This is from last Thursday. I continue to be pleased with the steady progress we've made since Kathy started coaching me. I don't know if its connected, but Gimme seems to be bypassing having a false pregnancy for the first time. At the last practice I was sure she was about to go into Mommy-brain any day, but then it hasn't materialized.
I wanted to keep the sessions shorter, but my practice partner was too challenged by using the timer on my phone and doesn't know how to use the one on her phone. I have another timer I can set ahead and then she'll only have to push one button - if I can find it.
Session 1 video Gimme gets focused and ready to
work much quicker. She no longer seems to need the perimeter walks -
she looks around a little bit, but doesn't take her attention away from
me and her distraction is less each time. When she is briefly distracted, she'll seem to go a bit wide for a step or two, but then moves right in again. She hasn't been very enthused
about learning the up-touch, which I think is partly a fitness issue,
but using the clicker made it clearer for her and then she was into it.
I'm trying to break the heeling up with other stuff here and there, but
not too much. I think one of the issues with RallyFrEe is she barely
gets a stride or two before we stop again, so I try to do a fair amount
of moving, then stop and do a couple of behaviors, then move some more.
And sometimes the girl just wants a hug. I like the new game Kathy had us doing - tossing a treat and then having Gimme find "heel" or "side" while I'm moving, she's really running into position. At the end when I ask for a "thru" and she gives me "under", I petted her - not very effective training. Fortunately she's very patient.
Session 2 video More good stuff. For this and the prior session, I'm trying to add some play in. I've never trained/rewarded with play before, so it doesn't come naturally to me. Luckily, Gimme is willing to overlook my ineptitude. I was pleased to see her do the simultaneous spins the very first time - its been about a year since we last worked on it, in the KathyW class. There is one time each when I cued "heel" or "side" and she went to the opposite position and I didn't realize it. Later on I cue them and she goes to the correct position. Since I accepted the wrong ones, it makes me wonder if I had something in mind other than what I cued and maybe she is cuing off of something beside the verbal cue. Still a good session.
Session 3 video This session did not go as well. Gimme was distracted by something right as we came in the door and it took her a long time to focus on me. J'Anna thought it was the sound of someone using a toy in the next room over, but I didn't hear it. I did hear a squeaky sounding small dog or puppy from the daycare room. My plan for this session was to quickly do a corner 180 turn for each of the four corners. I should have abandoned the plan and gone back to basics until Gimme could completely work through the distraction. When I got our toy, I could have used it much more effectively, rather than just as a distraction from the distraction. I should have used it to reward focus, to get her more into our game than worrying about someone else's game. No harm done, I just don't think she learned anything there.
I'm just damned lucky to have such a patient and forgiving Empress to share my life. Just sayin'...
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