Today, Zane's big event was a trip to Home Depot. He used to go a lot when he was younger, but hasn't been in a while. I wanted to pick up some paint, so I took him along. I put him on a waist leash so I'd have both hands free and we picked out paint colors, paint, and wandered around picking up stuff.
He did very, very well. He wasn't 100% comfortable, but he wasn't unduly stressed either. He wanted to sniff a few things, pulled a couple of times to go sniff people, but was better behaved than the majority of dogs in the community. He sat when asked and held the sit until released. Overall, a very good visit.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Temperament Evaluation
Today I took Zane to Tucson. I have a trainer friend there who does temperament evaluations. She works for a service dog organization that does these evaluations, and she's an expert at reading canine body language. She and I traded services: she did a temp eval on Zane, and I gave her a rally lesson.
She used the temp eval from Sarah Kalnajs. Here are some of the things I remember. She'll give me a full written eval once she watches the video she took of the testing.
The first test was how he would react to her. She took the leash, and I left. He did look for me and try to get to me, then she started petting him. She was watching to see if he would ask for more petting, interact with her, ignore her, focus on the environment, etc. He did look for me a lot but did circle back to her for some pets too. He wasn't really into her but didn't react negatively either. Overall, I thought it was ok for an Aussie who is supposed to be reserved with strangers. He did work wonderfully with her later in the test, so I think it was natural reserve.
Some of the tests were reactions to novel items: sight and sound. She opened an umbrella in his direction. He immediately ran to the end of the line he was on, hid behind the holder, and was barking madly. He would not approach it, even for food. He even reacted when it was put farther away, then when a breeze made it move a little.
Then she pulled out "robo-rat" - a remote controlled rat. He's seen many, many remote-controlled toys here, and I even have a similar rat (although he hasn't seen it in a couple of months because the batteries are dead). He reacted like he did to the umbrella. He would not go near it and did not recover, even after several minutes, not even after she played the look-at-that game with it. She had to cover it with a coat to get it out of his sight.
Then she dropped a metal food bowl on the concrete. Again, instant reaction - hiding, running to the end of the line, barking. She did get him to approach it when she put food in it, but he was very conflicted - reaching forward but leaning back.
One test was her giving him a hard stare. Some dogs will immediately go on defense, muzzle punch, and react badly. At first he looked intently into her eyes, "Oh, eye contact, I know this!" Then the pressure of her stare hit him and he immediately dropped to the ground and curled away from her. She gave him positive attention to get him up and interacting, then gave another hard stare. He immediately looked away. Then, she started to turn toward him, he thought she was going to hard stare again, and before she even had eye contact, he was looking away.
Testing for resource guarding. Bowl full of kibble and canned food. She had an assess-a-hand (a fake hand on a fake arm so the real hand/arm don't get bit) and started off by petting his back with it while he ate. He just continued to eat. She put the hand in the bowl. No problem. She pulled the bowl away. No problem. She commented that he didn't even give whale eye (common, mild stress reaction). She did the test again, and he did give some whale eye the second time, but no guarding or aggression. She ended up just reaching down with her hand to get the bowl because it was obvious he wasn't going to react.
Then he was given his choice of a bully stick or a rolled cow cheek. He chose the cheek. We gave him time to get involved in it and enjoying it. Then she went over with the assess-a-hand. Stroke the back - no problem. Hand on the chewie - he looked up at her. She wiggled the chewie - he put his paw on it! No mouthing, no grabbing it, no punching or biting the hand. He continued to look up at her, just put his paw on it. She repeated test a couple of times and the same reaction every time - he just plops his paw on it. He would let her take it away, but he was using his paw to say "Mine." Interestingly, the evaluation doesn't talk about the paws on this part of the test - only the mouth. The paw was a definite reaction, but he wasn't seriously trying to keep her from it.
The last test was reaction to another dog. She took Zane and had her husband bring one of her dogs. At first it was Zane just standing while the other dog walked around. He did show some interest and moved toward her, then went back to Crystal. Then she started walking him around while the other dog stood still. She noted that he immediately went into training mode. He didn't offer his natural behaviors - he offered what he's been trained for around other dogs. He kept his focus on Crystal, only occasionally looking at the other dog, then right back at her. It was great to see him working with her so nicely. Then they took the dogs on a parallel walk then gradually moved Zane closer to the other dog. Crystal saw a little tightness in his mouth, but no negative reaction at all. They never got closer than 5 feet away, but Zane stayed focused on her - kind of the "If I don't see that other dog, it's not really there." But she was very impressed with how well he is responding to the training I've done to get him able to be around other dogs.
I can't wait for the full written eval. It was neat to watch, and even I was surprised at how intense his reaction was to novel objects. I know he doesn't like new things or things that are different, but he's seen umbrellas and moving toys here. And I know we drop stuff. But he definitely reacted and it wasn't mild and there was not quick recovery.
She used the temp eval from Sarah Kalnajs. Here are some of the things I remember. She'll give me a full written eval once she watches the video she took of the testing.
The first test was how he would react to her. She took the leash, and I left. He did look for me and try to get to me, then she started petting him. She was watching to see if he would ask for more petting, interact with her, ignore her, focus on the environment, etc. He did look for me a lot but did circle back to her for some pets too. He wasn't really into her but didn't react negatively either. Overall, I thought it was ok for an Aussie who is supposed to be reserved with strangers. He did work wonderfully with her later in the test, so I think it was natural reserve.
Some of the tests were reactions to novel items: sight and sound. She opened an umbrella in his direction. He immediately ran to the end of the line he was on, hid behind the holder, and was barking madly. He would not approach it, even for food. He even reacted when it was put farther away, then when a breeze made it move a little.
Then she pulled out "robo-rat" - a remote controlled rat. He's seen many, many remote-controlled toys here, and I even have a similar rat (although he hasn't seen it in a couple of months because the batteries are dead). He reacted like he did to the umbrella. He would not go near it and did not recover, even after several minutes, not even after she played the look-at-that game with it. She had to cover it with a coat to get it out of his sight.
Then she dropped a metal food bowl on the concrete. Again, instant reaction - hiding, running to the end of the line, barking. She did get him to approach it when she put food in it, but he was very conflicted - reaching forward but leaning back.
One test was her giving him a hard stare. Some dogs will immediately go on defense, muzzle punch, and react badly. At first he looked intently into her eyes, "Oh, eye contact, I know this!" Then the pressure of her stare hit him and he immediately dropped to the ground and curled away from her. She gave him positive attention to get him up and interacting, then gave another hard stare. He immediately looked away. Then, she started to turn toward him, he thought she was going to hard stare again, and before she even had eye contact, he was looking away.
Testing for resource guarding. Bowl full of kibble and canned food. She had an assess-a-hand (a fake hand on a fake arm so the real hand/arm don't get bit) and started off by petting his back with it while he ate. He just continued to eat. She put the hand in the bowl. No problem. She pulled the bowl away. No problem. She commented that he didn't even give whale eye (common, mild stress reaction). She did the test again, and he did give some whale eye the second time, but no guarding or aggression. She ended up just reaching down with her hand to get the bowl because it was obvious he wasn't going to react.
Then he was given his choice of a bully stick or a rolled cow cheek. He chose the cheek. We gave him time to get involved in it and enjoying it. Then she went over with the assess-a-hand. Stroke the back - no problem. Hand on the chewie - he looked up at her. She wiggled the chewie - he put his paw on it! No mouthing, no grabbing it, no punching or biting the hand. He continued to look up at her, just put his paw on it. She repeated test a couple of times and the same reaction every time - he just plops his paw on it. He would let her take it away, but he was using his paw to say "Mine." Interestingly, the evaluation doesn't talk about the paws on this part of the test - only the mouth. The paw was a definite reaction, but he wasn't seriously trying to keep her from it.
The last test was reaction to another dog. She took Zane and had her husband bring one of her dogs. At first it was Zane just standing while the other dog walked around. He did show some interest and moved toward her, then went back to Crystal. Then she started walking him around while the other dog stood still. She noted that he immediately went into training mode. He didn't offer his natural behaviors - he offered what he's been trained for around other dogs. He kept his focus on Crystal, only occasionally looking at the other dog, then right back at her. It was great to see him working with her so nicely. Then they took the dogs on a parallel walk then gradually moved Zane closer to the other dog. Crystal saw a little tightness in his mouth, but no negative reaction at all. They never got closer than 5 feet away, but Zane stayed focused on her - kind of the "If I don't see that other dog, it's not really there." But she was very impressed with how well he is responding to the training I've done to get him able to be around other dogs.
I can't wait for the full written eval. It was neat to watch, and even I was surprised at how intense his reaction was to novel objects. I know he doesn't like new things or things that are different, but he's seen umbrellas and moving toys here. And I know we drop stuff. But he definitely reacted and it wasn't mild and there was not quick recovery.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Scent Work
I've been discussing scent work with some friends. I learned a new method at the Laura Romanik seminar, and I've been playing with it. To help others, I made this video using three of my dogs in various stages of training.
Em has never done this work. Zane has been doing it and has been choosing between 2 items. Bella chooses among several items and does some pretty good room searches.
Warning: This vid is 10 minutes long! Way too long in my opinion, but there are a lot of steps along the way.
Em has never done this work. Zane has been doing it and has been choosing between 2 items. Bella chooses among several items and does some pretty good room searches.
Warning: This vid is 10 minutes long! Way too long in my opinion, but there are a lot of steps along the way.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Training at the park
This morning's training started with working on sit/down/stand while I sat on the couch. It's like Susan Garrett's Green Eggs and Ham training. Can you sit while I sit on the couch? Can you down while I sit on the couch? (Can you eat it in a box? Can you eat it with a fox?) Tomorrow morning I'll work on those cues while I sit on the ground. I *know* that one will be harder for him.
This morning we also met a friend at the park for training. Zane greeted her Chihuahua and Australian Terrier very appropriately. The Chi, who reads dogs very well and will not approach a dog she doesn't feel she can trust, was trying to get him to play with her! And he wanted to! Big break-through for him. At one point he got a little pushy into her space and she told him off. And he didn't take offense or act scared or worried! Woohoo! When approaching the terrier, he was appropriate, didn't lunge at him, didn't growl in fear, acted nice and submissive and didn't push him at all. Whew!
He did some light heeling at the park. We played with the retrieve. First just a casual toss and bring it back to front. Then offering food and dumbbell and asking him to "take it" and he had to take the dumbbell. He could do it. We had to work hold a little bit as he tried to spit it at me a couple of times. But overall, very nicely done.
And he did stays! It was his first time to do stays in a line-up (the line-up was the terrier, Bella, and Zane, but it was a line-up!) They did a 2 minute sit-stay and a 4 minute down-stay. I have never, ever, ever asked him to stay that long, but he had no problem. I did go reward the sit once in the middle. And I rewarded the down a couple of times when I was throwing major distractions out there and he held his stays. Nice job Zane!
His sit-stay. He sits so upright!
The down-stay line-up.
And close-up of Zane on his stay. He always looks so regal and proud!
Yesterday we went tracking again and here he is following the track to the glove:
And this is what happens to poor doggies who live with young teenage girls who like to torture them.
This morning we also met a friend at the park for training. Zane greeted her Chihuahua and Australian Terrier very appropriately. The Chi, who reads dogs very well and will not approach a dog she doesn't feel she can trust, was trying to get him to play with her! And he wanted to! Big break-through for him. At one point he got a little pushy into her space and she told him off. And he didn't take offense or act scared or worried! Woohoo! When approaching the terrier, he was appropriate, didn't lunge at him, didn't growl in fear, acted nice and submissive and didn't push him at all. Whew!
He did some light heeling at the park. We played with the retrieve. First just a casual toss and bring it back to front. Then offering food and dumbbell and asking him to "take it" and he had to take the dumbbell. He could do it. We had to work hold a little bit as he tried to spit it at me a couple of times. But overall, very nicely done.
And he did stays! It was his first time to do stays in a line-up (the line-up was the terrier, Bella, and Zane, but it was a line-up!) They did a 2 minute sit-stay and a 4 minute down-stay. I have never, ever, ever asked him to stay that long, but he had no problem. I did go reward the sit once in the middle. And I rewarded the down a couple of times when I was throwing major distractions out there and he held his stays. Nice job Zane!
His sit-stay. He sits so upright!
The down-stay line-up.
And close-up of Zane on his stay. He always looks so regal and proud!
Yesterday we went tracking again and here he is following the track to the glove:
And this is what happens to poor doggies who live with young teenage girls who like to torture them.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Back to Basics
The past two mornings, Zane has simply done sits, downs, and stands in random orders. And I'm trying to gradually increase distance. He doesn't have stand on a verbal only yet - he still needs the hand signal - so that one is still close. But I want him to only change position when I tell him and from wherever I am without him moving forward. Every once in a while he will sit when I say down or down when I say sit. Of course, there have been times when I've done puppy push-ups with all of my dogs, and somebody will get out of rhythm and sit and down opposite the rest of the crew. They aren't really listening to the command, they're figuring what I want next and doing it.
Zane had a big change in his life yesterday. I switched him to a raw diet. His eyes are always red and watery. I haven't found a food I'm totally thrilled with (I opened one bag and it smelled rancid. Ewwww!) So he's on raw. Yesterday was the first day, and his eyes are already looking better. And no, I don't feed kibble with corn, so I know that wasn't the problem. Let's just say he's loving his new food.
And yes, I can still use meals for training with raw. I just have a spoon or fork in the bowl of food, and feed him pieces with the utensil. He has no problem with that!
Zane had a big change in his life yesterday. I switched him to a raw diet. His eyes are always red and watery. I haven't found a food I'm totally thrilled with (I opened one bag and it smelled rancid. Ewwww!) So he's on raw. Yesterday was the first day, and his eyes are already looking better. And no, I don't feed kibble with corn, so I know that wasn't the problem. Let's just say he's loving his new food.
And yes, I can still use meals for training with raw. I just have a spoon or fork in the bowl of food, and feed him pieces with the utensil. He has no problem with that!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Zane goofing around
This is a picture I've been meaning to get for a while. Zane has loved this toy since he was a little puppy. No, it's not a dog toy, but he adores it.
A couple of months ago Zane decided that one of his jobs was to lay down on top of me if I lay down on the couch. It's morphed into laying on the back of the couch when anybody gets on it. This morning, he cuddled with his daddy.
This evening, he almost cuddled with Jill.
And here's a video of Zane playing with his new babble ball.
A couple of months ago Zane decided that one of his jobs was to lay down on top of me if I lay down on the couch. It's morphed into laying on the back of the couch when anybody gets on it. This morning, he cuddled with his daddy.
This evening, he almost cuddled with Jill.
And here's a video of Zane playing with his new babble ball.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Little sessions
I just did little random training sessions throughout the day today.
I learned that if I drop a treat and ask him to touch my right hand, he can. But if I drop a treat and ask him to touch my left hand, he just stares at the treat. His right side always needs more training than his left side.
We played with take it like we did with the touch with distraction. One open hand with treats, the other hand with the dumbbell. I told him to take it, and he took the dumbbell. I also held the dumbbell in different places - by my side, up high, down low, behind me - and asked him to take it. He had to think on the one that was high.
We played tug games with the new rules from Foundation Fundamentals.
I worked on distance sits and downs. He can do down from 6 feet away, but has trouble with sit. So that's an area that needs work.
I put him on the exercise egg and did some work on it. He jumps right on and isn't worried at all. He does have to work to maintain his balance while turning, but that's what we're working on with the egg.
And I bought him a ball that talks to him. It says things like, "Hot diggity dog!" "Come here puppy!" "Yeah baby!" "Oh no!" "I'm gonna' get you!" "Ouch, don't do that!" He likes that ball, and likes to make it talk. . . all the time.
I also bought some new tug toys, but he doesn't get those until I'm ready to play with them.
I learned that if I drop a treat and ask him to touch my right hand, he can. But if I drop a treat and ask him to touch my left hand, he just stares at the treat. His right side always needs more training than his left side.
We played with take it like we did with the touch with distraction. One open hand with treats, the other hand with the dumbbell. I told him to take it, and he took the dumbbell. I also held the dumbbell in different places - by my side, up high, down low, behind me - and asked him to take it. He had to think on the one that was high.
We played tug games with the new rules from Foundation Fundamentals.
I worked on distance sits and downs. He can do down from 6 feet away, but has trouble with sit. So that's an area that needs work.
I put him on the exercise egg and did some work on it. He jumps right on and isn't worried at all. He does have to work to maintain his balance while turning, but that's what we're working on with the egg.
And I bought him a ball that talks to him. It says things like, "Hot diggity dog!" "Come here puppy!" "Yeah baby!" "Oh no!" "I'm gonna' get you!" "Ouch, don't do that!" He likes that ball, and likes to make it talk. . . all the time.
I also bought some new tug toys, but he doesn't get those until I'm ready to play with them.
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