I didn't know what to expect since Gimme was coming into season. Sometimes she's bolder and better when she's in season and sometimes the opposite. I started out having her find positions, adding "fanny" into the mix, to get into her training brain. It was a little challenging because of the screeching young dog in daycare.
Heeling video - After she got focused we did some heeling and I was trying to mark the best parts. I missed some good opportunities and my timing was off on others. I lost her for a bit when a dog in daycare was squeaking a toy. She wasn't going to get past it on her own, so I led her to the far end of the room to work and dramatically increased the rate of reinforcement. Then we played treat chasing briefly before heeling on the other side. As luck would have it I clicked and half a second later the dog squealed again, but a treat was on its way to Gimme, so I kept her attention despite the distraction. She drifted very wide on the corner closest to daycare, but came back on her own.
Center pivot video - I started with CCW pivot, since Gimme has the most difficulty maintaining position and a tendency to turn it into "otto". In this direction I slow it down to one-eighth turns and spit treats to her. She's mostly out of position by then and I have to wait for her to get back in position before rewarding. I did some pivots where I changed direction. In watching this, I think the multiple changes of direction worked the best.
Sidepasses video - We'd already worked a lot so we only did a little bit of this. She's improving nicely.
"Izzy" & "otto" handler turns reverse video - We will need this in advanced and it's not something I've worked. Gimme picked up handler turning reverse in forward circles, so I'm sure she'll pick this up too. Note how fast she's gotten on her "izzy", which used to be her bad side. I checked the exercise description and it seemed vague, so I watched the video on the RFE website. I only need to turn once and Gimme turns at least twice. Given how fast she is, it'll likely be more than two turns. I'm certain we haven't tried this before, so she did great.
"Away" with platform video - I tried a number of things I wasn't completely happy with. I started with a target stick, but got a spin on the platform, instead of stopping facing "away". Looking at this makes me wonder if it might have worked better with peanut butter on the target stick, for her to lick while maintaining position - more as a treat delivery option than as a target. Leaving the target stick out and just using treat delivery to encourage the position (hand luring) worked pretty well and I got some brief pauses in position. I thought tossing the treat in front of her when she turned "away" also had promise. It was very hard to get the timing right on the toss. I was trying to click her turn and I can see in the video I was terribly late, clicking when her head was turned past 180ยบ and back toward me. I tried positioning her and giving her a wait cue, then clicking when she'd happen to turn her head forward. The trouble with this was the huge decrease in rate of reinforcement, so she was getting frustrated. I tried placing treats on a little cone to give her something to focus on. It worked a little better so I brought in her special bowl for another session at this.
"Away" with platform and special bowl video - I started out doing "wait" on the platform while I walked around her. Then I positioned her with "wait" while I moved behind her and waited for her to look at the special bowl. However, from what I'm seeing on the video, it doesn't look like she's actually looking at it, just in its direction. This makes sense, since our training has been to be aware of it, but not overly focused on it and we've even heeled around it where she gets rewarded for not even looking at it, though it may only be a foot out of our path. I think I'm going to make a freestanding target stick and teach her to look at it and do a sustained nose touch to it. Then it will be less confusing.
"East" & "west" video - We just recently started training this and it's coming along very well. It helps when you start with a canine genius.
"Boop" & "beep" video - This continues to be a challenge. I started with "boop" because it is a more challenging direction for her to turn her heiney. I waited too long to start on "beep", so it's taking a bit to get going. I was using the spot against the table so I could use the mirror to know when to click - aiming for the moment when she turns her heiney. After struggling to set up a mirror at home, I discovered I don't need one. If I look down my leg on the side she is backing to, I can click just as any part of her appears and it will be close enough timing.
I've also been discussing this on the MDSA list and Ilona gave me a good idea. So now I'm freeshaping Gimme to weave backward through obstacles. I'm using two bottles of bleach for a start and I'm approaching it very much like the way they train 2x2 weave poles. Gimme being Gimme has her own little twist on it. She is pretty certain it'll be more interesting if she puts her feet on top of the bleach bottle. Never a dull moment...
Since this practice she has come in season and will surely be completely out before we meet this Thursday.
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