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...

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The Project - Day 7

Apple - back into a box, back feet only
Not trained today.  I'm going to cut an insert for the box and then attach a base to keep it from tipping over so easily.  Hopefully I can do this before class tonight.

Orange - get onto a small perch with all four feet
Trained this in class.  Gimme and I went walking today and it was very hot and even more humid.  So I did find her getting a little tired (slower responses) and we didn't do as many repetitions as we might have otherwise.  Even with just a few reps, it was solid enough to progress with adding the cue.  I started adding the cue and got to the second step.  Then we had a discussion of how adding the cue will likely progress and what I should do.  Since the Orange behavior is a behavior that takes several seconds to do, there are a couple points where Gimme might stall as she is learning the cue.  It'll be interesting to watch. 

Meanwhile Ursula was cleaning up my technique.  I have to learn to remain quiet when someone is watching me.  I have conquered being quiet when I train alone, but with someone standing there my natural talkative tendency takes over.  I also need to throw the treats more of the time, to reset Gimme for another go at the behavior.

The other thing she noticed was that I usually "reload" my hand with treats right after I click, then toss a treat for Gimme.  What she saw was that it was taking me too long and when Gimme turned back toward me, my hand was still in the bag fishing for treats.  When that happened, Gimme was then focused on my hand instead of going right back to the shaping task.  Ursula said that since Gimme's clicker understanding is so sophisticated, that I no longer have to deliver the treat so quickly, so I can change my habit to reload after clicking while getting the next treat for that click.  This is very useful, since I would probably not have noticed this training by myself.

Grape - dead bug (on back, feet in the air)
Not trained today.  However, I did notice watching TV, on the show "Frasier", the most frequent trick you see Eddie doing is the dead bug.  He does two versions, still (completely dead) and just like Gimme (wiggly legs).  Of course, Gimme is much cuter.

Peach - head under a chair

Not trained today. 

Melon - push cube with nose
Not trained today.

I also asked Ursula a question related to something else I've been working on.  As Gimme's independence phase has progressed, I've noticed her comfortable distance from me during our walks on the fort's training areas has increased, from 50-60 feet to more like 50 yards.  However my comfort zone has not increased with hers.

My approach was to start randomly clicking any time she is within the original (preferred) comfort zone, as well as any time she checks in (looks at me).  I've noticed two things.  Sometimes if I happen to click when she is headed to the edge of the woods (there are any number of deer trails into the woods and Gimme checks them all), she will turn her head to acknowledge me, continues across the verge to sniff down the trail, and then comes to me for the treat.  The other thing is that if she's on the road ahead of me (any distance from 5 to 50 feet), if I click her she just stops and waits for me to get there and deliver the treat.

If I stop, back up or turn away, she immediately comes to me at a gallop.  I tend to think she is just doing this because its been hot and humid since I've started doing the random clicking and she's conserving energy.  I wanted Ursula's take on it, because I wasn't sure if my interpretation was right and partly because in agility circles you hear people who say your dog MUST take any "reward" you offer.

Ursula answered that as long as Gimme is simply conserving effort, its okay to let her do it.  However, if it becomes evident that she is "training me" to bring her treats, then it has to stop.  So the key is that if I sometimes stop, back up or turn away and she immediately runs in - its likely okay.  The other thing would be if she returns to running in when the weather cools.

As for what some agility people say ... Ursula opined, "if you have to make the dog take it, then its not much of a reward, is it?"  Too true...

Again, will have to do the tertiary reinforcement later --- perhaps tonight.

No comments: