I decided that I want to walk all the rails-to-trails in both Thurston and Lewis counties. So, yesterday I started with the beginning of the Western Chehalis set. We didn't get very far because Gimme was so distracted and unfocused. She just had the worst time even trying to do something that resembled LLW.
Partly I think that has to do with two things that happened at home. First a deer walked through the yard, hopping over the 4 ft fence like it wasn't there. So I'm sure Gimme smelled the intruder and possibly it made her more intense about the rural smells. It probably doesn't help that she hasn't been out to the fort to stretch her legs and run around in a week and was very cooped up for most of the weekend.
Then before we left, Ted came over and was working on some of the projects I have going on. I don't think I've mentioned that I'm having the house painted, along with a lot of other exterior work. The power washing and house painting hasn't bothered Gimme, probably because it is so quiet. But the tree removal and tree topping are pretty noisy.
In any case, practicing attention exercises is our big focus right now. Tomorrow I plan to do another Attention O.T.R. to see if she is getting it. Some things she seems to pick up pretty quickly - others seem pretty sketchy.
Since the last class I got in a late entry for an ORT this Sunday. I wasn't originally planning to do it, but its right here in town, so I figure I may as well. We do need to get Clove out of the way.
Tonight was our last nosework class for this session. Joyce set up a container search using clove, an exterior search with three hides and a vehicle search with one hide.
Gimme did very well with the container and clearly knows what to do when she smells clove. I feel really confident that we'll get the ORT. She did bust the stuffing out of several boxes. I have been working on moderating her paw indicator, but its just in the beginning phase. I realized that the "paw" cue is not specific - sometimes its pawing (repeated strikes) and sometimes its paw and hold. So if I'm going to use it as a part of a behavior chain for an indication, I have to be specific about what "paw" means. So we're in the process of redefining "paw" before going any further.
Our second search was the exterior and while Gimme found the first one very quickly, she dithered all over for the other two and then peed and I walked her off the area. She was repeatedly distracted by playing-people sounds out of sight, which she's usually better about. Also, that's the first time she has peed in an exterior in a very long time. Later as I watched others try to find the odor, I understood why it was so challenging for her. Joyce had placed the three hides really close so it was essentially a three-way converging odor exercise. Only two dogs of the 6 got it and Joyce was helping them.
Our third search was a vehicle and while it wasn't a particularly hard challenge, Gimme was taking her time about it. Since she wasn't getting it fast enough to suit Joyce, she stepped in trying to "help" her... but her idea of helping was essentially getting in Gimme's space, which then Gimme would back out to let her have the space - being a polite girl. When I told Joyce to back off and let Gimme solve it herself... she got back to work and did solve it. She was positively strutting her stuff on the way back to the car. She always gets really impressed with herself when she does something challenging.
So not our best class, but I do feel really good about the containers and the ORT this weekend. Cross any body parts you can spare.
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