The Project - Day 4

Apple - back into a box, back feet only
Not trained today.

Orange - get onto a small perch with all four feet
I still can't find the small stool I originally thought I'd use and I don't want to invest the time into making a perch when I could be having fun training, so I'm going to use a plastic child's toy chest, minus lid.  I always worry about how flexible plastic can be, thus I tested with my own weight, so I'd be sure it would be fine for Gimme. 

I knew she was smart, so it was no surprise to me that she figured out to get on the perch with all four feet in seven clicks.  And it took no time at all to shape that to a sit on the perch.  I decided to add that as criteria, since it would be a useful assumption for her in our agility table training (which I haven't gotten around to yet). 

This session was late in the day on a rather full day, so Gimme wasn't as focused as she has been for the last couple of days.  And I saw a lot of perseverating, referring to her barking insistence that I simply must appreciate and reward her backing onto the box.  At the time I didn't realize that I had actually clicked a couple instances of backing onto it, so it wasn't totally a product of her own imagination.  (gotta love videotaping sessions).  I also moved away a bit too soon and that seemed to happen right before the backing up insistence; you'll notice that I moved back closer to the box so we could get beyond this frustration and end on a reward. 

Grape - dead bug (on back, feet in the air)
After our walk today, I saw Gimme doing some slower rolls on her back - not like the way she normally hurls herself into a down and roll.  I figured she was a little bit tired or at least had the edge taken off after our 3.5 mile walk, plus its pretty hot here.  It seemed a good idea to use that as an opportunity to shape the dead bug behavior.  It actually went pretty fast, though I'm sure our bug won't really be all that dead looking... I think its going to have a lot of wiggly life left in it.  You will see a couple instances of her hurling herself into the down and roll.

I set up the camera and did a three minute session, but afterward discovered that I hadn't gotten it situated so that Gimme was in the frame... you would only have seen her head.  So I set up again and did it better.  She really took to this training.  I found it interesting how she figured out to curve her spine to make it easier to stay on her back.  She was getting so good at it, that after a break I did another session starting to put the cue on it. 

This video is her second and third sessions.  I could have gone on longer, but didn't want to overdo it and lose her enthusiasm.  Do note she never left me this time, so she is obviously getting into this training.  I love her enthusiasm.  Another reason I didn't go beyond what you see is that I was thinking that doing this involves a fair amount of core strength and I didn't want to risk her getting sore.  We probably won't try this again until Monday.  Enjoy the video of the cutest puppy on the planet.

Peach - head under a chair
Not trained today.

Melon - push cube with nose
Not trained today.

Adding Cues

I thought I'd share with you how Ursula describes adding a cue to a behavior.  Its as good as any other I've seen and I like its simplicity.  You'll note it says "5 - 30 reps"... that's because as you add cues to more behaviors, the dogs get so they understand the process and it goes faster.

1. 5 - 30 reps, say cue as the dog does the behavior
2. 5 - 30 reps, say cue as dog starts the behavior
3. 5 - 30 reps, say cue just before dog starts the behavior

Thank you for following our project - I hope you are enjoying the videos as much as I enjoy making them.  Naturally anything that helps me show off Gimme, in the immortal words of Martha Stewart, "it's a good thing".

Tomorrow I'll tell you all about tertiary reinforcement.