24 Months: Graduation

Graduation

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.

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.

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.

Here is a list of the cues that Emma has learned since she began her training.

The Basics

Cue	Meaning
Emma	Turn and look at who called my name and give eye contact (focus)
Leave It	Turn away and don't touch, pick up or sniff what I am looking at.
Sit	Fold up my back legs and put my bottom on the ground
Down	Put my elbows, belly and hips on the ground
Off	Get off of what I am on
Come	Run to my handler when my name is called or they say Come
Settle	Settle down and relax
Stand	Stand in place without moving my feet/stand up without stepping forward or backward or sideways
Back	Step back several steps
Left	Turn left
Right	Turn right
Around	Go around something
Stay	Don't move or change position
Wait	Puase but I can change position
Let's Go	Start walking with my handler
Go to Mat	Go to a mat and lay on it until released
Crate	Get in my crate
Load Up	Jump in Car, on scale or in tub
Heel	Move to my handler's left side and face the same way they are
Side	Move to my handler's right side and face the same way they are
Front	Sit in front of my handler facing them
Rattle	Shake off as if to release tension or remove water from my fur
Potty	Go to the bathroom when told

Service Dog Cues

Cue	Meaning
Take It	take what is offered in my mouth
Hold It	Hold the item in my mouth
Give It	Give the item in my mouth
Get It	Pick something up and give it to my handler
Bring It	Bring what I have to my handler
Look	Look at my feet or on the floor for something to pick up
Leash	Pick up my leash and give it to my handler
Pull	Pull something with my mouth
Push	Push something with my nose
Close It	Close something with my nose
Paw	Give my paw or put my paw on something
Touch	Put my nose on something
Light	Turn on or off a light
Find It	Find something
Go	A moving command like "Go Give to" for delivering notes or giving an item to someone
Go In	Go under a table or in my crate or even through tubes for agility
Shoes	Go get my handler's shoes
Socks	Remove my handler's socks
Basket	Put an item into a basket or trashcan
Keep Going	Keep looking for an item
That's It	Found item, wait for instructions
Step Up/In	step onto or into something
Get Help	Carry a bringsel to the first person I can find to tell them my handler needs help
Show Me	Lead the person back to my handler
Paws Up	Put my paws up on something
Make Bed	Pull covers to head of bed
Turn Down	Pull covers away from head of bed

Tricks

Cue	Meaning
Shake	Give my paw to someone so they can shake it
High Five	Touch someones palm with my paw
Tada!	Take a bow

22 Months: Training - Days 346 - 349

Tuesday

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.

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.

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.

Wednesday

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.

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.

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.

Thursday

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.

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.

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.

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.

Friday

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.

17 Months: Training - Days 255 - 258

Her face has matured so much.

Tuesday - Friday

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

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

Level 3

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	3	Completed	2	1	1
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	Completed	0	4	0
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Retrieve	Communication
Step	Completed	2	Completed	Completed	1

Level 4

	Zen	Come	Retrieve	Target	Relax
Step	Completed	0	Completed	0	0
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	Completed	0	5	0
	Handling	Communication
Step	Completed	0

8 Months: Training - Day 87

Emma is learning to give this level of attention when
walking with my power chair.

Emma gets so excited when she first greets me or she first sees her owners arrive to pick her up.  She can't keep her feet on the ground, lunges on the lead to get to us and is over threshold with excitement.  It's something that also happens when people come to visit in my home.  Her efforts to keep her front feet on the floor are lost to her excitement at meeting a new person or someone she knows.  She simply can't seem to keep those feet on the ground in these situations and I have to think of what more I can do to explain to her that she needs self control, even when that excited, when greeting people.  I'll work out a plan and share it once I have a good idea of the path I'll take.

She also becomes undone with excitement when greeting the dogs first thing on Monday.  She can't believe her friends are here and she's ready to launch into a game of wrestling with Max and Jack the moment she walks in.  Part of this is not helped with the fact Jack and Max are also joining her energy and starting games of wrestling when coming into the house.  This Monday, knowing that yet again we'd have hyper excitement when she entered, I kept her on lead and worked on calming her energy down to the low roar before removing her lead.

Max got the clue I was asking for space to calm her and moved away, but Jack was putting his feet on her and engaging her in play the moment we came in.  I had to convince him and her that we were not starting a play session the moment she walked in and that she couldn't be released from her lead until she sat and looked at me.  We got there, but again, I need to work out a better way of handling this Monday morning greeting, the most charged of the week, and teach all of them to calmly say hi when she and Jack arrive.

Jack's arrival each morning starts minor play sessions with Emma engaging him before I can unclip his lead, so that too needs to be handled with a bit more structure.  Emma is more willing to wait on the weekdays that it's Jack arriving and let me deal with getting him undressed for the day and I think that is because he enters the home very calm and quiet with me.

The difference is, Jack and Emma are six months apart in age and therefore at very different maturity levels.  Though Jack is still a teenager in dog terms, he's heading rapidly into adulthood, while Emma is still firmly entrenched in hyper teen mode.  Another part is the very different personalities of the two.  Jack is, by nature, a calmer dog and more reserved in his excitement than Emma.  Emma is a boisterous ball of energy when she becomes excited and can't stop herself from wiggling and jumping when she gets that way.  Jack, as more reserved dog, only looses his mind completely when Ronda comes home - otherwise his greetings of people, even ones he knows, are quiet and polite.  They may share the Poodle gene, but they are very different dogs.

Hopefully by next week I'll have a full plan on how to deal with Emma's over excitement and help her raise her threshold so she can gain more control.  Time to sit and think and plot on this so I have a plan in place, now that Emma is at an age she can begin truly trying out new levels of self control.

Today's Lessons:

Retreive

Emma is working on Level 3: Step 2 Retrieve.  In this step Emma is asked to hold an object, while I also hold it, in her mouth for five seconds.  I have been slowly working on duration with Emma and finding the solution that works best for her.  Emma as worried when I held the pencil and touched her face also, so I stopped working on Retrieve until I could work out how to build her duration.

Today I decided to work on her taking a new object in her mouth she was more likely to want to hold, a  Nylabone.  She was at first curious about the object, but quickly started offering to take it in her mouth. I was starting to get some nice grips with each clamp of her mouth over the object and finally ended out session when she took it and tried to tug it out of my hand.

On our next session I brought out my power chair, since I want to teach Emma to walk with it so we can work on Lazy Leash with the power chair and later do road work to tire her out a bit and see more of the world by taking walks.  Emma is fearful of my power chair, so I rode it through the house and watched to see what she would do.  She didn't go and hide behind my recliner, but she did go into the entry and lay down to watch me.  She was reserved, but not shutdown.

I then called her to me, asked for Level 1 Behaviors and offered her food.  She refused the food, but accepted my petting her.  I kept a happy, upbeat voice and slowly turned her mind around about being near the chair.  I then took her into my lap and watched TV with her while she lay, stiff, in my lap in the chair.  After a bit I felt her muscles slowly relax and finally she laid, relaxed, in my lap.  I then took her for a ride, in my lap, in the chair and felt at first a bit of tensing of her muscles, but for a short time before they relaxed and she started to just enjoy the ride.  It was right after that she took food when seated next to my chair and we could train again.

I worked the next session while seated in my power chair.  I was getting some great grips on the object I offered her to take and she was waving her tail and engaged in the training game.  We ended with her attempting to remove the object from my hand a second time.

Lazy Leash

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 2 Lazy Leash.  In this step Emma is asked to walk beside me, off lead, and stay in position while I walk around the house.  In this case I choose to use the power chair.  I will, next time, have to tether and crate Max and Jack, but Emma did come up to the chair whenever I stopped it and got a treat, which she took and ate.

After a bit she was following my chair around, curious about the fuss with both Jack and Max, and enjoyed a round of catch the power chair and get food.  Though not a perfect rendition of this step, Emma was willing to try it and found the chair wasn't as scary as she had first thought.

I ended out session by clipping the lead to her collar and slowly leading her around my living room and kitchen with the power chair lead.  Emma was perfect loose leash, relaxed about the idea and kept a good space between my chair and her without being too far away from it.  She is not turning well with it yet, but we'll work on that later.  Right now, being able to be beside it and not be frightened is my goal.

Later, when my son Walter came, I again hooked Emma up and this time she was relaxed and happy to walk with the chair.  She also showed little fear or concern about the chair when I used it off and on during the day in the house.

Finishing School

It is because of this class that Emma's Monday blogs are a day late.  In the weeks class Emma did extremely well.  Cooper, the big German Shepherd in class, came up and put his nose on Emma while she was in a sit and she didn't budge or become over excited.  She did a nice job of remaining on her mat and is now offering a lot of chin down behavior when placed at my feet.  I have been clicking for relax and generally by end of class, when she's got some food in her tummy and is over the excitement of being in the room, she has her head down and is relaxed at my feet.  I have noted it is happening sooner and sooner each class and I am pleased to see this behavior.

When Stanely, Carol's demo dog, was brought out Emma had her back to him and after a glance over her shoulder did a double take at seeing a new dog in the room she didn't know.  She remained calm and didn't break her sit.  She didn't bark or go over threshold.  She was curious, but not frightened by the appearance of a new dog in her area.

We worked on Retrieve for class.  Carol, bless her soul, answered my "how am I going to get duration?" question during class by pointing out I am not clicking for the mouth over the pencil or object, but for the pressure and quality of the grip on the pencil or object when taken into the mouth.  The more I worked on that the better her take behavior became.  I do believe I will eventually have a good grip and duration with her as I teach her that the behavior doesn't end until the click happens.

Observations

With each class Emma has taken with me she's improved on her focus and work ethic.  She is working for me very well, but she hasn't taken any classes with her owners to date.  I believe it is time for them to take her on the weekends.

In May Dastardly Distractions begins on Sunday May 12th, 2013 at 1 PM and on Saturday May 11th, 2013 Loose Leash Walking begins at 9:30 AM.  I have her penciled into Dastardly Distractions, but understand the family may not be able to do Sunday classes with her, so would suggest actually taking her to Loose Leash Walking and working on teaching her to not only walk with people out of a wheelchair but with B and his wheelchair.

Taking this class will be an outing for Emma for the week and one she can have with the family.  It will also help the family to work on taking classes with Emma and give them valuable information on Loose Leash skills and training in a fun environment.

The Loose Leash walking class is the Comebefore for Take It On The Road, a fun and active class during the summer in which the family gets to go with other Diamonds in the Ruff students to parks around the city and work on teaching Emma to walk on a loose lead in exiting locations.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

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

Level 3

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

Level 4

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

21 Weeks: Training - Day 33

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

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

21 Weeks: Training - Day 32

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today's Lessons:

Target

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

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

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

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

Lazy Leash

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

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

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

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

Prep Class

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Observations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

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

21 Weeks: Training - Day 31

Emma adores Max and mimics him when in public.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today's Lessons:

Focus

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

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

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

Handling

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

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

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

Field Trip

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

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

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

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

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

Observations

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

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

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

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

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

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

20 Weeks: Training - Day 30

Emma hides from the camera.

Where did the week go?  This had to have been one of the fastest weeks I've spent with Ms. Emma.  She progressed so much this week also.  A fabulous trip to help young Boy Scouts learn about service dogs and dog safety and an amazing trip to Petsmart were just two of this weeks events.  She conquered her fear of doing a down before the front door while blocked between Max and a wall and learned a new trick which she proudly showed off in a class of new dogs she'd never met before.  She even worked her class behaviors with Max right next to her and the other dogs barking and being overly excited around her without hesitation.

In class she worked on crawl and rollover and in Petsmart loose leash walking and politely greeting a new and nervous puppy.  She enjoyed racing around the yard, playing in my raised gardens and doing fantastic recalls from one end of my property to another.  It was a busy week that flashed by us.

Her last day with us started with my waking before her and letting her out after she threw herself into a down at the front door!  I was amazed and pleased with the progress and rewarded her promptly for demonstrating her was able to overcome her fears.

We had a set back though.  She's very worried about the stainless steel bowl I switched to and while I was training her I dropped it and it clattered, scattering kibble, right before her nose.  She raced out of the room and kept her distance after that and I feared we'd lost her wonderful down at the front door.  Thankfully she didn't associate the down with the frightening event, but the bowl itself.  We'll get past this event like we have the others, but it may be slow going after such a fright.

Today's Lessons:

Down

Emma is working on Level 2: Step 3 Down.  Once Emma got over the fear of doing a down between Max and the wall by the front door I decided to work on duration in that location to add even more good events with it.  I worked slowly up to 30 seconds in a down while laying between Max and the wall.

I was able to get up to 30 seconds once and 25 seconds 5 times.  She had no problem with 10 seconds and remained patient and calm while waiting for the click.  She even rolled over to one hip which said she was willing to stay in position while we worked.  I would randomly click her for staying in a down 3 times for a duration of 1 to 7 seconds and then count up to the next highest number we were working on.  She again began to show some fussiness at 20 seconds so we worked up to 20 seconds several times and then moved to 25 seconds and finally to 30 seconds.

It was at the 30 second mark that I went to get the last of her breakfast kibble out of the bowl and dropped it.  It promptly ended our lesson and sent her into hiding.  She did return to see that Max and Dieter had rushed in to help with clean up.  Both Max and Dieter are used to the sounds of things falling, even noisy things, in my house - but Emma is not.  Next week we'll start building up her confidence when something falls and ensure another accident like that doesn't shut her down in the future.

Because I had such a set back in the morning I decided to help her recover from her fears instead of adding any more levels training that day.  When I went to offer her her lunch she refused to eat when she saw the bowl.  She needed higher value rewards for looking at the bowl than kibble, so I mixed some of the high value treats I use into her kibble and at first offered only that until she was showing a more relaxed stance when seeing or touching the bowl.

She could eat kibble again when looking at it's sides or touching it with her nose, but when showing her that there was food in it, she again shrunk away and stopped eating kibble.  I slowly built her up again to being okay with seeing the inside of the bowl and ended the session by pouring the last 3rd of her lunch on the floor and setting the bowl on the ground 5 inches away.  She ate her food and ignored the bowl at this point.  I then left the bowl on the floor for her to pass as she moved through the house utnil it was time to leave.

Observations

Emma is in a major fear stage at this point.  She's just recognizing not everyone is a friend and items in her world may be scary and dangerous.  Any serious set backs now could affect her adult personality, so helping her overcome her fears is important.  The important part of helping her is not to coddle her, but give her calm reassurance and encourage her to explore and see strange new things won't hurt her.

She's doing very well with her lessons and is demonstrating extreme self control when greeting new people and playing with new dogs.  She's an amazing pup and I look forward to next weeks lessons.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

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

20 Weeks: Training - Day 29

Emma, 20 Weeks, fresh from her bath.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today's Training:

Down

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

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

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

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

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

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

Observations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

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