door. The first time I opened the door she shot forward, but hit the end of the lead when this happened. It surprised her and she was taken a bit back by the sudden stop. I hadn't given her a leash correction, but the effect was much the same and for such a soft girl it was a bit over the top for her and she wouldn't take the treat I offered when I clicked for her sitting down next to me. She actually wouldn't take a treat when just inside the house, but would just outside the house. I truly wish she hadn't done that to herself; it clearly upset her.</div>
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She figured out the concept of walking under control beside me out of the front door. We then worked up and down the ramp to the gate for two 3 minute rounds and then finally for 2 three minute rounds we worked going in and out of the gate under control. Kibble, by the time we reached the gate, no longer worked for her. Between the first and second round working the gate I raised the value of the kibble by adding some chopped tripe to it. She was very keen on the food by then and more than willing to work with me.</div>
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We ended the last of her food by working on Sit, Down, Stand and Pull (using the cabinet door) with Malcolm out of his crate. I used these skills because they are her strongest and her distractability with Malcolm is very strong. She did very well actually and finished on a high note. I, on the other hand, was finished for the day. It was 11:30 AM by the time we finished her training and the hopes of going to the local playground in the early afternoon with her and Malcolm to work further on leash skills was no longer on the table. I was exhausted and had pushed too hard and had used the last of my energies for the day and yet still had work to do with the blogs.</div>
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I am pleased with the better control Emma is demonstrating now that we are breaking it all back down for her. I am happy to see her leash manners coming back faster than I expected. I am hoping by the end of the week to get her out of the yard and into a new location to continue working on proper leash manners so we can begin to go to public locations to work on her public access skills. The goal is to have her calm and thinking from start to finish without an extreme reaction of excitement before ever leaving the house.</div>
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She did great today and her mood for the remainder of the day was fantastic. With the warm day I was able to give the dogs two very long play sessions in the yard, which helped everyone's mood. My Mom dropped by in the late afternoon and we were both pleased to see that despite Emma's Christmas morning excitement at meeting her, she kept her feet on the floor and tried very hard to visit without jumping too much. More work needed, but she's trying and I am happy to see that.</div>
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Here's hoping I didn't spend tomorrow's spoons.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuyJKNuR8xy_ASG0WgboAKu1-iRUjJ4a9rp1ssuQ0ayt8fSr9trBFXjsZtYqxbBlVnvdbyArHwmDELn2enhRIqQglYgzuFW1aL1xRlzbNbR-99EAVGxVNeeGGIr0VkvS7dT9-dRn5j7eVw/s1600/036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuyJKNuR8xy_ASG0WgboAKu1-iRUjJ4a9rp1ssuQ0ayt8fSr9trBFXjsZtYqxbBlVnvdbyArHwmDELn2enhRIqQglYgzuFW1aL1xRlzbNbR-99EAVGxVNeeGGIr0VkvS7dT9-dRn5j7eVw/s1600/036.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watching the neighbors.</td></tr>
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<b>Tuesday</b></div>
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It's 10:02 PM and my neighbor just started with the music thrumming through the neighborhood again. I tend to spend my time waiting for my legs to stop spasming and my pain levels to lower enough for sleep doing the nights entries in the blogs - if my mental clarity and energy permits. On the bad days or weeks I don't even have the energy to type up the day's events and lay in bed waiting for my body to permit me to sleep and my neighbor to get past his tribal drum solo so I can sleep. Though I wake between 6:00 AM and 6:30 AM in the morning, there are nights I don't get to sleep until 2:00 AM or 3:00 AM due to pain and/or my neighbor making so much racket I can't relax and stop the spasms. On a good night I generally don't get to sleep until after 11:00 PM or Midnight.</div>
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That was the case last night. I spent the night typing up the day's events for both dogs and waiting for the pain in my legs to subside and my migraine, brought on by the deep thrumming of drum and bass through my walls (enough to rattle my dishes) from 3:00 PM to 10:00 PM. The noise had ended by 10:00 PM, though it would rise and fall off and on until nearly 2:00 AM and something would set the entire household off barking at 3:00 AM. I felt rung out when the alarm went off at 6:00 AM and actually couldn't relax again after I hit snooze the first time and got up at 6:15 AM.</div>
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Emma has always been excitable when I first wake. She takes my first deep breath of the morning as invite to launch out of the bed like an acrobat and start bouncing and barking, thus setting the rest of the house off. I have worked different ways to tell her this is not acceptable, but she didn't believe me. It's just too self rewarding to act that way and it always seems to get me up - ah, yes, then I am indeed rewarding the behavior.</div>
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For the past two weeks anytime she went off and set the house off I would just pull the covers back up and pretend to sleep. It seemed to startle the whole household. The goal was to hurry me to the front door, not get me back in bed! It worked. Malcolm, who was never a barker in the morning, but a world class wrestler and thus riler up, even came to a stop and poked me to see if I had died suddenly.</div>
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The silence meant I would get up, which would set off the riot again. It took time, but they put it together. Acting up made me go to bed, being quiet got me out of bed. This morning I took that deep breath and rolled to find both Malcolm and Emma watching me with a "oh good, you survived the night" look on their faces. Cute, their comics.</div>
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As Malcolm's blog states, by 6:45 AM I was showered, 7:00 AM Max and Dieter got their full meals and Emma and Malcolm got a portion of their meals (Emma got 1/4 cup to keep her tummy awake and prevent dry vomiting and Malcolm 1/2 his meal to prevent sudden starvation during a growth spurt) and I had my first cup of coffee entering my system. By 7:30 AM I had Malcolm trained and by 8:00 AM it became clear that Emma had no intention of training.</div>
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I started on loose leash work again by clicking good behavior when I touched her leash and offering her a kibble and she pursed her lips and refused to eat it. I offered it a second time and she turned her head away. Fine. I ended the session and put her bowl up. It surprised her, but she needs to work for her meal, not be picky about what she eats - which she is doing again.</div>
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Emma is under weight. It is because she is such an active dog and burns calories like mad and doesn't eat near enough without a lot of coaxing on our part. She is one of those "anorexic" dogs and needs to learn to eat on a regular basis. It can be maddening. Emma has never been a good eater, not even as a baby, and if we don't keep up the attitude that she won't get anything better if she doesn't eat what she's offered she will become very picky about her food and wait for it to improve. I also think she really doesn't like her food in general. She prefers the food I feed the boys, which is a different protein than what she gets in her food, but both are from the same company. The Salmon and Sweet Potato formula has a rich and lovely scent to it and never smells off or stale like the Turkey and Sweet Potato formula she eats. I actually find the smell of her food very unpleasant and it is very likely she does also.</div>
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I have asked she be changed to the Beef and Sweet Potato formula for two reasons. She was for a while eating my dogs food when she'd run out of her own here. She was calmer on the Salmon and Sweet Potato and more focused and she ate it very well. When she returned to the Turkey and Sweet Potato she became unbelievably excitable again. I think the Turkey, which should be calming for most dogs, is not for her. I think the Beef and Sweet Potato formula will be better overall for her. Hopefully she'll like the smell and flavor of that formula better also.</div>
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I intended to get to her training sooner, but between paperwork and phone calls I didn't return to her training until late afternoon. I offered her a kibble and she greedily took it. Yup, she just needed to get hungry. I took her out and walked her to the gate on a loose lead, mostly. She is walking too far forward (her butt is about half a foot before my knees when she's allowed to tell me where she things she should walk) and she likes a small amount of tension on her lead. This can become exhausting if walking her for several hours on lead and thus needs to be fixed. Walking that far forward doesn't give her the level of feed back for properly turning with her handler either. In a wheelchair a bit forward is good, but it should be at her shoulder, not 6 inches in front of the handler. At least she's walking calm and has her mind in place.</div>
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She was able to take treats once we exited the gate, which she did with calm control and worked nicely finding and working at the right spot for loose lead beside me. She had a nice J in the leash and was resetting herself when I stopped and she wandered too far ahead. She can quickly forget she's attached to a leash and is supposed to keep track of where I am.</div>
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We were doing great working in the street before the house and my next door neighbors empty lot when the neighbor dog came over. I have one neighbor who cannot contain any animal she owns. She had ducks one year and they both went wandering by my house wing in wing chatting it up as they headed for heavy traffic on Park road. Her pig escaped. Her ferrets got into my yard and were attacked my Attitude and Dieter. Her male dog has been sponsored in my blogs many times - he was the one bugging the crap out of me last year by breeding in the lots beside me and running loose and challenging the dogs all summer. He's gone now as so many of her animals are within a year or two. She had a lab mix that was hit and killed on Broadway. She still owns a Pom who was also hit that day, but lived and was moved to live with her parents. He was out daily and running the neighborhood prior to that. She now has a new puppy, her favorite time of a dogs life (she rarely keeps the adults for long) and he came bustling over to check us out. It's going to be another long summer.</div>
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He looks like the offspring of the dog they owned previously. Tiny head, big body and dorky looking, but still very young and playful. He's lucky he rushed up to Emma and not Malcolm. Malcolm would have been over threshold with the boldness of this pup. Emma and he greeted nicely and Emma lost focus on the lessons. The pup play bowed and jumped on her head and barked at her. I went to walk Emma away, but she couldn't walk without watching him closely and he was following trying to entice play. I picked Emma up and carried her back to the yard with the puppy hot on my heels.</div>
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He tried to get her to play for a bit outside of my fence and then left. I worked Emma in the yard for a few more minutes and she was fantastic. I had left Malcolm loose in the house with Max and Dieter and decided it was time to let him and the other two out. I unhooked Emma and worked her loose while Malcolm and the other two played in the yard. She kept finding the sweet spot beside me and really worked on staying at my side the entire time. She was really into the lesson and did fantastic.</div>
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I then had her do Level one behaviors while sitting between Malcolm and Max and she was top notch. Her confidence working around Malcolm is improving and I am happy to see it. I am still doing very short lessons when Malcolm is present and it's things she knows extremely well. This has boosted her willingness to offer behaviors around him. This will later translate to working in public around things that may be a bit frightening for her normally without feeling the stress she has in the past nor shutting down as she has in the past. Malcolm, for Emma, can be very overpowering when he's focused on earning treats with her and for Emma this is a challenge that we've been working on in small steps to prevent her being overwhelmed by it. She is doing very well and her confidence is improving as a result.</div>
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We ended the day with play and cuddles before dinner. I offered her dinner, but she is again refusing to eat from the bowl. I gave her a count of five and picked up the meal. I do hope a change in food will improve her appetite. Emma is about 3 pounds underweight and on her it is noticeable. I can easily feel her skull bones, ribs and back bone and there is simply not enough cushion on them. I have increased her daily allotment to 2 cups a day from the 1 1/2 cups a day to account for the increased activity Spring has brought on, but if she won't eat it it won't put the weight she needs on her.</div>
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I am hoping tomorrow she'll be more inclined to eat and thus work more distance on loose leash work and preparing to practice in a new location this week to prepare her for going to the Safeway parking lot and working on calm entry into the store.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxwk3RALQieUdFSGmoIJn6yU-KOGPMBFwH3NEdpncWAp0BzuN8X_rHV93kvuQa6zRzWOEPBlWbcnU2IK6NcZJ8JKwuWALAfWsB6sdxe-HP2ZBcod-vU9IBgD1qwNeAIkK1f9qZS97s5Sk/s1600/019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxwk3RALQieUdFSGmoIJn6yU-KOGPMBFwH3NEdpncWAp0BzuN8X_rHV93kvuQa6zRzWOEPBlWbcnU2IK6NcZJ8JKwuWALAfWsB6sdxe-HP2ZBcod-vU9IBgD1qwNeAIkK1f9qZS97s5Sk/s1600/019.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last year she barked at every sight, now she just watches.</td></tr>
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<b>Wednesday</b></div>
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The most disheartening thing I face is Emma turning her nose up to her food. Her weight is too low and I am struggling to get enough calories into her to get her weight up where it belongs, yet she simply won't eat all of the food I offer her. We had done the entire protocol for teaching her to eat, which had improved her appetite, but for the past three weeks I have seen her appetite again wain and her choose to not eat at least one meal a day. I again faced her not wanting to eat. She'd been fussy about her food all week, but it hit it's peak on Wednesday morning.</div>
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I offered her the 1/4 cup of food I do most mornings to keep her stomach from becoming upset and she gave it a half hearted sniff and walked off. She's always been fussy about food, but she's more fussy about the Turkey and Sweet Potato food than she ever was about the Salmon and Sweet Potato. I picked up her food and felt a level of defeat sink in. I can only get so far with praise and affection with her training and really need to work with some food to help her advance; I also need her to eat enough food to keep her weight up.</div>
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I waited about an hour and offered her a kibble from her bowl. She sniffed it like I was about to poison her and turned her head away as if to say it turned her stomach. That got me to thinking and I went into the kitchen, put her kibble back and played around in the kitchen for a moment while she laid in my chair. I returned with a kibble from Malcolm's bowl and offered it to her. She gave it the same sniff and then ate it eagerly. That did it. She doesn't like the food we are feeding her and would rather starve than eat it. Not a problem, I decided that Malcolm could eat the amount of food she would normally be getting from her stash of food and she could eat her amount from Malcolm's. I can't afford to feed her out of my dog's bin without replacing that amount currently - the exchange solves all of our problems.</div>
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I returned her food to her bag and replaced it with Malcolm's and she happily worked for it. I had done half of her normal morning amount to start with and when I went to get the other half cup I mixed her food and Malcolm's half and half. She actually spit out the Turkey kibble each time she was given it and only ate the Salmon kibble. In the end, she chose to eat some of the Turkey kibble, but it was only after the Salmon was gone and Max showed interest in her kibble.</div>
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<div>
Since our day started on such a weird note I decided to shape her to touching a post it note on the floor with her foot. She happily worked for the food and enjoyed the lesson.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In the evening I gave her a cup of food in her bowl and she ate it without issue. She's still a bit hesitant to start eating, but at least she's eating. What I did note is with the increase to 1 cup of food in the morning and 1 cup of food in the evening she's actually emotionally more stable and calmer. She's not barking at sounds as much and she's showing better self control. It'll be nice when I feel meat over her hips and ribs again. I hate feeling how thin she is right now.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDY-B346vYUIbGKzA7sp72_qCeRAQxNU8iLmohIL_IQfrBrGISMWTsH4lCiV4MXeTPmRl8wH9QMGaOAnGEYR7kq8BCYGXJaTvr1l5uHWhA4SWjw1pJ8JXLwt6gU5fwMR-tXTX1oA6OGyz/s1600/034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDY-B346vYUIbGKzA7sp72_qCeRAQxNU8iLmohIL_IQfrBrGISMWTsH4lCiV4MXeTPmRl8wH9QMGaOAnGEYR7kq8BCYGXJaTvr1l5uHWhA4SWjw1pJ8JXLwt6gU5fwMR-tXTX1oA6OGyz/s1600/034.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watching Dieter play.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Thursday</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
My neighbor started the music again at 10:00 PM and ran it until 2:00 AM. In order to hope for any sleep I had the TV running to deaden the sound of the thumping, but it didn't help. I slept poorly, woke several times during the night and woke with my neck muscles locked and my skull on fire. I struggled to wake and tried to push into training. I had showered, fed the dogs their morning meal which Emma ate without issue and was struggling with Malcolm's training when I felt the first waves of dizziness and brain burn start. A few minutes later I felt like I would be sick and light and sound made me absolutely ill. Any movement made things worse. It was a migraine to beat all migraines and I told the dogs I was done for the day.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I fed Emma and Malcolm the last of their morning meal and sent everyone out for a quick potty break and then crawled into bed and covered my eyes to stop the pain from the light. It was clear I wasn't doing well when Max curled up against me and Malcolm gave me soft kisses and Emma laid her head on my feet. They all stayed quiet while I slept off the worst of the migraine.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
No training happened today, but we spent the day curled up watching movies once my head allowed it and enjoying each other's company. Emma ate the entire cup of food for dinner without issue and enjoyed an evening of X-Men movies curled against me and regular trips out for potty breaks. It was a quiet day of cuddling that ended with my head not hurting near as bad as it did this morning.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I am just happy to see her eating well finally and enjoying her food. Hopefully in a week or so we'll finally have her weight where it should be and she can finally put on the muscle she's supposed to for this stage of her life.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow is grooming day and as a result our week ends here. It's been a good week for Emma and I have seen a lot of progress in her excitement level and her ability to focus and work. Solving the issue with her food has helped and I believe we are again moving in a forward direction. Let's see if we can't get the tug tasks finished over the next week or so!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-58230113853276032662014-04-01T14:06:00.001-07:002014-04-01T14:06:27.963-07:0018 Months: Training - Days 284 - 289<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKJMLl8ibr6URoIjaN7DcObuewgjqncC5PrqTmWccJqYEf4IDw_KncphWPucSFnPgxb0GHUmUVVAExdLHFl07vol6TpcDhah4oeZRCJGbHlFtisH8JIbHfU72TKG_5n5G7jMkqz8A_UkK/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKJMLl8ibr6URoIjaN7DcObuewgjqncC5PrqTmWccJqYEf4IDw_KncphWPucSFnPgxb0GHUmUVVAExdLHFl07vol6TpcDhah4oeZRCJGbHlFtisH8JIbHfU72TKG_5n5G7jMkqz8A_UkK/s1600/012.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good weather means more yard time.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Monday - Friday</b><br />
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
That hour behind schedule is defently throwing both of us off. Emma was in a good mood, but just not in the game when she arrived. It didn't help that I had a long and painful weekend and then appointments scheduled for the morning and afternoon. I worked a bit with her on Lazy Leash but she wasn't willing to take food and so ended the game and offered her breakfast to her. She again decided she didn't want to eat so I picked it up. It would be the only time she chose to not eat all week, but it wasn't a good start to our week.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Between working on giving to the leash when pressure is applied, which she is still resisting with locking up her muscles and going stiff and shaping her bow, which she finally got and I put both a verbal and hand cue on, she had a full week. More important though was her calming down when the leash was touched and going out the door.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She's back to launching from my lap like a rocket when she's heard something outside or shooting out of the bedroom or front door like she's shot from a canon. She will never fully be able to just relax and stay calm until she's much older. Until then a lot of reminders will need to be given to her to keep the calm behavior we are training her to use sharp.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, bedroom door. I hadn't started to let Malcolm have reign of the house at night just yet, therefore the gate was setup at the bedroom door. When I lifted it she would start to run to dash through the door and literally run in place for a good 10 seconds before she could gain footing and then burst out the door with little control and a lot of barking and bounding around the house, which set the entire household off. I lifted the door and the moment she went to shoot out I just lowered it. She came to a crashing halt at the gate and looked up at me and sat. I praised her and then opened it a little and she darted out. Not fully calm, but better.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The front door was the same. If she started to show signs of getting ready to bolt out the door when released I simply shut the door. By the end of the week she would walk out the door at a nice controled trot and not be skittering along my floor trying to gain footing nor barking her fool head off as she left the door. The whole household fell silent as a result of this. It was the start of calming her down overall. No longer was she leaping out of my lap or setting off at every sound in the house.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJMkylYT01566veVf17WBpFV-9N514pp5voVXuFVv_0VNZQjhewHXGPS7BYZvNMcTr9i2QjjG1FBXwox-Uds1lFOZrrKgREH0X1ojrJKVw8pg5QZF5OKFcUeyM17-jLg4CGfMY3_vACg7J/s1600/056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJMkylYT01566veVf17WBpFV-9N514pp5voVXuFVv_0VNZQjhewHXGPS7BYZvNMcTr9i2QjjG1FBXwox-Uds1lFOZrrKgREH0X1ojrJKVw8pg5QZF5OKFcUeyM17-jLg4CGfMY3_vACg7J/s1600/056.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early warning system.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
She seems to have this deep need to be always touching someone. Normally she wants to be in my lap all the time, but she has a bad habit of pushing against my ribs and looking up into my face and not just laying quietly beside me in the chair. The pressure she puts on my legs with her tiny feet hurts and the insistence of being in the middle of everything I am doing makes it impossible to drink or eat or work. I have been teaching her she can lay by my foot and press her body against it and be just fine. She's finally choosing that spot to be close to me and cherishes the times I invite her into my lap for some cuddling.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I was able to pick up her leash all week long and not have her go into spasms of joy. She kept her feet on the floor and was able to sit with minimal vibrating to have her lead put on and work on walking in the correct position beside me. It was a huge change from how she's always met me when I pick her leash up. I will work on touching her harness next and develop the same behavior with her.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Since I had two appointments on Monday and two again on Tuesday it meant a lot of time in the crate while I was away. Monday she did fine with being crated for the morning appointment and coming out for an hour before being crated for the afternoon appointment, but by Tuesday I didn't want to do that to her again. She does okay with such crating for one day, but not two in a row. I took her over for the afternoon crate time to visit with Jack at Ronda's. When I returned she was so excited she was almost hovering. Ronda said she played hard and ran laps around the yard and enjoyed exploring the entire time I was gone. She was in a super happy mood and curled up on Ronda's couch with me and turned upside down to get my attention.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On Thursday Ronda invited us for dinner and she again got a lot of playtime with Jack and Malcolm in the yard. She ran laps and did recalls and just had a great time and finally curled up in Ronda's lap and cuddled for a while. She was in a fantastic mood after that visit too. It was great.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Since I was going to Ronda's I didn't leash up any of the dogs before loading them in the car. I have been working with every one of them on entering and exiting the van without a lead to make catching her in the event of an accidental escape easier. She will exit the gate and go straight to the van and the first open door she sees and enter without hesitation. When I open the van and give the all clear (I always check traffic and what is happening before releasing any of them from the gate or van) she exits the van and runs straight into the yard through the gate I have already opened.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4WlyPyhoIhyphenhyphennll-Jt9BHZ2lmdaWBqyslOJVMYZGZD5tIbEkgo9lGBm-Woxsr0hbTQ9Vr_RxVND6l1pV4FHebvb-ecjU4tkg9rQiKYsq8EKPJmoSQq0f97gcryuPRYqYqKF2tW90-QUTKv/s1600/054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4WlyPyhoIhyphenhyphennll-Jt9BHZ2lmdaWBqyslOJVMYZGZD5tIbEkgo9lGBm-Woxsr0hbTQ9Vr_RxVND6l1pV4FHebvb-ecjU4tkg9rQiKYsq8EKPJmoSQq0f97gcryuPRYqYqKF2tW90-QUTKv/s1600/054.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hark! Who goes there!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This is an area I need to work on lowering her excitement level. The moment she realizes we are leaving without a lead, which means we are off to play, she hits the clouds with her excitement level. Since I have an auto door and open it prior to letting her out of the gate, I think I will just work on opening and closing the door a couple of times and then going off to do something else in the yard until she sees it as just another normal part of our day. Lowered excitement levels will keep her brain in operating order and make her eaiser to handle over all.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Next week we'll begin working on leaving the house without shooting out the door like a rocket on the leash and then work on walking up and down the ramp on a loose lead. Once she can enter and exit the van calmly we'll return to going to locations to work on calmly walking to and from the door until she can finally begin her entry into buildings and exiting again while calm. Without this training she will not be able to continue her public access training; currently her leash work is not good enough for public access work.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's been an interesting week with a successfully trained trick. I will work on shaping the last of Say Your Prayers and then work on her pulling open the bigger doors and bedding and begin the last of her task training. By then she should be ready to finish her public access training and preparing to finally graduate. It's been a lot of work, but Emma is progressing and once a task or skill is learned she does well with her confidence and control - it's just getting her there that makes me scratch my head on a daily basis.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/5NZ6gpizIjg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Tada!</div>
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-46651910714654201302014-03-31T14:43:00.000-07:002014-03-31T14:43:03.618-07:0018 Months: Training - Days 280 - 284<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fbiV2Vyrnlh2MBZJ5uId-EyVPpU4lwbl16EIuowhYfkeIr0O6-ZgBafepHlFVz5qHej-IYP5oXDolDIpOhvQPpPCm60ou7jRORb4q5iEEfNbn1mMVpxd9yh2bJ1HgzKrVv86Vyd8IX7H/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fbiV2Vyrnlh2MBZJ5uId-EyVPpU4lwbl16EIuowhYfkeIr0O6-ZgBafepHlFVz5qHej-IYP5oXDolDIpOhvQPpPCm60ou7jRORb4q5iEEfNbn1mMVpxd9yh2bJ1HgzKrVv86Vyd8IX7H/s1600/001.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doodles are silly when wet.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Monday - Friday</b><br />
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
My whole schedule is off with Emma arriving an hour after she would normally arrive. It seems to throw me into a loop to have the schedule changed by that much and I am having a hard time adjusting to it. I have never really done well with schedule changes and this has been a change that really has thrown me for a loop.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It seems to have thrown Emma for a loop also. I went to work with her and she simply didn't have her mind in the game and couldn't focus to work. With both of us off our game there is a gap in our communication. Since Mondays set her mood for the week and how well she'll focus on her training (she is one of THOSE dogs) for the remainder of the week. If she starts her week off with a lack of focus she'll generally end it with a large amount of shyness. Starting an hour late seems to throw her off as much as it does me. We both seem to be creatures of habit.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There is another issue with Emma. She's hyper excitable. Malcolm is excitable because he's an 8 month old puppy; Emma is 18 months old, almost 19 months old and her excitability makes Malcolm's look like he's nearly dead. A glance, a happy voice, a sound, movement anything sends Emma into flights of fancy. This is not a bad thing in a pet dog, but in a service dog it can become a fatal flaw. In order to make her return to public access training successful the first thing she needs is self control even when highly excited. That became the goal for the next two weeks of training - breaking down the idea she can be excited, but not jumping out of her skin excited.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When I pick up a leash or harness I expect a level of excitement. Max gives me a happy dance by spinning in a circle and then thrusting his head into his harness, but once it's on he's calm and ready to work. Malcolm does something similar, but isn't happy about putting the harness on just yet. Emma goes into barks, jumps and vibrations. For Emma, touching a leash or harness is like having Christmas every single day. For Max and Malcolm it is like waking up on a Saturday - I prefer the later reaction because it makes for a calmer dog long before entering the public realm.</div>
<div>
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<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKJHqf0nXgAb07a-5oO-4Ri8JRFOpG3ebQRxGbhbZ0CbGrAzqKJrRyGV69i88RIdXUZML-QlB2h1RX8eSBR-NLPw9KUvHfaMuOltJC4N6yaJWoYNLQslDJwsdcPphNdcuHr13m5gGLYlZ/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKJHqf0nXgAb07a-5oO-4Ri8JRFOpG3ebQRxGbhbZ0CbGrAzqKJrRyGV69i88RIdXUZML-QlB2h1RX8eSBR-NLPw9KUvHfaMuOltJC4N6yaJWoYNLQslDJwsdcPphNdcuHr13m5gGLYlZ/s1600/012.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dry Doodle!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Meeting new people, going to new places, even going outside for Emma is a matter of high level excitement and that hyped up excitement shoots her in the foot for working properly in public before we even get her gear on. So, we are spending time teaching her to be calm from the point the leash is touched to the point she enters the van and eventually to the point she exits the van and enters a new location. This will be a process and so far we haven't gotten out the front door.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Meanwhile, since I have her working so hard on solving the problem for getting her leash attached, I wanted something silly and fun for her to work on and to lay a foundation of learning for some upcoming task training. Her basics are solid; she can sit, down and stay on cue. She recalls like a bandit and even in a distracted state turn and focus back on me. Her leash work and her excitability are hindering her, but her basics are rock solid - including her Zen. We just need to calm her down to finish her training or accept it's a normal state of being and work her where her greatest success will be.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I decided to train Malcolm to bow and therefore did the same with Emma. She has Shake, High Five and the beginning of Say Your Prayers, but no bow just yet. For Malcolm it came quick and easy, for Emma it would be the hardest thing she's learned. One of the tasks Emma will learn is to pull the covers down for her handler and if possible to pull them up when he gets out of bed. So far she's figured out socks and pants and jackets, but beds are harder yet and will take shaping. Shaping her to bow is something that makes her aware of her body and requires her to solve what I am asking for.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I prefer to advance shaping by using tricks that in the end don't really matter if she masters or not. If she masters a bow, fantastic, but if she doesn't then it won't affect her ability to help her handler. I also believe it'll make him smile and that is always a good thing. I normally use a complex hand signal for the bow, but for Emma I used one I believe he can perform. It would be a while before I could put a hand cue onto her bow.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In Malcolm's case he'll learn to bow facing me, facing the same way as me, while I am sitting and while I am standing. For Emma she'll only be learning it facing her handler and only from a seated position. This is a trick he and she can do together and he can't stand, so she doesn't need to know it while I am standing.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
First though was reminding her that she has a leash attached to her. She has little clue that tightness on her collar means she's to yield to it. She used to remember that, but doesn't anymore. Her leash skills have fallen back to the beginning of lead training again. We worked on Level 2: Step 1 Lazy Leash and will continue to work Lazy Leash until she's once again able to walk properly on a leash.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To get to the point of putting the leash on to work the step though I had to calm her down. I reached up and touched the leash and clicked before she could go into spasms. I did this several times and then did it for lifting the leash and returning it and holding the leash and returning it and finally for putting on the leash. It took 10 minutes to get a leash on her with her remaining calm.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiObCKWOIDPTJPkBQ_dzjyWwsZzbPQEYnqdtNOVvYFIVpv6wVhLVVBMgOQpdRiKgWv31J1S1Fp3sSkpI5_lWsP9OSLciOwGr8afaOCyV-HjUK9hs4mKOniLMTgamuMUvr3X1arsiWUGW-DE/s1600/019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiObCKWOIDPTJPkBQ_dzjyWwsZzbPQEYnqdtNOVvYFIVpv6wVhLVVBMgOQpdRiKgWv31J1S1Fp3sSkpI5_lWsP9OSLciOwGr8afaOCyV-HjUK9hs4mKOniLMTgamuMUvr3X1arsiWUGW-DE/s1600/019.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guard Doodle.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When I put pressure on the leash she locked up. I didn't put a lot of pressure on it, no more than to push a cell phone, but she locked her entire body and remained absolutely still for almost 2 minutes before she shifted her weight ever so slightly toward the clasp. I clicked it. Each time we did a repeat she would lock up for a long time before moving, but each time was a little less and finally she was moving with the leash when she felt pressure. I'll stay with this until it's a fluid motion and she's not resisting the pressure of the leash and locking her muscles.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
After that I began working on a bow. She offered me backing up and laying down and putting her chin on her feet. It was a good start and nice to see. I was finally able to click for just a chin dip while she was standing and by the end of that first session she was dipping and holding her head near the floor. Silly and funny to see, but not really what I was aiming for. Goofy girl.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
By the end of the week she figured out how to bow, but only once and when she did she suddenly stopped taking treats and ended the game. One click she was up and wagging her tail and happy open mouth smiling and the next she was roached and making herself small and unwilling to take food. I don't know what went through her mind, but clearly something bugged her and all that happened was she solved the problem. Some days she has me scratching my head.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She ended the week a bit down, which got me to thinking she may need to burn off more energy than she's been doing during playtime in the yard. I knew the next week I had several back to back appointments that I had to attend, so I decided that I would see if she couldn't spend time playing with Jack at Ronda's in her nice big yard and explore a new area and really stretch her legs. It always seems to improve her mood.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-88138860330767314212014-03-14T20:06:00.001-07:002014-03-14T20:06:54.610-07:0018 Months: Training - Days 275 - 279<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfoMVObJbxRVJ_trOe1Vbez6KVQHR-KrpPo1YGLNf17-Z4WS1Wq5MVWWwLsVBzbU6MV_aK-aQ5mwQhPpkOG_U0490e0cKnr10DMErkFY9xktH6iMRGCTpdRX7JfJ0-eZpCcOeV7Z_I-ulW/s1600/032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfoMVObJbxRVJ_trOe1Vbez6KVQHR-KrpPo1YGLNf17-Z4WS1Wq5MVWWwLsVBzbU6MV_aK-aQ5mwQhPpkOG_U0490e0cKnr10DMErkFY9xktH6iMRGCTpdRX7JfJ0-eZpCcOeV7Z_I-ulW/s1600/032.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">FINALLY! She is LOOKING at the camera!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Monday</b><br />
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Emma normally arrives between 7:30 AM and 8:30 AM on Monday mornings. With the onset of tax season that changed to closer to 9:00 AM in the morning. I had expected her between 8:30 AM and 9:00 AM, so decided to train Malcolm just prior to her arriving and then focus on training her. This changed when Robin called and we got to discussing training plans for both her and Malcolm and sharing brags between our dogs. I kept watching for her owner as 9:00 AM passed and then 9:15 AM passed and finally noted their arrival at 9:30 AM.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
By this time I had changed the training plan for Emma and decided she'd attend my client consult that afternoon. Since she doesn't handle stress well just yet, I don't do formal training on public outing days and instead using the public outing as the formal training session. Since it was a client consult in a location she'd been too once before, I knew the level of stress I would be putting her under. It's a quiet single bedroom apartment where she's in a more home setting environment than a store type envirnonment. This type of setting allows for longer outings due to it being low stress.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I fed her breakfast and then setup a pouch with extra kibble and hotdog for our outing. Emma, a long time ago, stopped eating a portion of her meal when I fed her out of her bowl. She left approximately 1/4 cup of food in her bowl each time I fed and I took it as a sign she was regulating her calorie intake, which some dogs do. I dropped her food to 1 cup a day as a result. She's been eating 1 cup of food a day here since then and recently I have noted her ribs and back bone are too easily felt - she's not getting enough calories and this can lead to emotional instability. I have raised her back to 1 1/2 cups of food a day again since last week. I noticed this week she's not as thin, but her emotional well being may still be a bit unstable until she's at weight. Adding a few extra calories into her daily intake will be good for her overall at this point.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She is still getting over the top excited if she thinks I am taking her somewhere. I have to wait her out until she's not jumping and barking at me before I dress her. Once dressed she's ready to head out, but I have found her loose leash walking is completely shot - she's just not paying attention to the tension on her collar, so I will need to retrain that. She also cannot focus when out on the leash - she's ping ponging and rubber necking when out.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When we got to my client's location she was all over the place on the leash and it took a lot of work to get her focused and walking a straight line and even then, she was pulling on the leash. I have a lot of work to do to get her walking on a loose leash again. Any location I take her now needs to be pet friendly because she's not walking under control and needs to be reminded how to behave when out on a leash.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Inside the building she was a little worried, but otherwise okay. In the apartment she was in good spirits and did great demoing retrieve, shake, sit, down, settle, high five and target. She has a hard time just laying by me in a new location and needs more work on that behavior. We were there for approximately 2 hours in which she was heavily rewarded for behaviors I liked and did finally lay by me for up to 20 minutes at a time before breaking her down.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Our walk out to the van was again a challenge due to her leash behaviors. Looks like I need to take her back to basics on all of that to rebuild her skills on a leash.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUi7Uzi6XmI3qMfHYoFfwhPP7u1uP3FZ94o0AHranfMRcjrFP29RAKHunqekFWurxfRxkwDHBrS-CiEU9-W6C7KFZLdYDh9NyMbmc0Iefbsfi8X9CkosK2CjjVhizda_45TwSczOFcpeP/s1600/036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUi7Uzi6XmI3qMfHYoFfwhPP7u1uP3FZ94o0AHranfMRcjrFP29RAKHunqekFWurxfRxkwDHBrS-CiEU9-W6C7KFZLdYDh9NyMbmc0Iefbsfi8X9CkosK2CjjVhizda_45TwSczOFcpeP/s1600/036.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excuse me, but can I have your attention now?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Tuesday</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Today we took off from training. After an outing I want to see how she is emotionally and today she was flighty. No really fearful, but showing some fallout from being out the day before. She was more vocal, tending to leap out of my lap when Max barked and fly into the office to assist and quickly hid from me or anything that worried her. I offered her breakfast in her bowl and she refused to eat. That alone told me she was having major fallout and needed downtime to recoup. We'll return to training tomorrow.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_FxGIK6_-KEf854To2sOHavSLL-_ot3Wz8qLv1zYNaJGdp6Yy8tIua4BJjF1BrTQZizzFLBRzHhyphenhyphen6pwx6xcXUqkt-UqBm65l5EgUQVAMiF0Mtmwvfe5yUNd-qf9Ez7gF0gAlPMg_WM6v/s1600/042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_FxGIK6_-KEf854To2sOHavSLL-_ot3Wz8qLv1zYNaJGdp6Yy8tIua4BJjF1BrTQZizzFLBRzHhyphenhyphen6pwx6xcXUqkt-UqBm65l5EgUQVAMiF0Mtmwvfe5yUNd-qf9Ez7gF0gAlPMg_WM6v/s1600/042.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh sure, he's willing to look at her, but not his brother.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Wednesday</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Emma was in a fantastic mood this morning! I was so happy to see her up and happy and engaged. I started her on Level 2: Step 1 Communication and in short order she was backing up twice her body length and doing so on verbal cue. I will continue to work on adding a hand cue also, but the verbal cue was what I needed to get her started in the right direction for her tug tasks. After two solid rounds of backing up without anything in her mouth I pulled out a tug toy and had her take it and then back up.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Since she knows "Take It" as a cue (take item in her mouth to hold) and now "Back Up" as a cue, it was a quick process to chain the two behaviors together. I cued her to Take It and then Back Up and rewarded her backing up further and further. She started to put her paw into the picture by lifting it and looping it over the item in her mouth. I was careful to click for when her foot wasn't over the item in her mouth. It wasn't log before I got a good solid back up and no feet.</div>
<div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Level 2: Step 1 Communication</div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
The remainder of her lesson was working on taking and backing up with the jacket sleeve and removing my jacket. She did fantastic and lit up when she realized it was so much easier to take my jacket off. The next was with a pair of sweats which I pulled over my pants and low and behold, she was able to take the pant leg and back up with the level of force needed to pull them off. I only did one leg this round and I started with it on loose and then slowly put it on more and more until it was technically all the way on, but she never faltered once she got the idea she could back up and pull my pants off. I am very pleased with this development. She's ready to practice these two behaviors at home, though she's not up to taking a pair of pants off if they are all the way on and over the buttocks.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The cues are "Sleeve" for the jacket (aim her at the sleeve by the wrist by tapping it with your forefinger and saying "Take That" and then "Back Up" the first two or three times and then "Take Sleeve" and "Back Up" and then just "Emma, Sleeve" when she's doing good at aiming at the right spot on the sleeve to get a good pull.) and loosened pants which she can freely pulll off. The cue is "Pants" and she will need to have you point the first few times to get her thinking about what you are asking of her.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Right now, in practice, the rewards should be frequent and high value when working and slowly fade them as she improves. I am currently rewarding for each removed sleeve and will soon be rewarding for only removing the jacket, but she may need more rewards as she relearns the skill with her handler. Have him attempt the cues so she learns them from him as well.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She was having so much fun that she was trying to remove the pants before I could put them back on and was just lit up. She wasn't just enjoying the lesson she was completly thrilled with it. When the lesson was happening she had accidently taken ahold of my sock while pulling on the sweats. After the lesson I lifted my foot to pull my sock up and she zipped in and pulled it off with lightening speed. I laughed so hard and she danced and did the doggy smile and was clearly having too much fun. It took 5 minutes to put on my sock, but it was a lot of laughs and happy times for both of us.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I knew I had a series of appointments in the afternoon and having had her in a crate for 3 hours the day before I really didn't want to crate her again today. I lucked out, Ronda called to talk to me and agreed to watch Emma while I was away. I dropped her off for my physical therapy appointment and let her have a solo hour with Jack to run and play. Ronda said she was a little shy, but played in the yard with Jack after a bit and had a good time.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When I returned I dropped off Malcolm and Max and I headed out. Ronda said Emma and Malcolm defended her from a loose dog that was outside of the fence and she, Malcolm and Jack played hard in the yard. When I returned I let Max play for a while and watched Emma start a game of Catch Me If You Can with Jack and Malcolm and run with pure joy of living. She played until she couldn't anymore and came home to fall over and sleep until it was bedtime.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She ate dinner with gusto also. She's been a bit off on her feed and her appetite tonight made me very happy. She was relaxed, not stressed and happy as could be. Her huge play session at Ronda's was just what the doctor ordered. Tomorrow she'll attend my grooming session with Max and Malcolm at Haute Paws Grooming as another public access outing for this week. I'll evaluate how she is emotionally Friday and use that as my planner for next weeks training sessions for Public Access.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It was a fun day and Emma did a great job. I want to take some of what she's learned here to Haute Paws and work it again to improve her understanding of her tasks. I may even ask if Ralph or Sandi won't mind being alternate people she practices her skills on. I will also work on her leash skills at Haute Paws and her focus.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfRPKN_ivTjslWtUbuwsFlbZ2QpwJGI_-d2WMzW8k_S4Cc0BzDet2Ec2pu1fmOvBpXxrfGD2bGJIEUSahrYtZ6PfidnR3f46nve_7BF_q7CYSkLPEnvRnwfmcozVbJk-tLpvEvEL6OgEL/s1600/050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfRPKN_ivTjslWtUbuwsFlbZ2QpwJGI_-d2WMzW8k_S4Cc0BzDet2Ec2pu1fmOvBpXxrfGD2bGJIEUSahrYtZ6PfidnR3f46nve_7BF_q7CYSkLPEnvRnwfmcozVbJk-tLpvEvEL6OgEL/s1600/050.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wasn't he smaller than me when he came here?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Thursday</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Right now the type of public access training I am taking Emma to is designed for socializing more than practicing skills in public. This type of outing can be longer because it is not a "working" type of outing and designed more of a play type of outing. Max has events he attends with friends and family where I ask for assistance as needed, but he's in dog mode most of the event. Family holidays, visiting a friend's home or going to an event where he is primarily off duty require a different type of behavior from him; Emma is learning how to do this type of event also.<br />
<br />
For Max, he is expected to maintain his manners. No begging food, sniffing tables, chewing on items that are not his, having accidents in the home. He's to be polite to people and other animals in the home and he's to be calm and a good house guest. Emma needs this type of training also. She may, in the future, travel with her family to visit other family and if she doesn't know how to be a good guest it would not make her welcome for future visits.<br />
<br />
On Monday she visited a client's home and was a very good guest. She got to explore a little, but mostly laid by me and was quiet as a mouse a majority of the time. She did try a bit of barking, but it was quiet and under her breath and near the end when she grew tired.<br />
<br />
Our second outing was to another known location. She went with us to Haute Paws Grooming. She's permitted to wander about while we work on bathing and grooming Max and Malcolm and visit. She was a very good guest.<br />
<br />
She doesn't bark at new dogs when she meets them, but is instead curious but friendly and not rude when she says her hellos. A few times she put her paws up on the grooming table and sniffed the dog in play without causing them undo stress. She was never pushy or rude, but instead just curious.<br />
<br />
She met Pi and Lulu through their x-pen and was polite and appropriate. She met some of the customers who came and wasn't jumpy or out of control when she met them. She was considered a very polite and friendly girl.<br />
<br />
She played or slept or laid and watched us without getting in any trouble or being a problem to anyone there. Thus she got more attention from us. We praised her and gave her loves when she came up for a hello. She got lots of happy voices and plenty of time to be near us. She was lovely.<br />
<br />
I asked her to hop up on one of the tables and brushed her out without her tethered to it. She did without hesitation and was very good at letting us brush her out. Since the area behind Haute Paws is safe, I let her run off lead when we went on bathroom breaks and she explored the wooded area and recalled nicely.<br />
<br />
She's a typical hunting dog and once her nose hit the ground she forgot I was there once and was sniffing her way off to the next county. I called her to me and made a mental note that if she's let to play off lead she needs to be monitored to prevent her wandering off while following her nose.<br />
<br />
She spent the entire day there. By the end of the day she was tired and she started to bark at customers when they first came in. Clearly she needs to be given a nap on long outings to prevent her from becoming too vocal.<br />
<br />
She was tired when we left and slept all the way home. It was a good outing and Emma was fantastic all day long. I have no complaints about her behavior with new people, new dogs and visiting in dog mode at locations where she can.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_JvXsQpL-o3bf5Odb8q1kx_i6IBP77_qRI8GWVurB9R1CSz_wB3Ep47Sl1CKRyKXZmFHg2ipqoItzVDsQXExRW6wIsU3fyY6S-20OxlEgcC3Pc9pnyreEHv4W04lv_3wxOOXL6MQ1L4g/s1600/051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_JvXsQpL-o3bf5Odb8q1kx_i6IBP77_qRI8GWVurB9R1CSz_wB3Ep47Sl1CKRyKXZmFHg2ipqoItzVDsQXExRW6wIsU3fyY6S-20OxlEgcC3Pc9pnyreEHv4W04lv_3wxOOXL6MQ1L4g/s1600/051.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stop staring at me!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Friday</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
After our outing Monday Emma was a bit shutdown the next morning and needed a day off. I had seen the mood change first thing when we work Tuesday. I had taken a deep breath and she was flying into bark and bounce mode - which is one of her stress signs. She becomes more vocal when either tired or stressed.<br />
<br />
This morning I took that first deep breath and felt her shift her weight, but she was quiet and just watching to see if I was really awake. We spent the early morning cuddling and watching "How I Met Your Mother" on Netflix while I drank my morning coffee. She was happy and upbeat and not showing a lot of stress signs. She was even playful. Nice to see.<br />
<br />
She enjoyed playing with me and laying on my chest until I was ready to get up. Since her mood was so good I decided to do formal training with her today and she was great! I am so glad to see her recovery from an long outing the day before, even a fun one (she loves visiting Sandi and Ralph), was so good.<br />
<br />
She worked on removing pants today and I filmed it. We had to do a bit to remind her she could back up, but once she had that she was off and flying. Enjoy the attached video of some of our training.<br />
<br />
The cue for removing pants is Pants - she may need to go back to the building blocks of "Take it, Pull, Back Up" when learning again with her handler at home. She is not ready to remove them from his hips yet.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/CxygaeOGGKk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Complete</td>
<td>Complete</td>
<td>Complete</td>
<td>Complete</td>
<td>Complete</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Complete</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>Complete</td>
<td>Complete</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-48454559769895070562014-03-14T17:40:00.000-07:002014-03-14T17:40:57.458-07:0018 Months: Training - Days 272 - 274<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6PgP2qMkXQZ2GTTMupU88X8uLphjv-nA30XdYTFfUl0KcRD1LWscNVtqXdlmHYVRPRwvuN860fFlQhy3zmbEZnhINsQ1X16rP9_JqoBM-qa5crqrCI45IZbpn29EWvvAg85xYqWfRZcD/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6PgP2qMkXQZ2GTTMupU88X8uLphjv-nA30XdYTFfUl0KcRD1LWscNVtqXdlmHYVRPRwvuN860fFlQhy3zmbEZnhINsQ1X16rP9_JqoBM-qa5crqrCI45IZbpn29EWvvAg85xYqWfRZcD/s1600/015.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She's starting to look at the camera. That's nice.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Tuesday - Thursday</b><br />
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Emma stayed with her family on Monday because her boy was sick. We encourage any extra time Emma can spend with him to improve their bond. She is helping him at home by learning to now take his socks off, picking up items he's dropped and getting help when he needs it. Her biggest asset is she loves to spend time cuddling with him and giving him companionship. She's a master cuddler.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She arrived Tuesday in a fantastic mood. We worked on removing the jacket again and she did a great job with it. I am now cuing her to take the sleeve and pull. she's starting to back up a little bit, but is still primarily pulling with her head and feet. I introduced the idea of removing pants by getting my sweats and having her target the pant legs. It is clear she understands the concept, but finds the pants harder to do because she's not backing up.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qm-DxCCxV5U?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On Wednesday we worked on Level 2: Step 1 Communication again. I really want her to have a solid idea of backing up on cue when she's holding something in her mouth and thus need to build up the idea of backing up. I got her to back up more than move sideways by the end of the training session, but I noticed she was off while training. It's not a "she's shy" or "she's fearful" thing, just not really in the game thing. Emotionally Emma is a hotbox of good and bad days right now and sometimes a goal in her training needs to be set aside and her emotional needs must be addressed.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She's had a couple of weeks where my symptoms have flared and I am off, grumpy and in a great deal of pain and unable to handler her due to the perfume in her coat. For Emma, this is a breeding zone for insecurity. I simply need to stop and let her be a dog when this happens.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I spent the rest of Wednesday letting her cuddle and teaching her that laying right at my feet (a skill needed for working also) is as good as being in my lap. She's doing it more often now. I feel her curled against my ankle and reach down and praise her for her good choice. I noticed that another thing was happening all around the house - every dog in the house has Spring Fever. Yep, every single one of them is off. Max is barking, talking and reacting to every sound outside. Emma is launching like she's been shot out of a rocket when he does and following suit and barking at me constantly when she gets excited - even my taking a deep breath first thing in the morning sends her into spasms of barks. Malcolm is trying to start play sessions in the house and is finding trouble more often. The cold snap had broken, but the rain had come. The ground outside was a mud ball and we were having off and on downpours. It was not good play weather.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On Thursday I hit my limit. I took Emma, Max and Malcolm over to Ronda's house to play. I heard my voice raising at all of the dogs because they were reacting to every little thing and my head was pounding with all of the barking (Max and Emma and Dieter, not Malcolm. He doesn't bark when they do...how strange...) and I really didn't want to get into reacting instead of managing behavior. They all needed a huge run and a big play session.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Ronda had back surgery and I am helping feed her dogs in the mornings and evenings. I brought the kids over to play and check in on Ronda. Emma entered the yard and went into the rips. Ronda has a 6/10ths of an acre and Emma can really lay out when she's running. She spent the first 10 minutes in the yard doing nothing but running as fast as she could! Yep, she needed to play badly!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Malcolm injured himself this day. He was playing in the pool and when he ran into the house he did the splits and pulled his hamstring. Emma, on the other hand, didn't want to come in, but spent most of the hour we were there running and exploring the yard. She loves visit days and truly enjoyed playing in Ronda's yard.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Malcolm, who had injured himself, was so excited to be there he wouldn't indicate he had until hours later. He played Catch Me If You Can and wrestled with Emma and Jack until all three had huge tongues and were exhausted. At one point I spotted the three of them at the far corner of the back of the property and Emma laying by the strawberry bed watching Ronda and I on the deck by the house. I called her name and she perked and then I said, "Come" and she laid out like a Greyhound and ran with such speed to the house that Ronda couldn't say anything but, "Damn she's fast." Oh yeah, she can't get that type of speed up in my yard really and she's built for speed.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She cleared 6/10th of an acre of land, went around the deck and shot up the stairs in less than 3 seconds - oh yeah, she's built for speed. No wonder she hurts herself sometimes; she gets such a head of speed up she can't stop or correct her direction until it's too late. But she's a sheer joy to watch when she runs like that - it's nothing but pure joy of living for her when she's running like that.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When we returned from our play session she was happy, relaxed and feeling emotionally better. We spent the rest of the day just cuddling and enjoying being a family together. It was a much needed break for her and she ended the day on an upbeat and happy mood. If only I could get that happy mood day to day and not wonder each day if she'll be feeling emotionally secure. I'll be glad when her emotional roller coaster of maturity comes to a more stable ride.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On Friday Malcolm and I took her to her grooming appointment. She rode nicely in the van, but when we got there the groomer noted she was shaking a bit. She's so sweet and loving and silly and soft. I plan to take her back into public outings again, but I am going to take it slow with her and see if I can't get her ready for public work; there is no promise she can work in public settings at this time.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-689394787888669772014-03-14T15:55:00.000-07:002014-03-14T15:55:46.092-07:0017 Months: Training - Days 268 - 271<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_6cb2_3fa9_feb0_a069" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0UUesOWaYxX-uhnxSJ21i8udSk9ifq5q6BJk-UXzM-573dmJMyQhts7Xp0VEiKElydzXcTQ04fkRx6k2beNVUl_97yBY8esB7iSqKujfkl7__gvfVAhvNUvDKn0qV6wBj7HJLzDs49OY2/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0UUesOWaYxX-uhnxSJ21i8udSk9ifq5q6BJk-UXzM-573dmJMyQhts7Xp0VEiKElydzXcTQ04fkRx6k2beNVUl_97yBY8esB7iSqKujfkl7__gvfVAhvNUvDKn0qV6wBj7HJLzDs49OY2/s1600/001.JPG" height="240" id="id_dc22_1699_c897_ee83" style="height: 240px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It appears that is no longer my chair.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Tuesday</b><br />
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So, Jack is spending the week at his home and I am down to 4 dogs for the week. I have appointments almost every single day this week and Ronda and I discussed what would be best for my stress levels, especially since I am down a crate now that Tilly is going through her adjustment of moving into a new home and Roxie is still of the belief that Tilly is breathing her air. For Tilly's safety, the wire crate at her home is very important and once Tilly doesn't need it anymore it will return, but until then, I am down a crate and until the weather gets too warm, I will have to take one of the dogs with me and leave them in the car when I run an errand. Thankfully, the weather is perfect for that right now - a month sooner and it would have been too cold and in a short time it'll be too warm.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Today I had an appointment with an orthopedist to get me a brace for my left leg. Though you can't see it well in the videos because I am not taking many steps, I drag my left leg badly. Sometimes in the video you can hear the foot scraping along the floor. I have foot drop and weak muscles in my hip which result in one of two things happening when I take a step forward - sometimes both in a single stride. I either have my toe slide along the ground from the point I start to bring my foot forward to the point I start to put weight on it and/or I have the entire ball of my foot scrap along the ground if I am moving slow and don't shift my weight far enough to the right to fully bring my leg back for a stride - kinda of walking like a demented penguin. Either way, when taking a step without the assistance of a cane or Max providing full counter balance, I have to lean heavily to my right to bring my foot around so that the toe it scraping and I am not just pushing the foot forward in a shuffle. This has resulted in my not walking properly for a long time now and thus not using a lot of the muscles in the side of my hip or my buttocks properly. On top of that, due to the weakness that is primarily in the front of my leg, my left leg tends to buckle some and at times my knee just collapses under me. I tend to shift quickly to the right to stop from falling and Max has been taught to step into my leg or stand before me sideways to prevent that leg from buckling when I am standing still. I hadn't realized until today how much it buckled before Max took over keeping it from folding out from under me when standing or stepping off a curb.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I was given a AFO called a BlueRocker. It is a carbon based brace that goes under the foot, wraps by the ankle and then has a shin support that stops just below the knee. The design is such that if my leg does try to buckle the shin support stops the process. It also keeps my foot at a 90 degree angle to my leg and has a little lift to the toe, thus keeping my toe off the ground more when taking a step. It absorbs the energy of my step and returns it on each forward stride to improve my overall walk. It was strange at first working in it. I was so used to my old method of walking I was struggling to take a step in it and everything felt strange, but with time I was returning to a more normal stride and suddenly felt the burning in the side of my hip and my buttock. So, THAT'S where those muscles went! Wow!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There is more going on with my leg and feet. She wants to set me up with something that assists my hip in bringing my leg up higher so my toe no longer scrapes the ground at all and I need special orthopedics for my feet due to tearing in the tendons and muscles in the soles and spurs in the heels. Overall, this should relieve a lot of the pain I have been having with my legs, just leaving the nerve pain. The tearing in my ankles, sensation of feeling like someone has beaten the bottoms of my feet with a board all day and the deep bruised and stabbing pain in my heels should all be reduced if not eliminated.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Since I don't have Jack this week, I didn't have to play the "whose staying in the car this time?" game with the dogs. I had an odd start to my day as it was and so my training time was off too. Instead of starting by 8 AM, I was starting closer to 10 AM. Emma's owner is working at a tax shop near by and told me that she was starting at 9 AM in the morning and would be dropping Emma off closer to 9 AM than 8:30 AM as they normally do. I had spent a lot of the night before fussing in bed trying to sleep. After all of the walking at RadCon I was in a great deal more pain than normal. I hadn't used the chair for a majority of the weekend and though I rarely went out or far from the hotel room when I was there, I did walk the length of the hotel more than once and worked in the hall several times and stood on hard, cold pavement in slippers for a period of time - all of that had left me with lasting pain and spasms and sleep on Monday night was hard to achieve. I didn't fall asleep until well after 1:30 AM and woke near 8 AM.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Since I didn't expect Emma until near 9 AM I quickly jumped into the shower between 8: 15 AM and 8: 30 AM. I was just out of the shower and just starting to dry off when Max barked the bark that says "someone knocked" and I had to wrap myself in a towel and go to the door. It was Emma's owner looking annoyed and not understanding why I was hiding behind the door - mainly because I was in nothing but a smile and a towel. I later checked my voice mail and learned she'd knocked for several minutes at the door before I became aware she was there. If I had known she was coming at the normal time I would have been available, but I was led to believe that Emma would, for sometime, be arriving later than she did this morning.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This threw my schedule off a bit and I was still feeling weak; it takes me days to recover from the amount of walking I did over the weekend. I fed both Max and Dieter and preped Malcolm and Emma's meals and finally, after getting my medication in me and some food, got to the dogs.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">This weekend I got to watch some lovely videos on proofing behaviors, counter conditioning and working at and through thresholds. Each video gave me a better idea of how to work on improving skills that the dogs already have. I have been proofing Sit/Stay and Down/Stay with all of the dogs once they got an good idea of what I want. The previous posts of my making noises, banging walls, cupboards and drawers and bouncing balls as well as moving around and picking up items and putting them down have all been proofing techniques and over the weekend I saw how those had indeed paid off as Malcolm practiced a stay at the side of my power chair in a high distraction environment and was extremely successful.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">The video I saw was of a woman proofing a dog doing all kinds of strange body movements from arms waving to spinning to flopping on the floor. I can't do all of those and would later in the day be able to visit with my son Walter and show him the video and discuss his doing that proofing technique with the dogs for me and how to build up to the level we saw in the video. The counter conditioning video showed how to find the dogs threshold and then work up to and through it and the other video talked about working at and through thresholds also. Timely as ever, these videos helped me today in working with Emma.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">When proofing Malcolm's Sit/Stay I found out for him that the oven door opening while I was turned away from him caused him issues and we had to work at and through his threshold until he could do the Sit/Stay with the door opening all the way. I also found out that the tool I used to close the oven door caused issues and I needed to do the same with it until I could open and then close the oven door without his breaking his stay.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I decided to do the same lesson with Emma. I have never proofed with the oven before and thought she may have the same problems. I was right. She was more fearful than Malcolm, but she was willing to work with me and I slowly built up her threshold and worked until she could sit calm and confident as I opened the door and then closed it.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">For her the door as not as much of an issue as the tool moving over her head. We worked on that and she got it and was gaining confidence throughout the lesson. She was a trooper and stayed with me all the way through the lesson. It was a great session and Emma was up and happy with herself when we finished.</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_72f2_2cd7_1863_958a" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64v2xrmF8VwfNtXtO5kEuZ4o5iTjGn1CrxjUZYQvZj0Aro1mBvGIo4G2dCAUoiU1Je0MCVnvM5Cr6wOH2wKWm8nr5mzevAkwsdt1wqogNRo6rKmW_8IynPlNOkD9aV9_lWnoq8ZX4IBH5/s1600/EmmaSnow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64v2xrmF8VwfNtXtO5kEuZ4o5iTjGn1CrxjUZYQvZj0Aro1mBvGIo4G2dCAUoiU1Je0MCVnvM5Cr6wOH2wKWm8nr5mzevAkwsdt1wqogNRo6rKmW_8IynPlNOkD9aV9_lWnoq8ZX4IBH5/s1600/EmmaSnow.jpg" height="240" id="id_5856_534f_31ba_f528" style="height: 240px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Had too much fun in the snow!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Wednesday</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Poor Emma spends the first 24 and some weeks up to 48 hours having to be near me but not on me, touching me or close to my face because of the perfume in her coat. I am allergic to it and it gives me a blazing migraine and makes my sinus' hurt when she's just in the room; if she cuddles with me I have problems breathing and can feel my throat start to tighten and mucus start to clog my airways. Malcolm is not much better off. For the first 24 hours he ends up with major scratching episodes if he touches her, and he does touch her because he wants to play with her. On the second day he doesn't scratch as much or as long (on the first day each physical contact results in 15 minutes of tearing at his skin with his hind feet or chewing on himself to the point of crying) but there is still a mild reaction as the perfume dissipates from her coat. Generally by the third day both Malcolm and I can be around her and not react, but by then she's certain I am shunning her. I'm not, but I also don't want to bath her weekly just to clear her coat of the perfume and have her wet for half the day while she dries.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A friend is bringing me a dryer for her so when she arrives I can bath her and use a vinegar rinse on her coat to descent her and make it possible for both Malcolm and I to be near her. She really desires physical contact and is craving it by the time her coat has aired out over here. As a matter of fact, it affects her overall mood when she can't get the type of contact she desires. She wants to be close to me, laying in my lap or tucked tight against my chest and held tight for a bit. She wants to press her head into my face and get loves. She can't do these things - what had started as a mild irritant with the perfume has slowly developed into a major allergy and I can no longer have her within a foot of me for almost 2 days without reacting to it. To make it worse, I am starting to have a skin reaction too, my skin also starts to itch and I get a rash if I pet her without her getting close to my face, so it won't be long before I can't touch or handle her for 2 days when she first arrives because of the perfume in her coat.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That meant today's lesson came without any physical contact with me. I couldn't give her pets or affection for a job well done when working on her task training. She gets a huge emotional boost from a simple pet or stroke under the chin, but with my palms starting to itch and my already showing a reaction that affects my breathing, I don't want to keep pushing my allergy to the perfume in her coat. By tomorrow I can touch her and will need to groom her, since she is looking a bit rough, but for today, she's still in the no fly zone. I hate seeing that sad look in her eyes when I have to tell her not yet, but I just can't risk it anymore.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Even so, her muzzle touched my palm today and it was itching after the lesson. It won't be long before I can't even hand her her treats. I will have to pick up some apple cider vinegar for next week and do the rinse, whether I have the dryer or not. She simply can't go for 2 days without direct physical contact anymore, it's not fair to her.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She worked today on learning to pick up her bowl. I was using Dieter's bowl to train her with, since it's less likely to worry her as she learns the task. I offered her to touch the bowl and rewarded that and built up to her putting her mouth on and her teeth on the bowl. We didn't get much further and she's not taking any weight of the bowl herself yet, but she is willing to try and that is fantastic. I will continue to work this until she can take and hold the bowl and the slowly lower it to the ground until she picks it up and hands it to me and then rebuild the task with her metal bowl.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She's doing a great job of joining the training game, but I do want to make her first two days in the house more pleasant, so I will be setting up a bath station for her and hopefully have the dryer soon so she's able to dry off all the way after her baths here.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_2643_d47f_cc84_fd93" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMEAVR-HDlUoQxvj6-h7vHPRKbrO3nHSd78ZaS2rE2s81AHWsrgWZq1iuEXIbk4ta0iZhltZ95HUODUjOBo6EQunxrbwyXwIwd6usZ94kudZ7SorLzPUrVaBUIj5-b2-ij-IRfTbhgZnXN/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMEAVR-HDlUoQxvj6-h7vHPRKbrO3nHSd78ZaS2rE2s81AHWsrgWZq1iuEXIbk4ta0iZhltZ95HUODUjOBo6EQunxrbwyXwIwd6usZ94kudZ7SorLzPUrVaBUIj5-b2-ij-IRfTbhgZnXN/s1600/009.JPG" height="240" id="id_807e_baa1_239d_f67c" style="height: 240px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LOVE play days!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Thursday</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
I am not just a dog trainer. I am a disabled handler who uses a service dog. I am a dog owner. I am a puppy raiser. I am many things and when it comes to Malcolm's growth, I need to remember he needs to be a puppy as much as he needs to train to become my next assistance dog.<br />
<br />
Today was puppy day for the whole household. Emma too needs just a day of play and cuddles and just to be a dog. With the strong reaction both Malcolm and I had this week to her perfumed coat, she spent two days getting verbal praise and basic task training, but not a lot of the other vital things she needs for emotional health. She hadn't gotten the time to sleep against my leg or curl in my lap. She didn't get the pats and rib thumps and physical contact that makes her feel safe and secure. I had noted yesterday a return of her shy and slightly fearful self because of this and it's the very last thing I want to see. I want her up and happy and as secure in my home as my dogs; this isn't happening when she spends 1 to 2 days having to keep her distance from me while she airs out.<br />
<br />
Today was a make up day for all of that attention she was missing. I groomed her and spent time talking to her and giving her 100% of my attention. I had her curled against my leg in the chair and spent most of the day giving her verbal and physical attention. She was near shutdown this morning when I began this and ended the day up and happy again. That's it. I am bathing her when she comes next week so she doesn't have to go through such a long period out of contact. She can't handle it.<br />
<br />
Malcolm enjoyed cuddles and play and just being my baby too; as did Max and Dieter. We enjoyed some movies and just lazing about and hanging tight as a family. Overall, all of the dogs settled out nicely by the end of the day. Each and every one of them were displaying their own form of "but all I want is your attention" behaviors and giving each 100% of my attention off and on all day really was a needed part of raising healthy, happy and secure dogs.<br />
<br />
Some times the best thing for the dog isn't pushing through a training plan, but meeting a basic need of love and affection so they can train later. I have dogs who are emotionally balanced tonight because I simply became a dog owner and took off my other hats.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Friday</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/XeoBodDI8PI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
I ended the week with Emma having her practice Level 2: Step 1 Communication. Emma is learning the harder tug tasks she needs for her job. I had decided against taking her out for public access while I worked on these harder tasks due to her emotional state. She is in that up and down emotional state of an almost 18 month old dog which means some weeks are better than others. This week she was off due to my keeping her at a distance so much the week prior. To make things worse, the past couple of weeks have been colder than a brass brazier and my symptoms flared up badly. With the cold ranging in the low teens or single digits the idea of bathing Emma and having her damp for most of the day, thus also cold for most of the day, seemed unfair and I didn't bath her at the beginning of the week like I planned; it simply wasn't fair to her to ask her to be chilled and risk illness.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
After a day of cuddles she was doing so much better and I started her on Communication again. She needs to back up to pull of jackets, pants and shirts for her handler. She'll need it to pull down covers and again to pull them up. She'll need it to open doors and she'll need it for many of the harder tugging tasks she can do for him. Her feet are stuck. She's not backing up when pulling the jacket off my arms. She's instead doing a head jerk and using her front paws to pull the jacket off. To make this task easier I need to have her pull by backing up. To do this, I need to remind her she can back up.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I had her doing a lovely back up before, but we haven't practiced it and she's forgotten. I spent the morning just getting her feet moving and getting her feet moving backwards. Remember, we'd been working on swinging into a finish and she was offering that over and over. She had me laughing with her silly butt wiggles, but it was all sideways movement. In the end we started to get backwards movement, but she'll need more work on it to get a good back up on cue.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I want to work this until she can take five or six steps backwards without thinking when cued. Once she can do that, I'll work on her taking a tug and back up with it in her mouth and then apply it to the jacket task and then the pants task. This step should make her life much easier in learning these tasks.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_e05_7ad2_9297_bb70">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_4e5b_5cbe_a39e_96f9">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_5e7_6833_4c5_65a2">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_bdba_24ad_9302_c833">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-44102751304215530002014-02-13T20:40:00.001-08:002014-02-13T20:40:46.700-08:0017 Months: Training - Days 264 - 267<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_b829_d709_941b_7f8d" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW2VnK7euX57YU2c97VspQVFhAC7UcK8QI7SYyZA6CllRYFZv_ntcXIZajqnqR9yHCeugwR_22njz3EI_7Nr2o5bbUByOPQiQEZKOhDeJgGhacqvIfuKNdosTOTq5LEOLw7ov3dVKJs1LM/s1600/Tao+Service+Dogs+019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW2VnK7euX57YU2c97VspQVFhAC7UcK8QI7SYyZA6CllRYFZv_ntcXIZajqnqR9yHCeugwR_22njz3EI_7Nr2o5bbUByOPQiQEZKOhDeJgGhacqvIfuKNdosTOTq5LEOLw7ov3dVKJs1LM/s1600/Tao+Service+Dogs+019.jpg" height="240" id="id_6530_d97b_4de5_dce3" style="height: 240px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sleepy head!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Monday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Whew! I have been mass producing blogs to catch up after the major flare in my arms. I am going to be suffering again from this, but getting so far behind can result in my not getting you the information you seek, which is, "How is Emma doing?"<br />
<br />
Emma is doing great. She arrived in a great mood and jumped right into training. I set aside 30 kibble to reward her randomly during the day for calm behavior, such as sitting at my feet instead of jumping and moving calmly through the house or stopping barking when shushed. It is working and I am glad to see her calming faster as I reward those behaviors.<br />
<br />
Today I pulled out a sock and put it loosely on my hand. I she promptly took hold of it and started to pull, but not with enough force to pull it off. After a few clicks she got the idea and pulled it free, though I saw some paw lifting. Once I heavily rewarded the good behavior she was spot on and pulling it off no matter how much I put it on. She finally pulled it off when I had it fully and tightly on my hand.<br />
<br />
I then put it loosely on my foot and she promptly targeted my foot and pulled. No paw lifting this time, but still not enough pull to remove it. A few clicks and she had it. We got up to my sock being on 3/4ths of the way and her pulling it off in a smooth even action.<br />
<br />
I have also been insisting she not climb on me all the time, but lay at my feet like she would if she was working. She is getting more comfortable with this and no longer acts like she's whipped if I tell her I don't want her on me. Her self confidence is increasing also. I am very happy seeing this.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<b>Tuesday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/gorn_Zyp6RE/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/gorn_Zyp6RE?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/v/gorn_Zyp6RE?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></object></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Emma - Tug Task Training</div>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_4bfb_6017_316a_8cfa" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64v2xrmF8VwfNtXtO5kEuZ4o5iTjGn1CrxjUZYQvZj0Aro1mBvGIo4G2dCAUoiU1Je0MCVnvM5Cr6wOH2wKWm8nr5mzevAkwsdt1wqogNRo6rKmW_8IynPlNOkD9aV9_lWnoq8ZX4IBH5/s1600/EmmaSnow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64v2xrmF8VwfNtXtO5kEuZ4o5iTjGn1CrxjUZYQvZj0Aro1mBvGIo4G2dCAUoiU1Je0MCVnvM5Cr6wOH2wKWm8nr5mzevAkwsdt1wqogNRo6rKmW_8IynPlNOkD9aV9_lWnoq8ZX4IBH5/s1600/EmmaSnow.jpg" height="240" id="id_bfa8_5d2_e8c0_f5ec" style="height: 240px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The snow on her back legs turned<br />
into ice within a minute or two of coming<br />
into the house.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Emma is working on task training now and doing such a fantastic job of it. She has been learning some of her tug tasks, such as helping with undressing and making a bed or even opening a door. I have worked this week on just pulling off socks and will work on jackets, pants and shirts over time. Today I filmed what happened, so I won't be talking about the training as much as about her poor cold self.<br />
<br />
Yesterday 3 inches of new powder fell, making my yard into a winter wonderland with the already existing snow from the past two snow falls still laying on the ground. She came in from her outside playtime yesterday with loose packed snow in her coat, but not a lot of had packed snow. Today the temperature went up and the snow became sloppy and sticky. She had a hard time with the snow in her coat.<br />
<br />
Snow balls packed into the fur around her legs, between her toes and into her pads. She had it on her back legs so deeply that it went to the skin and she was distracted by it as it began to pull and clump into ice balls in the house. I looked over as I was preparing to train her and saw her turned and chewing on her fur in a way that would remove huge clumps of it and hurt her. I had to brush the ice out of her fur and then towel dry her, but even then, she was soaking wet. Her legs and feet didn't dry between each outing, which means she has moisture against her legs for hours on end.<br />
<br />
Jack, who recently had his coat cut, got a very tight cue on his lower legs for this very reason. Though the fuller look is very pretty, in weather where snow, ice and water can gather in fur that takes up to 2 hours with a blow dryer to dry after a bath and then 2 hours of air drying after to fully dry, the fuller look on the legs can be an issue for keeping her dry overall.<br />
<br />
Jack was a quick brush with a towel to remove the snow and a quick dry of his tightly trimmed feet and legs and he was dry within 5 to 10 minutes after coming in from outside. When we were at the groomers we'd spotted pink, slightly swollen tissue in the depths of his pads from water resting there after playing in the snow and wet. We did a major clean up between his pads to help dry them and are now working to prevent an infection in his feet.<br />
<br />
I am worried that Emma is at risk of an infection in her feet and legs if we can't find a way to keep her dry or dry her out sooner. I will continue to do what I can to dry her out - but even 4 hours after towel drying she was still damp against her skin. This can't be good for her in the long run.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0UUesOWaYxX-uhnxSJ21i8udSk9ifq5q6BJk-UXzM-573dmJMyQhts7Xp0VEiKElydzXcTQ04fkRx6k2beNVUl_97yBY8esB7iSqKujfkl7__gvfVAhvNUvDKn0qV6wBj7HJLzDs49OY2/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0UUesOWaYxX-uhnxSJ21i8udSk9ifq5q6BJk-UXzM-573dmJMyQhts7Xp0VEiKElydzXcTQ04fkRx6k2beNVUl_97yBY8esB7iSqKujfkl7__gvfVAhvNUvDKn0qV6wBj7HJLzDs49OY2/s1600/001.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I am fairly certain that isn't my chair any longer.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Wednesday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Wednesdays are busy days here and not always a promise I will get formal training done. Jack was scheduled to stay the day at his home, so a later start in the day than normal was a nice change of pace. Emma, for a couple of weeks now, has been waking me by barking and setting the house off. The week prior Malcolm had still been sleeping in his crate and Emma had access to the living room. Twice she went out and barked at some things she either heard or saw and set the whole house off at extremely early hours. Now that Malcolm has joined us in the bed and is learning to sleep through the night without eating the house I have the room once again gated. Emma woke us on Tuesday by barking at something and Wednesday she did it again at 7:45 AM. Not sure what she's hearing, unless it's the first kids going to school and the long cold winter and reduced physical exercise is finally making her batty like everyone else in the house.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I had been giving her carrots at night with the other dogs, which she took and ate, but stopped after 4 mornings the previous week being woken to her vomiting up some of the carrot in the morning. Not sure why they do that to her, but they do appear to make her a bit urpy and I am not exactly happy to wake to her bringing up some bile in the morning. This week, without giving her any carrots, the urping has stopped - so this is a good thing.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The other thing I faced the previous week was Emma peed and pooped in the house. I am letting her out often and all dogs get a run outside right before bedtime, but for some reason she was having bladder and bowel control issues. It happens with all dogs and I just shrugged it off for the week. I am happy to report a dry week and no midnight pooping - so things are back on track with her.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Knowing I had a very trying afternoon, I reserved my energy for it. I fed the dogs in the morning and we just enjoyed a lazy morning with me catching up on some TV programs and a little light house work. I have a trip coming up and was considering what I would need to pack the Thursday night (which will take me most of the night) to be prepared with two dogs attending me. I also had an expectation of Walter coming over to get the routine for this years babysitting of Dieter and Victoria and knew I needed to put together a few things for him too.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I crated Emma and Dieter when I left for a 4 hour run of appointments. I had let all the dogs outside for a good 15 to 20 minutes before I left and let them play and run off energy and get themselves cleared out. I gave Emma a bone they'd been working on during the week in her crate and decided to crate her in the big crate instead of the smaller one she normally crates in and put Dieter in that crate instead. I should have reversed it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I had a physical therapy appointment, a vet visit to recheck Max's ears to ensure his ear infection was cleared up and weigh Malcolm to find out if my increase of food had him growing on track again and a client consult. I left at 2 PM and would return just after 5:30 PM. When I came in the house I could smell poop and wondered which of the two dogs had an accident. It turned out to be Emma.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She had pooped, a lot, in her crate while I was gone and sat, laid and walked in it. I let her out and sent her outside for the time it would take me to clean up the crate and floor (poopy foot prints) and get the bathroom setup to bath her. I then clipped her lead on and walked her into the bathroom and bathed her. She was very unamused with the sudden bath, but there was no way I was sleeping with her that way nor sending her home that way.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The poop was a little runny so it may have been a slightly upset stomach or simply she wasn't happy being crated and she stressed herself enough to get an upset stomach and thus pooped. I don't know. She was happy enough when I let her out and didn't give any appeasement or stress signs at the time, so I am truly at a loss as to why she had such an accident. Poor baby.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She was curly as all get out and damp for most of the night after that; it was unavoidable. I can't let her stay covered in her own poop - it's not fair to her or her owners. I was going to brush her out that night, since bathing her tightens her curls into little knots, but since I would be heading to Haute Paws Grooming the next day, I decided to ask them to show me the best way to make her coat look right after a brushing and brush her there instead.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She was in a great mood the rest of the evening and after she dried enough she wouldn't make me wet, we cuddled and she slept like a log during the night without any further incident, but it wasn't something I expected to return too. I think from now on I'll just put her in the smaller crate where she doesn't have as much room and see if that prevents a repeat of this surprise when I return from required errands.</div>
<div>
<div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju7S4uSidVpHlvm9mmTgM0D0b8r4Q8mQv2GXxLtqTZ9ntaY5Q8B-6wctvbX24su9OqHq_-nX47cUxGhTyd4yKFsdNy8tWl-vPbqBd9ArUiddZSPy24pTBwyzWLZq3KHLydU0bWba4l7CIc/s1600/Emma+peeks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju7S4uSidVpHlvm9mmTgM0D0b8r4Q8mQv2GXxLtqTZ9ntaY5Q8B-6wctvbX24su9OqHq_-nX47cUxGhTyd4yKFsdNy8tWl-vPbqBd9ArUiddZSPy24pTBwyzWLZq3KHLydU0bWba4l7CIc/s1600/Emma+peeks.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See ya next week!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Thursday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>Her curls were so tight when she woke and she looked like a little hobo with her hair all flat. I knew I had an early morning and needed to head out to Max's scheduled grooming for my trip, so I didn't do any formal training, but instead packed up the entire household with Walter and headed out just after 9:40 AM.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Emma was happy to go and a bit surprised we'd packed up Dieter also. Sandi and Ralph, who own Haute Paws, had invited all four dogs to come for the day while I worked on training their puppy Pi and they tormented Max with a bath and brush. I had to look like some over taxed dog walker walking four dogs across the parking lot - Max working on my left and Emma, Dieter and Malcolm walking like a mini herd on my right. Funny thing is, all three walked pretty much loose lead - though Emma is back to pulling again so I will need to work on that more.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Emma was happy to hang out and sniff the three Bermese Mountain Dogs (two puppies and an adult) and Lulu (a Pug) and hang out watching the activities. I take her to the groomers once a week and drop her off and she doesn't see me for 3 days after that. This was a visit to a groomer without my leaving - which I hope helps her relax a bit with my taking her to her regular grooming appointments.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It was a great day and I saw lots of fantastic behaviors from her that I rewarded randomly during the day. She laid quietly watching us and being very confident and regal. Sandi, who has met Emma previously, was highly impressed with Emma's improvement. She could see she was calmer, more confident and relaxed. Nice to hear!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We put Emma up on the table and Sandi showed me a better way to groom Ms. Emma. We got her tight curls brushed and trimmed and dremmeled her nails and cleaned up her potty area a tiny bit to make her daily care easier. She was great for the brushing, but nail trims are a nightmare for her and I had to hold her and reassure her we were not removing her feet. Poor baby.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I had asked Sandi and Ralph to do Max as quickly as possible so I could be back in time for Emma's pick up time. I set a two hour block aside for the family to pick her up in, and though I know they generally don't arrive at the top of that 2 hour block, I make myself available during it anyway. I had Walter walk each dog out individually (except Max) and cue them to potty and load them in the van as we prepared to leave. He said that all but Malcolm pottied - Malcolm had gone potty a short time before that and simply didn't need to pee. He reported that it took Emma some time to get to business, but she did go.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She and all the other dogs, after an adventure of new people, dogs, smells and sounds were exhausted and slept on the way home. Once here they all tanked up on water and I finally got a chance to clean up the yard. I haven't been able to get to that job since the snow flew about 3 weeks ago. With five dogs using .12 acre to go in, it can get a bit thick if not picked up regularly year round. With the snow almost a foot deep at one point and the poop hidden and then a sudden thaw that left the yard a swamp for 3 days I simply couldn't get the job done until today.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I let her and the boys out with me and they played and romped in the yard while I picked up. She was outside when her caregiver came to get her. She was in fantastic spirits after a good romp in the yard and I watched as she walked tall and jumped in her van to head out for the long weekend. She won't return until Next Tuesday and a long day of dog friendly public access was a good end to her week and then a fun filled weekend with her family.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I am happy to see her confidence and mental and emotional health improve so much. She showed no fear signs all day and had a great day and I do believe she'll handle other public access situations with more confidence now. I am looking forward to restarting that part of her training.</div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_2b77_432_a5d8_c0d4">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_34dc_4974_ab6d_2873">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_4177_7f1e_9298_728b">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_55a0_58cb_fcf_fc25">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-26569548955205191422014-02-11T20:59:00.001-08:002014-02-11T20:59:33.237-08:0017 Months: Training - Days 259 - 263<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7TR5CDHXqq0Yndfdmu_On1hTt54mLGXWWFZ8mrfY0iFMcARV33Ehx0WNiZvj8ycH1-D895aF5Sw8ZdjzFZrYIafYxfr0uXN478e62wkkcAcjFof5v04GH-tseqJ3Sla2l_JeIiH9PQKWd/s1600/herefirst.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7TR5CDHXqq0Yndfdmu_On1hTt54mLGXWWFZ8mrfY0iFMcARV33Ehx0WNiZvj8ycH1-D895aF5Sw8ZdjzFZrYIafYxfr0uXN478e62wkkcAcjFof5v04GH-tseqJ3Sla2l_JeIiH9PQKWd/s1600/herefirst.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excuse me sir, I was here first.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Monday - Friday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Emma returned with her spirits high and her bounce in full force. I had hoped that the small changes I was seeing the week before, better focus, confidence and persistence would continue and I wasn't disappointed. She was a new dog!<br />
<br />
Emma has been, since she was a baby, a challenge to train. She was uncertain, even as a baby, about taking food when offered and some days she was so fearful she would slink away and pee herself. It was a challenge to bolster confidence and work at a pace that kept her from shutting down. Had I even thought that teaching her to eat would change so much in her I would have done it ages ago.<br />
<br />
She worked 3 Rounds of Tug Tasks with me. We worked on the cabinet door, the easier of the tasks to start teaching the concept she can pull as well as push the same item. She had been barely opening the cabinet before this and lifting her paw as she did, her sign she was worried. Even with Malcolm making a fuss behind the gate across the kitchen she would just glance at him and then go right back to the task at hand and was IN THE GAME.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ceJHdZKGzmM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Do you know this dog?</div>
<br />
<br />
She was up, her tail waving happily and her face relaxed and happy. She was working on the task with a steady improvement each time she pulled and though the paw was coming up, she was starting to lift less and work harder, a sign her confidence was improving. She got the cabinet half way open, the furthest she's ever opened it and she was totally ready to keep working when her time finished. Who is this dog and why hadn't she shown up before?<br />
<br />
We then worked Swing Finish and for the first time she wasn't shy, worried, slow, hunched, low to the ground, but up and almost dancing! Who is this dog?! For 2 Rounds she was playing and having a great time with zero fear! I love it.<br />
<br />
Tuesday was a no training day. I had appointments and I wanted her to think on what I had worked on the day before. Returning to full training needs to be done with some care and I want her fantastic mood to stay. She's eating without hesitation and dancing when I bring out the food and I am loving it.<br />
<br />
Wednesday I had only Emma and Malcolm to train since I had afternoon appointments and Ronda and I decided to keep Jack home. She was once again ignoring Malcolm who was whining at the gate like he was be tortured - which he was, since I was giving food to someone else. She would glance at him and work on her tug task - which was once again opening the cabinet.<br />
<br />
She continued to improve and her entire body was relaxed and I had very little paw lifting. She opened the cabinet! I have it on film and I was thrilled. Once she got it open she was flying. She knew she had it figured out and the paw lift just faded away as she improved on the skill. I am so happy with her progress!<br />
<br />
We again worked on pivoting as I pivot. I was standing at the time, but will transfer it to a chair and finally the wheelchair. It's a safety factor to keep her feet out from under the wheels and makes her look more professional when working with the chair. She was so happy and focused and even began getting the idea of backing up with me. This is just plain fun now.<br />
<br />
Thursday we worked on shaping a back up to help her learn to pull open a drawer. We moved our tug task to the drawer, but she was again at that, I don't know what you want and was starting to shut down. I changed tracks and asked for a back up and low and behold, she's swinging into a heel! Clearly she has that on her mind and has been working it out. I can see her looking to get into the right position and it's just plain fun to watch. What a smarty pants.<br />
<br />
We also worked on tugging a sock off of my hand. I had it loose on my hand and started the tug task she'll need to help her handler pull off his clothes. She got the idea, but I had the sock on very loosely. I then went and got a jacket and hung it over my shoulder with my arm in the sleeve and she was able to solve and pull my jacket off my arm.<br />
<br />
She was soft on her pull in the beginning and it took a lot of click and pull to get there, but once she pulled it off the first time she suddenly got it and pulled it with gusto the second time. She is better with my right arm than my left, but I will continue to build up to removing a jacket proper.<br />
<br />
Friday she went for grooming, so she ate breakfast and we left for the groomers. Unlike the last time, she wasn't shaking in fear when we arrived, but she wasn't totally happy to be there either. Inside she kept trying to pull me away to the front door. At least it was nerves this time and not full blown fear.<br />
<br />
What a remarkable change in this tiny mite of a pup. I am very happy with her and will soon rebuild her public access training and see if she can't improve on that and not have the fallout I've seen in the past.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-11063984791808080152014-02-10T21:53:00.000-08:002014-02-10T21:53:59.187-08:0017 Months: Training - Days 255 - 258<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBU6Lzg9oo6Ady8x4DkBvruvZU1w7TNlLj60vU3Pxqq0YpVg0EPqnptqOwO5EtwwBl1erc-W_dsnNs9uCyx1bvjOgMdj4Miw_pyeTQcvbuqrrckDkuUQ1i22BHGBUkppjwirfJDb329n_G/s1600/060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBU6Lzg9oo6Ady8x4DkBvruvZU1w7TNlLj60vU3Pxqq0YpVg0EPqnptqOwO5EtwwBl1erc-W_dsnNs9uCyx1bvjOgMdj4Miw_pyeTQcvbuqrrckDkuUQ1i22BHGBUkppjwirfJDb329n_G/s1600/060.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Her face has matured so much.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Tuesday - Friday</b><br />
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
This will be a short blog post because not a lot happened last week for Emma outside of her continuing to learn to eat. We had spent the week before working on learning to eat from a ceramic bowl with great success. She was more confident in her daily activities and handling stress better overall. I was very pleased with her continued progress.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I changed from the ceramic bowl to the metal bowl on her return on Tuesday after a long weekend with her family. She once again choose not to eat when I set the metal bowl down and after a slow count to five I picked it up. I watched her look up in a bit of surprise that I was still serious about her eating when presented with her food and went about the rest of my day. That evening she ate her meal without hesitation or stopping. It was a short battle between us with a single missed meal reminding her that despite the type of bowl she was to eat when offered.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For the remainder of the week she continued to improve on her confidence and emotional well being. She was more upbeat, highly excitable at time and quick to recover from frights or concerns throughout the week. I even did little bits of training with nothing more than praise and no food. I wanted her kibble to raise in value and teaching her to eat did that.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The only problem I had is she peed in the house twice during the night, despite being put outside prior to bedtime. She used the pads I lay out for Dieter, but it's not the first time I've had her pee in the house while I am sleeping and I don't know if it is because Dieter pees in the house or not. She tends to lift her leg on my power chair and I've had her do that three times now. A pee pad is now set along the edge of the power chair to prevent her peeing directly on it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She also had a poop accident in the house during one night. Still don't know what that was about, but I didn't react and just cleaned it up and it hasn't happened since. She may have just had a couple of bad nights - but I am now not filling the water dish after 6 PM. They have fresh water all day, but between Emma and Dieter I want to stop the process of learning they can sneak off and pee when I am sleeping.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Overall, Emma's progress with this two week protocol has truly improved her attitude overall. She's a happier, more relaxed, less worried dog who is now curious about training and wants to join in when I am working with the other dogs. I am truly looking forward to returning to regular training, but I think this break now has truly made a turn around for her.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-70076861130105799582014-01-24T16:50:00.002-08:002014-01-24T16:50:38.017-08:0016 Months: Training - Days 251 - 254<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHrXcvckpV-qQkCphjOJNwoOkcKDzVWvqXxyiEeyWwhgmhPuSHP1YJUuqTPhJ4X7hsMfJHipcpkQx4WQLTDF8pSJm2_f58or2iCVIF3s-tbVUngBjR3pWXj-cJ4cRVZpDl2m5ZgWt4f79r/s1600/blogger-image--595308870.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHrXcvckpV-qQkCphjOJNwoOkcKDzVWvqXxyiEeyWwhgmhPuSHP1YJUuqTPhJ4X7hsMfJHipcpkQx4WQLTDF8pSJm2_f58or2iCVIF3s-tbVUngBjR3pWXj-cJ4cRVZpDl2m5ZgWt4f79r/s1600/blogger-image--595308870.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma before we started her new protocol.</td></tr>
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<b>Tuesday</b><br />
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I make an effort to meet Emma's owner outside when she drops Emma off so I can watch and evaluate their communication when walking. I have been slowly fine tuning it and trying my best to help the walk from the car to me improve over time, but it's still been a bit off and it wasn't until the last time she had been dropped off I realized what it was. Emma has a bad habit of sniffing the ground when she's walking and not paying any attention to her handler, not just her owner but I experience it also at least half of the time. I had worked on it with her by adjusting how I hold the lead and how I communicate through it and was happy with her improvement with me. I had then relayed to her owner that to keep her head from going down they needed to shorten the lead so she had less of a chance of sniffing. What I didn't relay was a proper way to hold the lead.</div>
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Emma is their second dog and as hard as they are working to learn and understand her, they don't have the experience I do with dogs. I have lived with, walked and raised dogs all of my life. I have a ton of experience of holding a lead and just walking with the dog with a relaxed body and relaxed lead. They do not. It's like driving a car or learning to skate. There is hesitation and a ton of things that need to be remembered and put into muscle memory. Do you remember when you first started driving? Checking the gauges, looking in the mirrors, making sure you were in alignment in the lane, gauging how wide the car was and more were ALL on your mind ALL at once and there was a lot of slow movement and hesitation in figuring out how to park or turn a corner. Driving in a straight line didn't come naturally and only with experience did it become second nature. The though of drinking a cup of coffee and eating a burger while turning up the volume on the radio and driving at the same time would have been overwhelming! It's the same when learning how to walk with a dog and keep it fluid and the communication clear - a hundred tiny things to figure out and remember and try to do and all the while you are WALKING at the same time. No wonder it is a struggle for both ends of the leash.</div>
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Now some dogs make it look easy. They just get it and walk nice and loose on the lead and plod along at your pace. Some people also never had the struggles of learning to drive either; they just got into the car and drove and it was perfectly natural. Some people have the knack to get it and work a dog without hesitation or issue and the dog just gets it and follows along. Some people can put on roller blades or skates and just go too. Those people or dogs are rare and Emma is not one who just gets it nor is her owner able to just pick up the lead and have that wonderful communication. There is nothing wrong with it and the family is doing nothing wrong, but it does mean I need to evaluate what I now do naturally (having driven a dog since childhood) and must break apart and share.</div>
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Thus, this morning I met her halfway down the ramp and explained why things were going a bit funky with poor Emma. She had the leash in her right hand (the tail of it) and about halfway up the length of the leash she had in her left hand and she was lifting up (as per my instructions as she understood them) making a straight line from her to Emma with the leash and putting tension on the leash at all times. This triggers an opposition reflex in the dog, which she wouldn't know, and for Emma adds stress to the generally pleasant walking experience. How to explain what I do that is different and explains things better, but helps keep Emma's nose up?</div>
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We discussed it and I took Emma's lead (her excitement level was perfect, she was thrilled to be there and excited by the smells and totally distracted) and I curled the leash in a loop in my left hand to take up the excess amount and left about 1 to 1 1/2 foot between her and I - IE, just enough to let the leash be loose when we walk and my hand hangs down (the owner had her hand about shoulder height to keep the leash high enough to prevent her from sniffing) and just short enough to prevent her nose from reaching the ground without my knowing and being able to gently curl my wrist and shorten it just enough to catch her attention (without a leash pop or correction) as her head went down and bring her attention back to me. My body was relaxed, my arm hanging normally at my side and I made myself a bit more exciting than the environment and got her into position and we walked up to her owner with minor sniffing and mostly loose lead. I explained what I was doing and what I was looking for to prevent her from pulling by activating the reflex and give her a bit more communication through the lead that wasn't tense or worried - which trust me, I have fed that down a lead in the past also and it just makes the dog more anxious. It took me a long time to realize that was EXACTLY what I was doing to Dieter and a longer time to fix my own mistake.</div>
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I then handed the lead back to the owner and had her walk Emma up to me (about 5 to 7 feet) and low and behold Emma was paying attention to her suddenly and doing a nice job. I have to say, her owner did a great job of listening and working with me and I appreciate the effort she put in. It isn't easy to learn how to walk a dog where the two of you are in perfect sync, but once you know how it feels, boy howdy, do you want to have every dog from the point on do the same thing. I may have to have her walk Jack sometime to feel it. Jack is the best lead trained dog I have right now and he's like walking air.</div>
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Over the weekend Emma's owner worked on the protocol for Teach Your Dog to Eat. They stuck to their guns and Emma was eating without issues and completing her meals by the time they brought her back. Since Emma lives in two houses and there are, by default, difference in rules and structure in both home, she decided to try this morning to see if the new rules at her other home were the same ones here. She is ONLY working on this protocol until she's eating with relish and looking for more when she finishes and not training task or basic skills at this time.</div>
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I set her bowl down, counted to five slowly and when she just stood looking at me picked her bowl up and set it aside for the day. That was it. It's a huge thing to train a dog to eat and the protocol that Sue Ailsby uses is highly effective and has taught all the other dogs in the house that have done it to eat and work for food. It's Emma's turn and she's learning.</div>
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The rest of the day we used play to build impulse control and just enjoyed being together. Her first day or two in my house is a no snuggle day due to some perfume the family uses in the home. It makes my sinus' swell and makes it hard for me to breath. It also makes my eyes water. It's not strong on her coat most of the time, but due to her coat type it is deeply embedded by the time she returns and any very close contact causes me to react. The last few times I have had troubles breathing if she puts her fur up in my face and I get a deep breath of it. I am allergic to it and need to let her air out a bit before I can be close to her. I need to find a better spray to put on her coat to remove the scent so I can be close to her sooner. She's starting to get it though. She'll curl against me, but not put her head in my face until I invite her too. It's a solution, but no the best. Poor girl loves to cuddle. Being able to play and get that type of interaction is important, since her favorite full body contact is out for a short time.</div>
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She is doing very well on her impulse control in play, but gets very jumpy. At mid-day I decided to click for her feet hitting the floor and reward with physical contact. I have muted the clicker I use in the house and can carry in my pockets and she's responding better to it. The instant I clicked and then petted her she lit up. Very good. We'll use that for a while and build impulse control while she works on learning to eat.</div>
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This evening when I put her food down she decided I was as serious as her owners about her eating her food and ate her entire dinner with only a brief stop to peer at me when I blocked the other dogs from entering the kitchen while she was eating. After that she didn't stop eating until she finished. Slowly she'll build confidence in eating with me nearby (a problem for her) and with the other dogs moving around (a problem for her) and with the gate opened or closed (closed is a problem for her) and learn that eating is safe and easy to do.</div>
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Wish us luck!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7TR5CDHXqq0Yndfdmu_On1hTt54mLGXWWFZ8mrfY0iFMcARV33Ehx0WNiZvj8ycH1-D895aF5Sw8ZdjzFZrYIafYxfr0uXN478e62wkkcAcjFof5v04GH-tseqJ3Sla2l_JeIiH9PQKWd/s1600/herefirst.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7TR5CDHXqq0Yndfdmu_On1hTt54mLGXWWFZ8mrfY0iFMcARV33Ehx0WNiZvj8ycH1-D895aF5Sw8ZdjzFZrYIafYxfr0uXN478e62wkkcAcjFof5v04GH-tseqJ3Sla2l_JeIiH9PQKWd/s1600/herefirst.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hey, I was here first!</td></tr>
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<b>Wednesday</b></div>
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Emma is out of the food her family feeds her at my home and her family was supposed to bring me some when they dropped her off this week. By accident it was forgotten and her owner stated she would bring it this morning. Jack was not due to come today due to a schedule conflict, so I took a bit of extra time letting the muscles in my legs wake up before starting our day. Emma had been fussy all night and woke me several times when she flopped across my legs or body slammed my legs. It was always my legs and below my knees, so I think her sensitive self was aware I was in a great deal of pain - which was why I hadn't been able to fall asleep until well after 1 AM. She's never done this before, but I suspect her boy has bad leg nights and she's grown used to pinning them to help him rest. That is what it felt like she was trying to do - stop my legs from doing the jig.</div>
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I had expected her family to arrive with her food between 7:30 AM and 8:30 AM and so was waiting for them at that time. Generally they arrive at the end of the hour, so I got my coffee and let them out for a run and then started to do my dishes, but my feet and hip still hurt, though not as bad as they did the day before. Read Malcolm's post for this week to discover what type of day I truly had.</div>
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By 9 AM it was clear that her family had forgotten to bring her food, so I decided to feed her the same food my dogs eat and got everyone's breakfast. I am currently feeding Emma out of a ceramic bowl after the fear reaction she had of the metal bowl when she returned. I don't know what type of bowl she eats out of at home, but I am working up to her being able to pick up and hand her bowl to her handler to make it easier for him to be part of her daily care giving. To do this she needs to eat out of a metal bowl (plastic bowls tend to collect bacteria and speed up the graying of the muzzle) and learn to pick it up. When she was 4 months old I accidentally dropped her metal bowl right in front of her and frightened her badly. It took months to recover from that one incident.</div>
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Before she went on vacation she was eating out of the metal bowl, but she was still stiff in the hind legs and a little leery of it, but I was seeing her relax more each day with the bowl. She was able to slide it along the floor and had heard it drop a few times and not freak out. When she returned she was back to the almost peeing herself frightened of the bowl. Not sure if it's a phase and she just needs a little break from it or what, but I first want her willing to eat and THEN reintroduce the metal bowl and re-teach her to eat from it.</div>
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She is eating now without too much hesitation. She goes right to the bowl and starts eating within 1 second of being released to eat. She raised her head once today while I was moving to block Malcolm and Max from entering the kitchen while she ate, but went right back to her meal and finished it. I am introducing distractions while eating slowly. I have stopped shutting the gate and have turned my back on her. That helped. I stood still yesterday, but today moved around while she ate. As she finished I let the dogs into the kitchen and retrieved her bowl.</div>
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The rest of the day would be spent cuddling and playing and visiting with a friend who dropped by. She was very happy to meet him and curled up in his arms for a while during our visit. In the evening I put her bowl down and this time waited until she was almost done before letting the dogs into the kitchen. She was eating without issue and even with Malcolm standing close to her she continued to eat and finished her meal.</div>
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For the remainder of this week she'll work out of the ceramic bowl and I'll just allow the dogs into the room sooner until she's okay with the idea of them being in the room while she eats. Next week we'll start from the beginning with the metal bowl and do it all over again. By the end of next week she should be completely reset on her eating habits and I can, near the end of the week, start training her with some of her kibble.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5Cuq4TX9elUfz4tlvM4iW5EqKo7lI4uyX22vkyopaPcRh8yyQLzYBzc5uIhue4REJhkIP9BsqzjUr4BaOkB4MKIL7cNNeaSfZq_o2jkm73UGiT7G-lIsrNQTI6D0WoEksVTb4m88GRiJ/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5Cuq4TX9elUfz4tlvM4iW5EqKo7lI4uyX22vkyopaPcRh8yyQLzYBzc5uIhue4REJhkIP9BsqzjUr4BaOkB4MKIL7cNNeaSfZq_o2jkm73UGiT7G-lIsrNQTI6D0WoEksVTb4m88GRiJ/s1600/005.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Upper Left: Dieter, Middle Left: Emma, Middle Right: Malcolm,<br />
Lower Left: Max and Lower Right: Jack</td></tr>
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<b>Thursday</b></div>
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It's funny how teaching Emma to eat improves her overall confidence. I have been slowly introducing distractions in the room she's in while she's eating. First it was my being in the room and still and then my being in the room and moving and then I added the dogs entering the room while she was just finishing her meal and finally the dogs entering the room while she's eating her meal. She's able to eat without stopping now and there is not hesitation in her starting her meal. I still see some stiffness in her body, but it's slowly leaving and her confidence each meal is increasing.</div>
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This change in her is bleeding over into her daily life. Since I am not clicker training her while we work on her learning to eat I play games or just cuddle with her during the day. Mostly, I am teaching her she's okay even if I am not paying attention to her. She's always been one of those dogs that needs a ton of input from her humans to feel secure. She wants verbal, physical and emotional support on an almost constant basis and it's truly exhausting. These past two weeks I have rewarded her with affection and attention or food when she came out from behind my recliner and whenever I pass the recliner and she's laying in it I just stroke the top of her head and look at her. It seems to be just enough to make her feel okay with her world.</div>
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When I am relaxing in my chair and I don't want a dog on me she's learned she can lay at my feet and it's okay. She's discovered she can go into the big crate and enjoy a bone and all I do is walk by and praise her. She's also learning that getting excited and barking gets her nowhere. She's started this bounce and bark habit in the past month when I get up or it's time to go outside and it riles the whole house up. It doesn't help Max does much the same with yakking at me in GSD speak and I am now hearing Emma use the various vocalizations he uses when she wants to convey her excitement to me.</div>
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Today I simply stopped and ignored every dog in the house when she and Max got into a bark off. Once they quieted I would take a step and if they barked and wound up again I stopped. It took 20 minutes to cross from my kitchen to my front door, but both her and Max got the message and it was quieter going to the door for the remainder of the day.</div>
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She also learned that going into leaping fits of excitement stopped my progress to the door and she's calming down a bit on that too. It's a work in progress, but every dog in the house is given the choice to be over excited and stay in or calm and go out. Since the reward is to go play outside, they are quickly picking up on the rules.</div>
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She is quickly and without fear or hesitation going into the smaller molded crate when I call her name and cue her. She is staying quiet in the crate and waiting to be released whenever I have company come without fussing or protesting. The new routine of crating her and Jack, putting Max in the office and Dieter in the bathroom and clipping a lead on Malcolm has helped with answering the door. Every so often Emma or Jack will go in a room with either Max or Dieter on their own and I am okay with that - I just want them to have a given routine and to know mugging guests is not okay.</div>
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Today I dropped a bowl while working with Jack. I was in the kitchen and Emma was in my recliner. I glanced to see how she reacted and she didn't even hardly move and then decided to lift her head and watch me calmly over the arm of the chair. This same event a month ago would have been too much for her and she would have run behind my chair. I was very pleased to see that.</div>
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Later I was talking to her while I stood behind the gate to the kitchen and tapping and rattling it while she stood less than six inches from it and she was upbeat and didn't show stress or fear signs. This is also a huge change from the week before when the gate and the sounds of the gate bothered her. This evening I was playing fetch with Max and the ball banged and bounced off the gate while it leaned against the wall and she didn't flinch or become worried and when the gate to the bedroom fell and rattled a storm she startled, but recovered quickly and checked in with me to see if she should be worried.</div>
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These are all huge changes for her and I am happy to see them. Right now, while she's learning to eat, we are not going on public access outings. I am getting a solid baseline for her mood and her ability to handle stress now that she's eating well and feels more confident and when we return to public access training with her again I will get a better idea of what is and isn't causing her high stress and what type of fall out a public access outing causes her.</div>
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This has been a good thing, teaching her to eat, and I believe it will help her progress faster once we are done with this training protocol.</div>
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<b>Friday</b></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dy7qPoaqTHE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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It's been a productive week with Emma. She is eating each meal without hesitation and faster each day. She is not nearly as worried when she's eating and she can now handle sounds and movement and other dogs while eating. Her confidence slowly improved with the praise and affection for randomly asked for known behaviors and not being forced to work for her food during this time period.</div>
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Today I share a video with you of Emma on a Friday and looking pretty happy and confident. If you review the videos from this month you'll see not long ago my first Friday video was of Emma being almost completely shutdown and unable to train until I did something to build her confidence. Even then, she wasn't relaxed or happy or even in the game. There was a ton of worry in her body language in that video. My next video showed her training and looking much better, but still not fully in the game but happier and more relaxed - that second video was shot less than a week later. The next video, shot one week after the first showed Emma up and happy and a in a much better mood, but we weren't training, just playing. It was the contrast between the second and third videos that helped a friend and I deduce that Emma is uncomfortable with the more serious structure of training and we'd need to make some changes for her to make training fun.</div>
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So, stage one - train her to eat. This part is going very well and next week we'll be working on training her to eat from a metal bowl as well as she eats from a ceramic bowl. The next step was using praise, affection and play to get behaviors she already knew and associate them as rewards and keep focus. I have worked on that this week. The video above shows the outcome of that. She's not totally up, but her focus has improved by droves and she's able to do more and work harder with me this time and with less fall out afterwards.</div>
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I will introduce praise, affection and play paired with food to make food give her the same happy feelings the former does and start working on basic behaviors to do that to improve success. Hopefully, by the end of next week I will see almost no fallout after training and a happier dog as a result.</div>
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By fallout I mean stress signs. After the video I shot today Emma climbed in my chair and went into stress relieving chewing on a bone for about 15 minutes. This behavior should reduce when she is in the game and she'll be able to handle stress overall better as a result.<br />
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<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
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<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
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<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
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<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
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<td><br /></td>
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<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623995206182795675.post-8216318419911263012014-01-18T20:44:00.001-08:002014-01-18T20:44:13.802-08:0016 Months: Training - Days 246 - 250<b>Monday</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Are you awake? I need to pee.</td></tr>
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Emma was in a much better mood on her arrival than she had been on her departure. Poor girl had me worried. I think the 2 weeks of rest time helped and my changing how things work here helped too. I had more changes in mind to help her learn better and a new plan on place after seeing the bell curve her week was previously. I would rather a more stable week and if a single, quiet public access outing continues to create such a bell curve in her week and doesn't flatten out and become a stable learning curve, I will have to make the decision she'll work in home only for her handler and not push her any further on the public access. I will make this decision after the 18 month mark, but work slowly on her public access material to see if she can't find a balance in the meantime.</div>
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I had mentioned this to her owner, who understood that I could never promise she would work out as a public access dog and understood that at some point I would need to make an honest evaluation of her ability to work in public and decide what is best for her emotionally. I am glad she understands that and understands that even as an in home service dog, Emma will provide a great deal of support and independence for their son.</div>
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Part of the problem is Emma internalizes her stress when out which results in her displaying stress signs at home. She become harder to work with, more fearful and less willing to join training because of this. The trick is to build her confidence in small increments and hope, by the time she's out of this fear period, we've shored her up enough she can do her job in public as well as home. If not, then Emma will be designated for in home service work only and we'll focus on how she can do her job in that setting.</div>
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Part of that is giving her more space while we are training and reassuring her she's safe during our training sessions. High rate of re-enforcement and no wrong choices when we set out to train will make things easier on her. Since I had a busy weekend and didn't get my household chores done during it, I decided to start our morning a bit differently. I decided to do the chores first and get my house in order to make my mood better.</div>
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Emma has had a problem with the vacuum since she was little, so I was very pleased to see her carrying a bone around me while I vacuumed and not running to hide. She was stressed, but not so stressed she'd decided she needed to hide. What a lovely change. I have been, since our return from vacation, rewarding her coming out of hiding and ignoring her going into hiding. It's improved her mood and made her less worried about the world around her. I am glad I worked that out over vacation - I like this change in her mood.</div>
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After that I got the dishes, laundry and steaming of the floor done. I normally feed the dogs between 8:30 AM and 9 AM when I am feeding them out of their bowls, and generally have training for all three done by 9:30 AM when training for kibble. This time I didn't even start until almost 10 AM and worked with Emma last, which made her meal nearly 11 AM by the time I started. The change was immediate - she took her first kibble without hesitation and worked straight through with a better body language than previously.</div>
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I also decided to change her warm up routine from basic Level 1 behaviors to Click to Calm lessons. I played the Up/Down game and the Side to Side game (much like the Come Game) and LAT with her. She is worried about Max and Jack on the other side of the gate and being gated in the kitchen with me. That's okay, we'll work on her confidence in this setting and relieve that worry and then work on training.</div>
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For Rounds 2 and 3 we just worked on Tug Tasks. She again couldn't focus and it turned into a LAT session instead. I had Malcolm in the crate, but just having Max and Jack on the other side of the gate and laying quietly was a bit overwhelming for her, so whenever she peered at them I clicked and rewarded. By the end of Round 3 she was up to taking the tug in her mouth and starting to pull back - she chose to return to the lesson on her own, I just went with what she needed and helped her regain focus.</div>
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Since I had a long day with Jack I didn't do another training session with her. Instead, when it was time for dinner I put the gate back up and gave her her food in the kitchen and left the kitchen. She took about 2 minutes to decide she could eat in peace and ate the rest of her daily allotment of food. Excellent.</div>
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<b>Tuesday</b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We are having a much better week!</td></tr>
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Sending the dogs out to play when Jack arrives has improved everyone's mood. Emma and Jack and Malcolm have a high romp in the yard for about 15 minutes and come in happy and tired. It's been a good choice to stop having the flooding of four dogs mugging Jack the moment he comes in and my trying to calm everyone down from their high excitement of having him join the party.</div>
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I again waited for a late start on the day for training Emma. Making her a bit hungry helps her want to train and I wanted to see if the day before was a bit of a fluke or a solid observation. I got my shower in and watched a bit of TV and ate my breakfast (which I normally don't do) and let the dogs have a couple good romps outside before pulling up the bowls and starting the lessons for the day.</div>
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Emma is no longer defaulting to behind my recliner and is instead just laying in it and relaxing. She watches me approach and doesn't move to get out unless I ask and accepts my pats on her head without stress signs. It's a good thing. When she comes to see what I am doing or checks in somehow I reward with praise, affection or food. She is becoming more a part of the herd of dog seeking what I am doing and less the dog who goes and hides when I am surrounded. Nice to see.</div>
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I gated the kitchen to work with Jack and Emma raised her head. Seeing the gate goes up means its her time with me and I am seeing an interest in that. Nice. After I finished with Jack she came to me and we started out lesson. I once again did Click to Calm games of Up/Down, Side to Side and Clicking for every two steps while she followed me. Once again she was eating without hesitation, which is fantastic, this means her stress levels are lowering and she's feeling more confident. She is still slow in her movements on the Side to Side and Up/Down game, but I am seeing an improvement in speed in the Up/Down game. She seemed to calm the most with the moving game. </div>
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In the beginning of the three minutes she was a bit hunched, a bit low and her tail was tight to her rear. At the end of the three minutes she was standing tall, her tail was relaxed and she wasn't hunched as much as when we started. The hunching and slow response was about all that told me she was still feeling stress.</div>
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For Rounds 2 and 3 I wanted to work on Tug, but she needed to work on LAT. I had left Malcolm out of his crate this time and though he wasn't whining or banging on the gate, his presence was hard on her. I worked LAT for the entire second round with only two attempts to work on Tug by her choice. For the 3rd round I switched from clicking when she looked to clicking when she looked back. In the second round she was stuck staring at the other dogs and while she was sitting, her body was clearly tense and her shoulders were rolled and her head was ducked down a bit. By the end of the second round she was relaxed, her shoulders were square and her head was up and her ears were flaring forward as she looked. This meant she wasn't so much stuck as I wasn't giving her time to choose to look away. On the third round I withheld the click and she turned to look at me. Her body was still relaxed and her head still high and her ears still flaring forward to look at the other dogs. It was a relaxed look at them and wait for the click. Okay, good, now I want her to focus on me and not them.</div>
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It worked, she could look at them and back to me and off and on offer a look, touch or grip on the tug. We didn't get anywhere on the tug task, but we got somewhere on confidence. She stood up and I saw her tail flash with a wag whenever I clicked. Her tail was loose, her head was up, she breathing was normal, her focus was improving and her body was tall. It was the best session ever, it was true communication between us and not a single word was said by me. I just clicked to tell her that I got it, the boys worried her with that gate, and it was okay and she could work on her task and be safe. Fantastic communication.</div>
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Just now the kids (also known as dogs) all got to rumbling around me while I sat working on the IPad typing this blog in my wheelchair. I had just moved to get the sun out of my eyes and had deployed my cup holder for my Pepsi and set my e-cig on the holder while I worked. Malcolm came around that side of the chair and knocked it off. Emma went through the throng of milling dogs, picked up the e-cig, walked around to my more open side and handed it to me. That folks, is the first sign her confidence is truly improving. She got lots of love for such a fantastic auto retrieve. Good girl!</div>
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<b>Wednesday</b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good morning sleepy head.</td></tr>
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Good lord, it's 10 PM already and I still have Jack's blog to update before bed. What long days I have during the week. No wonder all I want to do on the weekends is nothing!<br />
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Emma woke me just prior to 7:30 AM this morning with her insistence to go outside. I let her and the boys out for their potty run and when they came in curled up in bed with them. She loves to drape across my body first thing in the morning while I wait for the pain of first standing on my feet to leave and the spasms in my legs to let up.<br />
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While she was turning upside down and trying very hard to win Cutest Dog on the Planet contest, I noticed that Malcolm, who normally goes in the other room and then returns every 5 to 10 minutes, had not returned for 15. I got up to find he'd been destuffing my recliner through a hole in the seat. It was decided at that moment I should cover it and thus the picture you see shows Emma on the newly covered recliner.<br />
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My morning schedule that thrown for a loop right after my morning coffee. Having quickly showered and dressed after Jack's arrival and the mighty romp and run in the yard they enjoy each morning, I decided I would actually sit down and enjoy my morning coffee instead of drinking it while training. I had just started Malcolm's training and finished his first round when my oldest called. The phone call resulted in an hour and half delay in getting back to training the dogs and a 15 minute remind and recoup after getting off of the phone. I didn't get to Emma for training until almost 11:30 AM.<br />
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I filmed all of the dog's morning lessons. I wanted a base line of Emma's mid-week behavior prior to her public access outing so I could film her after she'd been out and see how much body language differences I could see. I have attached that video for your review.<br />
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<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/J3_qf8ecDko/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/J3_qf8ecDko?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/v/J3_qf8ecDko?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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Click to Calm/Tug/LAT</div>
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We are working on confidence building, so our first lesson is a couple of pattern games - the Up/Down game and the Ping Pong game. Her speed on bringing her head up and her going to get the treats when I toss them has improved. I am glad to see that. The cat came in during that round and Emma was thrown a bit by her being there, but continued to work with me. The pattern games are helping her - she doesn't have to think, just follow a pattern and therefore it calms her.<br />
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We went to work on Tug for Rounds 2 and 3 and she was needing to do LAT less and could work on Tug more. She was up to lifting and pulling back on the tug rope by the end of Round 2. It was Round 3 that went sideways. Max, who had been laying quietly outside of the gate, decided to charge it due to the cat. He banged the gate and went into a bark and bang fest for a moment and then went into a more active circle and bark fest in the living room. Poor Emma lost all thoughts of Tug and turned to face the gate and moved closer to me. Her tail was tight to her hind end, but not tucked. Her head was up, but her body was tense. Her body was up, but she was very still. She was taking in the situation and could take food still and moved closer to me because I am a safety zone, but she couldn't focus to work anymore.<br />
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In the afternoon we went in to work on Tug again and Emma simply couldn't not stare at the gate. I simply sat on the floor and worked with her on handing me her paw or touching my hand or giving me a down. Her focus is gone again, but she's not so over threshold she can't eat. I may not be as set back as I had thought in the morning, but I will have to work carefully to get her confidence shored up.<br />
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I do have to say, Emma has taught me a great deal about working with a soft dog and splitting behaviors in to very tiny bites to increase success. Letting her lead me on her ability to work and giving her a chance to resolve some of her worry has truly improved both our communication and I am happy she's helping me become a better trainer overall.<br />
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I offered her another quarter cup of food when I fed the other dogs their dinner, but she didn't want it. She self regulates on how much she eats and I respect that. She'd eaten all of her food (she eats a cup of kibble a day) and I wasn't worried about her calorie intake, just her tummy being a bit grumbly during the night. The night carrot will help with that.</div>
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<b>Thursday</b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She loves to curl up where Attitude used to always sleep.</td></tr>
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I had planned to take Emma out this week for a public access run, but circumstances on Wednesday, the day I planned it, resulted in it not happening and today I came to the conclusion I didn't want to take her out this week. Instead I want to build up her confidence and not tank her week by taking her out when she's having a fairly good week. She's been more up than down, more confident than fearful and more engaged that hiding - why mess with that when I can spend some time building up the skills she'll need to do better in public access settings?</div>
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Instead we just played Click to Calm games, tug and other fun things that Emma enjoys to feed her her breakfast. She's getting better about eating her kibble, but not like the other dogs do. Max, Malcolm, Dieter and Jack would happily stand on their heads for a bit of kibble as a reward. Mind you, Jack, Max and Malcolm are less excited about kibble as a reward in a higher distraction area than the house so we use higher value food for those times, but in the house kibble should be a solid and worthwhile reward and it is. For Emma, kibble is a hit or miss reward and if she's even slightly off in her mood she won't take it. This makes progress with her very hard due to inconsistent training sessions.</div>
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I had a similar situation with Jack when I was working with him prior to the vacation. Though kibble was a perfectly good reward his ability to focus was inconsistent and so some sessions he was spot on and some he was so food stupid he couldn't think his way out of a box. I was in a holding pattern with him and couldn't seem to get anywhere when he suddenly became so focused on the food he couldn't learn any longer. The answer for Jack was Zen. We worked hard for the month of December on It's Yer Choice and Zen and on his return I had a dog who was flying through his lessons because he could suddenly think.</div>
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I have two problems with Emma which actually may be a single problem - Emma doesn't know how to eat. When she arrived Attitude was in the end stages of congestive heart failure and eating high value foods just to get her to eat. Max, Dieter and Emma all found her food far more interesting than their kibble and I can't blame them. She had raw medallions of beef, lamb or chicken at one point and porridge another (which had lots of tasty smells) and in the end grain free moist food. It's hard to eat kibble when one bowl in the house smells like heaven. I put a little of whatever Attitude was eating on the other dog's food to get them to eat their food and leave hers alone. Emma learned that kibble came with high value food. Period.</div>
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After Attitude died I had moist food to finish before it went bad (I had bought a new case of food) and so every dog got a spoonful of moist on their food for a while and it was my mistake that I kept buying it and adding it to their bowls. When my money became too tight to continue the practice I went back to straight up kibble and low and behold Jack, Dieter and Max happily ate the dry kibble without complaint. They had been taught to eat (we taught Jack to eat when he first arrived). Emma, who returned to a new training system with dry kibble as the reward for the day couldn't make the change. She gets water on her food at her home during the weekends and had been getting moist here and suddenly she's but on bread and water rations according to her. She's picky, like little Attitude had been, and it's affecting our training.</div>
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So, starting tonight I decided to train her to eat. This morning told me how important it was to do so. She's eating the kibble, but her ability to focus is not as good as I would like and her communication of whether she's too worried to eat about a change in her environment or she's not willing to eat because of her level of hunger isn't clear. So, tonight when I offered her her dinner I counted slowly to 5 and picked up the bowl when she didn't eat. She actually looked surprised I had done so. I think she's grown used to our pleading she eat and to tell the truth I went through that long enough with Attitude I am not going to do it with a perfectly healthy 16 month old dog.</div>
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I will email the family and ask them to read that section in the book and implement it at their home also. Until Emma is eating with the same gusto that everyone else does we won't make progress. She needs to know how to eat - period.</div>
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<b>Friday</b></div>
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Emma just being Emma.</div>
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I started the protocol for training Emma to eat last night. She was offered her food, given a slow count of five, didn't eat her food and it was picked up. This morning she came in with Dieter and Max after playing in the yard with all of the dogs. I fed Max, Dieter and her while Jack and Malcolm played in the yard. I took her into the kitchen, set her food down and walked 5 feet away from it and did a slow count to five. This time she approached the bowl and sniffed the food, but turned away and walked to me and sat behind me like the food scared her. I picked up her bowl and put it away.</div>
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This may seem like a cruel thing, but not knowing how to eat can cause problems overall. I have 3 dogs of my own I feed on a schedule. I know how much they eat, I can tell when they don't feel well because they don't eat and I can catch a problem sooner because of that. Dieter, who ruptured a disc right after Attitude died, is still walking because I caught he wasn't feeling well long before I realized he'd injured his back. He wasn't crying or dragging his feet yet, but he was a bit roached (which I took note of when he turned away from his bowl) and he refused to eat. Dieter would eat dirt if I put it in his bowl, so his not eating was a clue to his well being.</div>
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Emma can and does refuse to eat on an almost daily basis. I can't tell if it's because today the food didn't meet her expectations, she wasn't hungry when I offered it or she's not feeling well. This could lead to missing a serious problem in her future and not getting the medical treatment she needs in a timely fashion.</div>
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As a working dog or a pet dog, being on a schedule makes it easier to potty the dog when they have to go. Knowing about how long after a meal she needs to poop makes it easier to plan when to give her a meal if you have to be away from the house or if she's working in public, how long before you leave so she's not uncomfortable during the outing. This can't be done with a dog who free feeds because they are filling their belly off and on and so don't have a set schedule for when they need to go.</div>
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<div>
A dog who quickly eats their meal makes it easier to feed in the morning or evening when you are in a hurry. There have been times I needed to go to an appointment after Max's dinner time and fed him quickly before we left. He was able to finish his meal in a couple of minutes and be ready to go without causing an undue delay. With his stomach full, he was able to relax during the appointment and sleep.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And finally, Max, Dieter, Malcolm and Jack will work for the food I feed them because it has value. If they don't eat what I offer they may not be offered anything else. Emma is willing to see if what is offered will be replaced with something better. Raising the value of her kibble makes training her in the home easier and maintaining her weight easier.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
So, what we are doing is vitally important on a lot of levels for Emma's overall well being. It isn't cruel to let her decide that what is offered is of value and to eat it when offered. She won't starve herself and she will be easier to train. Mind you, I have known of one dog who couldn't be taught to eat and it turned out to be a fatal health issue that over time took his life. If Emma cannot learn to eat we have more concerns than if she'll do a retrieve or learn to tug open a door. I don't see any health issues with Emma. There were other signs with the dog who couldn't learn to eat - small signs that were clear in hindsight which Emma doesn't display. I believe we just need to make her kibble of value to her and she'll take an interest in working for it.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
So, the remainder of our day was rewarding good behavior with play and praise and just letting her be a dog. We will continue to work on training her to eat for the next couple of week to improve her desire to work and return to working on confidence and task training once we have achieved our goal. In the meantime I will work on confidence by using praise and play as motivators.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<b>Level 1</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_5afd_7782_d9c0_d164">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 2</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_244a_e0fb_4e0a_1e02">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Tricks</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 3</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_f041_abe5_f0d3_fd1e">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Sit</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Down</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Jump</b></td>
<td><b>Relax</b></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Level 4</b><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" id="id_ba74_bcb5_ba10_3a56">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="5%"></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Zen</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Come</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Retrieve</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Target</b></td>
<td width="8%"><b>Relax</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Focus</b></td>
<td><b>Lazy Leash</b></td>
<td><b>Go To Mat</b></td>
<td><b>Crate</b></td>
<td><b>Distance</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><b>Handling</b></td>
<td><b>Communication</b></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Step</b></td>
<td>Completed</td>
<td>0</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
CKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121751173520320860noreply@blogger.com0