First Nosework Class (1/1)

Last night's Nosework class was a LOT of fun for the Cutest Nose on the Planet.  Gimme comes from a long line of excellent Dalmatian noses, so she took to it like the proverbial duck to water.  The moment her nose told her there was food in one of them thar boxes, it was all over but the gobbling. 

There were twelve dogs in class; they come in one at a time.  The 12 will be broken into two groups for the next class.  Each dog got three turns throughout the class.  The first time they come in and there's about a dozen smallish boxes on the floor and food has been put in five of them.  As they clean out a box, the instructor put more in a couple of them, so the dogs get 7 finds.  Gimme was so fast it was almost like not getting our money's worth.  Of course her little bit of tracking experience helped, since she knew the moment I put the line on her tracking harness, its time to use your nose.  The second time we came in there were only three finds - it went by so fast I almost missed it.

Most of the dogs were slow and tentative.  Two others were eager, one was a Yellow Labrador that was almost as fast as Gimme.  There were several shy and fearful dogs.  A couple red bandana reactive dogs.  Nosework is set up with these dogs in mind, so everyone can play and be comfortable and successful.  One of the dogs in class is nearly blind and by her third turn she was really getting it and was quite methodical in her search for the food.  They all showed clear improvement by their third turn.

On the third turn, the instructor flapped the lid closed on one of the Yellow Lab's boxes.  For Gimme's third try, the lid was flapped closed and that box was set inside another deep box.  It never even slowed her down.  She was so sure she was the best, I fully expected her to break out in a high five.  We are both looking forward to the next class. 

Catching up on other things that have been going on

Last Saturday when I brought Gimme in to train after I taught agility, she got over the distraction much faster - in about half the time.  She did well focusing on what I wanted for most of our little session, except at one point where she kept losing focus.  I was trying to help her, but she finally just threw her little paws up and said, "Mom, I can't do this."  Before I could stop her she ran to the far corner of the arena and pooped.  After that she came right back to me and was ready to give me her all again.  She really is such a good little worker. 

Afterward we went to the fort to walk and had a nice time.  It had been lightly raining earlier, but it stopped long enough for us to walk and then started again as we were driving away.  The rest of our day was spent working on the living room.  I think I mentioned that we are tearing out the carpeting and needless to say its a big dirty job.  I'm reorganizing and getting shed of junk while I'm at it. 

On Sunday I played hooky from church and Gimme and I spent the whole day working on the living room.  She isn't nearly as much help as she thinks she is, but its not for lack of trying.  I needed to run some errands too, so I broke them up into groups.  Thus we were home for awhile, then in the car and running errands and then back home again and repeating...  For the two earlier trips in the day, the DAP worked very well for Gimme and she was quiet and peaceful.  For the last trip, around 4:30, she was fussy again.  It was a quick run to Home Depot and I stopped twice on the way.  But when I came out of HD after about half an hour, she was all settled in and quiet.  I thought for sure that meant that I simply needed to give her more time for the DAP to take affect.

Monday is one of my longer work days, so I expected Gimme would not get much help from the DAP.  Still I gave her a good fifteen minutes to settle in and she sure seemed that way when I got in the car.  Still I didn't get but a block and a half, with four stops along the way, before she was whining again.  That put us by the park.  I tried several variations on a theme to figure out what would get the message across to her.  Sometimes they seemed to work, but only for a short time or one or two repetitions and then she was back to full force whining.  The moment I moved the car or sometimes even started the car, she started in again.  I basically wasn't making any forward movement, now and then a few feet.

Since I was so close to home, I buttoned up the car to keep her safe and walked home.  There I picked a book, as well as the earplugs I use when I run my saw.  When I got back I got in the car, plugged up and read a couple chapters.  Gimme finally settled down after which I read a couple more pages.  Then I started the car and drove about half a block before needing to pull over again.  Turned off the car, plugged up and started reading again.  The next try I got almost a whole block before having to pull over.  I repeated this, but soon had to leave off the reading because it was getting too dark to read, so I practiced my deep breathing exercises while I waited.

I did a few things different than what I've been doing before - other than the obvious.  I did change the criteria.  She has to lay down and stop whining - no cue, just do it.  Then I did 15 deep breaths (takes just under a minute) before starting the car and taking off.  I thought that gave her more time to be solid in the behavior and the deep breathing on my part might change the "energy" in the car.  It also gives me time to scan the mirrors and pick a time to start up the car and re-enter traffic.

I also relaxed my standards for what constitutes whining as far as it relates to stopping the car. I just wasn't sure how much of what sounds like whining to me, she is even aware of doing.  Obviously some of it she is, since she has shown some conscious control of it.  But then some of the squeak-breathing type whining may be a stress thing that she doesn't have awareness of.  So my criteria for pulling over was a subjective judgment call on my part of when it sounded like she was "actively whining".

Each time, the distances got longer and the time it took her to settle down seemed to get shorter.  I used the breaks while waiting for her to settle down again to put my jacket on and get my food pouch on and leash ready.  Then the last segment of the drive was FOUR BLOCKS and into parking at Capitol Lake. I was practically dancing in my seat and literally singing and yakking at her to distract her for the last half block and into a parking space so she wouldn't whine before I could leap out of the car and get her out.  I wanted her to be successful and to get an immediate payoff.

I think the reason this worked is that by waiting for her to do a behavior that physically simulates calmness and then having her hold it... she was actually getting into to a calm state before we moved on again.  There is scientific evidence that acting like a specific emotion causes people to feel that emotion, so it stands to reason it would work for dogs as well.  Before, by responding so soon, she was never actually calm - just quiet.  For instance, if I tense up and hold my breath, I may be quiet, but I won't be calm... and I can't be quiet that way very long.

I took a back way home and only had to pull over twice.  That's huge.  But then, she's always done better on the way home.

Tuesday night is our CGC class.  Earlier in the day, after working one of my stores, we went to the fort to walk.  Gimme did well on the ride to my store and then afterward toward the fort.  I made it a point to stop before she could recognize where we were going and let her out of her crate.  I'm giving her peanut butter in her ball to distract her, like a pacifier.  Had to stop twice to refill it, but at least she was able to arrive in a more relaxed mindset.  She was relaxed and quiet on the way home.

On the way to class, we only had to stop twice and Gimme very quickly settled down again.  I was very pleased with how much progress she's made in such a short time.  However, once we got there she was very whiny, wanting out of the car right away.  Fortunately we were about half an hour early (I'd left home with a lot of time to spare in case we had to stop more often), so I had a lot of time to sit and wait for her to get calm again. 

Class was even more chaotic this time around, the dogs were "heeling" (read that being dragged and jerked around in a circle).  Gimme and me aren't doing anything the way the class is being done.  I'm just there to use the environment and the instructor knows better than to even suggest anything to me. 

Next time I'm going to change how I do things for Gimme.  The class is just too much for her to take in.  I'm going to set up in the alcove near the far door.  That will have us a little farther away and the lighting there is a little dim.  I'm going to set her crate at an angle so when she comes out, she can work behind her crate - acting like a visual barrier.  Plus we can go out that door periodically to give her a complete break from the chaos.  I can't use the other door because the two stupidest students keep parking on either side of it and they haven't mastered the concept of getting their dogs to come in close enough so someone can actually come through there with a dog.  (imagine me rolling my eyes to heaven)

After class we went for a very long walk along the Percival Landing boardwalk.  Its a nice way to relax after class and Gimme thoroughly enjoys the sniffing and snooping.  She was quiet as a little church mouse on the way home.

Wednesday is another long work day for me, though it wasn't too bad this week.  Not much merchandise came in, so I had a shorter than usual day.  I left home with Gimme in plenty of time to allow for a lot of stopping on our way to nosework class.  But then didn't need to stop even once!!!  WOOHOO!!!  I was so proud of her, that was a huge improvement and especially on a day when she'd been cooped up for most of it.  I was so happy with her I had goose bumps all over me.

Naturally once we got there she was insistent that she had to get out RIGHT NOW.  I sat with her for awhile until she got quiet and calm again before getting out of the car.  It didn't really help long term since she resumed carrying-on the moment I left.  She knew where she was and was just sure class couldn't start without her.  When her turn came, I went out to get her a little early so I could wait out any whining, but she very quickly figured out the drill.  Interestingly after her first turn, she was quiet for the remainder of class (two hours), only fussing a little when I went to get her.  So we'll see how it goes next week.  If the same pattern is present, I may try taking her out of the car for a quick walk before class and see if that satisfies her.

Today, Thursday seemed to start out quiet on our way to the fort.  But then halfway there she started whining and I ended up stopping three times without getting to the place where I intended to break out the pacifier.  I was close enough on the last stop, so once she was whine-free again, I let her out and we used the pacifier to get to the fort.  Naturally when we got there, she immediately pooped, so I'm wondering if that was the problem all along.  Bad mommy.

Since it had been a stressful ride, I opted to leave the treat bag and clicker in the car, planning to just walk.  Never do that.  Even if you don't plan to train, always be prepared for the possibility.  Naturally, even though we haven't seen a horse in over a month, today we did and I didn't have anything to reward her with. 

So the rest of our day has been uneventful.  Still puttering on the living room project from hell.  Still enjoying snuggle and play time with the Cutest Puppy on the Planet.