Vehicle search video - Gimme went right to the first hide, sniffed with interest and then left it. As she got to the back bumper, she went back and forth between the two truck bumpers. Then went back up to the step at the front door and alerted. Then she went around to the far side of the white vehicle, until she got to the front bumper and alerted at the license plate. From there I gave her far too much time to investigate the back half of the white boom truck. She gave me some looks, as if to see if I would pay her, but it wasn't "the look". I don't know why she was interested in the back end of the boom truck, but at least she didn't give me a false alert.
Interior 1 search video - The first interior search (on leash) was of three carts in the little foyer - set up to be purposely crowded. It took Gimme a bit to find the first hide on the beige cart, because she was inhibited at first by where I was standing. When I moved on a little bit, then she got right in and indicated. She went around a bit but wasn't settling anywhere, so I called "finished" and was wrong. When I gave her more time, she alerted on the red cart. She had shown a little interest there, but not an alert. Handling in such a crowded area is hard because the line snags on stuff. Also it's very challenging to strike the right balance between staying far enough away to allow the dog room to work and being close enough to be supportive.
Interior 2 search video - This search was in the tiny bathroom, with a large tub and wheelchair added to make it crowded. Gimme quickly got the hide on the tub. I tried to get her in the space between the tub/wheelchair and the sink and it was challenging. She did finally get in there and then immediately left. She's not normally inhibited by crowded spaces, so I think she knew there was nothing else to find there.
Interior 3 search video - The last search was the whole big room. We were instructed to not tell the dog what to do. Case in point being all the times I tell Gimme, "Thank you, find another one". Gimme rushed in and found the first hide on the green tub in 13 seconds. She finds the second hide on a chair in 5 seconds. She finds the third hide on the red tub in 9 seconds. Hide four on another chair took just 5 seconds. The fifth hide on another chair took 14 seconds. The sixth hide took 18 seconds. Finding the seventh hide took 30 seconds.
When Gimme went back to hides I knew she'd done, Dorothy encouraged me to ask her "are there any more?" It was interesting to see how easily Gimme moved on when asked. This probably makes great sense to her because it's so similar to when I ask "Is this the good track?" in tracking. We also saw her start checking hides she'd already indicated and then moving on by herself. It was cool.
This was a great class and interesting. Unfortunately this week (11/19) Gimme had to miss class. I've wrenched my back and can't do much of anything. I can drive and such, but if Gimme pulled on the line (as she so often does in nosework) it would be very painful for me, which might negatively affect her confidence. We also skipped tracking today (11/21), for the same reason, plus Nadine sprained her ankle.
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
RFE practice (106)
Gimme was still deep in her false pregnancy during this practice, so most of what I did centered around having fun and rewarding focus. The signs were set up for a course J'Anna and Ginger were entered under.
Heeling warm-up video - This started out well and when she did a nice bit, I threw a toy for her, unfortunately as I tried to grab it for tugging, I managed to poke her eye. I was able to get her to play briefly, but then she got really uncertain about it. It took a couple different rounds with different toys to get her to play enthusiastically. Then we did a couple quick warm-up sequences and ended.
Join-up video - My thought with this was to remove any pressure and reward her for choosing to come to/with me. It takes her 35 seconds to make the first choice. The next time was 9 seconds. In 1:30 she was choosing to stay with me.
Set-up and play video - While she understands "set-up", she's gotten fuzzy on the part about getting her heiney fully into a sit; she's hovering in a half-sit. I want to practice this at home. We just did 3 reps and then went to play some more with Terry Pterodactyl. She loves it when I make growly noises and come after her with monster hands. We also did a few click/treats for "release" of the toy. Mostly she gets the toy, but sometimes I want her to let me have it too.
Miscellaneous video - We did just over a minute of miscellaneous behaviors and heeling, then played for almost 2 minutes. Then back to work for a minute, followed by more play. Right now, while deep in a false pregnancy, play creates more energy and focus than food does. It probably always does, but we need more energy during the false pregnancy.
Session 3 warm-up video - Here's a 1½ minute warm-up. Gimme starts pretty loose, but then gets better.
We ended with some more play-work-play and then I let Gimme "win" the toy and take it to the car. I was really pleased to get this amount of play after the unfortunate eye-poke as we started training.
Since then she's pretty much gone out of her false pregnancy, so I expect her to be closer to normal at the next practice. It might take a couple practices before she becomes her usual self.
Heeling warm-up video - This started out well and when she did a nice bit, I threw a toy for her, unfortunately as I tried to grab it for tugging, I managed to poke her eye. I was able to get her to play briefly, but then she got really uncertain about it. It took a couple different rounds with different toys to get her to play enthusiastically. Then we did a couple quick warm-up sequences and ended.
Join-up video - My thought with this was to remove any pressure and reward her for choosing to come to/with me. It takes her 35 seconds to make the first choice. The next time was 9 seconds. In 1:30 she was choosing to stay with me.
Set-up and play video - While she understands "set-up", she's gotten fuzzy on the part about getting her heiney fully into a sit; she's hovering in a half-sit. I want to practice this at home. We just did 3 reps and then went to play some more with Terry Pterodactyl. She loves it when I make growly noises and come after her with monster hands. We also did a few click/treats for "release" of the toy. Mostly she gets the toy, but sometimes I want her to let me have it too.
Miscellaneous video - We did just over a minute of miscellaneous behaviors and heeling, then played for almost 2 minutes. Then back to work for a minute, followed by more play. Right now, while deep in a false pregnancy, play creates more energy and focus than food does. It probably always does, but we need more energy during the false pregnancy.
Session 3 warm-up video - Here's a 1½ minute warm-up. Gimme starts pretty loose, but then gets better.
We ended with some more play-work-play and then I let Gimme "win" the toy and take it to the car. I was really pleased to get this amount of play after the unfortunate eye-poke as we started training.
Since then she's pretty much gone out of her false pregnancy, so I expect her to be closer to normal at the next practice. It might take a couple practices before she becomes her usual self.
Urban (153) & Field tracking (60)
On November 7th, Nadine and I met at Auburn Cinema for tracking. It was cool and the ground was damp, with no real breeze.I laid out an article circle. Gimme was a little slow to start, but then aced it through to the end. The second-to-the-last article was a plastic switch plate. Between the time Cricket ran the track and when Gimme ran it, someone ran over it and smashed it to pieces, spreading the pieces out. Gimme was only momentarily unsure about what to do, but then indicated the largest remaining piece.
Nadine laid an elongated dog's head track for Gimme. In an aerial view it looks more like an anteater. When Gimme got to the nose where the track went forward the week before, she went across to check out the other side, but then came back and made the turn neatly. I don't know if she remembered or if she could still smell the old track a little. I do know when she was much younger she managed to find a pair of sunglasses on one of the Fort Lewis ranges, which had been out there for a couple of weeks, so I don't discount her smelling the old track a week later. In any case, from there to the end of the track she did a great job. She was very happy to find a toy as her last article - which she decided to keep.On November 14th, we met at Flaming Geyser. Nadine wanted to try an exercise she'd done many years ago with Skookum. When she did it, she had a group of 8 friends follow her in a straight line from the start, then she turned 90º in one direction, while they all turned the opposite direction. The test was to see if the dog could still follow the original track.
For our track we both walked the first leg, me first, then Nadine. Then at the top and out in the open, I turned 90º right (red line) and she turned 90º left (green line). Cricket ran the exercise first and had no problem - she briefly checked a few feet down Nadine's leg, but then turned back and stuck with my track.When Gimme ran it, she first tried to turn right. When I didn't go with her she continued to search around me in a circle and when she found the leg to the left with Nadine's scent she went with it - tracking to the end. Technically Gimme was correct to want to go to the right, since that track had newer-Nadine smell from when she ran Cricket on it.
We are going to do this exercise again, but will do two completely different track sets, so the dog doesn't get misleading training. I also think it might be a good idea to lay a track where the contamination layer joins the track a short distance after the tracklayer starts, so the dog has both the start article and a section of track to work from.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Nosework class (6/40 & 1/41)
On October 29th we did all our nosework searches in the dark. We've done this every year just before Halloween. We dress up the dogs in glow-in-the-dark necklaces and bracelets and there are some glow sticks around the area. I've had videos turn out in a minimal way before, but this year the camera wouldn't even focus. Actually there was more light this time because they had two strings of lighted jack-o-lanterns and skeletons. I think they provided enough light to "confuse" the camera, so we didn't get anything usable.
In any case, Gimme did fine, as she always has. She just motors around and finds the hides, then tries to get my attention. As we repeated the searches, I learned to "read" her necklaces, so I could sorta tell what she was doing.
On November 5th we had a fun series of interior searches. We had to break up all our treats into tiny pieces, so we'd have enough. The idea was to continue rewarding our dog for 30 seconds and we were being timed. Naturally Gimme thought this was a great idea.
Interior 1 search video - This first search of just one hide was in the foyer. Gimme went right to the tub, but it took her a bit to decide exactly where the hide was. Most of the time for this search was spent rewarding Gimme.
Interior 2 search video - This search was in the front of the room, separated from the back two-thirds by ex-pens. Gimme found the hide in less than 10 seconds. Again she enjoyed the prolonged reward strategy.
Container 1 search video - This search was on leash with one hide. Gimme noticed the thing on the cable, which will later be part of a high hide search. She was the only one to notice it without the hide actually being there. She found the container hide soon after.
Interior 3 search video - There is just one high hide in the front part of the room. Gimme immediately runs to the other end to check the boxes where she last found a hide. She finds the hide in 55 seconds. We were still supposed to prolong the rewarding as much as we could and as close to the hide as possible, so I had her put her feet on me.
Interior 4 search video - Again just one high hide, but in the back part of the room. Gimme found it very quickly, 20 second faster than the prior high hide search. This is the one she saw during the container search. The only dog in class with comparable skill level is August and his nose is already a foot closer to the high hides.
I was glad to see Gimme doing so well in class despite motherhood. She usually does well despite her condition, but sometimes I see a little less focus. I love to see her having fun.
In any case, Gimme did fine, as she always has. She just motors around and finds the hides, then tries to get my attention. As we repeated the searches, I learned to "read" her necklaces, so I could sorta tell what she was doing.
On November 5th we had a fun series of interior searches. We had to break up all our treats into tiny pieces, so we'd have enough. The idea was to continue rewarding our dog for 30 seconds and we were being timed. Naturally Gimme thought this was a great idea.
Interior 1 search video - This first search of just one hide was in the foyer. Gimme went right to the tub, but it took her a bit to decide exactly where the hide was. Most of the time for this search was spent rewarding Gimme.
Interior 2 search video - This search was in the front of the room, separated from the back two-thirds by ex-pens. Gimme found the hide in less than 10 seconds. Again she enjoyed the prolonged reward strategy.
Container 1 search video - This search was on leash with one hide. Gimme noticed the thing on the cable, which will later be part of a high hide search. She was the only one to notice it without the hide actually being there. She found the container hide soon after.
Interior 3 search video - There is just one high hide in the front part of the room. Gimme immediately runs to the other end to check the boxes where she last found a hide. She finds the hide in 55 seconds. We were still supposed to prolong the rewarding as much as we could and as close to the hide as possible, so I had her put her feet on me.
Interior 4 search video - Again just one high hide, but in the back part of the room. Gimme found it very quickly, 20 second faster than the prior high hide search. This is the one she saw during the container search. The only dog in class with comparable skill level is August and his nose is already a foot closer to the high hides.
I was glad to see Gimme doing so well in class despite motherhood. She usually does well despite her condition, but sometimes I see a little less focus. I love to see her having fun.
Monday, November 4, 2019
AKC Scentwork trial - New Titles
I wasn't planning to enter any more trials this year, but this was close and I couldn't resist. I've been wanting to complete the requirements for DCA's Versatility Award and getting an Advanced level AKC nosework title would do it. So I entered.
Saturday
The site was okay, but it was unbelievably cold. They said they were going to go by run order, but it didn't last. Since AKC allows volunteers to run dogs, they have priority, which throws everything off. They also have 5 wait stations, which means the dogs are kept waiting a long time. The good thing is they've set it up so you run two elements back-to-back.
I saw a gap for the interior/exterior line and got in it. Three others had the same plan, but I got there first. Since it was so cold, I made Gimme wear her sweater while we waited. She doesn't like it; says it makes her look like a bag lady. I say nothing could ever diminish her natural style and beauty. I also took thick pad I'd made from a folded blanket for her to sit/stand/lay on.
Advanced Interior 1 - the first hide, right from the start, was on the interior part of the table leg structure. then she was distracted and wanted to go back to the car. I encouraged her and got her around the area and she found the second hide on the side of the little grandstand. She did this in 0:54.15 and would have gotten 5th place. She needs one more leg to title.
Advanced Exterior 1 - Gimme immediately went to the fuzzy blue toy. I encouraged her to search and she moved away briefly before going back to the toy. I moved her farther away and she found her first hide on the parking divider. Then back to the toy. I asked her to search more and took her toward the other end of the search area and she found the second hide on the sandwich sign. As part of her reward I let her check out the toy again as I gathered up our stuff. This Q finished her Scent Work Exterior Advanced (SEA) title. Even with all the time she wasted checking out the toy, our time was 1:13.78, with 2:00 allowed.
I checked on the line for buried and containers many times and finally went to the car for awhile. A bit later when I checked on the line, it was gone! So I ran to get Gimme, quickly did warm-up boxes and we were able to get a single pee on a strip of grass.
Novice Buried 1 - Gimme kind of dithered around, saying "nothing to smell here." So after two trips around the 6 containers, I started directing her "check it" to each one. When we got to the third one, she really became interested in it. I could have called it then, but I waited for her to make a decision and indicate. She was right and finished her Scent Work Buried Novice (SBN) title. Her time was 0:54.13 with 2:00 allowed. This was also the fourth novice element, so it finished her Scent Work Novice (SWN) title too.
Advanced Container 1 - We were not successful in containers. Gimme went around briefly, then false alerted on a container. I failed to work our system, and called "alert", so we NQd. It wasn't even a container with a distraction in it. The distraction was another toy on the floor. It wasn't her kind of toy, so Gimme ignored it until after I took her to a recovery container. My bad for not working our system.
Check-in for the afternoon trial was supposed to be at 11:30. An hour later and they still hadn't run all the dogs from the morning trials. I was glad I only had one class in the afternoon, so we'd get home at a decent hour.
Advanced Interior 2 - Gimme was hardly able to search. I could smell odor 15' from the startline and the nearest hide was 10' in the area, so they did something wrong preparing the odor. "Odor bombs" make it very difficult for dogs to find source because the area is too saturated, so there's no subtlety to investigate. Gimme went to the toy a couple of times and it wasn't even her kind of toy. Gimme showed a lot of interest in a spot on the railing (orange arrow) right at the edge of the ring. After several trips around she again showed prolonged interest in the railing, right behind the refrigerator, so I called alert and was wrong. Actually the hide was about 4' away on the railing - obviously it was channeling. When I knew where it was I showed it to her; it was so strong she wouldn't put her nose up to it. The other hide was on the base of the wheelbarrow and she sort of sniffed toward it from 18" away. You gotta figure it was awfully strong for her to be repelled by it.
Finishing novice buried means she has all the novice element titles, so she also earned her Scent Work Novice title (SWN). Three titles in one day - yeah Gimme.
Sunday
Same cold and chaos. I only ran one set of searches back-to-back. Our other three classes were split in too many class levels, so it just didn't work out.
Advanced Interior 1 - Despite a half hour wait in line, Gimme did this beautifully finding both hides quickly and indicating cleanly. The first hide was on the base of the table holder at the wheel. The other hide was under a bunch of framed pictures in a grey plastic tub. Gimme practically stood on her head to get her nose to source. She didn't pay any attention to the toy distraction until we were leaving. She was sure she should get to take any toy present when she completes a title. Gimme had a nice time of 0:43.21 for Third Place (2:30 max allowed time) and a new title - Scent Work Interior Advanced (SIA).
We got into buried and container searches after another half hour in line.
Advanced Buried 1 - Apparently I have the old rules and the new rules took affect 10/1. So our first try at advanced buried was under water. Fortunately Dorothy set up a couple of water hides for us last summer, so I believed Gimme could do it. She found the first hide pretty quickly (third one on the right). Then we went around a couple of times. She showed more interest in one container, but never indicated. The third time was a charm, she indicated and was right. Nice first leg with a time of 1:17.03 out of max time of 3:00.
Advanced Container 1 - Gimme was pretty fast in containers. We had a brief moment checking out the toy, but it wasn't a type she liked and she left it easily (she would play with it if there was nothing better). She found the container at the far end first. Then on our second trip around she found the other hide (front right). This finishes our Scent Work Container Advanced (SCA) title. She did this in 37 seconds, with 2 minutes allowed.
Excellent Exterior 1 - One of the club's workers came through and said the search was set and ready to go, no waiting. So I raced to get Gimme and got over there first in line. After we waited 20 minutes for the search to start, the judge decided to eat lunch and walk her dog, so we went back to the car. Later after the class started there were only 3 in line, so I raced to get Gimme again. By the time I got there, we were 8th in line. I timed it and it was averaging over 5 minutes per dog, so we returned to the car again. Later we got in line again and were next to the last for the search. We waited half an hour and were next in line to search, when a judge showed up to run her dog and we were bumped. It was again almost time for us to run when a club worker showed up to run and we were bumped again! Overall we waited 45 minutes and Gimme was clearly frustrated, so I did not expect her to do well. However, in hindsight, she had a LOT of time and opportunity to pee while we waited, so she probably couldn't have squeezed out another drop in the lush grass of our search area.
The search area was a large section of the area behind the grandstands with 2 large strips of grass, a sidewalk between them, the grandstands and two staircases on our right and a fence on our left. Gimme dragged me to the far end of the search area and quickly indicated on the base of the far staircase. On our way back she moved to the other side of the sidewalk and found a hide in the hinge of the gate. Then as we worked our way around again, she found the third hide under the edge of broken concrete. Despite the frustration of our very long wait, Gimme was all business and did a great job on her first excellent exterior leg in 2:02.90 (4:00 max time), for Third Place.
Excellent Interior 2 - In the afternoon we got our first stab at this. There are two search areas, with a total of 3 hides. Neither area can be blank, so you know you have either 1 or 2 hides in each. In this case we had 3:00 per search area.
In area 1, Gimme swept out to the right and quickly got to the back wall and then followed it left to where it ended behind the table. There were chairs and totes there, blocking access to a little room. Gimme quickly indicated at the edge of a tote. Then we moved around the table and continued down the wall. She wanted to go between the table and the wall, but I couldn't follow her, so we moved back and around the table. I thought we'd go to the garage door, but Gimme turned aside to the two chairs and indicated the one close to the startline. In 1:04.02 she found both hides. This told me there could only be one hide in the second area.
In area 2, Gimme again swept right, curved left to the back wall and then followed it to the table. She indicated on the second table, finishing this search in 28.34 seconds. Gimme's combined search time was 1:32.36 and earned her a nice First Place! The second place dog was 13 seconds behind us. It was a lovely way to end the trial.
It was a great weekend. We Q'd in 8 out of 10 runs. Gimme brought home 5 new titles (total title count is now 75), with 3 placements and legs toward three higher level titles.
Way to go Gimme!
In addition, Gimme's indications were clear, with no excessive pawing. Perhaps being a new mother brings out the gentler side of her. For the most part she handled the waiting well. I think having the pad for her to sit/lay on helps. It gives her an anchor and I rewarded her a lot for "chillaxin" on her pad. Given her condition, I was pleased she was able to deal with the frustration of waiting as well as she did.
As a personal brag, I remembered to say "finished" all 10 times I needed to.
And possibly more astonishing, I restrained the urge to deliver a well-deserved tongue lashing to the careless woman with her ill-mannered dog who rudely informed me "You know, AKC doesn't welcome reactive dogs." This was her response when I asked her to not come any closer with her dog. I reminded her AKC's policy was to put the responsibility on the owner of the reactive dog to avoid an incident, but it does not limit their right to tell an inconsiderate dog owner to keep their rude dog at a reasonable distance. I do have to admit I smugly enjoyed knowing she had to watch Gimme lay politely on her pad while she and her ill-behaved dog waited in line behind us for the next 25 minutes. Perhaps my smugness wasn't my finest moment, but all-in-all, those who know me, know I did well in the face of needless provocation. <eg>
Saturday
The site was okay, but it was unbelievably cold. They said they were going to go by run order, but it didn't last. Since AKC allows volunteers to run dogs, they have priority, which throws everything off. They also have 5 wait stations, which means the dogs are kept waiting a long time. The good thing is they've set it up so you run two elements back-to-back.
I saw a gap for the interior/exterior line and got in it. Three others had the same plan, but I got there first. Since it was so cold, I made Gimme wear her sweater while we waited. She doesn't like it; says it makes her look like a bag lady. I say nothing could ever diminish her natural style and beauty. I also took thick pad I'd made from a folded blanket for her to sit/stand/lay on.
Advanced Interior 1 - the first hide, right from the start, was on the interior part of the table leg structure. then she was distracted and wanted to go back to the car. I encouraged her and got her around the area and she found the second hide on the side of the little grandstand. She did this in 0:54.15 and would have gotten 5th place. She needs one more leg to title.
Advanced Exterior 1 - Gimme immediately went to the fuzzy blue toy. I encouraged her to search and she moved away briefly before going back to the toy. I moved her farther away and she found her first hide on the parking divider. Then back to the toy. I asked her to search more and took her toward the other end of the search area and she found the second hide on the sandwich sign. As part of her reward I let her check out the toy again as I gathered up our stuff. This Q finished her Scent Work Exterior Advanced (SEA) title. Even with all the time she wasted checking out the toy, our time was 1:13.78, with 2:00 allowed.I checked on the line for buried and containers many times and finally went to the car for awhile. A bit later when I checked on the line, it was gone! So I ran to get Gimme, quickly did warm-up boxes and we were able to get a single pee on a strip of grass.
Novice Buried 1 - Gimme kind of dithered around, saying "nothing to smell here." So after two trips around the 6 containers, I started directing her "check it" to each one. When we got to the third one, she really became interested in it. I could have called it then, but I waited for her to make a decision and indicate. She was right and finished her Scent Work Buried Novice (SBN) title. Her time was 0:54.13 with 2:00 allowed. This was also the fourth novice element, so it finished her Scent Work Novice (SWN) title too.
Advanced Container 1 - We were not successful in containers. Gimme went around briefly, then false alerted on a container. I failed to work our system, and called "alert", so we NQd. It wasn't even a container with a distraction in it. The distraction was another toy on the floor. It wasn't her kind of toy, so Gimme ignored it until after I took her to a recovery container. My bad for not working our system.Check-in for the afternoon trial was supposed to be at 11:30. An hour later and they still hadn't run all the dogs from the morning trials. I was glad I only had one class in the afternoon, so we'd get home at a decent hour.
Advanced Interior 2 - Gimme was hardly able to search. I could smell odor 15' from the startline and the nearest hide was 10' in the area, so they did something wrong preparing the odor. "Odor bombs" make it very difficult for dogs to find source because the area is too saturated, so there's no subtlety to investigate. Gimme went to the toy a couple of times and it wasn't even her kind of toy. Gimme showed a lot of interest in a spot on the railing (orange arrow) right at the edge of the ring. After several trips around she again showed prolonged interest in the railing, right behind the refrigerator, so I called alert and was wrong. Actually the hide was about 4' away on the railing - obviously it was channeling. When I knew where it was I showed it to her; it was so strong she wouldn't put her nose up to it. The other hide was on the base of the wheelbarrow and she sort of sniffed toward it from 18" away. You gotta figure it was awfully strong for her to be repelled by it.Finishing novice buried means she has all the novice element titles, so she also earned her Scent Work Novice title (SWN). Three titles in one day - yeah Gimme.
Sunday
Same cold and chaos. I only ran one set of searches back-to-back. Our other three classes were split in too many class levels, so it just didn't work out.
Advanced Interior 1 - Despite a half hour wait in line, Gimme did this beautifully finding both hides quickly and indicating cleanly. The first hide was on the base of the table holder at the wheel. The other hide was under a bunch of framed pictures in a grey plastic tub. Gimme practically stood on her head to get her nose to source. She didn't pay any attention to the toy distraction until we were leaving. She was sure she should get to take any toy present when she completes a title. Gimme had a nice time of 0:43.21 for Third Place (2:30 max allowed time) and a new title - Scent Work Interior Advanced (SIA).We got into buried and container searches after another half hour in line.
Advanced Buried 1 - Apparently I have the old rules and the new rules took affect 10/1. So our first try at advanced buried was under water. Fortunately Dorothy set up a couple of water hides for us last summer, so I believed Gimme could do it. She found the first hide pretty quickly (third one on the right). Then we went around a couple of times. She showed more interest in one container, but never indicated. The third time was a charm, she indicated and was right. Nice first leg with a time of 1:17.03 out of max time of 3:00.
Advanced Container 1 - Gimme was pretty fast in containers. We had a brief moment checking out the toy, but it wasn't a type she liked and she left it easily (she would play with it if there was nothing better). She found the container at the far end first. Then on our second trip around she found the other hide (front right). This finishes our Scent Work Container Advanced (SCA) title. She did this in 37 seconds, with 2 minutes allowed.Excellent Exterior 1 - One of the club's workers came through and said the search was set and ready to go, no waiting. So I raced to get Gimme and got over there first in line. After we waited 20 minutes for the search to start, the judge decided to eat lunch and walk her dog, so we went back to the car. Later after the class started there were only 3 in line, so I raced to get Gimme again. By the time I got there, we were 8th in line. I timed it and it was averaging over 5 minutes per dog, so we returned to the car again. Later we got in line again and were next to the last for the search. We waited half an hour and were next in line to search, when a judge showed up to run her dog and we were bumped. It was again almost time for us to run when a club worker showed up to run and we were bumped again! Overall we waited 45 minutes and Gimme was clearly frustrated, so I did not expect her to do well. However, in hindsight, she had a LOT of time and opportunity to pee while we waited, so she probably couldn't have squeezed out another drop in the lush grass of our search area.
The search area was a large section of the area behind the grandstands with 2 large strips of grass, a sidewalk between them, the grandstands and two staircases on our right and a fence on our left. Gimme dragged me to the far end of the search area and quickly indicated on the base of the far staircase. On our way back she moved to the other side of the sidewalk and found a hide in the hinge of the gate. Then as we worked our way around again, she found the third hide under the edge of broken concrete. Despite the frustration of our very long wait, Gimme was all business and did a great job on her first excellent exterior leg in 2:02.90 (4:00 max time), for Third Place.Excellent Interior 2 - In the afternoon we got our first stab at this. There are two search areas, with a total of 3 hides. Neither area can be blank, so you know you have either 1 or 2 hides in each. In this case we had 3:00 per search area.
In area 1, Gimme swept out to the right and quickly got to the back wall and then followed it left to where it ended behind the table. There were chairs and totes there, blocking access to a little room. Gimme quickly indicated at the edge of a tote. Then we moved around the table and continued down the wall. She wanted to go between the table and the wall, but I couldn't follow her, so we moved back and around the table. I thought we'd go to the garage door, but Gimme turned aside to the two chairs and indicated the one close to the startline. In 1:04.02 she found both hides. This told me there could only be one hide in the second area.
In area 2, Gimme again swept right, curved left to the back wall and then followed it to the table. She indicated on the second table, finishing this search in 28.34 seconds. Gimme's combined search time was 1:32.36 and earned her a nice First Place! The second place dog was 13 seconds behind us. It was a lovely way to end the trial.It was a great weekend. We Q'd in 8 out of 10 runs. Gimme brought home 5 new titles (total title count is now 75), with 3 placements and legs toward three higher level titles.
Way to go Gimme!
In addition, Gimme's indications were clear, with no excessive pawing. Perhaps being a new mother brings out the gentler side of her. For the most part she handled the waiting well. I think having the pad for her to sit/lay on helps. It gives her an anchor and I rewarded her a lot for "chillaxin" on her pad. Given her condition, I was pleased she was able to deal with the frustration of waiting as well as she did.
As a personal brag, I remembered to say "finished" all 10 times I needed to.
And possibly more astonishing, I restrained the urge to deliver a well-deserved tongue lashing to the careless woman with her ill-mannered dog who rudely informed me "You know, AKC doesn't welcome reactive dogs." This was her response when I asked her to not come any closer with her dog. I reminded her AKC's policy was to put the responsibility on the owner of the reactive dog to avoid an incident, but it does not limit their right to tell an inconsiderate dog owner to keep their rude dog at a reasonable distance. I do have to admit I smugly enjoyed knowing she had to watch Gimme lay politely on her pad while she and her ill-behaved dog waited in line behind us for the next 25 minutes. Perhaps my smugness wasn't my finest moment, but all-in-all, those who know me, know I did well in the face of needless provocation. <eg>
Sunday, November 3, 2019
RFE practice (105)
This is our second practice at WinStar. One thing we've discovered is the main door doesn't close well, even if you slam it. Gimme pushed it and got out, but was good and came back when I called her (and was rewarded with some toy play). There's a very busy street out front, not to mention potential issues with other dogs on the premises. For safety, we'll place a chair in front of the door from now on.
Gimme is intensely into her false pregnancy, so she didn't do as well this time as last. I brought in toys and it helped a little, but then not so much. At times she really enjoyed the play and at other times, not.
Join-up video - To begin with we did some join-up work. It's basically voluntary connection. If she disconnects, then I increase the disconnection by moving in another direction. It's not really supposed to be heeling, but I see I had a tendency to wait for her to get into heel before I rewarded.
Miscellaneous video - This was just some miscellaneous behaviors to reward. I thought they'd all be easy ones I could reward, but some were challenging for her. I had to help her get started with "otto" and it's her favorite behavior.
Toy play video - She wasn't excited by the first toy because its squeaker was broken. I encouraged her to pick a different one. Usually Gimme is all in for toys, but this time I had to improve my game to get her to join me in it. Competing to steal her toy makes her want to join in. Even so, her play is short-lived.
Simultaneous "spins" & "turn" video - It takes a little to get this started, but then she does it nicely. I ended the session after a really nice repetition.
Miscellaneous 2 video - Gimme had a really hard time focusing during the second session. Out of 9½-minutes of video, she was able to work just under 2 minutes. I did several different things to get and keep her attention, with varying success. Next time this happens, I think I'll put her on leash, to limit her options. I'm hoping we can get more working attention over a shorter and more concentrated time next time we meet there. We did have two nice play sessions - see next.
Toy Play 2 video - At first she wasn't interested, but when I got more playful and engaged, then she wanted to play. From watching these videos, she is most into the game when she has the toy and I try to get it from her. Trying to tug it away is a fave, but she also looked like she thought it was fun when I stalked her with scary hands. Who knew...
Because this had been mostly unsatisfactory work, I wanted to end on a good note. So I brought Gimme in for one last, short session - focused on "setup" which has a really positive association.
"Setup" video - We hadn't done this in awhile. All she has to do is get into heel position and sit with attention. Gimme did really well in the heel position. She seemed confused in side position - she'd get in position and crouch, but not sit. Then she did a few where she didn't even try to sit. I had her do setup in heel, then spun around and did it in side. She was very slow to sit, but once she got rewarded for it, she was better. I don't know what was going on in her head between side and heel position, but we ended on a couple of nice ones.
I'm looking forward to the end of this false pregnancy and getting my brainy girl back.
Gimme is intensely into her false pregnancy, so she didn't do as well this time as last. I brought in toys and it helped a little, but then not so much. At times she really enjoyed the play and at other times, not.
Join-up video - To begin with we did some join-up work. It's basically voluntary connection. If she disconnects, then I increase the disconnection by moving in another direction. It's not really supposed to be heeling, but I see I had a tendency to wait for her to get into heel before I rewarded.
Miscellaneous video - This was just some miscellaneous behaviors to reward. I thought they'd all be easy ones I could reward, but some were challenging for her. I had to help her get started with "otto" and it's her favorite behavior.
Toy play video - She wasn't excited by the first toy because its squeaker was broken. I encouraged her to pick a different one. Usually Gimme is all in for toys, but this time I had to improve my game to get her to join me in it. Competing to steal her toy makes her want to join in. Even so, her play is short-lived.
Simultaneous "spins" & "turn" video - It takes a little to get this started, but then she does it nicely. I ended the session after a really nice repetition.
Miscellaneous 2 video - Gimme had a really hard time focusing during the second session. Out of 9½-minutes of video, she was able to work just under 2 minutes. I did several different things to get and keep her attention, with varying success. Next time this happens, I think I'll put her on leash, to limit her options. I'm hoping we can get more working attention over a shorter and more concentrated time next time we meet there. We did have two nice play sessions - see next.
Toy Play 2 video - At first she wasn't interested, but when I got more playful and engaged, then she wanted to play. From watching these videos, she is most into the game when she has the toy and I try to get it from her. Trying to tug it away is a fave, but she also looked like she thought it was fun when I stalked her with scary hands. Who knew...
Because this had been mostly unsatisfactory work, I wanted to end on a good note. So I brought Gimme in for one last, short session - focused on "setup" which has a really positive association.
"Setup" video - We hadn't done this in awhile. All she has to do is get into heel position and sit with attention. Gimme did really well in the heel position. She seemed confused in side position - she'd get in position and crouch, but not sit. Then she did a few where she didn't even try to sit. I had her do setup in heel, then spun around and did it in side. She was very slow to sit, but once she got rewarded for it, she was better. I don't know what was going on in her head between side and heel position, but we ended on a couple of nice ones.
I'm looking forward to the end of this false pregnancy and getting my brainy girl back.
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