Titles Achieved to date...

Monumental A to Z High On Liberty
NW1, RATI, RATN, RATO, NW2, L1I, RATS, L1E, L1C, L1V, L2C, L2I, L2E, RATM, R-FE/N, PKD-TL, PKD-N, ADPL1, ADPL2, TD, UWP, ADPL3, NTD, TKN, L2V, ADPL4, SDS-N, ADPL5, ADPCH, ADP1(2), ADPL1(GC), ADPL2(2), ADPL2(GC), VPN, AP, UWPCH, ADPL3(2), ADPL3(GC), NC, NI, NE, SCN, SIN, SEN, CZ8B, NV, NN, ADPL4(2), ADPL4(GC), ADPGCH, ADPL5(2), RATCH, CZ8S, AI, TKI, AV, AE, AC, AN, R-FE/X NW3-V, NW3-E, SI, RN, R-FE/NS, CZ8G, SC, SV, SE, SN, SEA, SBN, SWN, SIA, SCA, ADP-1(Th), ADP-2(Th), ADP-3(Th), ADP-4(Th), ADP-5(Th), and ADP-CH(Th)... 81 and counting...

Friday, August 19, 2011

The Project - Day 3

[Damn - I already wrote this once and it didn't save it, even though it said it had.]

Normally I give Gimme a day off on Friday.  Its my longest work day and I figure she can use a break from training me.  However, we are on a time crunch with The Project if we are going to get it done by the time our classes end next Thursday.  As it is, I probably won't have time to add the last three phases of learning (distraction, duration and distance).  When I tried to work in the yard, Gimme was pestering me more than usual - she was insistent that she had to have my full attention, so I decided to give it to her.  :-)

I came in and set up the chair we would use and got her treats ready.  I also fiddled with my little camera to see if I could video a training session.  I didn't realize the camera battery was running down, so we didn't get the rousing play session at the end.  The entire video was seven and a half minutes, and I've clipped off about a minute at the beginning and end.  I hope you like it.

Peach - head under a chair
The most interesting thing to me to come out of seeing this video was the amount of time involved in Gimme's two departures.  I define "departure" as her leaving the training area.  If you had asked me how long she was gone, I would have said about thirty to forty seconds.  Yet when I was editing the video I found it was actually only ten seconds (she went to the bedroom) and seven seconds (to the kitchen door). 

I remember learning, when you are working with students and you want them to work toward longer duration behaviors, you should be specific about the time for their goal.  If you don't, almost all of them will come back with a behavior that is approximately seven seconds long.  It seems the human mind perceives seven seconds as a long time and, being human myself, I am no exception. 

Usually when she has these departures, I take it as her way of telling me she is done.  Yet here, since I wanted to at least attempt a video, I waited and she came back both times.  There were no other departures after the second one.  Makes me wonder if I haven't unintentionally taught Gimme to not persist in shaping training.  Clearly she is willing to work for a reasonable amount of time, I may just need to wait and see if she'll come back and re-engage.

I always find it fascinating to see how her mind works as she puzzles through things.  She has a tendency to perseverate (yes, it really is a word and its not misspelled), that is, to persist even when I have indicated its not the right answer. 

I have seen that a lot with Gimme and, upon reflection, that is probably also my fault.  I have a tendency to start shaping without a firm idea of my end-behavior in mind.  I tend to define it as it evolves, so Gimme has been able in the past to derail my intentions to one of her own making.  It is interesting in this project, to see how my approach has changed since I have firm goals in mind.  That is not to say that I won't let her choose her own route sometimes...

I will probably video more of our sessions after this.  Another useful tidbit of information from this video was the number of click/treats we got in the session. Although the tape is 6:26 long, I think we lost almost a minute to Gimme's departures and distractions (checking to see if the treats might be self-serve).  I counted the number of click/treats and there were 51... so that is just under 10 per minute.  It could be better, but its not bad.

I do think this behavior will come along pretty quickly.  We got quite well into it in a single session, so at least this one will be easy.



Also, we got our entry confirmation for Gimme's debut at the Puget Sound Dalmatian Club, a week from today.  I've also entered Sammamish on Sunday, but didn't get that confirmation.  I sent the entries in the same envelope, so I expect it will arrive any day now.

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