11 Months: Training - Days 167 - 168

Someday Emma will learn to put her own toys away.

Emma is in that fantastic stage of doggy demon-hood.  It's starts right around 5 months of age and doesn't seem to leave until right around 18 months of age (if not later) while the dog goes through huge changes in personality, body growth and mental growth.  Their brain is actually physically growing during this time and it seems that with each new spurt in growth the lessons previously learned fly out the window.  For a while Emma totally forgot that sitting at my front door to be let out was possible - since I expected that and some of the strange behavior she's displayed, I simply worked with the dog I had each day.

On Thursday I had a dog who was more interested in play than learning.  She would sit or down for me, but she wanted to play with Jack or run the yard to find some new prize to eat in the grass.  She wasn't up to any stressful mental stimulation according to her.  This was fine, we worked on recall and basic skills such as target, sit and down for a bit.  She was convinced that she was too worn out from her exciting week to pick up any new behaviors and I was convinced she is old enough to work a bit more.

I turned a lesson into a game she could get her tiny body wrapped up in.  We played the "calm yourself game" in which any bouncing, jumping, barking or rearing up and pawing the air like Silver in the Lone Ranger would result in my paying close attention to the ceiling or wall with my arms crossed.  At first she was jumping about me and barking as if to say, "HEY!  Pay attention to ME!" but I was convinced I'd seen the face of Mona Lisa in my ceiling and was checking that out.  In a second I could hear the pattering of a body vibrating in place before me and glanced down.  The instant I made eye contact she exploded, so I went back to exploring my ceiling.  In short order she was able to hold her sit and vibrate in place as I reached down, gave her a huge yes and wound her back up.

We did this for ten minutes.  She thought it was the silliest game ever, but what I noticed was by the time I finished the "calm yourself" game, she was almost instantly going from wound to the ceiling excitement to sitting, slightly vibrating, almost calm at my feet when I now gave a slight look away.  She is fully capable of containing herself, but she needs to be taught such behavior and therefore I have started a string of games with her daily, all day, work on her getting my attention only when calm, unless I asked for her to get excited with me.

By Friday the game was working a charm.  Leashes picked up and carried around the house received a calm and wavy body and tail as I moved them around and occasionally clipped them on her.  Even waving my arms and cheering only got a couple of tiny bounces from her and then she'd sit and stare up at me and get her praise.

I asked her to pick up new things each day.  On Friday I started asking her to think about putting items into a box.  I got out a shoe box and a pair of socks and worked on her picking up and dropping the socks into the shoe box.  She loved this and was close on getting the items into the box each time.  She's not fully certain of the game yet, but the more I play it with her the better she'll get at it.  Eventually this will work into her putting her handler's clothes into a clothes hamper and picking up and putting toys away.  It will also work for throwing away garbage.

We did a lot of play for the last two days of the week, but Emma learned a lot of self control while doing so and I hope she keeps some of it by the time she returns on Tuesday.

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	4	2	1	2
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	1	1	Completed	Completed	1

Level 3

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

Level 4

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

11 Months: Training - Day 166

Emma is well socialized with strange dogs and can easily
join any group of friendly dogs and find the right
play style for the dog she's meeting.

Socialization is so much more than meeting people or other dogs, but experiencing sights, sounds, textures and smells too.  For Emma we've taken a slow but steady approach to new things in her life, since she's a soft dog and can easily become fearful if introducing her to new things is done too fast.  She seems to thrive on going out into the world though, which is lovely to see.

This week I planned on two outings with her to work on calm behavior in public.  I had no intention of taking her into a store just yet, just working on walking calmly from the car to the store and back as many times as I could stand it.  But, as many know, the best laid plans can change and in this case a rare opportunity opened up for both of us.

Last night, after Jack had headed home, I was cruising my Facebook news feed when I saw that a fellow Diamonds in the Ruff trainer was headed to a local pool for Dog Pool Day and decided I would take Max and Emma.  Max because it is simply normal for me to take him where ever we go and Emma because I wanted her to experience a poolside setting and greet lots of friendly new dogs and dog friendly people.  In the end I left Max.  I had thought about it and realized Max would be miserable in such a setting.  He likes side by side play with other dogs, hates dogs racing around and playing chase and really doesn't enjoy the full body contact games Labradors play.  For his sanity I left him home.

I packed up Emma though, who loves ALL of those things and took her with me.  We arrived just after 6 PM and wandered to the front of the building after peering at all of the dogs and people playing inside the pool area for a couple of minutes.  She was curious and a bit shy, but not fearful.

In the front of the building was an over the top excited Labrador and Emma slipped behind me and put space between herself and him.  I respected this and blocked her and moved further away with her.  Once he was gone I encouraged her to enter the echoing area and reassured her she was safe.  I asked the cost to enter and realized I would need to go back to the car for the money.  Emma was still twisting around and peering about with clear nervousness, but not over the top fear.  I then cued her to Paws Up on the counter and she did.  All they saw was a pair of toes and a tiny nose stick over the edge, but the moment the woman leaned over to get a better look at her Emma's fear left and she started wagging madly.  I lifted her up to visit and then we went out and sniffed the grass until she shook off.

After I got the money from the car she got to meet a tiny black pup that was a month younger than her and then headed into the building again.  There were two dogs there, but they were calm and Emma greeted them happily.  She entered the building without fear or nervousness and pawed back up onto the counter so I could lift her so they could check her Rabies tag.  Then it was off to get a bit of water poured on her back.

I asked they didn't use the hose, so they used bottled water and wet her spine.  She wasn't happy, but didn't freak out about it.  Then inside we went.  Still shy and a little worried she let me unclip her and she went off to check a new dog she met.  Then she spent the next 20 minutes moving 15 to 20 feet away from me, meeting a person, child or dog and then coming back to me for reassurance.

In 30 minutes she wasn't checking in much anymore, but trotting with her head up, her body tall and her tail in perfect position.  She was smiling and sniffing and meeting new dog after new dog and new person after new person.  She wouldn't go near the water in the beginning, staying about 15 to 20 feet away, but by the time we left she would approach to within 2 feet before she darted away.  I never expected her to swim and wasn't worried if she did or didn't.  I did want her comfortable with a pool area and be able to eventually lay quietly while people swam and wait for her owner.

At the 40 minute mark I called her to me and we walked together around the entire pool area.  She was happy, exploring and willing to meet anyone, man, woman or child with a quick nuzzle and off to explore some more.  When we passed the diving boards I asked her to paws up on the rungs and she did without hesitation.  She even thought about a retrieve for a bit, but was too worried about the activity to complete it.  No biggy.  She got lots of praise for trying and sent off to play some more.

At the 1 hour mark she returned and sat beside me, tired and ready to head home.  We left after a bit of cuddle and relaxing by me on a bench.  She was tall, proud and confident when we left.  It was a fantastic socialization session for Emma and she flew through it with a building confidence I had expected to see.

She'll have no more big outings this week, but will be taken out tonight for a quick loose lead lesson in a quiet parking lot of a store that is closed or not busy.

Today we worked on picking up socks, pens, shorts, paper, a credit card (need to work on how to make it easier for her) and a necklace.  The necklace worried her, so we worked on just being able to take and hold it and hand it back with a little movement.  She did great on all of that.

I am about to make a list of the most common things she would be picking up for her handler and begin teaching her how to deliver them properly to him.

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	4	2	1	2
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	1	1	Completed	Completed	1

Level 3

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

Level 4

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

11 Months: Training - Days 164 & 165

Emma loves playing in the yard.

Mondays are always a recap day here.  I evaluated Emma to see if she remembered her break through from the week before and sure enough, she was happy to retrieve for me yet again.  I had dropped a small key fob card on the floor when I was talking on the phone and pointed to it as she stood before me.  She quickly scooped it up and handed it to me.  We hadn't yet started adding the final steps to her retrieve, which is to step up onto the foot boards of the wheelchair and hold the item until cued to release it - but she was getting better about not spinning in spot and worrying about giving up a prize.  This time there was no spin and she was prompt in putting it into my hand.  I was so pleased I told the person I was talking too and we both rejoiced in her progress.

We worked for a bit on Target to refresh it - since I have several targeting behaviors she needs to learn and Target will be her primary way of learning new tasks in the future.  She was so thrilled to play bop the hand she was running from hand to hand to get the click.  She was lit up and In The Game as we played.  We moved to targeting a post it note, which at first she was a bit worried about and she tried to check out on me, but I called her back and reassured her she was right and soon she was bopping the duct tape on the wall I was using as a target.  A moment later we were pushing cabinets closed with gusto.  She's spot on with her target behavior and I need to look at Level 3 Target and see where we are headed next.  I also need to take Level 2 Target into Home Depot and have her close a few cabinets there to generalize the idea.

Each day I spend time finding new things for Emma to pick up.  I decided to pull out my keys and have her work on them.  Metal has been her bugaboo when retrieving, though she'll take it in her mouth without issue.  I think it's the weight and sound of the metal that is the problem more than the feel.  My keys have a cloth fob on them and I had her target it, but each time she moved the keys or felt the weight she would shrink a bit.  We got to her taking the fob and handing them to me, but not picking them up from the floor.  That's fine - it's a good start.

I'll work on a spoon with her soon and see if we can get to picking up silverware and work back to the keys.  At this point, I am no longer training her to pick up and hand me things when I am standing - her job will be to work with a wheelchair bound person and thus I am training her to work with him and not a general idea of anyone.  I am now asking for behaviors as she holds the item in her mouth to increase her hold.  She can do a sit and a paws up into my lap now when holding an item she's comfortable with.  I have not introduced the wheelchair until I have a solid default paws up and patient wait for release cue.

Emma is well on her way with her primary task now and just needs to build more confidence and experience now that she's decided to join me in the retrieve game.

On Tuesday I worked Emma outside.  I took her outside of the fence while the other dogs were in the yard and worked on loose lead while walking with a person.  She did fantastic and we'll take it to the next level and go to a parking lot and work on calm leash behaviors.

We also did retrieve with distractions in a new location.  This video will tell you how that went!

As you can see, Emma's retrieve is 90% complete.  What an amazing jump in only a week!

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	4	2	1	2
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	1	1	Completed	Completed	1

Level 3

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

Level 4

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

11 Months: Training - Day 163

Emma Gets It!

There are moments when training a dog that just make your heart soar.  Today was one of them.  After months of a dog who was tentative, fearful, shut down and unwilling or unable to participate in training to retrieve the light bulb came on and Emma got it.  She understood that we wanted her to pick up things and hand them to us.  She knew she was right and it made us happy.  She was willing to go the extra step and problem solve and be persistent in achieving a goal.  She took the initiative and choose to pick up an item without prompting.  I cannot say enough about the milestone I saw happen today - it was a hundred tiny things that happened all in the span of 15 seconds!  It was amazing to watch.

Today, as I was preparing to leave for an interview, I pulled out a business card to check on an upcoming appointment with my hair dresser, since I would be across the street from her business for the interview and thought that a more pressing appointment was in conflict with my hair appointment next month.  Sure enough, I was right.  The appointment I had previously set was in conflict with a client appointment for training another dog.  I made a mental note to reschedule my hair appointment and went to put the card back in my wallet and promptly dropped it.

I was at the outside edge of needing to leave if I was going to be on time and decided not to call Emma to help me, which I would have done had I not been pressed for time, but Max instead.  I know Max can quickly and easily pick the card up and I wouldn't be placing Emma under pressure when I am in a hurry.

Max and Emma came into the kitchen.  Max, who recognized I was preparing to leave, passed the card and looked for his harness instead.  Emma, on the other hand, stopped and spotted the card.  Before I could cue Max to pick it up, Emma made the choice that it was the card I had called them in for and tried to pick it up.  She couldn't get a good grip on it and I figured she would back away and stop, but instead she turned her head a little and tried again.  I stayed quiet as Max stood by me and we both watched her turn her head one way and try, then another and try and finally pivot her body a bit and try again.  I was impressed with her persistence and didn't say anything as she thought this problem through.  A second's hesitation and she pawed it.  It works for Max, so why not.  She moved it with her paw, tried again without success.  Now she was serious, she pawed it hard twice more and tried each time she moved it without success.  I was caught in the struggle of solving the problem with her.  I didn't want to stop her, didn't want to move or say anything while she worked it out.  A final pawing of the card and her head came up, proud and high and she had the card firmly held in her front teeth as she MOVED to hand it to me!  Yes folks, Emma chose to retrieve a business card, solved the problem of how to get it up off the floor, stayed with the problem even after several failed attempts and with much flourish successfully handed it to me.

To say we had a party undermines what happened next.  I could feel how big I was smiling as I took it, told her Yes and gave her a huge hug.  I then did a dance with her and chanted "Emma retrieved" with her as we went to the treat jar and I gave her three treats for doing such a good job.  Not only did her confidence soar with each passing second, but she was truly smiling back at me.

But my smile and my party with her wasn't just because she picked up a business card.  It was because she was THINKING and PROBLEM SOLVING and PERSISTING with a problem until SHE solved it.  Emma made a huge emotional leap.  But that was not all of it.  There was a huge intuitive leap that I may have wanted something that was on the floor and she LOOKED to see what was out of place and SAW it and decided to RETRIEVE without fear or worry.  Emma is well on her way to becoming confident with her job and what is asked of her.  A hundred tiny things happened in that fifteen seconds for her and I am so amazed and pleased with her sudden leap forward.  Months of work accumulated into that 15 seconds of amazing.

I have been pointing to and giving her the option of picking up 1 or 2 new things all week.  No pressure, lots of support and praise for any effort and then suddenly she GETS IT.  EMMA GETS IT!

So, we end the week with a juvenile who is rapidly becoming a mature dog and doing so with amazing leaps in her training.  How fantastic is that?

11 Months: Training - Day 162

Emma excites easily.

So, what do you do with a Labradoodle who is part Lipizzaner?  Why, teach her to keep her feet down and planted firmly to the ground.  Emma is a major jumper.  She has gotten to the point she'll jump at me and rebound off of me in her excitement.  We've tried standing on her leash, removing her from the room, turning away and ignoring her and much more to convince her to keep her feet to herself.  Unfortunately, none of it worked.  We got to sitting and waiting to be released to greet and then cuing and immediate sit when greeting, but even that wasn't working with the person coming in the home gave her attention.  And none of that helped with the "I can't contain myself" jumping that happened about 100 times a day in the house.

Thus, clicker and the reward she craved became part of my training plan.  I have been for a while carrying the clicker or just marking the behavior of her feet hitting the floor and rewarding with attention and affection and removing both if her feet leave the ground again.  I have about 80% of the worst of the jumping solved with me personally, but not with other people.

I am now doing the same with other people, in this case our daily visit with Ronda, to re-enforce the concept and she's starting to get it.  It has been our all day training plan, since I can only do it when she's excited enough to bring her feet off of the floor.

This will be a process with her, since it's been so highly rewarded to jump up and get close to the people she wants to greet with wild abandon.  I will work on the lower levels of excitement with people other than family to build a foundation of understanding and then introduce the idea to family itself.  Hopefully, this won't take long now that she's older and has better ability for impulse control, but she is still young and excitable and it will take time.

Meanwhile I am evaluating where she is.  Her sit, down, target and stay are pretty strong.  She has a good recall and a solid crate foundation, though she needs to learn not to howl when left during the day.  She has a beginning loose leash with minor distractions, but needs to build up the solid behavior she offers in my home and yard in the street and out in public.  She also needs to practice it when meeting people she loves, but again that goes with the training of self control with her front feet and will be worked on with low to high levels of excitement.

I am still encouraging Emma to explore and try picking up new objects every day.  It's no longer a formal thing, but a no-pressure game where I point out something and see if she'll try to hand it to me.  I encourage the family to do the same, but with no overt expectations.  We want her to begin to think about picking up and handing things to her handler, but right now we want it with confidence and if she is consistenly rewarded for effort she'll soon learn failure is not an issue and her confidence will grow.  This has been, far and above any other lesson, her hardest and most stressful.  She grew worried she was in trouble or being scolded when we pointed things out before and the more we point, she looks, sniffs, attempts to pick up or picks up items and is praised the higher her confidence will grow.  Once she's gained confidence, her willingness to make bolder and longer efforts on more difficult objects will increase.  I don't wish to get to difficult objects for her to pick up with only a patch on her confidence, but instead with a fully restored level of confidence that she knows and can do what we ask of her.

I am also giving her breaks during the week to user her powerful latent learning after retrieving a new object.   I want her to think and fuss through it and realize she did right and she can do whatever she attempts.  Thus a day of play and no training allows her this ability to think through and resolve these complicated issues for her.

So, Wednesday was a day of rest while today we work not on retrieve, but self control when greeting me in a more formal manner.  I am also going to polish off sit, down and target so she has the solid foundation to begin formal task training.

Meanwhile Emma is using known skills in real life with fewer food rewards and more life rewards.  Praise has become a strong reward for Emma and so when working in known locations I have faded the treats and begun using praise and life rewards (going outside, greeting people) instead.  In new locations we are working on a high to low reward rate with food rewards, starting at a rapid reward rate and slowly extending the time between them until she's focused and working with little to no food rewards by the time we leave.  She is doing well with this approach as I replace one food reward with praise or a life reward instead.

I will be working on her learning she can tackle strange new places to sit, such as on logs, stumps, rocks and other items, without worry.  I am in the process of a major confidence boost for Emma and then will begin taking known tasks out in public to proof them as she learns them.

Outside of retrieve, Emma's next task to learn is to use her very powerful and natural habit of nudging with her nose to rise my arm or foot and place them on the arm or foot rest of my chair.

These next few weeks will be very exciting.

11 Months: Training - Day 161

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What an exciting development for Emma!

10 Months, 4 Weeks: Training - Days 156 - 160

DJ and Jack spent the last half of the week with us.  Their
Mom had gone on a trip - the house was full and busy by
Friday night!

Spoons - how precious they are.  With the weekend over and home projects in the yard near completion I found I had over spent all summer long and faced a week in which I barely had enough energy to deal with daily upkeep on the dogs basic manners and learned skills. 

For Emma I was offering her chances to pick up and hand me different items as I went about my daily business.  I did a bit of laundry early in the week, though found my energy was so low that the idea of getting it out of the dryer left me drained - I didn't remove laundry from the dryer until Wednesday, and promptly dropped half of it on the floor.  Emma came to check what I had dropped and I offered her the chance to pick any of it up, but she decided not too.  I praised her for her curiosity and called Max to me to help.

Every time something fell to the floor and Emma came to explore I praised her.  She even tried a couple of times to pick it up, but didn't actually do it.  That was okay - I want the curiosity and even a failed attempt is more than she used to offer.  The no pressure chance to retrieve seemed to be a tonic for her and by Thursday she was carrying toys to me to examine and taking them back after much praise and excitement about what a prize she'd shown me.

She was praised and loved for every sit and down.  She was given lots of praise for her politely waiting for me to make a meal, or not run out a door just because it was open.  She was given lots of cuddles and slept several times upside down beside me in my chair while I read or watched the TV.

She enjoyed playing with Max and Jack and was rewarded with loads of praise when she came when called - even if it was in the middle of a game.

Though I didn't do any planned "formal" training sessions what I did do was employ known behaviors in daily living and reward her with something other than food.  She learned that she gets to go outside faster if she sits and gets more cuddles if she asks to get in my lap instead of just bounding into it.  She learned that waiting for me to finish my meal and not exploring it at all got her the first tidbit off of the plate when I went into the kitchen to clean up.  She got to play games with me when she asked to get on my bed instead of just jumping on it without permission.

As much as raising and training a service dog means teaching them tasks to help the disabled, it also means teaching them manners when living with the handler.  Things one wouldn't think of, such as laying quietly when in the home or not barking at the neighbors when outside, moving out of ones personal space and asking to enter a person's personal space are all items Emma needs to learn, above and beyond how to help her handler.

Emma is well on her way.  She knows how to get out of my way when I am working in the home.  She knows to not beg for food from me or my guests.  She is learning from all of us that if she just bounds into our laps she is put on the floor and must wait for permission to be on our laps.

One of the things I am working on with her is not winding up into a bucking horse when excited.  She rears up and bounces around barking when I pick up her leash, go to let her outside or when she meets people.  I have been working on a plan to better explain to her what I want - now that I am starting to see a modicum of self control when she's overly excited.

It is important to know that Emma winds up easily.  She's a happy dog who can go from calm to bounding off your stomach in a blink of an eye.  She winds up further with high pitched voices and happy tones - which makes ramping her up when she's scared of something easy, but can result in a dog who goes from work mode to out of control in a second when she's not.

Though it makes her "too cute" when a pet dog, it won't work for a working dog.  To handle this issue, I will be tracking when she looses her mind the most and then working individual plans to better explain to her what is expected.

I mentioned to her owner to pick up and carry her leash with no intention of putting it on  her as much as possible.  The goal is to take the charge out of the leash.  I am doing the same here.

I also mentioned to offer her chances to pick up and hand things to them, but not to cue it by anything other than pointing or tapping the object at this time.  If she looks, tries or picks it up it's all good right now.  We are building up her understanding of retrieve by giving her a lot of chances to get it right and right now anything from looking and sniffing to picking up and handing over is a success.