Tricks

The ClickSolutions website has a lovely list of tricks we can teach. Let’s see how many Ella and Robbie know.

Ella
Nose touch to hand
Circle around me
Nose touch to other objects

Robbie
Nose touch to hand
Shake hands
Ring bell with paw

Last night, we worked with a step stool. I want them to put both front feet on the stool. Eventually, I want all feet on the stool and I also want just the back feet on the stool. This is a fun trick to teach and also serves to stretch and strengthen muscles. It is a helpful trick to know for agility.

Ella took to the step stool like a fish to water. “What, you want me to get up on this for food? O-KAY!” It took less than 5 minutes to have all four feet on that stool. Probably, having done this in the past helped:

Robbie was a different story. He walked around the stool. Sniffed the stool (click). Bumped the stool (click). Luring him with food didn’t work – he gave up quite quickly. So, I put my hand flat on the middle of the stool with the palm up. He pawed my hand (click). Pawed hand (click). Pawed hand (click). I moved my hand to the edge furthest away from Robbie. He pawed the stool (click). Pawed stool (click). We did this 10 or so more times. Then I lowered my hand to below the stool’s edge. He looked at my hand, looked at me, looked at my hand and walked around the stool. I moved my hand so he couldn’t paw it. He went back around the stool, I put my hand back. One paw went onto the stool (click). Paw on the stool again (click). Paw on the stool again (NO click). He looked at me, looked at my hand, put one paw on the stool (NO click) and then pawed my hand with the other paw (click with JACKPOT). When I next cued him to get up on the stool, he put both paws.

Robbie and I then worked a little on pawing a Staples Easy button. He paws it just fine, but doesn’t paw it hard enough to make it speak, so we have to work on that a little.

Then I asked Robbie to down. He wanted to paw my hand (no click) and thought about things and then downed. I will be working on requiring faster responses to the cue with this one.

Casco Bay Dog Training Club April Trials

I mailed out Ella's entry for the Casco Bay Dog Training Club's April 11 and 12 trials in Bath.

She and I will be competing in Advanced A.

No leash.

Noisy building.

I just hope that Ella doesn't turn around in the ring and head for the door.

Beginner Agility Week 2 – Ella

This week, class did not start well for Ella and I. I was tired from a very long two day conference for work and she was not impressed with the ride to Skowhegan and the classroom. The first thing she did after I took off her leash was to head straight for the door and stand there staring at it. She wanted to go home.

After a minute where I composed myself (when I get tired, I tend to burst into tears, which sucks), we grabbed a jump and went all the way to the back of the room away from the others. Ella and I practiced jumping where she sat and I called her over the jump. Then I walked by the jump and asked her to jump. Then I jogged and she jumped. After we had done the jump with me jogging a few times, then we went back and worked as part of the group.

During this class, we worked on two things: taking a series of jumps (2, in this case) and working in the tunnel.

Ella tried valiantly to stay right at my side (heel position) as we worked on the jumps. A couple of times, she would almost trip me, because I had to cross behind her to get in the right position to cue her over the second jump. After a few rounds, we were getting pretty good at doing two jumps.

Then we worked on the tunnel. The tunnel for class is a medium blue color. It can be really dark in there for some dogs, so practicing with this color would take some of the fear away for Ella.

We started with the tunnel lying straight. I use the cue “through” since it is only one syllable and will be fairly easy to say while I am out of breath on course.

Then we moved one end of the tunnel so that there was a 45 degree bend in one end. We spent some time sending the dogs through.



Then we moved the tunnel so that there was a 90 degree bend. Finally, we ended with a 180 degree bend (so both openings of the tunnel faced the dog).


Ella did great! She willingly entered the right side of the tunnel 90% of the time. That is, until I asked her to enter the left tunnel entrance at the end. She turned and sat down. Apparently, we didn’t generalize enough yet!

During our second hour, I worked with Ella on the lowered teeter. She would hop onto the middle and I would click her for taking one step, then two and then walking past the point where the teeter pivots (and then moves). She didn’t really like that, but did more this week than last. I made sure to have her walk to both ends of the teeter. And, I also started working with her to stop on the contact section (yellow) and sitting down – she isn’t confident enough to lie down yet.

The she got to explore the room a little and get used to the weave poles.

So, after a few glitches, we had a great class.

Front & Rear Crosses - Ella

Ella and I practiced front and rear crosses last night. She gets very excited when I bring the treat bag out and jumps onto the couch and lies down. I have to spend a minute or two getting her to stay on the floor so that we can train.

The beginning step of a front cross is quite easy for us to practice, since she stays in place while I do my footwork. Since one of the skills for Rally is for her to sit while I walk around her, she has this first step down!

Rear crosses were harder. I have been focusing on rear crosses where Ella turns to the right. I hold the treat in my right hand for right turns and my left hand for left turns.

She really resisted turning to the right. Funny, since turning to the left was easy and fun for her. For a while, I thought that it might be a physical limitation. Maybe it pained her to turn in a small circle to the right. Every time we would get to 3 o’clock, she would sit.

Since she will touch a target stick, I decided to try that next. I asked her to touch and she would follow the stick to about 4 o’clock and then stop following. We tried this a few times and it wasn’t really working. She and I will have to work on following a target stick farther and in more complex patterns.

I finally figured out that she thought that I wanted her to sit, since she was originally taught sit by holding the treat over her head. When she was at my side and the lure reached 3, it was above her head, just because of her size and how far I was bending.

As soon as I realized this, I lowered the treat as I lured her in a circle and – lo! She turned all the way. I clicked and she got a jackpot. We worked on this about 10 more times. Each time that she turned, her body became more fluid.

We ended the session with some puppy sit ups.

Robbie practiced down a few times. Then, he had a bath.

Road Trip!

Robbie, Ella and I went on a short road trip Sunday. We traveled up to visit Kathy and her shelties and to see how Charlie, Kathy’s new foster, was doing. It was a beautiful day for it!

Before we left, Robbie and I did a little training. He touched my hand with no lure, did a few downs with no lures and sat (slowly). Gosh, we really need to work on the speed of his sit!

Then we piled into the car. We stopped at Petco for some styptic powder before we got to Kathy’s. R&E accompanied me into the store. Ella has been in big box pet stores on many occasions and she handled the visit quite well. She looked around, took treats from me, and was not really scared.

Robbie, on the other hand, was over threshold – he wouldn’t take treats. But, even though he wouldn’t take treats, he was very interested in the sights and smells. It was just after the store opened for the day, so there were very few customers and no one bothered us. Robbie followed Ella’s lead but his tail was slightly tucked and he was quite happy to leave once we cashed out.

At Kathy's, Ella and Robbie stayed in the car while I went inside and helped with nails and grooming. Everyone had their nails trimmed and everyone behaved quite well. Charlie was a bit standoffish, but he willing took treats from me when I sat next to him on the couch. He will make a fine sheltie for someone!

Then Kathy let her dogs out into the fenced in area and everyone had a barkfest – Robbie and Ella decided that they wanted to be in the car (on the other side of the fence). This, plus the pet store, made Robbie a little more reactive that day.

We went home and I did a few chores and then we all had a nice nap.

For dinner, we went to my mother’s house and my nieces came, too. Robbie reacts to my nieces by barking at them. He reacts when they move quickly and when they are noisy. If they sit quietly, he ignores them.

Robbie and I did some training so that he would not bark at the girls while they moved around and the girls were quite good about moving slowly when they were in the room with him.

Most of the time, Robbie and I stayed in the kitchen and the girls stayed in the living room with their grandfather. This kept two rooms between us and was just enough so that Robbie could focus on me while we trained. When Robbie turned his head in the direction of the living room (he was focusing on the noise they were making), I clicked and treated him. We did this for about 15 minutes while my mom and sister finished getting dinner ready.

Robbie barked once or twice at my oldest niece before we sat down to dinner, but responded nicely to me (he came for a treat when I clicked him for not barking) and then he laid quietly in the corner while everyone ate. He was given treats for this nice behavior.

We left soon after dinner so he was only exposed to the girls for a short amount of time. He did really well with this and I was pleased with his progress. And, I was pleased with how well the girls did, too!

While this was not the ideal training set up, I managed to make it work well for all of us. It took a lot of concentration on my part and I would not make all the sessions like this, but it did give me a good idea of where Robbie’s threshold was for the girls.

Beginner Agility Class Week 1 – Ella

Ella and I attended her beginner agility class last Wednesday. We signed up for two classes in one evening – Beginner Agility 1 & 2. It is a very small class, which is what Ella needs.

We practiced going over jumps. Ella has been jumping off and on and I use the cue “jump.” It is a one syllable word and will be easy to say while I am running around the field breathless.

Ella did not like one of the other teams in the class, though. The dog was very talkative and the owner used large movements and moved quickly. As long as I was between her and that team, she was OK with working. So, as a result, Ella would not jump over a jump if she was between them and me. Instead, she would run behind me or around the jump to avoid them. This made the first hour difficult for us. I ended up giving her treats for watching the other team being wild.

Thankfully, most agility trials that we have seen have a 10 foot barrier around the ring gates for the field. This should keep most dogs far enough away from Ella to keep her from feeling scared. And, in time, she will become used to the way other teams are.

The second hour was a bit more successful, since Ella and I were the only students. My goal was to have her become more confident around the teeter. We lowered the teeter down to as low as it would go and I clicked and treated Ella for any interaction with the teeter.

She started by offering one paw on the teeter (this is something I have been shaping her to do, since she isn’t much of a paw dog). Then she started to step with two front paws. Sometimes she would hop over the teeter. Other times, she would have all four feet on the teeter. At that point, she was jackpotted!

Then I started working with her walking up and down the teeter. When she walked down one side, the teeter wouldn’t move. When she walked down the other, it would move a few inches to the ground. When she was on that end, then she would get a jackpot of cheese. At that point, I jackpotted her whether or not she remained on the teeter when it moved.

I save the really high value treats, like cheese, for the harder equipment. She knows then that what she has done is really special.

We spent the last half hour playing with a ball, talking to the teacher and having her run through the tunnel. That was great because she has started to pick up speed on the tunnel and she comes out of it with her ears up, rather than half way laid back (indicating that she is worried).

Our homework was to practice front and rear crosses. I have to admit that we haven’t spent much time doing that!

When I left the class, I was torn by how I felt about agility. It didn’t feel as though we accomplished much that night. I was thinking about how hard it was to learn a new skill and how frustrating it was for me to not know the terminology and to get Ella to understand what I wanted. It is also frustrating when your dog catches on faster than you do!

But, as I reflected on this during the weekend, I felt the same way about Rally and now she and I are having a lot of fun practicing for upcoming trials. It will just take time and practice and breaking things down into small steps. We’ll get there!

*Thank you, Clan Duncan, for the great web art!

Training - Ella and Robbie

Saturday

Ella, Robbie and I drove down to the Post Office. Well, I drove and they rode. The parking lot was quite full, so I had a lot of opportunities to play "Catch a Glance" with Robbie. There was a man in a baseball cap driving a loud truck, an older lady with a walker and then an older couple who had bulky jackets on. There were a few more people, but those listed are the ones that stood out.

We sat in the car and Robbie was clicked and treated for watching quietly. We trained while sitting in the car. He watched (and I clicked) as the people pulled up in their cars, got out of their cars, walked into the PO, walked around in the PO (Robbie could see them through the windows), walked back to their cars, climbed in and drove off. He woofed once, showed tight whiskers once (this happens right before he makes the woof) and watched nicely the rest of the time.

Ella heard the same click that Robbie did, so essentially was clicked for staring intently at the treat bag. This might seem like a bad thing, but I think it really helped with our session on Sunday.

When I left the car to get my mail, Robbie watched quietly for me, but did not bark. Yippee!! That is awesome progress for him.

At home, Ella and Robbie each practiced with me for 5 minutes individually:

• Ella practiced sit-stay (with me walking around the corner and back), down, touch (target stick) and heeling between the living room and kitchen.
• Robbie practiced sit, down, attention and touch. He is really slow on the sit and tends to stare at my hand that is holding the clicker, so I have to remember to hide it behind my back. I lured the down, which he picked up on quite quickly. The next time we practice, I will only lure him once or twice to see if he is getting it quicker. Robbie only has one behavior on cue right now - sit.

Sunday

Ella and I attended the sheltie club's rally practice on Sunday morning. It was an hour long practice. There is no instruction - people just get together with their dogs and set up some practice Rally courses.

Ella tends to lag and not make eye contact with me when we heel.

• One possible reason for this might be because I have taught her to lag. I don't really think so, though, because I have always clicked her for heeling in the proper position.
• Another reason might be because she learned to lag when I had terrible ring nerves at our first trial. Again, this might be a small factor, but not enough to make her lag all the time.
• The third reason that she might lag could be because I have not taught her how to heel everywhere. In other words, she heels great at home - trotting nicely, eyes on me, happy sheltie smile. But, she does not do this other places. So, I haven't proofed (generalized and added distractions) her enough!

When I first taught Ella to heel, we used a target stick (she is too short for me to get her to touch my hand while I am walking normally). In order to use one, your dog needs to know how to "touch." Ella will try to touch that target stick while I am trotting, while I hold it above her head or if she has to jump up on stuff to get to it. I have proofed Ella well on "touch."

So, I hold the target stick in heel postion and ask Ella to touch it. She gets clicked for touching it when I give her the cue while I am walking. I drop the treat on the floor and I continue walking while she picks it up. Then I ask her to touch the stick again, so that she has to run to get back into heel postion. She likes this game and will target that stick even when we do about turns and 360 turns.

She would also walk alongside me and look up happily. This might be due to our special work on Saturday where she got clicked for looking at the treat bag - she would look at my face and then the treat bag while we were heeling on Sunday. I would often click her when her eyes met mine and she was maintaining heel (when she hadn't been cued for touching the target).

We practiced heeling for at least 20 minutes. Then, we practiced heeling with a sit. That means that Ella stops when I stop and sits while maintaining heel position. The clicker came in very handy with this, since she tended to forge ahead of me and not pay attention to when I was stopping. She would sit 10 inches forward of where she should be. So, I would have her touch the stick, then stop and ask her to sit.

After a few times, she was sitting on one cue of sit (no touch cue) in heel position. Ella has been clicker trained since she was a pup, so is very clicker saavy and learns very quickly now.

We then joined the other two people and walked through some cones in order to practice the serpentine and the spiral signs. The first time we tried it, Ella did not maintain heel position. So, I sped up my pace and used the taget stick frequently. After that, I just pointed with my finger to heel postion and she maintained it (I will fade the pointing once she is reliably holding that position and I have introduced the "heel" cue).

We then ran a course. We did a sit, moving side step right (which we need to work on), halt 1-2-3 sit (which she did perfectly), slow pace (again, she maintained heel), spriral, serpentine (she knocked a cone over) and an about turn.

We still need to work a lot on heeling, since this is the place where our performace will break down. But, she did an amazing job yesterday. I am very proud of her.