Nadine and I and our girls met at Auburn Cinema on Thursday to do some urban tracking. Based on the things I saw at the urban tracking clinic a few weeks ago and Sil's suggestions, we changed what we were doing with Gimme's tracks. Skookum has much of the same issues, so we did the same for her.
And those changes were to set tracks with larger distances between the islands. As handler, my job was to hold her back enough to make it harder for her to just rush across and solve the problem on the other side. I used as much tension on the line as needed until/unless she had her head down working the problem. She is a prodigious air-scenter, so if something isn't obvious, she switches gears and tries to solve the problem that way.
Her first track was about 20 minutes old and she had a challenge to get her nose down, but was getting it by the time we finished. Her second track had gotten too old - 50 minutes - and she just really didn't know what to do with it. I spent a good bit of time on my knees "loving the track" and then she would get interested and the minute she'd get her nose down, I went right with her. Because the second track was frustrating for her, we set another shorter track later and let her run it when it was just 15 minutes old, so she could end on a good note. I should note it was pretty warm and very dry.
Since then, Gimme and I have been trying to catch up on our walking schedule, which makes her very happy. Today I decided we should work on her backing onto obstacles, "bacon" (a cue I invented by taking "back on" and dropping the "k" and space). Something I noticed today and which has likely been going on all along is - Gimme will not back onto something unless she has gotten onto it frontward first. Initially I tried making sure she had plenty of opportunity to look over the obstacle - she still wanted to get on it frontward first. Then I tried restricting the leash so she couldn't do "table" first and she just won't back on. At first I thought we had unintentionally created a behavior chain - "table" then "bacon". But, after she's done it her way, "table" then "bacon", she's quite content to back on repeatedly without "table" again.
I'm inclined to think she's just a very smart girl who wants to make sure for herself that its safe. Ya gotta love how she thinks for herself.
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Parkour (7/3)
Last night was Parkour class. Traffic was more like usual, so we had time to potty walk and I did some other things. I saw one of the other students from our class come and potty walk his dog, then minutes later he drove off and didn't return. Jo says he's involved in SAR (not the dog), so he must've gotten a call. The other dog is still out for neuter recovery, so Gimme got another private lesson.
"Below" video - First we had to warm up Gimme's brain to remember to actually listen for my cues. Then we had to clean up my body cues, such as motioning with the near hand and straightening my shoulders.
"Jump" video - This was just a little "jump" warm-up.
Sequence 1 video - With this bit of sequencing, you get to see who Gimme really is. She crashes the balance board while she is on it, not once, but twice, and is completely unconcerned. Sometimes it takes a bit of extra effort to get her to exercise control, eh. But it is sure a blessing to know she won't be 'scarred for life' when something unexpected happens. There's a reason her nickname is Demolition Gimme.
Sequence 2 video - This time I made sure she slowed things down and was more controlled. This is certainly NOT her first inclination. I think its good for her in many ways, not just Parkour, to learn to be more thoughtful about what she is doing.
Control video - Even though Gimme didn't demolish the balance board last time, the board moved a bit and Jo wanted more control. So she had me break down the part where Gimme gets on the balance board. Then we added just one jump before the board and then two jumps before.
"Thru" video - We did a single warm-up on the "thru" hoops. Since any and all equipment can change every time, Jo always likes to have us practice anything which may be different from what the dog expects.
Sequence 3 video - Now we put "thru" into a short sequence.
Tight jumping video - Jo set up the scaffolds in an "L" shape, so the raised end bar of one was a barrier as Gimme moved from one to the other. Gimme's solution was to step across the inside corner of the "L", going around the bar (twice). The goal was for her to learn to jump over the bar, even though spacing was tight and awkward. It was completely doable, Gimme just didn't know it was. I set up a lure in front of her to give her motivation to get there quickly, as well as blocking her go-around strategy with my body. Then we just let her figure out how to get there from here. Jo was suitably impressed with the way Gimme does something one time and then she has the confidence to do it repeatedly thereafter. Six months from now we can set up this same thing and she'll remember and just do it.
Sequence 4 video - This was a nice sequence. There is a large traffic cone just out of sight on the right side for Gimme to go around. Gimme wasn't the least concerned when her leash caught under the edge of one of the chairs and caused it to chase after her.
Sequence 5 video - Jo added some things to the sequence and I actually forgot one thing. Gimme still got treats because she can't be held responsible for my screw ups. Getting stimulus control between "hands" and "table" will likely be a long project. In this case I think it was complicated by the fact I let her step on the "hands" obstacle with her back feet after her reward. It probably seemed optional to her.
Sequence 6 video - Here is the sequence with the missing piece using the bench. When Gimme made a mistake, Jo had me start over because she thinks Gimme finds it rewarding to continue, thus reinforcing the mistake if we don't start over. I'm sure she's right. Note at the end I call the "hands" by the wrong cue, "walkies". Be sure to catch the look Gimme tosses over her shoulder - it was very clear she knew I was wrong. Fortunately she loves me anyway.
By this time, Gimme was getting tired. She would have done it five more times if I asked her to, but what's the fun in that. She'd done a lot of work, so we ended even though we still had 15 minutes left of class time. She really slept soundly for most of the drive home.
"Below" video - First we had to warm up Gimme's brain to remember to actually listen for my cues. Then we had to clean up my body cues, such as motioning with the near hand and straightening my shoulders.
"Jump" video - This was just a little "jump" warm-up.
Sequence 1 video - With this bit of sequencing, you get to see who Gimme really is. She crashes the balance board while she is on it, not once, but twice, and is completely unconcerned. Sometimes it takes a bit of extra effort to get her to exercise control, eh. But it is sure a blessing to know she won't be 'scarred for life' when something unexpected happens. There's a reason her nickname is Demolition Gimme.
Sequence 2 video - This time I made sure she slowed things down and was more controlled. This is certainly NOT her first inclination. I think its good for her in many ways, not just Parkour, to learn to be more thoughtful about what she is doing.
Control video - Even though Gimme didn't demolish the balance board last time, the board moved a bit and Jo wanted more control. So she had me break down the part where Gimme gets on the balance board. Then we added just one jump before the board and then two jumps before.
"Thru" video - We did a single warm-up on the "thru" hoops. Since any and all equipment can change every time, Jo always likes to have us practice anything which may be different from what the dog expects.
Sequence 3 video - Now we put "thru" into a short sequence.
Tight jumping video - Jo set up the scaffolds in an "L" shape, so the raised end bar of one was a barrier as Gimme moved from one to the other. Gimme's solution was to step across the inside corner of the "L", going around the bar (twice). The goal was for her to learn to jump over the bar, even though spacing was tight and awkward. It was completely doable, Gimme just didn't know it was. I set up a lure in front of her to give her motivation to get there quickly, as well as blocking her go-around strategy with my body. Then we just let her figure out how to get there from here. Jo was suitably impressed with the way Gimme does something one time and then she has the confidence to do it repeatedly thereafter. Six months from now we can set up this same thing and she'll remember and just do it.
Sequence 4 video - This was a nice sequence. There is a large traffic cone just out of sight on the right side for Gimme to go around. Gimme wasn't the least concerned when her leash caught under the edge of one of the chairs and caused it to chase after her.
Sequence 5 video - Jo added some things to the sequence and I actually forgot one thing. Gimme still got treats because she can't be held responsible for my screw ups. Getting stimulus control between "hands" and "table" will likely be a long project. In this case I think it was complicated by the fact I let her step on the "hands" obstacle with her back feet after her reward. It probably seemed optional to her.
Sequence 6 video - Here is the sequence with the missing piece using the bench. When Gimme made a mistake, Jo had me start over because she thinks Gimme finds it rewarding to continue, thus reinforcing the mistake if we don't start over. I'm sure she's right. Note at the end I call the "hands" by the wrong cue, "walkies". Be sure to catch the look Gimme tosses over her shoulder - it was very clear she knew I was wrong. Fortunately she loves me anyway.
By this time, Gimme was getting tired. She would have done it five more times if I asked her to, but what's the fun in that. She'd done a lot of work, so we ended even though we still had 15 minutes left of class time. She really slept soundly for most of the drive home.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Nosework (4/19)
Enjoyed class - the searches were easy. Doing the handler part was hard. Our job was to pick a body part and describe what we saw as the dog searched. The long line was supposed to help so we could focus on the body part and not line handling. Plus it gives a better chance that we could be in a position to see the body part even if it wasn't the dog's tail. As we watched other teams, we were supposed to continue to watch our body part. I picked Gimme's mouth, since its the one part I don't much notice.
Exterior 1 video - 1 Hide - All the other dogs went right from the startline. Gimme was the only one to go up the left side and she did this search so quickly there wasn't much to see. She closes her mouth when she is trying to get more scent information, like the interesting cone or near the hide in the grate, as opposed to when she was just moving around. I was surprised to see on video just how long it was between the behavior and me saying it. I knew there was a lag, I just didn't realize how long it was. As good as I am at talking, you'd think this would be really easy for me.
Exterior 2 video - 1 Hide - For this search a couple of the dogs went right up the middle to the grate (where the hide was on the last search). Gimme started up the right side almost on a direct line toward where the hide was now, but then veered to the left to the grate, at the gravel pile. The wind was coming from the left, so she may have gotten a drift of lingering odor blown to her. I think I did a little better at verbalizing what I was seeing. But... and this is the big one, I don't see any difference between when she closes her mouth to check something and when she closes her mouth to source odor. Looks the same to me.
Vehicle 1 video - 3 Hides - Gimme was eager to go and I forgot to remind Dorothy to start the camera, so you only get part of this search. When the video starts, Gimme had already found one hide on a back wheel (big van). She was the only dog in class to go straight down the side of the van, with one 2 second check on the caterpillar, and then nail this hide so quickly. From there she chased odor back toward the building, which was the way the breeze was blowing. You do get to see that she turned back to the search area on her own. She checks another bit that I knew wasn't chasing odor (no breeze could get there) but comes back with a hint of encouragement from me. Then comes up the side of the caterpillar and switches back over to the van. The comment I made as she was getting rewarded at the license plate was about her closing her mouth as she got to the front tire and all the way around until she sourced odor. I couldn't really see what she was doing with her mouth at the other hide, since the spacing prevented me from getting to her side. I liked that she passed it and then whipped right back to it.
Vehicle 2 video - 1 Hide - For the last search they put a hide under the center of the basket for the people-lifter-crane-thing. This was such an unusual search and we all got wrapped up watching how the different dogs approached it and none of us verbalized what we were seeing. In fact it was so interesting, the instructors got wrapped up in it too and forgot to remind us to verbalize. In my memory it took much longer than this. Gimme was the fastest. I like getting to see the video so I can see and appreciate how quickly and efficiently she eliminated the other vehicles on her way. The other dogs spent more time on the big van, none of them paid any attention to the small van and some paid more attention to the caterpillar.
The people-lifter-crane-thing is such a different obstacle and so I just had to look it up and see if it would qualify for one of our Intermediate 4-Feet-On behaviors. Good news, it does...
BTW I have entered an Element Specialty Trial for Vehicles (end of September), the only Level 2 title we don't have. Gimme has three out of four Level 2 element titles and there is another Dalmatian with just the L2C. So, we have a strong shot at being the first Dalmatian to get all four Level 2 element titles, just like we did for Level 1. Of course, it isn't as if I am bragging, "Nothin' but the facts Ma'am."
Exterior 1 video - 1 Hide - All the other dogs went right from the startline. Gimme was the only one to go up the left side and she did this search so quickly there wasn't much to see. She closes her mouth when she is trying to get more scent information, like the interesting cone or near the hide in the grate, as opposed to when she was just moving around. I was surprised to see on video just how long it was between the behavior and me saying it. I knew there was a lag, I just didn't realize how long it was. As good as I am at talking, you'd think this would be really easy for me.
Exterior 2 video - 1 Hide - For this search a couple of the dogs went right up the middle to the grate (where the hide was on the last search). Gimme started up the right side almost on a direct line toward where the hide was now, but then veered to the left to the grate, at the gravel pile. The wind was coming from the left, so she may have gotten a drift of lingering odor blown to her. I think I did a little better at verbalizing what I was seeing. But... and this is the big one, I don't see any difference between when she closes her mouth to check something and when she closes her mouth to source odor. Looks the same to me.
Vehicle 1 video - 3 Hides - Gimme was eager to go and I forgot to remind Dorothy to start the camera, so you only get part of this search. When the video starts, Gimme had already found one hide on a back wheel (big van). She was the only dog in class to go straight down the side of the van, with one 2 second check on the caterpillar, and then nail this hide so quickly. From there she chased odor back toward the building, which was the way the breeze was blowing. You do get to see that she turned back to the search area on her own. She checks another bit that I knew wasn't chasing odor (no breeze could get there) but comes back with a hint of encouragement from me. Then comes up the side of the caterpillar and switches back over to the van. The comment I made as she was getting rewarded at the license plate was about her closing her mouth as she got to the front tire and all the way around until she sourced odor. I couldn't really see what she was doing with her mouth at the other hide, since the spacing prevented me from getting to her side. I liked that she passed it and then whipped right back to it.
Vehicle 2 video - 1 Hide - For the last search they put a hide under the center of the basket for the people-lifter-crane-thing. This was such an unusual search and we all got wrapped up watching how the different dogs approached it and none of us verbalized what we were seeing. In fact it was so interesting, the instructors got wrapped up in it too and forgot to remind us to verbalize. In my memory it took much longer than this. Gimme was the fastest. I like getting to see the video so I can see and appreciate how quickly and efficiently she eliminated the other vehicles on her way. The other dogs spent more time on the big van, none of them paid any attention to the small van and some paid more attention to the caterpillar.
The people-lifter-crane-thing is such a different obstacle and so I just had to look it up and see if it would qualify for one of our Intermediate 4-Feet-On behaviors. Good news, it does...
Dog approaches obstacle and gets all four feet on in a safe manner and holds on the obstacle for 2 seconds. One obstacle must move when dog gets on and s/he must adjust to movement without getting off.So, I plan to drive over there this weekend and if its still there will talk to the owner and see if we can train on it for a few minutes (then take a video). It would be fun because its unique.
BTW I have entered an Element Specialty Trial for Vehicles (end of September), the only Level 2 title we don't have. Gimme has three out of four Level 2 element titles and there is another Dalmatian with just the L2C. So, we have a strong shot at being the first Dalmatian to get all four Level 2 element titles, just like we did for Level 1. Of course, it isn't as if I am bragging, "Nothin' but the facts Ma'am."
Monday, August 1, 2016
Title Number 17!!!
Just got the word from International Dog Parkour Association - Gimme met the requirements for her Novice Parkour Dog title (PKD-N). She got both the Training Level and Novice Parkour titles in 23 days.
I put all the individual title submission clips together into one youtube video. Its a bit long because I added a lot of screens telling what you are seeing. The final submission to IDPA is slightly different, since I discovered I'd made a mistake. I would have changed it on the compilation video, but its already being used to promote the class I'll be teaching and I think if I change it, it gets saved to a new link.
Novice Parkour Dog title submission video
It'll take her a bit longer to get the Intermediate Parkour Dog title, though we can already do a number of the behaviors. Some of them are much harder and we'll have to train up to them.
So proud of my girl - I guess I have to go to the grocery store and buy her a steak...
I put all the individual title submission clips together into one youtube video. Its a bit long because I added a lot of screens telling what you are seeing. The final submission to IDPA is slightly different, since I discovered I'd made a mistake. I would have changed it on the compilation video, but its already being used to promote the class I'll be teaching and I think if I change it, it gets saved to a new link.
Novice Parkour Dog title submission video
It'll take her a bit longer to get the Intermediate Parkour Dog title, though we can already do a number of the behaviors. Some of them are much harder and we'll have to train up to them.
So proud of my girl - I guess I have to go to the grocery store and buy her a steak...
Sunday, July 31, 2016
RFE Practice (23)
Last Thursday we went to Pawsabilities for RallyFrEe practice. I thought these were damn good efforts, especially considering Gimme is getting into a false pregnancy. Her "baby" is a very large stuffed Racoon toy. I initially named it Rocky, but apparently its a girl. Gimme only gets it if I ask here "Where's Rockette?" And here I thought a toy was just a toy.
I brought my timer, but discovered the battery was dead. So had to rely on J'Anna to tell me the time.
Session 1 video - Sorry for the glare, we moved the camera location for later sessions. Her stays are usually pretty good, but sometimes she forgets what she's there for. I really should take her back to the car after our potty walk, then go in the building, take off the treat pouch and load my pockets, then get her - so we can get directly to work when we come in. I wasn't too concerned about her early distractions as we approached the sides of the room - its such a far cry from where we started with several minutes sniffing perimeter walk. I spent a bit of time working on her 180° turns, getting her to maintain focus. No consequences for failure, just no rewards either. I gave her a jackpot for mostly keeping her attention on me as we approached J'Anna behind the camera - this is very hard for Miss Social Butterfly. The stay in the middle was to reload treats and to shut the divider between our floor and the rest of the building. Interesting I notice she turns much tighter on a 180° turn when I turn toward her - possibly relates to earlier agility training. As we worked on finding "heel" and "side", we also did some of them moving. She had one spot where she seemed to get distracted, though I couldn't tell why and one time when she went to the wrong position. We tried a bit of finding "center" from "heel" and "side" and this proved difficult. We haven't worked on it anywhere near as much as finding "heel" and "side", so I shouldn't have put it at the end of the training session. Overall I was very happy with this session. Gimme was trying really hard and its clear how much improvement we are getting with Kathy's coaching.
Session 2 video - I put the camera on a tripod to make it easier for J'Anna and smoother overall. She started out really good and then 30 seconds later was Miss Distracted. She's doing good with the up-"touch" and seems to like it better. It helped a lot when I started using the clicker to mark it, plus I think she's building stamina. She did much better finding "center" this time. J'Anna is having trouble getting a good back-up with her dog, so I showed her how Gimme did it - using the platform as a target. And yes, I did tell her to go check it out. J'Anna was suitably impressed with how Gimme looks for the platform with her back feet. Of course she's got amazing rear end awareness - its one of the first things she learned. We are at the stage of fading the target, so this huge target was totally too easy for Gimme. [BTW if you look at our back in the Parkour Novice compilation, Gimme barks at me because she's frustrated by there suddenly being no target - she's not shy about expressing her opinions.] We worked on tightening her turns on some other behaviors - with a bit of heeling thrown in as needed. I sure wish I had someone who could click for me at times, so all I'd have to do is manage treat delivery where it would do the most good. J'Anna cut the video when I was going to reload, so I've clipped on the little end bit.
Session 3 video - Gimme was more distracted this time by J'Anna being so close to the door than she was the first time. My plan was a quick session focused on 180° turns. Since Gimme was distracted at the door, it was really no surprise to have trouble for the first turn. The first click was mostly to prime the pump. Since she hadn't had a good turn yet (thus no reward), I picked a moment when she was turning to mark - even if the turn was late. Many of these turns included momentary ganders, but I tried to click the moment she turned her attention back to me. When she did particularly nice ones, then she got a jackpot. From there to the end was just some doodling, finding position and the like. We ended when I ran out of treats - with just 15 seconds left on the disk. While she started distracted, I was really happy with the focus I was getting at the end.
I'm really pleased with how this is coming along. I really appreciate how hard Gimme is trying, even when she can't quite do it. I am really blessed to have such a great dog. And, to have Kathy so willing to invest the time in helping us be our best.
I brought my timer, but discovered the battery was dead. So had to rely on J'Anna to tell me the time.
Session 1 video - Sorry for the glare, we moved the camera location for later sessions. Her stays are usually pretty good, but sometimes she forgets what she's there for. I really should take her back to the car after our potty walk, then go in the building, take off the treat pouch and load my pockets, then get her - so we can get directly to work when we come in. I wasn't too concerned about her early distractions as we approached the sides of the room - its such a far cry from where we started with several minutes sniffing perimeter walk. I spent a bit of time working on her 180° turns, getting her to maintain focus. No consequences for failure, just no rewards either. I gave her a jackpot for mostly keeping her attention on me as we approached J'Anna behind the camera - this is very hard for Miss Social Butterfly. The stay in the middle was to reload treats and to shut the divider between our floor and the rest of the building. Interesting I notice she turns much tighter on a 180° turn when I turn toward her - possibly relates to earlier agility training. As we worked on finding "heel" and "side", we also did some of them moving. She had one spot where she seemed to get distracted, though I couldn't tell why and one time when she went to the wrong position. We tried a bit of finding "center" from "heel" and "side" and this proved difficult. We haven't worked on it anywhere near as much as finding "heel" and "side", so I shouldn't have put it at the end of the training session. Overall I was very happy with this session. Gimme was trying really hard and its clear how much improvement we are getting with Kathy's coaching.
Session 2 video - I put the camera on a tripod to make it easier for J'Anna and smoother overall. She started out really good and then 30 seconds later was Miss Distracted. She's doing good with the up-"touch" and seems to like it better. It helped a lot when I started using the clicker to mark it, plus I think she's building stamina. She did much better finding "center" this time. J'Anna is having trouble getting a good back-up with her dog, so I showed her how Gimme did it - using the platform as a target. And yes, I did tell her to go check it out. J'Anna was suitably impressed with how Gimme looks for the platform with her back feet. Of course she's got amazing rear end awareness - its one of the first things she learned. We are at the stage of fading the target, so this huge target was totally too easy for Gimme. [BTW if you look at our back in the Parkour Novice compilation, Gimme barks at me because she's frustrated by there suddenly being no target - she's not shy about expressing her opinions.] We worked on tightening her turns on some other behaviors - with a bit of heeling thrown in as needed. I sure wish I had someone who could click for me at times, so all I'd have to do is manage treat delivery where it would do the most good. J'Anna cut the video when I was going to reload, so I've clipped on the little end bit.
Session 3 video - Gimme was more distracted this time by J'Anna being so close to the door than she was the first time. My plan was a quick session focused on 180° turns. Since Gimme was distracted at the door, it was really no surprise to have trouble for the first turn. The first click was mostly to prime the pump. Since she hadn't had a good turn yet (thus no reward), I picked a moment when she was turning to mark - even if the turn was late. Many of these turns included momentary ganders, but I tried to click the moment she turned her attention back to me. When she did particularly nice ones, then she got a jackpot. From there to the end was just some doodling, finding position and the like. We ended when I ran out of treats - with just 15 seconds left on the disk. While she started distracted, I was really happy with the focus I was getting at the end.
I'm really pleased with how this is coming along. I really appreciate how hard Gimme is trying, even when she can't quite do it. I am really blessed to have such a great dog. And, to have Kathy so willing to invest the time in helping us be our best.
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Parkour (6/3)
I've been busy preparing handouts for the Parkour class I'll be teaching. I have 12 pages so far. I really like this and I think it has a lot to offer the average person and their dog, many of whom would not be interested in a competitive dog sport. Still, this gives them a structure to measure progress against and those who want to can submit for titles.
Parkour class this last Wednesday was interesting. Traffic was a complete mess, so even though I left home on time, we were 20 minutes late (a 2:20 drive). Gimme started out okay, but was very stressy for the last half hour of the drive. I thought maybe it was the false pregnancy, but when we got there, she dumped a big one... For the first part of class, an exercise outside, she couldn't get her focus into it - which may be false pregnancy, maybe just keyed up from the late arrival and my own tension of trying to get there on time through traffic which repeatedly failed to cooperate.
In any case, the exercise was about teaching the dog to send to a box or table. She had a lot of difficulty doing it and when she did, couldn't focus enough to stay there. I didn't get video of this. I did get some success toward the end by tossing treats to her in position. Of course I'm an awful treat-tosser, so it wasn't as effective as it could be. I can always practice those things at home.
Balance board sequence video - This was a very simple balance board exercise, really similar to what we did last week. Gimme did very well with it and I think this easy success went a long way to helping her get focused. If you look at the ladder trainer laying against the backdrop - pay attention to the proportions of the parts to step on and the parts which are holes. You'll see Gimme do something in another video and knowing how big the spaces versus steps will make what she does all the more impressive.
Raised ladder trainer sequence video - For this sequence, Jo put the ladder in place of the cross board. I thought Gimme might be concerned about how high it was, since she's never done it more than a foot off the ground. She showed no sign of caring about the height.
Send training 1 video - At the very beginning of this video, Gimme doesn't understand what I wanted her to do, so she just guesses and jumps straight up to land on the ladder trainer. I was scared to death about what she'd done, but also impressed at how well she adjusted her footfalls in an instant, so she landed safely. We were all a bit awestruck, after we got past the shock. By the third time, even though she anticipated and started coming to me before I got into position, she then corrected herself, finishing well. I was amazed she did this well, given the yappy dog next door in agility, which started up just as her turn started.
Send training 2 & ladder trainer sequence video - This time I threw treats ahead of her a couple of times and it worked well to clarify what I wanted. The final time I threw the treat to her after she did the behavior. Up until then it was acting as a lure, but she understands the "lure a little" sequence (max 3 times) and usually offers what I want the next time. Then we did the ladder trainer again. This time she decided to hop across, and while it showed great style, its not really safe and it won't work when she starts working on an actual ladder, so I turned her around to do it again.
Sequence 2 video - This time we put the send into a sequence. There is another small platform at the end which is out of the camera p.o.v. Gimme enjoys sequences, so she did well. She was momentarily distracted by a speck on the floor near the chair, but then she got back in gear.
Sequence 3 video - This was the same sequence and Gimme did well with it.
Since we arrived so late in the class, this is all there was. We have one more class in the series before starting another round. The other Border Collie won't be back right away due to complications in his neutering. SAC has a 4 dog minimum for classes, but Jo convinced them to go with this class even though there are only 3 of us. She hopes they'll agree to keep it open since the other dog plans to come back after he's recovered. Cross your fingers...
Parkour class this last Wednesday was interesting. Traffic was a complete mess, so even though I left home on time, we were 20 minutes late (a 2:20 drive). Gimme started out okay, but was very stressy for the last half hour of the drive. I thought maybe it was the false pregnancy, but when we got there, she dumped a big one... For the first part of class, an exercise outside, she couldn't get her focus into it - which may be false pregnancy, maybe just keyed up from the late arrival and my own tension of trying to get there on time through traffic which repeatedly failed to cooperate.
In any case, the exercise was about teaching the dog to send to a box or table. She had a lot of difficulty doing it and when she did, couldn't focus enough to stay there. I didn't get video of this. I did get some success toward the end by tossing treats to her in position. Of course I'm an awful treat-tosser, so it wasn't as effective as it could be. I can always practice those things at home.
Balance board sequence video - This was a very simple balance board exercise, really similar to what we did last week. Gimme did very well with it and I think this easy success went a long way to helping her get focused. If you look at the ladder trainer laying against the backdrop - pay attention to the proportions of the parts to step on and the parts which are holes. You'll see Gimme do something in another video and knowing how big the spaces versus steps will make what she does all the more impressive.
Raised ladder trainer sequence video - For this sequence, Jo put the ladder in place of the cross board. I thought Gimme might be concerned about how high it was, since she's never done it more than a foot off the ground. She showed no sign of caring about the height.
Send training 1 video - At the very beginning of this video, Gimme doesn't understand what I wanted her to do, so she just guesses and jumps straight up to land on the ladder trainer. I was scared to death about what she'd done, but also impressed at how well she adjusted her footfalls in an instant, so she landed safely. We were all a bit awestruck, after we got past the shock. By the third time, even though she anticipated and started coming to me before I got into position, she then corrected herself, finishing well. I was amazed she did this well, given the yappy dog next door in agility, which started up just as her turn started.
Send training 2 & ladder trainer sequence video - This time I threw treats ahead of her a couple of times and it worked well to clarify what I wanted. The final time I threw the treat to her after she did the behavior. Up until then it was acting as a lure, but she understands the "lure a little" sequence (max 3 times) and usually offers what I want the next time. Then we did the ladder trainer again. This time she decided to hop across, and while it showed great style, its not really safe and it won't work when she starts working on an actual ladder, so I turned her around to do it again.
Sequence 2 video - This time we put the send into a sequence. There is another small platform at the end which is out of the camera p.o.v. Gimme enjoys sequences, so she did well. She was momentarily distracted by a speck on the floor near the chair, but then she got back in gear.
Sequence 3 video - This was the same sequence and Gimme did well with it.
Since we arrived so late in the class, this is all there was. We have one more class in the series before starting another round. The other Border Collie won't be back right away due to complications in his neutering. SAC has a 4 dog minimum for classes, but Jo convinced them to go with this class even though there are only 3 of us. She hopes they'll agree to keep it open since the other dog plans to come back after he's recovered. Cross your fingers...
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Parkour and Nosework (3/19)
We spent time on the weekend through Tuesday morning getting together the last of the videos we needed to submit for our Novice Parkour title. Gimme was a bit on again, off again in working - regarding focus and ability to listen. At first I didn't know what this was about, but then Monday night (early into Tuesday) I heard her nosing around in the closet, nesting. So it seems she is finally (a couple weeks late) going into a false pregnancy. There were several video's I had to redo. There are things you don't see when you are recording or things in the background, or things I didn't think about. I got them all submitted then was reading the rules in preparation for the class I'll be teaching and realized I'd made another mistake. I contacted them and asked if they'd hold off on processing my title submission and fortunately they have agreed. The changes I found I needed to make were:
On Tuesday we had nosework class and it was quite interesting. The searches were not especially difficult, but what they wanted was for us handlers to give a running commentary of what behaviors we were seeing in our dogs and what it meant. This is based on Dorothy's observations at recent trials. She saw many people didn't really KNOW what their dogs showed when they got "in odor", but before they indicated. So a dog could just be showing interest in something, probably because it was a novel smell, and the handlers would misinterpret it as an indication or being in odor.
It is surprisingly hard to verbalize what you are seeing, with interpretation, as you are moving and handling, being prepared to reward the dog - all in real time.
What I noticed most was the difference in how Gimme moved when she was in and out of odor. When she is out of odor, she moves loosely, with a ground covering stride and happy tail wag. I call this scanning mode. When she gets in odor, her stride is quicker and shorter, often still covering the same amount of ground. Her tail wag still wags, but is not as loose.
There are so many things you can watch about your dog and every dog is different. I remember a very long time ago in the old classes, Susan said Gimme "hunched her back" when she got into odor. When I watched her after hearing this comment, I realized Susan was seeing how her stride changed, which brought her rear feet under her (moving with more collection) and rounded her croup a little. And, this is entirely consistent with what I saw during class. Some of the things to watch are:
Gimme loved doing class, but was happy to get home to her toys. She hasn't selected a baby yet, though she pulled MrBigCow out of the bottom of her toy basket and he looked like the odds on favorite (until tonight). At other times she has focused on InchWorm, SkinnySquirrel, SuperCow and PurplePuppy. Any time we are away from home when we return she is obsessed with getting to her toys. At the same time she pays no attention to the toys in her puppy pen in the van. Tonight she was looking at the top of the bookcase whimpering - presumably hoping I'd get down Kermit (he's up there waiting for me to repair his neck). Instead of handing over Kermit in his delicate condition, I gave her one of the new toys (new is relative, I bought it a year ago and he was hidden with 25 other toys I've yet to give her). She's been obsessed with RockyRacoon ever since. Time will tell...
- A child was enamored of Gimme and following us around as we were recording. At two points we were using playground equipment. Since he was in the shot, it would have been an automatic NQ, so I went back the next day and re-recorded those two without the juvenile stalker.
- My balance (board walk) didn't show all of the board walk plus a couple feet on both ends so they could see her get on and off. In the video it also wasn't immediately evident if the board was narrow enough. I re-recorded it from an angle showing more down the length of the board.
- The one I discovered after I submitted the video was, I used the same kind of picnic table as one of her examples of 4-on, then again (though at the other end of the park) to do 4-on as part of her Creativity. I recorded 4-on on a different obstacle. I'm also going to re-record the Creativity sequence tomorrow morning since the camera p.o.v. doesn't completely show both benches and when Gimme is doing her 4-on at the beginning she is partly out of view.
On Tuesday we had nosework class and it was quite interesting. The searches were not especially difficult, but what they wanted was for us handlers to give a running commentary of what behaviors we were seeing in our dogs and what it meant. This is based on Dorothy's observations at recent trials. She saw many people didn't really KNOW what their dogs showed when they got "in odor", but before they indicated. So a dog could just be showing interest in something, probably because it was a novel smell, and the handlers would misinterpret it as an indication or being in odor.It is surprisingly hard to verbalize what you are seeing, with interpretation, as you are moving and handling, being prepared to reward the dog - all in real time.
What I noticed most was the difference in how Gimme moved when she was in and out of odor. When she is out of odor, she moves loosely, with a ground covering stride and happy tail wag. I call this scanning mode. When she gets in odor, her stride is quicker and shorter, often still covering the same amount of ground. Her tail wag still wags, but is not as loose. There are so many things you can watch about your dog and every dog is different. I remember a very long time ago in the old classes, Susan said Gimme "hunched her back" when she got into odor. When I watched her after hearing this comment, I realized Susan was seeing how her stride changed, which brought her rear feet under her (moving with more collection) and rounded her croup a little. And, this is entirely consistent with what I saw during class. Some of the things to watch are:
- head carriage and gestures
- topline
- mouth open or closed
- breathing or chuffing
- eyes and ears
- tail carriage, wagging or still
- movement style
- changes of direction
- tension vs. looseness
Gimme loved doing class, but was happy to get home to her toys. She hasn't selected a baby yet, though she pulled MrBigCow out of the bottom of her toy basket and he looked like the odds on favorite (until tonight). At other times she has focused on InchWorm, SkinnySquirrel, SuperCow and PurplePuppy. Any time we are away from home when we return she is obsessed with getting to her toys. At the same time she pays no attention to the toys in her puppy pen in the van. Tonight she was looking at the top of the bookcase whimpering - presumably hoping I'd get down Kermit (he's up there waiting for me to repair his neck). Instead of handing over Kermit in his delicate condition, I gave her one of the new toys (new is relative, I bought it a year ago and he was hidden with 25 other toys I've yet to give her). She's been obsessed with RockyRacoon ever since. Time will tell...
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