Gimme continued to do well - we are definitely back on track. I brought a toy in to reward Gimme with a good tug some of the time. I was recently reading something that reminded me to use toys with her. She does love her toys...
Tugging video - This is just a short sample of how I was using tugging and how much Gimme enjoys it.
Backing in "side" video - After my last practice, I made a list of the harder behaviors, with the specific side or direction. I planned to practice the harder version at every practice. Backing in "side" position is more challenging for Gimme. I used the tug when she did a good bit.
Opposite backward circles video - We need to be able to do two circles, but this is a great start. Since we've hardly ever tried this, I'm very pleased with her progress. It's just like the opposite circles, she picked up the concept so fast.
Center front pivot video - She has issues in both directions. Going CCW is her harder direction to step; though she ends up looking better. Going CW she always wants to go faster than me, turning it into "otto".
Sidepasses video - I really have to practice my footwork at some point so I don't look like a dancing camel. Gimme is challenged by sidepass into dog from "heel" and sidepass away from "side", as both require her to step CCW. At one point she does a particularly nice bit, so I whip out the toy to reward her with some tugging.
Back-thru weaves video - Right now we are focusing on "boop", backing through from "side" to "heel", since it's her harder direction to turn tight. Once we get this, "beep" should be easy. This is the first time we've worked on it outside the living room in a long while - since I wanted to restore her comfort with the process. I'm also using the toy a lot more with this, to increase value in this behavior.
I decided it would be cute for us to have a "cats" trick. The idea is for me to ask Gimme, "what do you think of 'cats'?" Her response would be to back up and sit on a stuffed kitty. This was hard to shape because the clicker I had was so quiet. I loaned one of my students my clicker and it didn't make it back to the car, so all I had was the ones for sound-sensitive dogs. With all the background noise, I don't think Gimme always heard it, so the c/t timing/accuracy wasn't as apparent as it should be. It's so quiet you can't even hear it on the video.
Freeshape a trick video - Getting her to back up and put her back feet on the cat happened really quickly. Getting the sit was challenging. I rewarded some sits away from the cat, hoping she'd put the two together. I also rewarded some "sit-pretty" right in front of the cat. Even though she clearly knows the trick has to do with the cat, when she gets frustrated she offers me other tricks. She also yells at me when I fail to fall for her other-tricks-ploy. We take a break to chase treats and bleed off the frustration. When we resume I pay her for several sits before going back to freeshaping. I try to catch her with her feet just in front of the cat, so I can give her multiple treats in a way simulating sitting on the cat. At the very end we got a good almost-sit-on-the-cat and I gave her multiple treats there and then ended. I may have her do some "bacon" with the sit right before our next session.
As I was editing the videos, I kept track of how long I spent tugging with Gimme. The longest time was 59 seconds and the shortest was 25 seconds (not including the one where J'Anna interrupted me). Most were close to 35 seconds. I want to make sure our tugging is always worth it for her, sometimes I win and sometimes she wins.
I sure love having her usual happy-self back.
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