RFE practice (83)

Once I finish this entry, I'll be officially caught up - at least until 9:00 a.m. tomorrow.  On December 20th, J'Anna and I met for RFE practice. I knew Gimme was doing a lot better, but wasn't sure what to expect. Sometimes it can take her a few RFE sessions to bounce back from a false pregnancy. I need not have worried. She was raring to go.

I decided the session before this to start putting up the rolling curtains, to obscure the view from our ring to the daycare entrance. I thought a little less visual distraction of strange dogs coming and going might be a good thing.

Heeling video - If she got out of position, I moved in the opposite direction. With the screens up, when the dog was barking, I found she was less distracted, since she'd already discovered there'd be nothing to gander at.

Finding positions video - Here we spend some time tossing treats and then Gimme has to find a position (heel, side, center, etc.) to get a reward, followed by another tossed treat to set up the next repetition. Not only does this increase her understanding of positions, it also releases energy. She wouldn't even do "under" the last time we met. And, I was really pleased when she went to the right general area for "fanny"; it's been a long time coming.

Sidepasses video - I wanted to just keep her moving and having fun, so we did: sidepasses in "center", "around", sidepass away in "heel", sidepass into her in "heel", sidepass away in "side", and sidepass into her in "side". She did nicely and seemed to enjoy the work. Once her behavior is stronger, I'll have to start working on my own footwork, particularly moving toward her. I think a variation of grapevine might work, but without the first big step toward her. I'll have to play with it.

Backing in "heel" and doodles video - It wouldn't be Gimme if she didn't offer an "otto". I think I need to make a list of those variations of behaviors which are harder, such as backing in "side", and make it a point to practice them every time. We did an easy "take-a". Then cued her for what was supposed to be sit-down-sit-stand and proved to be more challenging than I expected. She was getting pretty excited and wanted to throw her own great choices at me, rather than listen to mine.

At the beginning of our second session, Gimme got distracted and ran off to check things I'd laid out, ignoring me. So I hid from her. She kept a close eye on me after that. They were playing with a squeak toy in daycare and it proved distracting (more so than barking), so she couldn't focus enough to do the distance behavior work I'd set up for.

"Otto" & "izzy" video - It was so distracting, she had trouble doing "otto" the first couple of times. She did get into it when the noise died down in daycare and ended doing a couple of gorgeous "izzy". We threw in some "spin" and "turn" for good measure.

"Center" front pivot video - I am spitting treats to her when we do this, but only when she is in "center". She has a tendency to lead me when we are pivoting counter-clockwise. I'm also randomly changing direction so she has to pay closer attention.

Distance behaviors video - When Gimme had her brain back, we tried this again. We started with sits and down to remind her the deal was to stay behind the bar. From there we got bows and her "scoot".

Doodles video - For the last segment of this session, we did a variety of behaviors: "around", "behind", figure-8 "thru", and finding "under". Maybe it's not the best idea to combine "thru" and "under" in the same segment.

Opposite backward circles video - I love how quickly she figures things out. We've never attempted this before and with just a couple of halfway tries, she nails it first time with the full circle. She'll need more work on the "izzy" direction.

Weave variations video - Just walking weaves and the backward weaves. I notice from "side" I did the entry for the backward weaves incorrectly. Gimme did what I asked, but we'd have gotten points knocked off.

"About" video - We haven't done this in a very long time. I really need to use platforms.

"Fanny" walk & pivot video - We've done the walk a few times, but have never attempted the pivot. I think the pivots would train better with platforms. It's hard to train this, since I can't see her.

As you can see there was a huge improvement in her attitude. Between the jammed toe and the false pregnancy the time before, it's a wonder she was willing to do anything. I was thrilled to see her bounce back so well.