The second thing I wanted to talk about was the short training session we did last night: teaching "Stand" using Susan Garrett's hand-touch method. I really like the concept, and when I watched the video I was very excited but I have to admit that I was a little disappointed when it didn't translate to Penny as well as I thought it would, lol. She picked up on the hand touch easily, and already kind of knows "Stand," but she always swung her butt out. I wasn't really picky about that, but next time I am definitely going to up the criteria. Ideally I would like her to go into a stand without really changing position or moving at all. Another suggestion I got that I need to try is holding my hand out away from me some more.
Lastly, I am a little more than halfway though Control Unleashed and I wanted to go through some of the exercises that I have been marking as I read, as things that I might want to work on. Right now I am just trying to get through the book before I start tackling too much, but there are a few things I have started working on.
- Reorienting Points. Penny already has a default behavior for most things she wants (namely food, lol): sit and eye contact. I would like to translate this into crossing thresholds/doorways as well, that is not something we were ever very good about maintaining and she has run out the front door before so it's definitely something that should be addressed. I think that once we work on Fronts a bit more, it will also be easier to add the reorientation. She isn't crated so I can't really apply it in that sense, but I do think that I could use it for doors.
- Doggie Zen. Tied into the above, really. The hardest part about this, for me, is remembering that I should act as a "gateway" and expect my dog to think that she has to go through me in order to get something that she wants. When you haven't always been into training so much, it's hard to get into that kind of mindset!
- Leave It. Penny has a pretty solid "Leave It," when it's cued. I definitely want to work more on an "automatic" Leave It, which again, ties into the above. I would love to eventually have her at the point where she never picks anything up off the ground without looking to me first. I practiced this a bit the other day while cutting up some treats (there is another entry about it, actually), because she likes to snag anything that is dropped.
- Go to Place. At our Puppy class at Petsmart a long time ago, one of the exercises was "On Your Bed" so I think she was already a little familiar with this. I worked on this for one session and she pretty much has it down that she needs to get on her bed and be in a "Down." The next step I want to incorporate into this is a more relaxed Down, "Settle" as I like to call it, which looks like this and will hopefully translate into a more relaxed state overall while being on her bed/mat:
(Yay for cute puppy pictures! hehe)
- Training a Relaxed Stay. Again, this ties into the above. (Gosh, I really love this book and how each new thing builds upon something else!) The idea here is to mark behaviors that are linked to a relaxed state of mind, such as blinking, heavy eyelids, and deep breaths to condition relaxation. I think this is something Penny could really benefit from. Unfortunately, she has the "Border Collie stare" down pretty well and hardly ever blinks when there is food around, but it is something that I definitely want to remember to work on and keep in mind, as these are things that could be rewarded in any circumstance (at home, at class, at a trial, whatever.)
- Start Line Stays. I had marked this on the book as something that Penny would need a LOT of work on, but she has started to prove me wrong! Last week at Agility class, I would put her in a start line stay and then quickly "walk" the course (more like just go through the movements, because they aren't huge courses that require a whole lot of walking or anything). While I was moving about, flailing my arms and spinning around doing crosses and other crazy things, she stayed. I was SO impressed! Of course it's not something that I will throw out the window completely (she did break the start line on me once if I recall correctly), but I just wanted to mention that it has already gotten better without doing any intentional work on it. I am hoping that this is something that is starting to come with experience for her.
- The "Look at That!" Game. In the book, this is something that is geared towards dogs that are reactive of other dogs. Essentially, you countercondition the dog's response to seeing other dogs by rewarding them for looking at other dogs. Sounds crazy but Leslie McDevitt explains it so well. This also in turn creates more handler focus because the dog eventually starts to offer the "look" as a behavior. It also teaches the dog that it is OK to examine and take in its surroundings, which helps lower stress. Even though Penny is not usually reactive towards other dogs, I believe that I can apply this principle in situations that cause her stress. Penny can be an anxious dog, and when she hears things/sees things that she is unsure about, she responds by baying loudly, barking, growling, raising her hackles, etc. A good example would be last week's Agility class. We were the only students so it was relatively quiet. The owner of the facility, Marie, pulled up and the sound of the car door closing sent Penny into a fit of baying and barking. When Marie walked in the door, Penny flipped out and immediately tried to run over to her and check her out (not in an aggressive way by any means, but she was definitely way over her threshold!) I finally regained control of my dog and while Marie and Jenn were talking, I tried playing the "Look at That" game with Penny. Every time she looked over at Marie, I would click & treat. I am not sure if I was applying the game correctly in this situation, but I felt that it was helping her calm down and I was getting her focus back.
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