Height & Speed

Blynn recommended that I play the "bang it game" with Gimme to help her get over her concern about the teeter (due to two recent events when she startled herself by going at it too fast).  I've played that training game with dogs that were afraid of the teeter, but it didn't occur to me to use it for temporary uncertainty.  Today we tried it and Gimme had loads of fun.  Anything that nets her lots of treats is a plus.

If you don't know the "bang it game" here's how its done (if you do know it, feel free to skip ahead.  For purpose of the discussion... the "down" end is the end that is on the ground when the teeter is at rest, and the "up" end is, obviously, the other end.

Start with a teeter and one chair.  Lift the down end of the teeter board up and prop a chair under it to hold it up off the ground.  In the beginning, set the chair close enough to the teeter base that the up end is held only an inch or two off the ground.  Then free shape the dog into pouncing on the up end, banging it into the ground.  Initially its not much of a bang because its only traveling an inch.  As the dog progresses in comfort level, move the chair further from the base, so that the up end is further off the ground when the dog is pouncing on it, giving them more bang. 

You want the dog to approach the bang end of the teeter from behind the pivot point, so they can bang and exit normally.  I clicked and tossed treats ahead of her when she banged it.  Then I tossed another treat behind me, to reset her for the next go at it.  I also use my body position to channel her approach correctly.

My goal is for Gimme to pounce happily on an up end that is 12 inches off the ground. We got from 2" to 7" in one session.  I'll increment slower from this point on.  Gimme loves free shaping and found this a ton of fun.

After that we practiced her weave poles.  I didn't advance the around-the-clock entries tonight.  Instead I worked on speed of entries we'd done already.  Gimme loves a challenge, so she found this a lot of fun.

She was smiling from ear to ear for the whole session, both teeter and weaves.  I was purposely keeping it upbeat and fun - which is not easy at the end of a ten hour workday.  I'm sure it helped that last night I spent a bunch of time cutting up a zillion small bits of pork loin to add to her treat mix.  I also mixed in a handful of kitty kibble that we inherited from General Patton.  Gimme and Meaggi both really like kitty kibble, though I make sure they don't get too much at one time.