Genius in Training

I've said before that Zane notices *differences* in things. On Friday night, my son put on a knit cap, and Zane barked at him and wouldn't go near him. He wasn't the same person with a hat on! Zane has also done that if he sees my husband in a place he isn't expected. He doesn't like change!

This weekend we were at an agility trial. Most of the things Zane goes to during the week have stopped for the holidays, so he hasn't been getting out as much. It showed! He was a little freaked out by people on Saturday morning. So we just walked around and I handed treats to people and had them feed him. Some he instantly liked; others he would take treats, then get away from them. I couldn't find any rhyme or reason for who he liked and who he didn't. Sunday he was much, much better with the people. "Oh yeah! They have cookies!" I still had as many people feed him as possible.

On Saturday I had two people take him and walk him around and play with him. The first one he didn't want to go with at first, but once he was a way from me, he was fine. The second one, in the afternoon, he did fine with. On Sunday, a friend (who Zane doesn't know) brought her puppy (two days older than Zane). Her pup has some issues too, so throughout the day, we'd just go to each other's set-up, grab the puppy, and take them out. It was kind of fun! Tori was such a delightful girl. She just floats. I love watching her move.

Oh, did I mention that Zane turned 6 months on Saturday?!? It was his half-birthday!

There was an animal communicator at the trial. I decided to take Zane to talk to her. I've known one communicator who was the real thing. She knew things she couldn't have known - no way, no how. This one? A flake. Here are some of the things she said Zane told her (or her dog who then told her).

1. The organizers of the agility trial are flakes. They spend too much time at meeting eating cookies and drinking coke and not enough time working.

2. He needs blue-green algae.

3. Jill (my daughter) is eating too many crackers and chips and too much sugar.

4. I have an irregular heart rhythm and need to spend more time biking, swimming, playing volleyball, and taking him running in the desert.

5. I need to get back to working with the horses. I have something to give them, and they have a lot they need to give me.

6. She said that Zane told her that "they" said his nose is too long and was he ok? What's funny is that Jill used to say his nose was too big! I laughed about that one.

7. He wanted to know where we were going next and what were we going to do. (Answer: APDT trial next weekend.) He wanted to know what would be expected of him. (Answer: Be a silly puppy.) He wanted the "other dog" to go with him, because they have a tight bond and she grounds him.

8. He wanted to know what was expected of him at the agility trial (meet people and dogs and eat cookies.)

9. There was a dog at the trial who was bigger than he is who is a bully. He doesn't like him. The bully's name is Buster, but that may not be what his person calls him.

10. He wants a vest to wear that says "Genius in Training".

11. He has parasites that the medicines aren't taking care of. He needs Black Walnut and Wormwood.

12. He needs herbs for flea and tick control - no chemicals. (We don't have fleas and ticks here.) A whole list of herbs was given.

13. He likes clicker training, but he's about to move beyond it. I will know when that time is.

Ok, that's all I can remember for now. Not a word about his fears or how he feels about other dogs. I asked why is he fearful and what can I do to help. The answer: you're doing everything right and he's ok. Ok, thanks.

He did meet several dogs this weekend, and overall did very well. Saturday morning we sat by the entrance and played Look at That with all the dogs going by. Later, as I was checking the schedule, a small dog came and got right in his face. He didn't react. The next day he met the Terv puppy and a German Pinscher with no problems. He walked through and past and around tons of dogs all weekend with no problem. But Sunday afternoon while I was working in a ring, Jill had him out and was sitting on the ground watching the dogs run. Somebody was letting their dog walk at the very end of the leash, and he got right on Zane and growled and snarled at him. Zane reacted back, of course. I don't blame him for that one, but I hope it doesn't set us back in our training. On a good note, the BAT training is helping. The goal is to teach him alternatives to reacting to other dogs. So we were sitting at our set-up, and somebody brought their Aussie say hi. Zane met the Aussie, no problem. But when he started to feel the pressure, he went to his crate instead of growling at her. When he was comfortable, he came back out. He did this several times. He also gave himself a couple of breaks when playing with the Terv puppy. So he is getting it!

Zane had one issue with getting on the metal bleachers. He didn't like the noise! So we worked on that until he would run back and forth across them.

Put it In Video

What a great start to the day!

For breakfast, I pulled out the bowl and the toy to work on "put it in". I can now put the toy on the floor, he will pick it up and carry it to the bowl and put it in! Woohoo!

I'll try to tape it later today. But I was too excited not to share!

Class Night

Tonight Jill worked Zane in my Foundations class again. As the other dogs came into class, he barked, but no growling this week. The barking showed he was concerned, but we got him under control, then Jill started playing Look at That (Control Unleashed) with him. He quickly settled down and went to work. He even got within 2 feet of one of the dogs without reacting. Yay!

This morning I continued to work on "put it in". But. . . I'm starting to get a superstitious behavior. He thinks he needs to put a foot in the bowl before putting the toy in. I have to be very careful what I'm clicking now to get rid of that.

Pull and Stools and Putting it In

Yesterday we worked on "pull". I"m hold a rope and clicking him for taking it, then for pulling it. I started to add the cue as he's a natural at this.

Yesterday and today I pulled out a couple of little folding stools and working Bella and Zane on getting on the stools and sitting, and occasionally asking them to do their contact behavior on them. This is exhausting for them! They are doing massive work on core muscles, working hard to balance, and also getting nice, tucked sits.




This evenings for his dinner, Zane started learning to "put it in". He doesn't understand the concept yet so no cue is added yet, but this shows the very first training session for this. Instead of asking him to pick something up, carry it to the bowl and put it in, I'm backchaining it. The retrieve object (a toy for now) is in the bowl. He looks at it, then touches it, then picks it up, etc, all for clicks/treats. Eventually he drops it outside the bowl. For awhile I put it back in the bowl - that's where it belongs, right? Finally, I don't click for getting it out. I wait, and wait, and wait. Eventually instead of trying to give it to me, he turns and puts it back in the bowl! Yes! This is a bit more stressful for him than most of our training. He is not understanding the concept yet. That's ok - he has to learn to work through stress, and this is a nice way to do it.



Yesterday we went hiking too. Here are a couple of posed pics from that.


And Zane kind of disappears into Arizona colors:

3:10 to Yuma

So many things have happened the past few days. I know I'm going to forget some of it!

Thursday I started adding my movement to his contact work. Before, I was just sitting on the couch. Now I'm moving around the contact board while he gets on it and hits his two-on-two-off. Yes, the movement means that he misses a lot. But he's gradually coming to understand that he does it no matter what I'm doing.

Friday morning, we got up, and my husband, Zane, and I drove to Yuma. He had a company Christmas Party to go to and asked me to attend. But he was also doing some work, so Zane and I planned to get in some training in new places. I didn't know what I was in for!

The company keeps a house on Yuma Proving Ground, so we were planning to stay there. It has a fenced in yard, so easy for potty times. But the yard behind "ours" had two dogs who barked every time we moved. (Remember Zane's fear of other dogs?) So I pulled out clicker and treats and we played Look at That from Control Unleashed. Then we started BAT. Within a couple of minutes, he was glued to my side, all focus on me, not caring about those barking, nasty dogs. He would sit and down and heel. And he was more comfortable in the yard in general.

So I pulled out some toys. He is very high in toy drive. So we played. When I would throw a toy, he'd go out to get it, then have to stop and make sure the dogs weren't coming for him, then he'd pick up the toy, still watching the dogs, and finally bring the toy back.

He did some quiet woofing at the dogs, but no growling. Nice, big improvement for him! I've had him at the end of the leash, as far from other dogs as he can get, when we've met other barking dogs behind fences (and they were usually farther away). I've also had him lip curl and growl at barking dogs farther away. So this quiet interest and watchfulness and quiet woofing is good.



The house we stayed in has a sliding glass door. He's never seen one before. So when we walked through the house to get to the back door (the sliding door) to go into the yard, he walked right into the door! Smack! Poor puppy had never seen glass at his level. Later that evening, when it was dark, he was a little concerned about his reflection in that glass.

Now I'm going ti inundate you with pictures! I took so many of him.

Zane is not known for his catching ability yet.

Fail


Fail


Fail


Fail


And his first catch! He did catch a few others that day, but this was his first.



Look at that rich, red coat he's getting:







I put his leash and bait bag on the end table, and he kept taking them off! Multiple times! I finally moved them to the kitchen.




And look at that tongue. He smells his "cookies".




Throw the toy. . . throw the toy. . . throw the toy.




And yes, at almost 6 months, he still pees like a girl.



"Throw the gingerbread man."



"Please throw the gingerbread man."



"Mom! Please, please, please throw the gingerbread man!"



Merry Christmas, and many happy gingerbread men to you.



Finally relaxing at watching the other dogs.



















I had just untaped his ears. He had to scratch!









Can you get the camera out of my face?

Class time

Last night Jill worked Zane in my Foundations class. It's all young dogs in that particular class - 5 month old Golden (fearful submissive), 7 month old Husky (confident), 10 month old German Shepherd (boisterous), and Zane (fearful aggressive). Overall, he did very well. He did growl at the GSD twice - once when the GSD walked into the building, then again toward the end of class when the GSD got close. He also barked and growled at new people coming in for their Orientation afterward. He still has a long way to go.

I teach a Focus & Control class based off of Control Unleashed work. I think I'll have one in February and have Jill take him through it. And we'll continue his BAT training.

In the contact training, Zane gets right into two-on-two-off and plants his nose on the floor. He is really figuring out the shaping game and learning new behaviors quickly.

I watched a Michael Ellis DVD and he showed a "find the left leg" exercise. When you halt, sometimes stop with the left leg a step forward or a step backward from the right leg. Your dog's job is to stay with that left leg. Zane can do it! He also reminded me of the Silky Leash exercise, although he does it a big different, and I liked how he used it for specific training exercises, so Zane is working Silky Leash going from front to behind me and then backing up from heel position. He's pretty darn good at it. The big difference between Ellis' way of doing it and mine is that he uses a slip lead or prong collar - he wants the dog stressed. I do it on a buckle collar. I want him giving him even if there is no pain.

But that brings up a dog learning to work through stress. That is an area I'm still figuring out how to train. How do we introduce stress in our training? What is the humane way to add stress? I'm still pondering that! Ellis uses a prong collar to introduce pain and the dog working to escape the pain. I want to find a different way. Now don't get me wrong. I see a lot of value in what Ellis is doing - he's making amazing changes in the working dog world. I like some of his techniques and style. But I have to change some things to fit my personal training style.