We started class with an interesting exercise. There were five hides along the row of plate glass holders. We were to go up the row and reward any hide the dog went to. If they passed a hide and didn't whip back quickly on their own, then we were to keep going. At the end we were to turn around and come back.
Gimme really isn't ready to apply her new indication in a search, but I wanted to see what she'd do. I accepted whatever she gave me as her first indication, then paused in place to see if she'd give me repeat nose touches - she did. There was also a bit of paw lifts/touches, but no aggressive scratches. I tried to time rewards when the paw wasn't part of the action, but I wasn't always successful. At one point she gets a little crazy for the food and we have to work through it - obviously something we have to train in our sessions. Often I was rewarding her for simply pointing her nose back toward the hide, approximating the final picture. You can't really see what she's doing for an indication because the person on the camera doesn't move, so we are pretty distant for most of the search. Still I was pleased with her efforts.
Exterior 1 video - She does a nice snap back on the first hide. Goes around the orange rack to pee in the grass and misses the hide there. I really should have taken her off the search, but I didn't - chalk it up to my migraine and back pain. She gets the other three hides nicely. We make a full break at the end before coming back. She gets all five hides on the way back.
Note: She has since come in season, which accounts for her marking during this search. Doesn't excuse it, just explains why.
Exterior 2 video - The instructor moves the hides a little bit for the second round, but keeps them on the same racks. Gimme gets the first one, misses the one on the orange rack and the one after, then found the last two easily. She got all five on the way back, indicating nicely for every one.
I notice I keep turning her around to get myself into position to reward her with my right hand. It's a habit I really have to break - it's just inefficient training to essentially pull her away from the hide before going back to it for a reward. I just have to get in the mindset to transfer the treats to the other hand - it's not like she's going to race off out of control when I have treats in my hand, so I don't need a firm grip on the line as I'm changing hands. I probably need to practice working the line with my right hand; I do it in tracking.
Exterior 3 video - There are three hides along this sidewalk. Gimme does a great job finding all of them. Her indications were really solid too. By this time my back was hurting a lot from her pulling, so I was especially clumsy with rewarding her and line handling.
Gimm
