For some reason Gimme had a very difficult time getting into a working mindset. She just couldn't pay attention and I had to go get her and lead her back to work, by the collar, a couple of times. Then during the second session she was all for it. She is basically out of her false pregnancy, so I don't think it's the cause. The only idea I have is she could be tired from the weekend, three trial days. I haven't seen it before, but it's possible.
Freeshaping backward weaves video - She did better last time we did this. This time she seemed a bit antsy about it. She was getting it toward the end, but I think we've lost a little ground.
"Spin" for SkillsVid video - I've decided to revisit doing videos to put together an entry for a Skills title. Before I tried to video too many at once and her performance degraded. She was still doing them, but I wasn't getting the kind of precision I know she is capable of. I need scores of 8 or better (out of 10) to qualify for a Skills title. This time I just worked on these two spins and her work was much nicer. Only the last two of these are eligible to be used since I had treats in my pocket for the others.
"Turn" for SkillsVid video - I don't know what was going on here... it was like she'd forgotten what "turn" means. It came back, but it was weird. She really wanted to do "izzy" instead (the string of 3 was impressive, just not what I wanted). A couple of times she turns her head right to look way far out to where her special bowl was sitting. After she started to self-release herself to the special bowl, I decided having it on the same side as she was working was too much of a distraction and when I moved it, she did do better. One thing I don't like is the way she steps forward before starting her turn compared to the tight way she spins on the other side.
Since Gimme started the prior session without focus, I decided this time to start her on leash - as a reminder. When she is focused on working with me, then I took the leash off.
"Pivot" video - I'm amazed she did this at all, since I was using the wrong cue. Dumb me. Gimme deserves better. I do notice when she's already on the brick and I give the wrong cue, she does "pivot" anyway. But when I send her to the brick with the wrong cue, then she is much less certain and starts giving me a fishtail of both directions. "Pivot" is CCW and "tivo" is CW.
"Bucket" video - This is coming along so well. The real test of her understanding is she knows to get on the prop when she hears the cue. I'm almost ready to try it with other props. I just need to find props which are sturdy enough to hold up. She is a bit distracted by some squeaking going on in the puppy class, but manages to work through it.
Platform work for "away" video - It occurs to me watching this, she might do better about keeping both rear feet on the platform if I was just a little further to the side. Toward the end I am using the target stick to turn her "away". She's still turning too far, but at least is now self-correcting. She even turns a couple of times to the target stick without having to follow it like a lure - HUGE! I think we're gonna get this...
It's nice having her brain coming back. I'm so spoiled to have my smarty girl and when she's distracted by pseudo Mommy issues, I think we are both frustrated.
No comments:
Post a Comment