RFE practice (93)

This is the first time we've done RallyFrEe practice on Tuesday when it wasn't an RFE entry video day. It feels very odd and I really wasn't mentally prepared. It'll take a bit before I get into this new routine.

Freeshape "tivo" in a bucket video - She still offers a couple of CCW "pivot" instead of CW "tivo", but I just ignore them. Sometimes I click and she starts to move her feet out and the reward hand gets pulled back until she gets both feet in the bucket. She gives me the first full "tivo" in the bucket in 16 seconds (it was 42 seconds last time). Awesome improvement. She did much better keeping both front feet in the bucket. You'll note sometimes she gets rewarded for just putting her feet in it - which I consider unpredictably easy rewards on a variable schedule of reinforcement. My click timing is awful - it's a wonder she learns anything.

Freeshape back-weave macaroni video - I've decided to only shape one macaroni back-weave through 2 cones. It makes no sense to go further for two reasons. First, I'd have to shape it to four cones to complete the behavior, and second, there is no telling which side they will ask me to do it from, so I'd have to shape the full four cone behavior twice. It makes more sense to shape and put a cue on two discreet behaviors, which can be cued to create the full behavior.

This is the first time we've worked it with the starting cone on Gimme's left, so she struggles getting started. This is the first time I've set the cones up straight, which was too much, especially since I was changing her direction. Gimme is the only dog I've ever known who I can't steer her rear by turning/luring her nose. I don't know why this is. I was so proud of her at 3:42 when she figures out without my help to go around the cone to set herself up.

What you don't see because the camera p.o.v. drifted off of us, is my effort to insert myself into the two cones and how Gimme is able (in just three tries) to do a "boop" out in the open. Before she's only been able to "boop" or "beep" with a barrier limiting her to just one option, so this is a HUGE step forward. Looks like this idea is going to work - Thank You Ilona!!!

Platform work video - I am continuing this work so Gimme can get comfortable standing on the platform while facing away from me - since she always wants to turn it into a spin. Since I'm now consistently farther behind her - I'm noodling about creating a curved target stick, so she can stand normally while I'm behind her, and maybe smear peanut butter on the end and stick cheese pieces to it. This might be just the ticket to bridging the gap between the target stick as a target/lure to becoming treat delivery for a completed behavior. It'll also get rid of her tendency to turn back to me while waiting for the treat after I click (which is worse when I'm on her right and begins the behavior I'm trying to get rid of) and or backing up a step to get closer to the treats.

Back in center & wait on handler return video - We've only done this once before. She knows to "back" on cue, but we haven't done it in a very long time, so I have to refresh her memory. Gimme does fine when I move to her and pivot into position. When I go behind her (as in obedience return) then she turns with me - training required, eh. As always with this girl, she always likes to show me her ideas, ie. "scoot" instead of "back".

Alternative position, "west" & "east" video - J'Anna said I'd used "izzy" when it should have been "otto" and the video shows she was correct. Some dogs can learn a behavior in both directions, but I prefer to have separate cues for each direction, though this shows Gimme will extrapolate when my cuing doesn't make sense - she's so smart. We've only trained this a couple of times and I'm adding cues already because I don't want to muddy the meaning of "izzy" & "otto". She picks these cues up very quickly.
Gimme did well this day - even despite the wiggle-butt tendency.

By the way, the trial J'Anna is talking about is the World Wide I event. I'm not entering Advanced until we can do backward weaves without a lot of gyrations. If she wants to enter Ginger, who she says isn't ready, it's her decision. We clearly aren't ready and I'm not wasting money on the speculation that we could be by mid-June. I don't see any benefit to trying to get the behavior for a video when I haven't trained it enough to be strong in the middle of a course.