The weather was unseasonably warm, in the mid-eighties. Gimme repeatedly told me she was thirsty by going to an empty bowl in the building and trying to lead me outside to where the other bowl usually resides. I ended up taking her out to the car to get her bowl and a coconut water. She drank it down like she hadn't had a big bowl of water before we left home. After class she got another coconut water before we headed home. It was her day to pretend she's a camel.
Sequence 1 video - This was a simple little sequence starting with the narrow 6" boardwalk, then over the barrel onto the wider boardwalk, "flip" and then back to the beginning. There was a little table on either side of the barrel, so it wasn't too hard getting onto the next board walk regardless of its width.
Sequence 2 video - The idea here was to do "hands", "table", "thru", "out" (around the little blue chair now obscured by the bench in the foreground), then back to the beginning. The goal is to do the "out" without stepping over the boardwalk. We tried several times, but never could achieve the send. I tried tossing a treat, but the cheese stuck to my hand. I actually have a barrel, so we can practice this exact send.
Sequence 3 video - This easy platform jumping sequence had such a small space between them, there was no jumping needed. Another goal was to have the dogs pause on each platform.
Sequence 4 video - These were a little farther apart, but still easily doable.
Sequence 5 video - These were even farther apart. Gimme starts out well, but then on the last segment decides she can't do it. I don't know why she suddenly couldn't do it, but after several tries, we ended without a reward. I have some unfinished platforms at home and when they are done we'll work on this, making the increase in spacing more gradual. Another option is to place a jump between them to encourage jumping.
Sequence 6 video - Here we put the three short sequences together into one sequence. We still had difficulty with sending to an "out". It's just something we'll have to work on.
Sequence 7 video - This short sequence was easy peasy for Gimme. Going up the boardwalk to the scaffold against the wall is challenging because it feels crowded, but Gimme quickly figured this out a long time ago. Her biggest challenge was keeping all four feet in the "box". She doesn't get her treat until she gets all four in, but it still remains a challenge.
Sequence 8 video - Here we added another segment to the sequence. We did a little better with my treat-tossing strategy to get the send to an "out", but then my timing was off, so she jumped onto the little table instead of returning through the barrel.
In watching this, I'm struck by Gimme's bit of reluctance to get all four feet onto the little stool. This hasn't been an issue before, but it did seem to be an issue this night. I'm thinking of this along with her sudden inability to jump from one platform to another and wondering if there is something more to this. It may be that she was experiencing some discomfort with the jumping, especially since she was jumping from a stand still and needing to land in a stop, as opposed to a jump in the context of multiple strides. In any case she has a chiropractor appointment scheduled for next Thursday. I'm making a mental note to not push her to do anything next Wednesday if she shows reluctance.
Sequence 9 video - Here we were to practice something with backing up. I chose to use a baby tunnel on its end, just because it would be a little weird. She did fine at it, though I do note a tendency to back through it and not stop with her back feet in and follow with her front feet. This may also be happening if she is having an issue with discomfort. I'm sure glad we have an appointment scheduled.
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