Parkour (5/9)

This class was just the day after we learned about Gimme's mass, so I was pretty much ready to go with anything she wanted to do - which was all of it. It's who she is.

Since then we've learned Gimme has a really bad UTI, which has infected the wall of her bladder. She's now on antibiotics and I'm praying for a speedy recovery. She has low urine concentration that makes her more susceptible to UTIs, so we are exploring different ways to prevent them and to monitor her urine to catch any future problems much sooner.

Sequence 1 video - This is an easy sequence, except for the swinging board, which Gimme hates. I make it a point to pay her a lot for being on it. If she gets it shaking, then I steady it with my foot. It's the only thing she dislikes. I misunderstood the instructions for the yellow donut at end of the first row - thought we were supposed to do 4 on.

Sequence 2 video - Gimme has a bit of a challenge understanding we can actually "wait" in parkour. Who knew? At the end of the walk on I was trying to get her to play "whazzat" about the dog in the corner. You can see her telling me, "I don't wanna look at him". Good girl.

Sequence 3 video - Another easy sequence containing the evil swinging board and the challenging yellow donut. Gimme does really nice in this class, especially since the course takes her within 6' of the other dog.

Sequence 4 video - Yet another easy sequence. I keep adding control points to keep Gimme focused. She's really willing to do almost anything to get her fair share of cheese and peanut butter. Of course, by her way of thinking... it's all part of her fair share.

Sequence 5 video - The goal was to get two feet on the barrel. Since Gimme wasn't listening well enough to do "hands", I had her do "bacon" instead. I can always count on her to do a "bacon". The goal on the two black platforms layered on a third, was to get the dog to stop with front paws on one while keeping back paws on the other. We do this a lot with our control points, so it was very easy for Gimme.

Sequence 6 video - Another fun sequence.

Backward "walkies" video - Doing walk on going backward is the one thing Gimme struggles with learning. I think I need to freeshape it and then she'll totally get it. Here I tried doing it "bacon" on the two black platforms layered on a third, but it didn't seem to help. I think I've failed to make what I want clear to Gimme.

Backward "walkies" 2 video - Here it went a little better. I wish I'd had my clicker with me. It occurs to me I get to class over an hour before it starts, so I could go in and have a short session shaping this on one of the planks. A level plank might reduce her tendency to sit.

In any case, the big thing for me was seeing Gimme so enthusiastic about working.