Jo is back. Yayyyy. We learn so much more with Jo's exercises.
Distance sequence video - The goal was to leave Gimme in a "wait" in the "box" and move a bit ahead and to the side and then send her "thru" the tunnel and onto the "table". The first time she did great, but I wasn't very far away and was moving alongside. The next time she got "thru", but wasn't too sure about "table" since I wasn't moving with her. The third time with the same distance and not moving with her, she needed a reminder, but was able to get it. When the weather gets better, we'll be working distance behaviors at home. We'll work this in with the cue discrimination I want to work on.
"Thru" chute video - This was really an easy behavior for Gimme. What was challenging was focusing while two other students were doing stuff with their dogs so close. Jo had them move so Gimme could have the space, but I guess they didn't really understand the point of moving. Still Gimme did well with this.
Moving boardwalk video - The board was set on two bone-shaped fitness disks, so it wobbled when walked on. Gimme was momentarily surprised, but then was non-plussed. Because Gimme is much more advanced than her classmates, Jo had us do some control points on the board. Gimme was fine with sit and down, but it took her a few moments to focus enough to respond to "stand". She did what so often happens, offering me the last thing she got rewarded for, instead of listening to the cue I gave her.
Sequence 1 video - This was just a short little sequence putting together what we'd already done. Gimme did very well and completely ignored the dogs in the corner.
Free practice video - We were to pick an item and do at least two behaviors with it. I used the big cone and practiced our "out" a couple of times. Then I asked her to do "hands" on it. She has done this before, but its very hard because the top of the cone really isn't big enough for both feet and she has to position her feet just right to get both of them on it. Even then I don't think it's exactly comfortable.
As I went to turn off the camera, I momentarily had my back turned to the room - which of course was the exact moment when the standard poodle owner lost control of her dog. The dog came running up to Gimme. Nothing happened, since I reacted so quickly and the poodle owner was just moments behind her dog -- the interaction was only 2 seconds. But so much could have happened in that time. Needless to say, Gimme was higher than a kite and really primed to take someone on. I just couldn't get her attention, so we went outside for a walk and time to calm down.
When we came back in, I started working "whazzat", looking to the other dogs. Gimme did it just three times and then said she didn't want to look at the other dogs. Instead she pulled me to her matt where she could be behind a visual barrier. So I spent quite a bit of time rewarding pretend calm behavior. I was really pleased with her efforts to self-regulate her arousal; such a smart girl.
Jo came over and set up another layer of barriers when it was time for the standard poodle to work the next exercise, which is done off leash. She offered me the opportunity to go outside while they were working off leash, but I assured her I'd be watching and if the dog did come in our direction I was confident I could handle it. I was certain a forcefully shouted "No! Bad dog!" would make her rethink approaching us. The dog is actually quite soft, but not well trained and not much of a relationship with her owners; I really feel sorry for her.
Rebound 1 video - We did two rebound sessions, but I goofed on the second session and only thought I was videoing. The second session went pretty much like the first. Gimme is on the highest setting of the rebound trainer. She still has to learn her footwork, since she's tending to run the board, instead of rebounding against it.
I was really pleased to see Gimme trying so hard to work after the incident. I used her peanut butter go toob to help her focus. I don't think she was really in her working brain and there was a somewhat frantic edge to her rush for a reward, but she was purposeful in her efforts to do what I was asking and win the peanut butter. There was a time when she wouldn't have been able to return to work afterward, no matter how much peanut butter I had, so I am happy to see this improvement.
Gimme slept all the way home, only waking up one minute from our exit. Normally she starts whining about ten minutes from our exit. Clearly she was very tired after this class and the additional stress. It will be "interesting" to see how she handles the next class.
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