Yes I will just have to see how she goes and work towards finding an alternative for future times. She had diarrhoea again yesterday so I can only conclude it wasn't the kennel experience.
Fun Scentwork today was really good. 3 dogs - each sent out on their own to find the tube with our cloth in. The 3 tubes were placed in 3 big tyres. Red seemed to really enjoy this although she got a bit rabbit poo distracted towards the end - she was also very tired. Her tail went down when she found 'our' cloth/tube, I asked her for a sit next then she got lots of treats. For the targeted work, they are asked to place their front laws on a small stool (I use a child's stool) and circle. Red will now do this when I say 'circle' with no physical prompt or lure. She can only go the one way though - anti-clockwise.
Red has had her second day at the kennels today. We got there and as the first time she was put in a paddock on her own but there were 3 dogs in the paddock next to hers. She rushed in and rushed over to the fence to greet them and her tail was wagging furiously. By the time I had done the check in in the office, the other dogs had gone. She was stood there but didn't seem particularly bothered at me getting in the car and going. She is now home, has had her tea and is fast asleep. So that's it until she has her two day/two night stay soon. Wish I didn't feel so anxious but I was like that when Sky was young so I think it's more my problem than Red's. Did training whilst giving Red her tea. Sky joined us outside. I had then both thundering towards me on the whistle - lovely to see .
Have started using a rope slip dog lead now to walk Red in the evening instead of her harness and Halti lead. She really doesn't like the harness but tolerates it so I will continue to use them for certain things. Her loose lead walking is so good though that we tried Sky's slip lead the other day on her and she walked beautifully. We have now bought her own. I really like it as it has a buckle on it that prevents tightening. She willingly comes when she sees me get it.
Fun Scentwork was more challenging today. We did circling on the stool - they put their front legs on the stool and use their back legs to circle - Red is good at this and will do a couple of complete circles if I say 'circle'. Second, we had to put treats in a ladle attached to a pole, send them round a large cone- 'go round', run a distance to the ladle - eat reward. This was then built up to no food in the ladle, round the cone, down to the ladle, ask for a sit, reward into the ladle and praise. Red found the round the cone bit difficult and I had to lure her but she was brill at sitting. This exercise was difficult because I found it physically hard to get her to do it. When she understands what to do, she cottons on very quickly so I think it's just practice and it will become fun. Being the oldest person by a long way in this group with the youngest by a long way dog, I have a lot to learn!! I watch others do it and think it looks so easy but struggle when it's my turn. The trainer is very patient and helpful . Red also went to bite me when I grabbed her harness - first time she has ever done that - think I was man handling her too much. I need to learn from my mistakes . Lastly, the others did a course of agility but Red is too young - she did the long tunnel though several times which was good. The dogs seem to have so much fun doing agility and Red was super excited watching them . I think she and I are going to love doing that in the future.
Sounds great @Atemas , sounds like you and Red are having lots of fun these days, with more to look forward too
Yes we are although I was cross with myself today as I can understand why Red tried to bite me. She does so well, I need to keep reminding myself she is very young and the youngest of the other dogs is 2 and the oldest 6.
Indeed she is, I think you have done tremendously well with her. Cass is twice her age and I still feel like there's so much to do
Well we have plenty of time don't we? Recall, the most important thing of all is an issue for us as she can still be selective but I keep telling myself we will get there.
Absolutely we do, I can see the improvement every day since I have stepped on the gas. As my companion I can't fault her, and recall is one thing that is good, although we still need to proof with other dogs. I'm sure with your application you definitely get there. My trouble is that I so love being just her and I that I have to push myself out into the mix !
I really identify with this. Never fussed to do things with Sky - she has always been content just being with us. I have to push myself too - Red seems to like being with other dogs in a way Sky never has - maybe because she is growing up with another dog.
KCGCDS training last night. Have stopped using the crate in my Mini for travelling as Red is getting too big. Using a car harness and she is now on the back seat. So pleased she has taken to this as I can leave the child seat in for the granddaughter's - one I take to school and pick up regularly - so it makes life so much easier for me not constantly rejigging the car every time. Red did her usual pulling to get in but settled quickly except when dogs were arriving. She is very OTT as she loves to say hello. We did 5 exercises including the going through a gate which we haven't done before and inspecting your dog. Got 5 excellent stamps on her card. Particularly pleased with her walk on lead - she just trotted by my side (the other dogs all pulled). I am so grateful to all the forum members who gave me lots of advise about how to walk on a loose lead in the early puppy days when Red pulled so badly
Went to Fun Scentwork this morning. Trainer has renamed this class as it is more than just scent work. I think he is evolving this which is fine as I never know what we are going to do. This week we did targeted work - circling on a box or book. Red is now doing 2/3 circles without me even asking her. She is a very long dog so it is awesome to see the way she moves all four paws - 2 on the box and two on the ground around the box. She is almost spinning. We then went over to do an exercise where they start off going round a cone, down to a mat - do a sit - onto a stake in the ground with the ladle on - ask for another sit and then treat into the ladle and praise. I really struggled with this as Red was so fixated on the rabbit poo in the field - argh!!! She did the exercise but I had to lure her big time and I really found this hard work trying to keep her on task. Then we went to the weaving poles. First try she was held by the trainer whilst I was at the end of a double line of poles - let go - she came down the centre and got her reward from me. Second time, she tried to bypass coming down the centre so no reward. Soon got the hang of it then!! I wonder how long it will take before she can weave - not that it matters - we have all the time in the world but I think she will enjoy this. She and I are shattered this afternoon .
Went to KCGCS training last night. Wished I had’t. Red super excited as we got out of car and into hall (as usual). Then she proceeded to lie down on nearly every exercise and far too interested in the other dogs. Trainer said at end that now she’s been a few weeks, she is getting blasé around the other dogs and choosing not to do as I asked. Yes she loves all dogs but I reckon she was just tired. She let me groom her nicely and she immediately went down from a sit when I asked but otherwise it was painful. However, I have taken on board what forum members have said to me and am just accepting it was an off night. I was/am extremely tired myself so I was off myself . Today is another day .
I just caught up on your training log - you and Red are making so much progress! I agree with you - it sounds like an off day to me - not her choosing not to do what you want. It might be worth having a back up plan for an off day, for example you could just play some of the absolute dogs games - some of the simple things like magic hand that don't put any pressure on her - maybe ask for one simple behaviour, like a sit, and then reward with magic hand. I find if I'm feeling a bit off, Lucky is a bit less responsive - I'm sure he can tell from my body language and facial expressions that something is wrong.
Dogs don't just "choose not to do" what you've asked, so I think you're right to take it with a pinch of salt. You're both entitled to have an off night! @lucky_dog is right, our dogs are very perceptive and the smallest change in our body language can cause them to behave differently. Maybe your tiredness gave you a tension in your eyes even when you were trying to act cheerful, and that worried her a bit. Or, maybe, she just wasn't feeling it, either. In either event, you can just brush it off as one of those things and start afresh. It's not like any kittens were murdered because she didn't perform at her best
KCGCS class last night - better than last week but Red still chooses to lie down when she is supposed to be sitting a lot of the time. Felt I was man handling her too much to get her to sit when she wouldn’t - trainer says I have to make her by pushing her bottom down. Also have to pull her up when she goes down without being told and get into a sit. Didn’t feel comfortable at all about this. Trainer said at the end, she is doing really really well and is very pleased with her. What I struggle with though is Red behaves differently in class to real life. In real life, she sits when asked, goes down when asked, walks on a loose lead, comes when she’s called (unless totally distracted ) etc etc - she is very very responsive and we treat her for being such a good girl. In class, there is no treating allowed and I accept Red has to get used to that. The club uses positive methods - we are always being told to praise our dog at the end of an exercise. However, I feel it’s as if we are performing and I am being shown strategies to aid this performance and not ones I need to apply in real life! This is a rambling post, sorry to anyone who has read it all. Just want to get my thoughts down into her log. She is still very young so maybe some of these strategies may have a real life value at some point.
I think telling you to push her bottom down to make her sit is very odd advice -if you push against a dog, they naturally resist. Would you not be allowed to keep treats in a pocket or in a container by your seat and reward at the end of the exercise? It’s great that Red is doing so well in real life; that’s what matters after all.
The problem with praise is that not all dogs find it reinforcing in all environments, especially with other dogs around. Luna adores praise and will work hard for it. Willow and Shadow couldn't care less at first, but will now respond (depending on the context), but only because I have done a lot of work pairing the verbal praise with a primary reinforcer - food and, more importantly, the ball. So, that is one line of attack, but it takes time. So, assuming Red doesn't find praise sufficiently motivating in that environment, you have a bit of an issue, because she's probably already learnt that, when she's there, she won't get any rewards, so why should she work? The way you can approach this is by using a variable reward schedule outside of training classes so she doesn't know when she's going to get rewarded or not. As long as you reward regularly, just not always after the same time; for example, if it's normally sit-treat-stay-walk away-come back-treat, then sometimes don't give the treat after the sit and wait until the end. Sometimes do two repetitions without a reward, but make it a huge reward, whatever she finds most rewarding, be that having a run around, chasing a ball, playing tug, getting a whole tin of sardines etc. This way, she will be prepared to work for longer when that first treat doesn't appear, because it may be after the next behaviour, or the next, and the longer she is expected to go without, the more amazing it's going to be! You still may have a problem with her realising that she doesn't get any rewards during class, though, and that's a problem. If it were me, I'd be a rebel and sneak in some cheese Are there any non-object-oriented games you can play (middle or hand targeting would be examples for my lot) that she finds rewarding and you can use during the "praise"? Finally (sorry for the essay), you can build the value in the actual behaviours themselves. As I just mentioned, a game of "middle" is very rewarding for my lot, but it's just a behaviour the same as "sit". So, by using high-energy (for my dogs) rewards, the behaviour itself becomes rewarding. Just this morning, I was training them to wrap around a tree. Willow was very lackadaisical when I was using food rewards but the second she understood the behaviour well enough to be rewarded with a ball, she was on fire. After that, she couldn't wait to be given the "passa" cue. I know that, in not very much time at all, she will transfer the value of the ball onto the wrap itself. For the sit, I would work on building value in a really quick sit, and then building value in a high-energy release. That way, the dog is happy to sit very quickly, and will wait for far longer in anticipation of the exciting release word. Premack in action
