Nosework (2/9) & RallyFrEe (5/4)

I didn't know how Gimme would do with nosework, given her mental state over the weekend.  I need not have worried - she did great. We started with three vehicle searches in very windy conditions.  The first search had 1 hide on the wheel of the van closest to the wind.  Then they added a hide on the back bumper of the other van for the second search.  For the last search a hide was added to the step on the big truck.

The green symbol is the startline.  All the other dogs started down the right side of the truck (as viewed from the startline).  For the first hide Gimme went down the left side of the big truck and then passed in between it and the vans.  She caught the scent from the other side of the van and quickly moved herself to the other side.  This is a challenge she understands and always goes on her own to the other side.  It took awhile before she pinpointed source, which makes sense given the scent was being blown away by a strong wind.  The second time she again went down the left side, passed in between and barely moved past the bumper before turning back to go get the tire hide.  From there she went around the back end of the vehicle (with deviation - see below) and picked up odor on the tire near the hide, before identifying source.  For the third search when there was an actual hide on the big truck, she went down the right side and pinpointed the hide on the step.  As strong as the wind  was, I don't see how she could have smelled the hide there, but she did.  From there she went down the outside of the one truck to the hide on the bumper and then (after deviation) went right around to the hide on the tire.

One odd thing she did twice was to leave the vehicles heading out toward the orange blob ("deviation").  I let her go each time because she has often chased odor out and back, doing it the most on vehicle and exterior searches.  But in this case she was going well away from the vehicles (20 feet) and didn't come back on her own.  I couldn't understand this behavior, until our fourth search, which was an exterior search right where she was headed.  Clearly she was picking up residual odor from earlier classes.  None of the other dogs even noticed it.  When we did this search, she went from hide to hide to hide, with no real searching.  If it weren't for the time it takes her to get the peanut butter out of her mouth by licking her leg, she would have completed the 3-hide search in under 30 seconds.  Clearly being in a false pregnancy wasn't affecting her.

For RallyFrEe class yesterday, we were focusing on circle behaviors.  I noticed Gimme was not very focused when we did our perimeter walk.  The first exercise had a chair in the middle of the room and we each drew a behavior.  One-by-one we took our dog, did a short warm-up, and practiced the behavior.  Then we went to the chair, sat down, and cued the behavior to see how our dog would do.  I drew the CCW Spin.  Gimme was trying to work until we got to the chair and then she was totally confused.

If I wasn't in the chair, she spent all her time trying to get in the chair - being magnetized to it just like she is to platforms.  She was getting a little frustrated, so we didn't work through it.  I'll need to practice the concept of not getting on chairs just like I did with the platform.  I expect it will go faster with the chair, since getting on things is a cued behavior, unlike platforms.

Then Kathy set out a straight line of signs which have a circle behavior as their base.  They were: Circle Around CW, Circle Around CCW, Left Turn Circle Trx, Right Turn Circle Trx, Circle Around 3x, and Circle Around Handler 2x - Handler Opposite.  Gimme was the only dog in class who was able to do each one.  We had to do the first two more than once to get a nice tight circle.  And we worked our way through the last one with multiple tries.  She's done circles with me turning the opposite direction, but was a bit confused by me doing it more than once.  Still she figured it out.

Our last exercise was to have all the dogs out on the floor at once and practice the 270º Left and 270º Right turns, with the dog on either side.  Kathy reminded us this is a heeling exercise and should not look at all like a pivot.  The size of the handler's circle depends on the size of their dog and which side the dog is on.  For Gimme, this meant we were making a circle the size of a garbage can lid.

Since Kathy was going around to watch all four teams, we had a bit of time between our exercises.  I spent the time just doodling at heeling with a farely high rate of reinforcement and Gimme got really into it.  I find I really have to concentrate to keep from slowing down when she errs.  Its a bad habit I've gotten into and only makes things worse.  When I focused on nice brisk heeling, Gimme gave me beautiful, precise and animated heeling. It makes me all warm and gooey to see it.

I know I brag about Gimme a lot, but its all true doncha know.  Yesterday, even though she was not her usual laser beam brilliance, she was still more focused than any other dog in class.

Kathy did tell us we have one more class in this session and then there will be a couple months break.  She and her husband are going to Greece on vacation for two weeks and when they return they are moving.  So this will be a perfect time for us to get back into Ursula's Public Dog classes.

Nosework (1/9) & RallyFrEe (4/4)

We didn't have tracking this week, but did have our first Tuesday night nosework class.  I had Tonya work on Gimme during the day and she had to cleanse and align all her chakras.  She thought Gimme would probably be pretty tired afterward, then very active today and normal tomorrow.  Gimme didn't seem tired in class, nor particularly active today.

We started with a converging odor challenge, three hides in a smallish space.  The hides were around the edges, with a lot of stuff in the middle of the floor.  Our task as handlers was to observe how the dogs worked to solve the challenge, so we might recognize it if we see the same behavior another time.  Actually Gimme was pretty darn fast at it.  She got hung up a little bit on all the stuff in the middle of the floor, which was trapping odor, but then she went on to solve the challenges.  She is the more experienced dog in this group. For the second search they removed the excess stuff in the middle of the area and moved the hides a little bit.  All the dogs did better on this and Gimme was even faster.

For our last two back-to-back searches, they had two areas set up with two hides each.  One hide was accessible and one inaccessible and our job as handlers was to see the difference in how the dog's handled the two hides..  The person who went before us left the divider open between the two areas, so when we entered, Gimme ran straight into the second search area.  We did it first, but it did present an additional challenge, since she could then smell odor from the "first" area, but couldn't get to it.  Interestingly when we did go back to the first area to search it, she went straight to the hide she had smelled before and sourced it very quickly.  She did well with both these searches.

I have entered her in an NW3 trial.  I won't know until the end of next week if we'll get in.  I don't feel we are truly ready, but this trial is only 30 minutes from home, so I thought it might be a good chance for us to get our feet wet at level 3.  Dorothy says we are a lot more ready than the vast majority of people who are entering these days.  I'll let you know if we get in.

This morning was RallyFrEe class and it was all about spins.  We started by working a course with a lot of spin-based behaviors.  Gimme was really focused, but just had real difficulty with the idea of people watching her.  Its never bothered her before, generally she loves an appreciative audience.  Once we got away from the beginning, then she was able to do better.  

Our course was:
1) Right heel forward
2) CW spin
3) Thru right turn trx
4) CCW spin
5) Switchback
6) CW spin to center  7) Back 3 steps   8) Free choice into right   9) Switch back
10) CCW simultaneous spins
11) CCW spin to center   12) Free choice into left
13) Free choice
14) Thru left turn trx
15) CW simultaneous spins
16) Bow
#6-9 and #11-12 are combinations.  The diagram to the side here doesn't have numbers, but if you start at the beginning you can plug them in as you go.   After we did the course, Kathy had us do some heeling adjusting our speed.  She got exactly what she expected to see.  I have a tendency when Gimme shows a loss of focus to slow down, which actually gives her more time to look around and be distracted.  When Kathy got me to move faster, then Gimme was much more attentive and did much better.  This will be a hard habit to break, but it will be worth it since Gimme looks so darn cute when she is heeling well.

After we did the course, then we each got a chance to do a spin and identify some element of it we wanted to work on. Gimme has been really good at spins, but when I tried to get her to do them while I kept moving (about a month ago), it seemed to confuse her about what "spin" and "turn" mean and I haven't gotten it back.  (I really must stop breaking her behaviors)  So our verbal cue isn't as strong as it used to be.  Kathy says a spin while moving is a very different thing for dogs and really is unnecessary, since you can always work a pause into your choreography or use a different behavior.

Overall Gimme did very well about the other dogs today, which was very good.  She's learning to check in with me when she sees other dogs and is staying quite calm, even when were are sorta close.  I've taken to leaving her a little opening on the side of her crate so she can watch them work if she wants to.  She did watch for awhile and then on her own moved to the back of her crate where she didn't have to watch.

Tonight when I got home from work, I found her toy obsessed, whiney and needy.  I checked her false pregnancy support package and it showed we needed to add a very small amount of Pulsatilla and Ignatia Amara, while everything else stays the same.  Since we did our evening supplements, she has settled right down and is quite relaxed.  This is such a far cry from what we were seeing before, so I'm still thrilled.

We are leaving tomorrow morning for a 3-day barn hunt trial in Oregon.  It'll be fun and I'm sure Gimme will enjoy herself.  When Gimme is happy, Mommy is happy... ☺

RallyFrEe (3/4)

We didn't have nosework or tracking this week.  We'll move to a nosework class on Tuesday nights and this was their last class of the session, so we just skipped and will start with them next week.  As for tracking, Nadine had a conflict this week.  Its just as well on both counts, since I've been putting a special effort into getting caught up at work and have been pretty bushed by evening.  Next Monday through Wednesday, I have all my account transitions from Easter to Mother's Day - so will be beat again, but I know Gimme wouldn't tolerate slacker-me for a second week, so I'll just push through it.  

Yesterday's RallyFrEe class was particularly good.  Gimme got to demonstrate a number of things.  Even though she's a relative newcomer to the intermediate class and we started as beginners, she's already passed the other two students.  She is such a quick study and with our false pregnancy issue now resolved, she is progressing very quickly.  Its great to be making linear progress (no steps backward).  Have I mentioned how much I'm loving this?

The floor for class was again broken up into two sections.  We started on the near side which had two platforms and set of guides in a straight line.  Then each team, one at a time, did a "thru".  Then Kathy and the handler identified the first thing they wanted to improve.  Then she coached them on how to get improvement.  

She left Gimme for last, which she has taken to doing most of the time, because she's the best (seriously, this isn't just me bragging ☺), so we are showing the more advanced problem solving.  Our first challenge was getting past the platforms.  Gimme is super-magnetized to platforms and can't resist hopping on them.  She nailed each of the two a couple of times, as we were moving to a corner.  From there we demonstrated our "thru".  Gimme's right-to-left "thru" is very tight, with no improvement needed.  However, her left-to-right is loose.  

In the course of demonstrating the left-to-right, I got too close to the 16" agility table set in the corner and Gimme spun around to lift both back feet simultaneously and plop them on the table.  The whole class broke up laughing, while Kathy and I did our best to not chime in.  Gimme was so proud of herself, she certainly needed no encouragement from us.  

After this little side-trip, Kathy stood in front of the table so we could get on with demonstrating left-to-right thru.  Our solution to getting her to tighten her thru was to use her beloved platform.  The first challenge was getting Gimme to stay with me in "side" position and not dash ahead to get on the platform.  Lots of treats for staying in "side" solved the problem.  Then it was a matter of me learning to adjust my stride so I positioned my forward step where it would leave her room to get on the platform and stop in heel position when I brought my rear foot forward.  This issue is a matter of turning radius.  Gimme turns sharper to the right than the left which seems like it ought to work for us in this move.  However, if you look at it, she starts with a left turn and I think it causes her to carry out too far before she starts the right turn.  The platform worked nicely and I will probably try it some more to see if it helps.  

After this we worked in pairs, one team on the course and one on the near side of the floor practicing whatever we wanted.  I practiced having Gimme NOT leap onto every platform just because it was there.  The prevailing wisdom is to not put on cue the platform behavior.  So I had to think my way around it and be clear in my head what I wanted her to do.  Basically if I have her doing a cued behavior, she should not leave it to leap onto a platform - in which case the platform is a distraction to work through.  If she isn't working, she is free to indulge herself.  And to be clear, I do have one type of platform work on a cue - its "bacon" (a contraction of back-on, without "back" in the cue) - to back on the platform without going over or beside it with her front feet first.

So for our practice time, this is what we worked on.  "Heel" and "side" in the vicinity of platforms and she did very well as long as I paid well, making it clear what I wanted.  I do have to say, Gimme is easily the cleverest dog I've ever known.  She really tries to follow the rules.  However, its just not in her nature to bypass a loophole.  So while we were heeling really close, Gimme just couldn't resist lifting both back feet at the same time, taking a full step with both back feet in the air, before plopping them on the platform while keeping her front feet in "heel" position.  J'Anna saw this and almost fell out of her chair laughing.  I really should put this on cue for my agile little monkey.

For our time on course, Gimme did very well.  However, I had problems.  I was working her on leash and just couldn't manage the leash on the different "thru" behaviors, which would throw her off.  Kathy was coaching me, so I asked her to stand in the gap of the fencing, so I would feel comfortable with Gimme off leash.  I didn't think she'd try to bother the other dog, but I wanted a back-up just in case she suddenly thought it an option.  She did start toward the gap once, but turned on a thin dime when I called her - she might have been going toward Kathy.  Anyway, once we were without the leash, she did really well on all the stations.  Kathy thinks we are definitely ready to enter the regional video competition in May, which I've had in my head as a goal.  

While Kathy coached the last beginner on the course, she encouraged the 3 intermediates to work together on the near side of the room on focus.  Kathy is very good about keeping the intermediate students engaged while she takes time with the beginners.  She's really a very good instructor.  

Gimme started class with less focus than I've come to expect, but had come around.  I really wanted to push the envelope, so I played eye-contact with her and included dropping treats all around her, one at a time and in handfulls.  I'd pick them up one at a time and if she was seeking eye contact when I looked toward her (not eye-balling the treat), then I gave it to her.  By this time Kathy had finished with beginners and came over to stand behind each of our dogs, one at a time, loudly clapping her hands (she started from far enough away to not scare a dog and moved in as appropriate).  When she did this to Gimme, she ended straddling her tail, because Gimme was using her twin laser beams to make sure each of the treats came her way, so ignoring Kathy was a non-issue.  Kathy was really impressed and had everyone else watch what we were doing.  

To end class, Kathy had us demonstrate the behavior we've been working on, "can" so everyone would know why Gimme was so intent on getting her back feet on the agility table.  "Can" is: backing onto a prop, then pivoting around while keeping her rear feet on the prop.  At this point, Gimme backs on ("bacon") and then pivots a step or two.  I explained how I'd learned treat placement was critically important.  Initially I tried treating to the right of her nose to encourage another step, but I was getting a CW spin right off the prop.  So I had to treat straight from her nose.  I'd also learned I had to be careful to treat low enough so I didn't inadvertently encourage her to sit on the prop.  In order to encourage her to take more steps, I jackpot the last two steps where she ends up back in start position.  I think she will put this together and start making more steps until she does the entire pivot.  I did demonstrate her cued "bacon" behavior as well.  Naturally, everyone was suitably impressed.

After class I helped Kathy put stuff away and picked up the signs, and we talked.  She was really impressed to learn Gimme should be in a false pregnancy and yet is doing so well.  She says Gimme is her most improved student and she really thinks she could go far.  I told her how much I hated all the barking in the back-ground to begin with, but as much as it still annoys me, I do think its been good for Gimme.  Barking dogs has always been a challenge for her and now she only rarely acts like she notices.  At times its so loud I have to cross the floor to hear what Kathy is saying (we crate away from the other dogs), so I'm really happy to see this unintended positive outcome from this personal annoyance.

I love, Love, LOVE having my girlie being so resilient and able to make steady progress.  It is so neat to be able to really push for more and more with her - especially as I see her determination to overcome whatever challenge I give her.  She is sooooo much fun to train.  Be jealous one and all... ☺☺☺

RallyFrEe (2/4)

I got there early, waaaaay early, so Kathy and I talked about our prop for "can".  She thinks it is too high for Gimme to learn the behavior on and it might need to be a bigger diameter.  She gave me a shorter prop to play with before class started.  I spent some time getting Gimme used to just getting on with her back feet and by the time I finished, she was able to take a pivoting step or two at a time.  So, clearly its not too small in diameter, which is great since its very close to the size of our intended prop.  Kathy also gave me some better ideas for how to both stabilize and weight our prop, which I hope to get done this weekend.  Meanwhile, I'm certain I have a detergent bucket I sawed off short to use as a outdoor water dish which should be the perfect size for the initial part of training the rear pivot.

Today's class was mostly about charging up our training so the dog is very eager to play the game.  Kathy set up two simple courses of 8 stations, with a line of gating between them.  
  ~  The first time out, we were to do our start-work routine, approach the first station (a right or left side heel sign) and break off for a big party.  
  ~  The second time we were to do our start-work routine, approach the first station, take one step past it and break off for a big party.  
  ~  The third time we were to do our start-work routine, then work the course, with a party-reward following each station.  If the dog did a station poorly, we were to do what was needed so they could do it right and earn the party-reward.

Kathy was careful to select pairs of dogs who wouldn't be likely to create problems for the dogs with issues.  We have six dogs in class and three of them have issues.  The way it was set up, the dogs should not be closer than 30' to each other, but of course its always possible as each team has different timing.  I really appreciate how thoughtful Kathy is.  Gimme did very well paired up with Jazzie, a laid-back Sheltie.  She looked at her briefly at first and then ignored her.  After we did our course, Kathy had me coach the handlers on our side of the room, while she worked with the two beginners one at a time.  

After this exercise we were each given a margarine lid and instructed to use it like a bait plate in special bowl style.  We started with very simple exercises and then released our dog to reward from the lid.  Gimme seemed to find the lid very distracting, so I had to work a bit farther away from it so she could resist the distraction.  As I recall we had this issue with special bowl.  Naturally she was doing brilliantly, until Kathy came over to watch.  I really should get back to doing more special bowl work.  I liked the results I was getting and then kind of got away from it when I was working on other things.

For our last exercise, we worked one of the courses, one at a time.  Kathy set up a bait plate strategically located for each station, so we could release the dog to it for a reward.  The four more advanced dogs did the full courses; the two beginners did an abbreviated course of 4 simple stations.  If the dog did a station poorly, we were to do what was needed so they could do it right and earn the reward.  

Naturally I think Gimme did the best.  There were a couple of places where she had difficulty, but with a little help she was able to get it right and earn her reward.  

I really do have to get back to training the special bowl.  In case you've forgotten what its about, you can read what we did before at:
http://atozdals.blogspot.com/2014/05/special-bowl.html
http://atozdals.blogspot.com/2014/05/special-bowl_24.html 
http://atozdals.blogspot.com/2014/05/special-bowl-2.html
http://atozdals.blogspot.com/2014/07/more-special-bowl.html

RallyFrEe (1/4)

Today was the first of the new series of classes.  Kathy has combined a couple classes together to reduce her costs and keep the classes going.  So this class is now a combined beginner/intermediate class.

It was challenging for Gimme because now there are 6 dogs in class, instead of just the two others she'd been accustomed to.  One of the new ones is supposedly a Chinook, but looked more like a large yellow mixed breed to me - even after I double checked pictures online.  He's supposedly a nice dog, but I caught him right away giving Gimme a hard stare.  Happily, Kathy was right on top of it and put a sheet up so he couldn't practice eyeing Gimme (he wouldn't go in a crate, so he and owner sat in an expen).  His owner doesn't have much control of him, so I'll be keeping an eye out on them all the time and am sure glad knowing Kathy is so aware.

Gimme did well despite the new dogs.  We started with the three more experienced dogs out together to practice several of the Novice RFE behaviors.  Our goal was to note which areas need work in terms of fluency.  Oddly Gimme did most of them better regarding end position on my right "side" (i.e. not swinging her rear out).  I really can't explain this.  I have not been practicing behaviors more on the right than the left and really haven't felt like we've made as much progress as I'd hoped in repairing her association and accuracy with "side".  

Then while the beginner dogs were out practicing the same behaviors, we each went one-by-one beyond the divider to work a small RFE course.  Kathy made sure to position the students so the dog closest to the divider was a very mild-mannered Sheltie.  So, while Gimme was distracted, we were able to successfully work through it in a nice, positive way.  

Then we repeated with the three more experienced dogs doing some more behaviors.  Kathy immediately saw Gimme was the only one with any duration to her "salute" (bow).  So she had me demonstrate how I was teaching duration.  Gimme does really nicely once I get her started and will hold "salute" for 30 seconds while I do metronome feeding.  Our next step will be to add some of me straightening up between treats.  

While Kathy had the beginner dogs out on the floor again, one at a time, the rest of us started packing up.  I took Gimme along the wall did part of the course again on our way out.  As we entered the course, there was another team starting at the beginning (about 4 stations behind us).  It was a good distraction for both teams and Gimme handled it well.

We also went tracking again and I'll blog about it tomorrow.  Gimme has really had a full day and is snoozing as we speak.

RallyFrEe (6/3) & Nosework (5/8)

RallyFrEe class last week turned into an interesting lesson, which wasn't part of the planned curriculum. Gimme was really distracted, mostly because we hadn't been walking since the Saturday before and even it was a short walk.  Kathy had set up a course for us to work and there was not much good about Gimme's first attempt.  She just had no focus.  Then J'Anna and her dog had pretty much the same issues.  Both of our girls were out in LaLaLand.  

So when Kathy was about to work with Dennis, she gave us instructions to take our girls into the other part of the building (adjacent to where we have class, but dividers between the two areas) and work on focus.  We were to try three different techniques.  She gave us two: capturing attention and eye contact game.  Then we were to pick a third technique on our own.  

When we went into the area, Gimme was very distracted by the presence of J'Anna and her Beauceron, Ginger, so we did some "whazzat'.  Then I started with my perimeter walk, which is very Give Me A Break (from Control Unleashed) as Gimme got used to the area.  Its what I do any time we are working in an area away from home.  It took Gimme about two minutes to be ready to work and I considered this my picked technique.  After Gimme was checking in, then I started capturing attention and she was more and more focused.

I was quite surprised to find eye contact game was the one that really got her intense about focusing on me.  I taught this to her as a puppy and got very little effectiveness from it, even though I teach it to all my students and get good results.  So I left it and waited for her to grow up some more.  We tried it some more after she was a year old and she was better at it, but still it wasn't as effective as I expected, so didn't do anything more with it.  Yet in class, she was totally turned on by it.  The harder I made it, the more she got into it.  This is really consistent with who she has become - because she loves a challenge.  I got her to the point of having my hands with treats moving on both sides of her muzzle, while expecting eye contact.

Then we got to do the course again.  Since there was a little break.  I warmed Gimme up with 30 seconds of clicking offered attention... then some eye contact game.  This time our work on the course was much better.  She was a very different dog - yeahhhhh.  Afterward we each practiced whichever move we had difficulty with (we did prop weave followed by switch back).

For nosework class, we had some interesting work.  We were told last week to bring a LOT of large throwable treats.  So I brought 12 sticks of string cheese, in addition to our regular treats (small cut-up cheese and peanut butter).  

Our first search was outdoors with the odor under water.  All the dogs got it, though of course Gimme was the fastest.  She was walking through the center of the search area and then made an abrupt turn and a beeline to the odor from 20 feet away.  The other dogs needed to be within 5 feet to catch odor.  I think Gimme knows this puzzle because when we walk on the fort, I often drop chunks of cheese in puddles as we walk out, so then Gimme gets to find them on the way back.

The large treats were used in two interior searches.  The co-instructor took half our cheese and we had the other half.  The search area was mostly an interior, with five large sturdy open boxes set on their sides with odor in them.  The box was to help us have a target area to throw treats.  If the dog went near the box, both handler and instructor would start lobbing treats in.  If the dog came out or left the box or looked at either person, the treats stopped.  

All the dogs found this very fun and it was a lot of fun for the people as well.  Gimme quickly figured out the rules and would just stand with her head in the box snarfing up the cheese chunks until I cued "thank you, find another".  She thinks this might be the best game she's ever taught us.  She ate at least 11 sticks of string cheese between the two searches.

Our last search was an odor tin stuck to the leading bottom edge of a cart on wheels.  In front of it, blowing across the odor was a fan.  About five feet behind it was some chairs.  The dogs were allowed to work the puzzle, then we moved them away and the instructor turned the cart around.  So the first time the odor was being blown under the cart toward the chairs and the second time it was turned so odor was blown directly to the chairs.

Gimme had a little challenge in sourcing it the first time.  She checked the chairs and then went to the cart.  She went around it a couple times and gave me a half-hearted indication at the far end of the cart, but when I didn't rush in to pay, she continued working and pretty quickly got to source.  When the cart was turned around, she caught the odor again from about five feet behind the chairs, went directly to the cart (skirting around the chairs) and had her nose on source in two seconds.  

And now, being full of cheese, she's resting comfortably, though I'm sure she'd be up for training if it was offered. 

Practice & RallyFrEe (5/3)

Wednesday night we went to DaPaws for a practice session.   I had one big goal.  Gimme has this thing where she sees Chris and she can't really think until she's greeted her.  Chris is a friend Gimme met when she was a puppy and so there is a lot of love between them.  Chris is also the person who ran Gimme in a couple of agility classes last year when my hand had me out of commission.  I've basically ignored the issue, but decided recently it was time to address it.  So I emailed Chris ahead of time and asked her if she had time to be our big distraction.  

Initially Gimme was so distracted we had to sit Chris in a corner (she brought a book) so we could be far enough away for Gimme to offer me snippets of attention.  We needed 3/4 of the arena length to begin with.  We worked the basic plan from the distraction class Kathy taught us last week.  Our order of progression was: 
1 -- Start-work cue, then walk Gimme around from far away (3/4 of the arena
       length) and letting her look and sniff toward Chris and click/treat any
       offered attention.  End-work cue.
2 -- Start-work cue, cue “heel” and walk nearer and sorta toward Chris, still
       with enough distance so the Gimme could work (about 1/3 of arena width).
       If Gimme erred, I gently moved away (no leash correction) and restarted.
       Gimme could look, but needed to stay with me.  Click/treat for heeling,
       aiming for a steady stream of treats.  End-work cue.
3 -- Moved Chris to center of arena.  Start-work cue, cue “heel” and walk
      closer to Chris, about 10 feet.  If Gimme erred, I gently moved away (no
       leash correction) and restarted.  Gimme got clicked for staying in heel
       position and maintaining attention.  End-work cue.
4 -- Start-work cue, cue “heel” and walk ever closer to Chris.  Moved away as
       needed and click treat for staying in heel position and maintaining attention.
       By this time Gimme was totally into the game and I was able to heel around
       Chris, with just inches between us, with Gimme on both the outside and
       inside.  End-work cue.

As I said before, Gimme really likes the challenge of distraction work.  For her its one big game and she knows she can win.  I really should have been working it all along.  Now with this pattern to follow, I plan to do a lot more of it.

After Gimme showed she could work around Chris, I let her go off leash and she greeted Chris as her long lost buddy.  Then we did some easy stuff, to give Gimme a mental break.  At one point I sent her away to take a complete break and she sniffed briefly and was back in 30 seconds, demanding to work.  So I decided to work on a recently discovered flaw in her generalization of "spin" and "turn".   It seems Gimme believes you can only do a "spin" or "turn" from a stationary position (after all, its how I taught them).  She was adamant about it.  So, we decided to work on it.  

I'd forgotten my target stick, which I wanted to be able to "lengthen" my arm.  I originally taught it with luring, but figured this would work better, since I'd need her to move further away from me.  Chris found a 2ft length of PVC and I quickly showed Gimme it worked just like a target stick.  I tried clicking this myself, but it was just too awkward.  So Chris did the clicking for me and things went very well.  Basically we used it 3-5 times to get her doing the "spin" or "turn", then she'd start doing them when she saw my hand starting to move to bring the target stick down.  Chris has excellent timing so we made great progress.  Once Gimme started anticipating based on a hand twitch, I reattached the cue.  In 7 or 8 clicks total, Gimme was doing the behavior on a verbal cue, even with me moving.  Its so much fun to work with a genius.

I've noticed recently - Miss Gimme is finally getting verbal cues more readily.  Perhaps she is matured enough and has decided its okay to let me drive the train some of the time.  We are doing a lot of training now with the RallyFrEe class and this may make a difference.  Also it could be partly because of the flower essence formulations for her ADHD and stress.  It may even be partly because of the MareMagic (raspberry leaves) she is getting every day.  I'm sure all these things are coming together now.

Our RallyFrEe class last week was not as good as past ones.  Kathy had set up a short course and the second exercise was a side-step and neither of us had mastered the skill.  So we spent most of class trying to get it.  Kathy had us trying to capture/shape sideways movement with our dogs beside us, but we didn't make noticeable progress.  So Kathy removed the station from the course and we worked the course without it before the class ended.

I came home with the idea of using platforms to get the side-step.  I got Gimme doing it, but she always moved her front feet first, then her back feet.  I made sure to only click the back feet and thought she might learn to lead with the rear, but it never happened. Remember we want them to lead with the rear so we don't end up with a dog who follows your side-stepping at a 45 degree angle.

I checked on the internet and every link I found showed teaching side-step in center-front position.  It might help a dog learn footwork and I'll probably teach this using the platforms.  But I don't think it will translate well for side-step at "heel" or "side".  So I went back to the original way Kathy showed us to teach side-stepping several months ago. 

I found by focusing on this and clicking when Gimme moved her rear, she quickly started moving the moment I turn my foot.  This is great since it will work naturally as a cue for a side-step where my foot action is in grapevine style.  In the blog I noted Kathy showed us four different ways to move sideways using this foot cue, so I want to ask her to show them to us again. 

Anyway, I did it with the pivot platform until Gimme was moving her hips in on just the foot cue in "heel" position.  I repeated the lesson in "side" position and she did very well.  I want to repeat this once more, then I'll try it without the pivot platform.  

Gimme is standing beside my chair heaving ginormous theatrical sighs of impatience, so I better get off this computer.

RallyFrEe (4/3)

I didn't get this written sooner because we went to a seminar all weekend and I had lots of things to do before we left at the crack of dawn.

We practiced at DaPaws Wednesday night and it went really well.  Gimme had a lot of fun and out of our 30 minute session, we got over 20 minutes working.  We started with the perimeter walk.  Then worked for awhile practicing all kinds of behaviors.  Then I let Gimme take a break of a couple minutes.  Then we worked some more.  Chris showed up and I let Gimme take a break to visit.  Then we ended with a couple minutes of work with Chris there, showing off some new moves we've been working on.  Gimme loves her, but we really need to get past having to stop when she shows up, so at some point I need to get Chris to help me by being our distraction of the day.

RallyFrEe class last Thursday was all about proofing distractions.  When I came in, Kathy told me to take Gimme directly to her crate without our usual perimeter walk.  I was kinda panicked because I know how important it is for Gimme to acclimate to the building each time if I want focus from her.

Kathy talked to us about the day's focus - dealing with distractions.  Our exercise was a line of four wads of paper towels, set up as if they were a prop weave exercise.  I didn't really think Gimme would be very distracted by them - boy was I wrong.  The points she made during discussion were:
* how important it is to have a start-work cue
* how important it is to have an end-work cue
* the best way to deal with distractions is to teach the dog
   to view the distraction as a cue to look at you

So we each had to tell her what our start-work and end-work cues are.  Start-work for Gimme is "setup".  This is simply a behavior where she sits in heel position with rapt attention.  I even have her do it before right side heeling - starting with her "setup" on the left, then move to the right "side" to begin.  I do this because I don't want her to default to a sit in "side" position, since we'll never need it there and on the times when I do, I can give her a verbal cue.  I don't really have an end-work cue, so have decided to use "all done".

After the discussion Kathy let us do our perimeter walk for 2½ minutes, provided we didn't include the area of the distraction exercise in the walk.  Gimme is getting faster and faster at turning her attention to me in the perimeter walks.  The first time I did it at DaPaws it took 15 minutes, now Gimme is working me with offered attention in under 2 minutes.  Our first time at Pawsabilities where we take RallyFrEe classes was about 10 minutes and now she's usually done well before we've gone halfway around the room.  She doesn't seem to need as much time, but she still needs some.

Then we did exercises working around the distractions in ever increasing difficulty.  Kathy says if you do this with enough different things, over time the dog will view the distractions as a cue to look to you for reward.  The exercises in order were:
1 -- Start with the start-work cue, then walk the dog by the distraction with enough 
       distance so the dog couldn’t get to the distraction. If the dog stopped to look, 
       we stopped with them and moved on when they were ready. We let the dogs 
       look and sniff toward the distraction and click/treat for any offered attention.  
       Finish with the end-work cue. 
2 -- Start with the start-work cue, then cue “heel” and walk the dog somewhat 
       toward the distraction, still with enough distance so the dog can’t get to it. 
       If the dog stops working, i.e. leaves heel position, then gently move away 
       (no leash correction) and restart.  Dogs can look, but need to stay with us.  
       We click/treat for heeling, aiming to get a steady stream of treats.  Finish 
       with the end-work cue.
3 -- Start with the start-work cue, then cue “heel” and walk the dog closer to the
       distraction, but still with enough distance so the dog can’t get to it. If the 
       dog stops working, i.e. leaves heel position, then gently move away (no 
       leash correction) and restart.  Dogs got clicked for staying in heel position 
       and maintaining attention.  Finish with the end-work cue.
4 -- Start with the start-work cue, then cue “heel” and walk the dog ever closer to 
       the distraction.  Move away if you need to and click treat for staying in heel 
       position and maintaining attention.  Finish with the end-work cue.

Gimme did very well with all of them, though she was quite intrigued with the paper towel balls at first.  Who knew?  By the end of the fourth exercise Gimme was able to heel right over the distraction without looking at it.  This was much more than the other dogs were able to do.  Gimme figures out distraction training very quickly.  During this class her tail was wagging the whole time, so she was having fun and I clearly had the right level of incrementation.  It was always like this in our classes with Ursula, she had to wrack her brain to come up with new distractions because Gimme had figured out the drill and you couldn't suck her in with the same thing a second time.  This worked nicely, so I plan to start including distraction training in our sessions at the tennis courts and at DaPaws.  I think Gimme will enjoy the challenge.

Then Kathy helped each of us with one thing we wanted to focus on.  I elected to work on Gimme's right "side" heeling.  This week we introduced stopping in position with me.  At first Kathy had me stop, click immediately (before Gimme could get out of position) and then toss the treat.  After several repetitions of this, she had me stop, click for stopping, treat in position, then click for her staying there and toss this treat.  We also did some instances of leaving Gimme in a "wait" walking two steps and calling her into "side".  Initially she was clicked and the treat tossed, then we went to the variation of click/treat in position followed by a click in position and tossed treat.  The idea is to keep this a very fun game, so Gimme really wants to be in "side" because the game could begin at any moment.

Kathy is talking about moving this class to Sunday mornings.  I hope she doesn't for a bunch of reasons.  We'd still continue with her, but it would be a big inconvenience and suck a lot of extra time out of our week.  Cross your fingers... 

RallyFrEe (3/3)

RallyFrEe (3/3) and a smidgen of nosework class...  

I've been thinking about my concern about the nosework back-to-baby-basics emphasis by our co-instructor.  My objection has been the tendency I've noticed after having already found an odor box and gobbled up the self-serve cookies, on Gimme’s second time back to the box she checks it for self-serve cookies and then quickly moves on.  I don't see this as a good thing.  So the solution I thought of and will try at the next class, is: when she is gobbling the self-serve, I will keep adding more treats; to keep her mindful of getting goodies from me, even after self-serve.  Hopefully then when she doesn't find the self-serve cookies, she'll pause, giving me time to pay up.

RallyFrEe class on Thursday morning was great.  Even though we had a skip week in there, I didn't get to work much on our two behaviors - due to a ten day migraine and extra work hours.  I talked to Kathy before class and asked her if there was time, for help repairing Gimme's "side" (offside heeling) behavior.

Our first behavior we were working on was to tighten up her circle around me from the offside position.  Gimme starts and ends in position, but is really wide in front and on my left as she makes the circle.  I tried to work on it once and Gimme just didn't want to - it was then I realized she needed to see Tonya for body and energy work.  It was a very interesting session.  Afterward Gimme did better, was more willing.  I then realized part of the reason she goes wide is probably because its her awkward turning direction.  I was able to show some improvement for class.  Kathy cleaned up some of my mechanics and we got even more improvement.

Part of the difficulty for me is using the clicker when I need to have my hands free to treat in any position and always wanting to make sure I'm not clicking in her ear.  It hurts my ears when the clicker is too close, so I think it’d be worse for the dogs.  Kathy suggested using a "mouth click" (making a click-ish noise with my mouth), but I can't due to the cleft palate. I've since experimented with a soft clicker I got from a friend.  I'm going to try to get a second one and a wrist bungee for each.  They are soft enough I wouldn't worry about clicking in Gimme's ear.

After this we worked on her "down" in the offside heel position.  I hadn't done this at all in the two weeks since the last class and even had to look it up on the blog to see what our second behavior was.  Its the down-stand behavior and I chose the offside position because it would be weakest.  To start with I need to simply get her to down and remain aligned in position, since she tends to turn her butt out about 45° as she lays down.

Kathy had me do it with some barriers set up.  At first Gimme was confused by the barriers, but then after she got used to them was fine.  In fact, she was so fine, the third time when we were approaching, Gimme ran ahead to lay down in the place I’d given her the cue twice before.  Even though it wasn’t what I wanted, I was happy to see her thinking and trying to be right.  Afterward we varied where on the barriers I asked her to down and she did great.  I need to practice this some more using natural barriers at home (different pieces of furniture) and then will start moving away from them and see if we can keep the position.

J’Anna, a classmate, wanted some help with her back-around and I wanted to play with the course Kathy had set up, so they went into a different part of the building so I could have Gimme off leash while playing with the course.  Gimme was distracted by the Shelties who kept getting up to look over their barrier, but once I spent a couple of minutes working on basics, she did well. I found she was popping forward of both “heel” and “side” and so missing cues.  For instance if the sign was a thru-transition and she doesn’t slow or stop with me, she is already too far out of position to do the thru when I cue it.  This is a symptom of her broken “side”, though this is the first time I saw it infecting “heel” as well.  Arrrrrgh.

Kathy was able to help me with this retraining “side”, which I’ve been trying to reteach the same way I first taught.  Kathy had me shape it, by capturing moments when Gimme passed through the position and gradually ask for tighter and tighter requirements.  I realized in doing this, I’ve been trying to work on too many criteria at once.  Since she used to know it well, I was getting frustrated when she would sit or forge past me or any number of things.  Gimme was well aware of my frustration and was avoiding me a little at those times when she thought it was most likely to happen – which was unfortunately adding to my frustration, thus we were in a downward spiral.

So the criteria for basic heeling, broken down to individual training items, is:
●  loosely in position
●  moderately in position
●  tightly in position
●  duration in position
●  slowing with me
●  speeding up with me
●  stopping with me
●  remaining standing after stopping (“side” position)
●  remaining aligned after stopping

Gimme was willing to move with me, but the moment I slowed or stopped would move away.  So Kathy had me abandon treating her in position and instead click in position and then throw the treat.  I can’t do this at home because our living room training area is too small (5x10 feet) and tossed treats too often go under furniture.  If we do it in the yard it would take forever waiting for her to find treats in the grass.  Then I remembered the seldom used tennis courts, just a five minute walk from the house.

During class we were able to shape up to moderately in position with a little bit of duration in position.  Kathy had me catch her in position, say the cue “side”, then click and toss the treat.  Tossing the treat meant Gimme got to run out and pounce on it, introducing a bunch of fun into the training.   Today we did a little bit of capturing of loosely in position during our walk when Gimme was able to be off leash, with clicks and tossed treats.  Later we did a session at the tennis courts and once she got acclimated, Gimme did well.  I got mostly moderately in position with a few tightly in position.  The best part was getting some instances of enough duration in position so I could click/treat in position and then after a bit more duration, click and toss the treat.  Gimme had fun and I was very happy with how it went.

I am very happy to have Kathy as a trainer.  She’s very insightful and completely reward based.  I am so glad to have her to train with.  I’m sure Gimme is happy to have her too – she likes having someone she can rely on to straighten me out when I get crooked.

Well, I promised Gimme another training session today.  Can’t keep the Empress waiting…

RallyFrEe (2/3)

We continued with our work from last week.  Kathy had sent our video's to us and asked us to critique what we saw.  She asked us to review the video and make a list of 3 things we like and 3 things we want to improve for each behavior.  She also said we should make note of any pattern in our handling and the dog's attention, focus and teamwork across all of the behaviors. 

Then we were to pick two of the behaviors to work on.  I picked Down-Stand and Counter-Clockwise Circle.  I picked them because both had issues separate from the issue we are working on to tune-up our "side" (right side heeling).  For each of them we were to select one aspect from the "to improve" comments to work on first (which I've underlined).  Here is the analysis I did for both of them:

Behavior:           Down-Stand
♥ Like:                prompt and fast stand to hand signal; happy dog; eager to respond;
♥ To Improve:     start position – need to go back to basics on “side” to correct forging 
                          and shouldn’t need “wait” cue before down or hand signal for down,  
                          and down should be aligned in “side” position; want to get “stand” on a 
                          verbal cue; want ending stand position in correct “side” position 
                          (butt angled out even more than first time);
♥ Handling:        unintended shoulders/hips turned toward dog; need to reward faster 
                          and in position;

Behavior:          Counter-Clockwise Circle Around
♥  Like:              on verbal; no hand signal; relaxed and happy; 
♥  To Improve:   position at start is wide (more “side” work); doesn’t complete behavior 
                          first time and needed to lure with empty hand to get end position; and 
                          first half of behavior is too far from me - she comes in close to finish;
♥  Handling:      shoulders all over the place;

Then we talked about fluency and all the different parts of what makes fluency (not to be confused with stimulus control).  Generally Kathy has noted (as have I) as you improve precision, some of the other aspects clear up on their own because the dog gains confidence in what is expected.  Of course, this assumes reward-based training.  So, she recommends working on issues with precision first.  The six aspects of fluency are:
♥ Precision –   does behavior look like you want it to look like
♥ Latency –      lag time for initial response to cue (one second?)
♥ Speed –        how fast does dog do behavior (time it takes to complete)
♥ Distance –    can dog do behavior at a predetermined distance
♥ Distraction – can dog do behavior in conditions in which you want it to happen
♥ Duration –     can dog do behavior for as long as you want it to (holding sits, etc)

Then Kathy coached each of us on how to work on the part of the behavior we selected to improve first.  What she suggested for my wanting to get the starting down position aligned more correctly is nothing I hadn't heard before - I just hadn't seen the issue, thus hadn't done it.  Its a matter of working beside a barrier or using a platform and training the down, so Gimme understands where to be.
 
Here is a diagram of our issue.  What I want is a nice tight circle around me (green line).  What I'm getting is the red dotted line.  My analogy is: Gimme is showing up for pay-day in "side" position.

What Kathy suggested for our issue with circle was a little different.  She started with using wire guides and just rewarding a lot in different parts of the circle.  I thought she was going to suggest gradually opening up the guides on the side where Gimme knows best (the end position).  It would start out looking like a "C" with just one panel folded open, then gradually fold back more and more panels until it was gone.

Instead Kathy's approach after doing many repetitions with the guides tight to ensure Gimme stayed close, was to expand the guide to form an egg shape or a bigger circle.  Then move me so Gimme had a choice about whether to stay tight or to go loose.  If she stayed tight, she was amply rewarded.  If she went loose, she got no reward and then we went back to using the guides to ensure she took the correct path before retesting.  Gimme seemed to be getting the idea, so we'll keep playing with it.

On an exciting note, just before class ended, a student from the following class came in with her dog and wanted to put it in a crate right next to where Gimme was.  My request to move away and wait until class was over or to put it in a different crate fell on deaf ears.  <sigh>  However at least she was willing to cover the front of the crate, so I'd have a little more maneuverability when we'd be leaving.  I could sure tell when Gimme realized there was a dog there.  She went from calm and collected to alert and ready for something.  I thought it was going to be a challenge when we left.

Instead Gimme walked away with me cool as a cucumber.  Of course, then I realized I'd forgotten my car keys, so we had to walk back to the crate, which was also approaching the dog in the other crate.  Gimme acted like he wasn't there.  I was very proud of her.  One of the other students has a reactive dog she sometimes brings to class and she noticed how well Gimme did and sent me a nice note about it.  Gimme got lots of peanut butter for her good behavior.

RallyFrEe (1/3)

We started with practice last night at DaPaws.  Gimme was the best she's ever been there.  She was very focused, enthusiastic and generalizing well to this environment, things we'd only worked at home.  Chris came in right before I ended the session and of course Gimme had to run say "hello".  Then I asked Chris to stay while I spent a couple of minutes getting Gimme back to work and showing off her new move.  It was great.

I thought we'd do really well in RallyFrEe class this morning.  I was even more positive it would go well because she so quickly started offering me attention as we did our perimeter walk.  But when it came time to work, she just was all over the place.  In her defense, she is very close to coming in season - getting a good case of pudding-butt.  But these were things she should have been able to do in her sleep.  Kathy's focus for this 6 weeks is fluency, defined as: flowing effortlessly; polished, moving smoothly, graceful. It wasn't us this morning.

Our first task was two lines of short sequences to practice moving smoothly-gracefully.  The stations were:
~ left heel forward, counter-clockwise spin, counter-clockwise 
   spin to center trx, free choice into left heel, and bow 
~ right heel forward, clockwise spin, clockwise spin to center 
   trx, free choice into right heel and bow

We should have been able to ace these, but it wasn't happening.  There was another person working on a trick nearby, so I moved further away and used the time to work on our bow.  Despite how well she was getting it last night, Gimme couldn't do right heel at all today.  In hindsight, I should have started out with basics like I did at DaPaws.  So anyway, I spent the time working on her "salute" (bow).  It was challenging, so we did go back to basics and saw some improvement. 

Then for the next session, we worked in the other half of the room and there were seven stations.  The idea was to do each station starting from all three positions: left, center, and right (if it could be done).  Kathy gave me time to warm up and then came to video where we were at, as a baseline, but all from "side" our weakest.  Gimme was still struggling with "side", because I hadn't tumbled to going back to basics.  The first two stations were not good at all, the third she did well since she was able to keep moving, the fourth she had difficulty doing a wait while I did the behavior, on the fifth I told Kathy I wanted to take a few moments to do basics on side and then it was better, then the last two stations were easy for us.  The stations were:
~ sit stand 
~ down stand 
~ front cross dog
~ front cross handler
~ into center & step back center x3 
~ circle around clockwise
~ circle around counter-clockwise

The next thing to work on was teaching our dog to roll out the carpet.  Basically you lay out a strip of carpet or an exercise mat, then space treats along the center and roll it up.  When you present it to the dog the first couple of times, you make sure there is a treat sticking out right under the edge of the roll, so as they go for it their nose bumps the roll and this exposes another treat.  Its easy and Gimme had fun with it.  I have an exercise mat, so we'll be able to work on this.  When everyone is ready, Kathy is going to show us how to teach the dog to roll up the carpet, which is a little harder, but basically the same principle.

From there we all practiced into behind.  Gimme did well considering we haven't worked on this much.  We'll get into this by next week.  I thought she did better at home on her own platform.  But Kathy identified an area I need to watch, so will be sure to set up mirrors next time.

Our last thing was to do some problem solving on J'Anna's attempt to teach her dog to cross paws.  She showed what she was doing and Kathy helped with problem solving.  Basically J'Anna moved on too quickly and the behavior was breaking down before she could get any duration.  She thought the issue was duration, when it was really the dog not fully understanding what she wanted.

I talked to Kathy about where Gimme and I are in our "pivot" behavior (counter-clockwise pivot on the forehand).  Gimme is amazing and fast at it using her brick, a 7" diameter wooden octagon.  I have it on verbal, but without the brick, the pivot point moves well back of her shoulders, so it ends up looking very spin-like.  I asked Kathy what I could do and mentioned how well Gimme had done when I tried it last night using one of those Frisbee rings.  Kathy said we stayed with the target too long (I started this behavior a couple years ago, long before I had any plans for it), so now Gimme is target dependent.  So the way to help her transition is to use as many different targets as possible, varying texture, size, shape, surface, height... anything I can vary, with a focus to get small as soon as I can.  So I have my work cut out for me.

We also went tracking today and I'm eager to tell you about my little genius, but my back and shoulders are insisting I get away from this computer.  Gimme is sound asleep on the couch without me, or she'd be insisting I get away from this computer.  Gimme thinks electronic devices should be abolished, specifically computer, television and telephone - since they all interfere with my attentiveness.  She also would like to get rid of the bathtub, but realizes it might be a necessary evil...

RallyFrEe (6/2)

Gimme did particularly well today, even though I was again rushed getting to class.  I left home extra early and still arrived as class was just about to start.  So again her perimeter walk was abbreviated - though not as much as last time.  She didn't seem to need as much time to acclimate, so either she is getting used to the place or our practice last night had her in ready-to-train mode.

We practiced at DaPaws last night and had the whole 80' x 80' space available.  Its very nice to have so much room for heeling.  With so much space it became clear to me I have not set as clear criteria for "side".  "Heel" is nice and tight and Gimme really knows where it is.  The position for "side" is much wider and she tends to lag a bit.  So this is something we'll work on.  I try to get out to DaPaws twice a month.

We started class with a small course to warm up on.  I've recreated it here.  Unfortunately I can't turn the course signs, so I added numbers to help you make sense of it.

The idea was for us to try to maintain a good flow.  Gimme did real well.  She had one break of focus toward the beginning (at #3 CCW spin).  I worked with her and got her back to work.  Then we had another break of focus when I made a handling mistake, cued a "thru", then realized it was one too many and brought my leg forward, just in time to bonk her in the head.  Since I stepped on her foot just last night, I think she had zero patience for being bonked today.  

After the course work, we all worked on teaching our dogs to back around us.  I've been working on this with little success, trying to free-shape it, and I thought the issue was because its so similar to the way Gimme backs up at "heel" (also at "side" but not as good), if I pivot in place.  So I thought she didn't understand, expecting me to be pivoting.

Kathy teaches this in a set of wire guides or 24" expens.  You start with your dog standing in "side" (or "heel") and then you shuffle carefully into their shoulder.  The social pressure will cause the dog to back up a step or so.  The handler should do this all facing in one direction... pick a point and keep your nose pointed to it.  Also be prepared to rapidly treat from either hand, whichever is closest to the dog's nose.  If you don't, the dog will try to turn around, or will take two steps backward and then bounce forward again.  Try to feed the treats on the "outside" of the dog's face, to encourage them to step back and toward you.  You want to keep them moving in the right direction, so be prepared to gently body block any attempts to turn around.

I wish I could diagram this for you, but it would be too convoluted.  The key thing is to always shuffle toward the dog's shoulder while keeping your front oriented in one direction.  So, you'll be shuffling in a little circle.  As soon as the dog gets more comfortable with this backward circling, make your shuffle steps smaller until they just become a weight shift.  The goal is to get it on a verbal cue as soon as you can so the dog doesn't become dependent on your body movement.  

I'm looking forward to training this now.  It helps to have a clear idea of what to do.  Of course, it also helps to have a really brilliant dog.

RallyFrEe (5/2)

We returned to class after a two week break and Gimme was the star of the class.  She did well, once I had her focus.  I woke up with a migraine so was late getting moving and late for class.  This meant Gimme didn't get to do her leisurely walk of the classroom perimeter, so when our first turn came, she was still distracted and wanting to investigate.  Kathy let me take my time to get her brain engaged and once it was, she did fine.

Kathy started us on working to do two new signs.  

The first one we worked on was the clockwise and counter-clockwise simultaneous spins.  Kathy had us start by cuing some spins, first stationary, then as we were moving.  Then we practiced some switchbacks (signs 21a and 21b).  From there we went on to just do the simultaneous spins.  Initially Gimme wasn't focused, so we had to start by revisiting the whole verbal cue for a spin concept.  She got a big round of applause when she did it on a verbal (which she actually knows) and I gave her a jackpot of treats.  Of course, then she was so excited she couldn't do it on the verbal until she calmed down again.  Still she did it very nicely.

Kathy did say she did not recommend doing this three step progression in one training session, she only did it for us so she could coach each of us through it.  For our regular training, she recommends working the three parts in separate sessions or at the very least, with a large break between them.

The next sign was the 360º center pivot.  Here the dog is in a center-front position and the handler pivots in place, with the dog side-stepping around them, maintaining center-front position.  We were the last and I started with Gimme's weakest side - even there she was far ahead of her classmates.  Gimme has very sophisticated rear foot awareness.  I was able to pivot 90º and just treat each of the four quadrants when Gimme got aligned.  When Kathy asked me to try it in the other direction, we were able to do it as one smooth 360º pivot.  I was ready to stop and treat if she needed the support, but she was awesome.  Kathy said we totally have it for a counter-clockwise pivot.  My classmates were awed by how good Gimme was, and commented how flashy she looked doing it. 

The other students had to do this in a square which combined backing up and 90º pivots.  The key thing when training is to pivot first, then step backwards if the dog needs the help to get aligned again in the center-front position.

I think the reason this came so easy to Gimme has two parts.  First, there is her sophisticated rear foot awareness.  We free shaped this very early in her life, along with some of the fruit behaviors (The Project) which required rear foot skills.  The other thing is how I taught Gimme "heel", "side" and "center".  I taught them all as a position, not a behavior.  

So when I move around and want her to heel, "heel" simply means to her to maintain a relative position to me, regardless of what I do.  She does the same with "side" (right side), though is not as strong because I haven't practiced it as much.  I am realizing just now (literally as I blog here) this is also why Gimme has such difficulty learning to back around me.  Because we've only done it when I am pivoting toward her when she is in "heel" or "side", so she is maintaining the relative position.  Thus when I want to remain stationary and have her back around me, its an entirely different concept for her.  Which also explains why the usual method hasn't worked for her... so, back to the drawing board.

Anyway, since "center" was taught as a position, when I pivoted and repeated the cue, it made perfect sense to Gimme even though we've never actually trained this behavior or anything like it.  Of course, there is also her innate brilliance.  Just sayin'...