This is our first time practicing after they closed the doggie daycare. It was so quiet and Gimme did much better focusing without all the barking and shrieking. On the other hand, when the people started coming for the puppy class, Gimme found them much more distracting than she has before. I think it was more of a contrast from her first session when it was so quiet. Next time I'm going to take some time to play "whazzat" as they are coming in.
There was no sign of her foot bothering her. So either or both of a weekend of rest and the little bit of energy work she let me do helped. We'll continue with this plan until after the PSDC show this Friday.
Platform work and "Away" video - This doesn't look smooth, but it's still coming together. She actually did some "away" without the target stick. I have an idea to use multiple platforms to solidify the concept. Her back through and coming to "heel" or "side" is actually pretty good, if she's settled in "away" position.
"Bucket" video - This went really well. She's slow the first time, but then the others were nice and fast.
Backing in heel video - Gimme does this smoothly in "heel" position, but needs more work in "side" position. I think I need to use a foot target to back to when we practice from "side", to give her something to back to. I think it's an issue of not understanding what I want, so she's going with what is physically easy/comfortable. The foot target would give her a mental target and help clarify the task.
Center pivot video - This goes better when I remember to spit the treats to her, and only when she's precisely centered. Interestingly I discovered she stays in a better "center" position when my head is turned somewhat right. Not sure what it means, but obviously I don't want to build it into our cuing.
Sidepasses video - This all went pretty well. The hardest part for her was coming toward me in "side" position. It's the same movement for her as moving away in "heel", but it may not be as obvious, since I'm not moving toward her. Or it could be the grapevine footwork I'm using when I'm moving toward her.
Freeshaping backward weaves video - Clearly you can hear all the noise from the puppy class and see how distracting it is. Next time I must remember to do the look-at-that game when the puppy class starts. She gets really stuck with the distraction, so I tried changing our orientation so she is facing away from them. It doesn't really help and instead I have her work on a skateboard. She's never done it before, but I was hoping the physical aspect of it would win her over and I was right. When we come back to the backward weaves freeshaping, she does a bit better.
Skateboarding video - I actually have a skateboard somewhere, but Gimme's never been on it. This is just a sample of what she was able to do in her first session ever. Being a Parkour Grand Champion does mean she's a bit on the bold side, eh... The bad news is, J'Anna was having so much fun watching Gimme, she failed to keep the camera pointed at her, so you miss some really funny and clever bits.
Opposite backward circles video - She is much better in "otto" direction. Even so it's awkward to reward with good timing. J'Anna confused #61 Opposite Backward Circles/around x2 (what I was training), with #34 Circle Around Handler x3. I too thought there was a multiple backward circles sign, but can't find it on the list, so I probably got the idea from her. In any case, I demonstrated Gimme could do the non-sign. Gimme was being funny with the "izzy" version, trying to add an element of scooting... I have to break down the ones starting with "izzy", but she picks it up well.
"Pivot" video - She remembers CCW "pivot", but not the CW "tivo". We'd only just started training "tivo", so I'm not surprised she doesn't remember.
"High" and "low" video - You may not recall, but I renamed paw lifts "high" (R) and "low" (L) because the original cues sounded too much alike. J'Anna always admires Gimme's nice high paw lifts because Glory's are barely off the floor, so I explain about the points you lose if they lift both paws, even if one is higher. We haven't worked on this in awhile - mostly because I don't find it an interesting trick, so Gimme tries to get me to fall for one of her interesting trick ideas. She knows what I like and pay well for, doncha know. Her left shoulder is not as flexible so the right paw often comes up off the floor with it. I think I need to find a way to stretch the left shoulder independent of the other. Since she brings the other paw up, I try to either click before it comes off the ground or as she puts it down. Neither is an easy moment to catch. It would be much better training to do two completely separate sessions for the different sides.
Overall it was a good session. Now that we rested her sore toes she is more able to concentrate, eh.
No comments:
Post a Comment