Last night was Parkour class. Traffic was more like usual, so we had time to potty walk and I did some other things. I saw one of the other students from our class come and potty walk his dog, then minutes later he drove off and didn't return. Jo says he's involved in SAR (not the dog), so he must've gotten a call. The other dog is still out for neuter recovery, so Gimme got another private lesson.
"Below" video - First we had to warm up Gimme's brain to remember to actually listen for my cues. Then we had to clean up my body cues, such as motioning with the near hand and straightening my shoulders.
"Jump" video - This was just a little "jump" warm-up.
Sequence 1 video - With this bit of sequencing, you get to see who Gimme really is. She crashes the balance board while she is on it, not once, but twice, and is completely unconcerned. Sometimes it takes a bit of extra effort to get her to exercise control, eh. But it is sure a blessing to know she won't be 'scarred for life' when something unexpected happens. There's a reason her nickname is Demolition Gimme.
Sequence 2 video - This time I made sure she slowed things down and was more controlled. This is certainly NOT her first inclination. I think its good for her in many ways, not just Parkour, to learn to be more thoughtful about what she is doing.
Control video - Even though Gimme didn't demolish the balance board last time, the board moved a bit and Jo wanted more control. So she had me break down the part where Gimme gets on the balance board. Then we added just one jump before the board and then two jumps before.
"Thru" video - We did a single warm-up on the "thru" hoops. Since any and all equipment can change every time, Jo always likes to have us practice anything which may be different from what the dog expects.
Sequence 3 video - Now we put "thru" into a short sequence.
Tight jumping video - Jo set up the scaffolds in an "L" shape, so the raised end bar of one was a barrier as Gimme moved from one to the other. Gimme's solution was to step across the inside corner of the "L", going around the bar (twice). The goal was for her to learn to jump over the bar, even though spacing was tight and awkward. It was completely doable, Gimme just didn't know it was. I set up a lure in front of her to give her motivation to get there quickly, as well as blocking her go-around strategy with my body. Then we just let her figure out how to get there from here. Jo was suitably impressed with the way Gimme does something one time and then she has the confidence to do it repeatedly thereafter. Six months from now we can set up this same thing and she'll remember and just do it.
Sequence 4 video - This was a nice sequence. There is a large traffic cone just out of sight on the right side for Gimme to go around. Gimme wasn't the least concerned when her leash caught under the edge of one of the chairs and caused it to chase after her.
Sequence 5 video - Jo added some things to the sequence and I actually forgot one thing. Gimme still got treats because she can't be held responsible for my screw ups. Getting stimulus control between "hands" and "table" will likely be a long project. In this case I think it was complicated by the fact I let her step on the "hands" obstacle with her back feet after her reward. It probably seemed optional to her.
Sequence 6 video - Here is the sequence with the missing piece using the bench. When Gimme made a mistake, Jo had me start over because she thinks Gimme finds it rewarding to continue, thus reinforcing the mistake if we don't start over. I'm sure she's right. Note at the end I call the "hands" by the wrong cue, "walkies". Be sure to catch the look Gimme tosses over her shoulder - it was very clear she knew I was wrong. Fortunately she loves me anyway.
By this time, Gimme was getting tired. She would have done it five more times if I asked her to, but what's the fun in that. She'd done a lot of work, so we ended even though we still had 15 minutes left of class time. She really slept soundly for most of the drive home.
No comments:
Post a Comment