Follow-Up to The Hardest Thing

Last night we got all the elements in place for our plan and things went much better.

We went into the much larger cubicle where we could work on this and play tug without disturbing other dogs (there are a number of reactive dogs in this class, which is set up much like Control Unleashed classes). We also changed so that when Ursula approached she started by walking all the way around us and then just lightly brushing Gimme's cheek with her hand a couple of the times when she went by. We only did two or three iterations per session (three very short sessions - about 40 seconds) and then Ursula would move off to work with other dogs and we'd train on other things until she came back. Gimme did fine. I was ready to tug for reward, but Gimme was much more interested in cleaning up the floor after our work since the previous occupant left a lot of food behind.Between our sessions of "the hardest thing", we started working on brief out-of-sight stays. With this setup I could leave the cubicle and move far enough away that Gimme wouldn't see me over the top of the divider. They were only very short stays of 10-15 seconds, but that is a great place to start. Gimme did great with that too -- not bad at all for a 10 month old puppy.She actually worked through the whole class and never did need a peanut butter bone... a first. I had her thoroughly engaged for almost the whole hour. Her working ability just gets better and better all the time. We did a couple sessions of relaxation protocol when we were back in our cubicle and a couple of the other dogs were working in the main area - so she could watch them and practice being calm at the same time.Right before class ended Ursula asked me if Gimme had any brain left to work and if so, could she be a demo dog for go-to-mat. I said "sure", thinking we were just going to demonstrate what the go-to-mat behavior looked like. What Ursula really wanted to demonstrate was pairing a new cue, the sound of a doorbell ringing, to the behavior. Of course, Gimme only had to have the sequence (doorbell - old verbal cue - behavior - reward) happen three times before we were able to test and see her do the behavior on the doorbell alone. People were astonished, as was I, to see her pick it up so fast. It was cool because the whole class erupted in celebration when she got it right and you should have seen Gimme looking around and realizing how great it is to have an audience to appreciate her. The instructor reminded the students that while dogs pick up things like this very quickly, Gimme is exceptionally quick.

There's a reason I say all the time that she's a canine genius.

BTW overnight Gimme has adopted a baaaaaaby. She's had a stuffed lamb toy since she came home with me and its one of the few she never chewed up. Well she's just two months out of her first season and has decided this will be her baby. At least its black and white... [and yes, it has occurred to me that hormones in the last week of her false pregnancy could have contributed to her difficulty with "the hardest thing"]

Another BTW - check out this link for a great article that does a very good job of explaining why using corrections on aggressive behavior may "look" like it is working but really creates a ticking time bomb. Feel free to share this info far and wide...
Thank Your Dog For Growling