1,000 Treat Challenge - Day 1

Okay for our first day of the 1,000 treat challenge my goal was to video tape a short before clip of Lazy Leash L3S1.

So we counted out 500 treats (it was way too much work to count out 1,000 at once!)

 

Then I reread the step 1 criteria...dog walks through an exterior door on a loose leash...got it! I picked the front door first and I set up the camera, we were ready to roll. The first rep was without warm up, without clicker, and without treats, the goal was to show a starting point. 

She passed!!! We did it again, and again no tight leash, in fact now she got wise and thought it was a zen exercise, I had to call her through the front door.

Okay now I'm going to challenge her...we'll use the back door, this is the door we let her dash out of to chase squirrels...nope lazy leash all the way. Even on the first rep there when she goes out ahead of me she leaves plenty of slack on the leash.

Hmmm okay, the garage door...surely she will try and slip out the garage door and make a run for the strollers...nope...pass again. And in case your wondering, no that is not heaven just past the dog crate. It's our laundry room which is basically the same thing as far as Reyna's concerned since that's where her treats and toys live. So much for a before video. Thanks to Sue's Level 3 Zen Reyna passed Lazy Leash L3S1 and S1 ComeAfters on the first go round. Here's our unedited complete video...we went through 5 treats in out first session....995 to go!

Now on to step 2...Walk 10 steps towards a single distraction. I'm trying to think of good distractions...treats, her ball, a stroller since she likes to rush over to the strollers. I think David or Penelope might make a good focal point. 

Nosework practice

I haven't been doing much lately in the way of Nosework practice. Maybe an interior hide here or there. My biggest concern is how she hates weird surfaces. Especially raised weird surfaces. We are working on it and he is making progress, but as of today if her NW1 hides are on a deck or stage we are screwed.

Well we took a break from all that today and had a big group get together for some actual Nosework. We me a bunch of folks from Atlanta at the ORT and Melanie did a get together with them two weekends ago but I was at a conference and missed out. This weekend we practiced in Carrollton and had a great time!

11 dogs, 6 or 7 handlers, some on birch some on anise, at very different stages. It is was a huge learning experience. We did interior, exterior, containers. And the pouring rain made for a great challenge.

Reyna did really stellar. I don't often get to do blind hides, especially true blind hides where I can't see the container when she is alerting. I was a bit nervous that hr alert would not be strong enough for me to call it on a true blind hide, but she nailed it!

I won't go through each hide since we did about 6-7 searches totally about 12 hides, but some of the highlights were...

A chair search that I thought would be easy all of the dogs struggled with. It was a bunch of plastic chairs with metal legs and I stuck the birch underneath one. Something about the air current in room made all the dogs want to come at it from the front of the chairs where it was inaccessible. And then even when thy came around to the back side of the row they all wanted to alert on the top front left corner instead of the bottom right rear....wired. But all the dogs worked through it. It was a lot tougher than planned. It just goes to show how something we perceive as easy may have unseen factors that make it quite challenging.

I was thrilled with Reyna's container search. I have to admit was nervous since we hadn't been working on it, and boxes were a weak link before the ORT. But our Pre-ORT pattern work seams to have stuck. Even though e had just done a bunch of interior searches, she locked onto the boxes right away and did a clear paw touch/nose touch on the hot box the first time through GOOD DOG!!

It was raining during our exterior, which made for chilly handlers, but a great learning experience. Reyna found one buried under leaves in good time, but a second one in the area was very tough. Harder than anything we'll see on trial day. She worked hard, but it was our next to last search, she was tiring and the hide was difficult. A single q-tip in a closed plastic container stuck in a crack in a wall in an alcove. Tough stuff. The current must have been moving the air up because several dogs wanted to try sourcing it from the top of the retaining wall directly above the hide. I hadeto ask where it was and restrict Reyna's search area to a 10' radius around the hide to help her source it, but she did it and I am SO proud!

We did two extremely blind hides in the bathrooms because the people that knew where the hides were had dogs searching other areas. I thought I'd give it a go anyway and just trust Reyna. I rewarded as soon as she alerted with nobody to verify it and she was right both times. I wouldn't recommend that exercise to anybody, but it really showed me I could trust my dog and it was a Great way to end the day!

It was a whirlwind experience getting that many dogs to that many hides in 2 hours, but we did it, and I think it may have replicated a trial environment to some extent...dogs everywhere, different stations, delays between searches, and then scrambling to get your dog watered and pottied for his next run. It was a total blast!!!

The 1,000 Treat Challenge

We failed our CGC because of self control issues. Reyna cannot walk on a loose leash. It's 100% because I don't care enough to fix it. Even when she's "pulling" I can still hold the leash with one finger so we've just been letting it go. But she CAN walk on a loose leash. On our regular walking route there is one 1/2 mile section where she maintains a loose leash every time...no idea why but she does.

The main problem with accepting a "leash lean" is that it is an indicator of self control issues. So I am determined to pass Level 3 Lazy Leash. AND I think I can do it in two weeks. That's the challenge that is sweeping the Internet....Madeline Gabriel's 1,000 treat challenge . Now it may take longer than two weeks depending on how many treats we go through in each session, and if we miss days, but still I think when used with purpose 1,000 treats could go a long way!

We will continue to work on Reyna's Sylvia Trkman behaviors, and her confidence on surfaces for Nosework etc. but I figure we might as well take this challenge and hopefully check off a level 3 behavior at the same time!

Stepping backwards to move forward

We went to the park today to work on one Level3/CGC stuff.

My plan was to only stay about 15 minutes and work on some relax and lazy leash around the dog park.

We got there and Reyna hopped out of the car and made eye contact. What a great start! Then it sort of fell apart. She wouldn't walk on a loose leash even in the parking lot, I couldn't drag her nose off the smelly ground to save my life and she was completely disconnected. I was angry. We had come out here,I had a plan and she was blowing me off. I almost shoved her back in the car and went home.

Then I stopped to think...

What do I have to have for this to be a successful session? I want her to walk on a loose leash with high distractions...okay so lets look at the chain in reverse. The we will keep stepping back until we hit something solid we can launch off of.

To be able perform under high distractions she first needed to be focused...nope
Okay can she focus under moderate/easy distractions? Nope
So this is not a distraction problem it's a focus/engagement problem
Can she focus when I stand still? No
So lets work on active engagement...
Will she engage with a tug? No
With food? Nope
With food if I run around with it? YES
With her orange ball? YES

Okay now we have a starting point and we can begin working our way back up the list. We worked in our Yes category which is very small at first until we had built enough engagement. Run with food, toss the ball, run with food, pause for a default sit, treat *gasp* she just took food while stationary...we were one rung up...

Play with food, play with ball, stationary food, throw ball, throw tug, she retrieves it but doesn't play with it. Repeat the stuff she will do for a minute, present moving tug...YES another rung up.

Played with food, tug and ball interchanging and then stop and stood still...riveted focus...we're almost to the top...

Now I start asking for some work before I will play. I gradually asked for more work under more distractions, giving her the "go sniff" cue to check her engagement levels. Before you knew it we were heeling in short spurts with other people and dogs nearby, with total focus. How long did it take to get all the way from the bottom to the top? Less than 8 minutes. Plus we had a blast!!!

And to think I was so irritated we almost went home and missed that amazing training session!

Updates...

Things we have going on...

Continued work on levels, we are chipping away at level three. I have taken a new approach to teaching the relax, because the laddering was just getting quite frustrating. Reyna kept waiting and waiting for a treat so, while she would hold the position she wasn't relaxing the way I would like. I read on Denise Fenzi's blog about her passive stay and decided to start incorporating some of that o help her calm down and it really seems to help. She is already up past 3 minutes so we need to start working distractions now. We have a long way to go on lazy leash and relaxing on a vet table.

Nosework- we are training for her trial in march. I am focusing less on finding birch because she does that very well, and focusing more on her confidence with strange surfaces. It's been a busy couple weeks since the CGC so I haven't had much of a chance to work. Right now we would miss out on NW1 if they put a hide on a deck, or in a shed because she hates going in to places like that.

Crate Games - fell off this wagon a touch, but restarted and she is doing very well driving to her crate. I'm going to start using her mat and ring gates outside to start building some generalization. I think she really needs this and it fits very well with the levels work we are at right now.

Sylvia Trkman tricks - LOVE this!!! We have been having a blast teaching tricks for balance strength and coordination. I have 3 feet in her food bowl...I'll try to get a video of that soon. This has just been really fun little tricks to work on with no pressure, gives me something to do when we need a break. I don't have a timeline or goals, we just practice a few of the tricks and gradually Reyna is getting stronger and her balance is improving. I'm also hoping this will help her confidence. Also it's a testament to how much more sane she is, because we can shape the same trick for 5 minutes with no frustration and whining. I'm sure it helps that I am a better trainer with clearer criteria, but she is also just learning how to deal with failure and frustration and to work through it instead of shutting down. We are really having fun!

Other stuff- trying to figure out how to play with Reyna without toys and food. I need to get Hannah Brannigan's video on obedience maybe. I am definitely getting better at engaging Reyna, but without guidance it really is difficult to know what to do.

Am I Crazy to have all this going on at once? No I just own a working dog :)

The Measure of a Dog

Or..."How Reyna Failed Her CGC"...

Reyna had really been doing well in class and practice sessions out and about. Melanie was sure Reyna would pass the test. I had my doubts but held out hope that she could put it all together on game day.

We Failed. Blantantly, spectacularly, beautifully failed. I couldn't be happier with her performance.

We met at Home Depot and warmed up, she was relaxed and focused. Then came test time. She hopped out of the car and saw Melanie...she LOVES Melanie....Melanie is made out of bacon and nobody can convince Reyna otherwise.

Reyna was over threshold without a doubt. I probably could have taken a few minutes to calm her down, but there was no guarantee that she would calm, and there was a pretty good chance she would ramp up more. So we went for it. Reyna was totally unfocused and only cared about getting to Melanie.

We walked into the aisle with four people and two dogs plus Melanie. Reyna obeyed commands to sit, nose touch, down, and give eye contact, but she couldn't maintain it for any length of time. She slobbered all over the friendly stranger, wriggled, wagged and licked all through the petting and grooming, and had to be pulled away from the neutral dog.

Total failure!

She aced the supervised separation which used to be very difficult for her. The sit stay, recall, and noise distractions where pieces of cake.

Some things that I did wrong were...

1. I should have done some advance and retreat instead of just plowing through the exercises, but I didn't you could.
2. I should have given Reyna more leash to work with. I knew she was distracted so I shortened up the leash, but that never helps her calm down, so I dont know why I tried it.
3. I need to condition a secondary reinforcer that I can use when ood and toys aren't around. She needs that feedback, but since I had not conditioned one I had nothing to give after each exercise if she had done well. In normal circumstances a smile with a  "gooooooood" will help bridge between primary reinforcers, but I haven't specifically worked on building that into the tool box and spacing out food and toys more. I need Denise Fenzi to come out with a book!

On the positive side...when I walked back in to be part of the crowd for the next team everybody commented on what a sweet dog she is, just a bit puppyish still. As over threshold as she was she never growled, or puffed up, or got nervy. She was genuinely in a great mood and super excited to be there, she just wanted to say hi the everybody. I really can't believe that we were in a narrowish indoor space with five people and two dogs, and Reyna's biggest problem was that she was "a bit puppyish still".

None of the other class dogs passed, they all had the same issues....lack of self control. It is really exciting to see that Reyna fits right in with all the other dogs. Forget about the fact that it took two years of intense work to get us here. We made it.

I am not disappointed at all with the result of the test. I believe it is an accurate measure of where we
are and what we need to work on. I feel like I've been given a second chance, Reyna is back to where
she was at about 7 months, before the reactivity reared its ugly head. She is an excitable dog with a tendency for her brain to go out her ears. This time we are going to do things right and fix the self control issues first and foremost.

I have learned so much through this journey from neurotic beast who couldn't relax, to the joyful happy dog I have now. We have so much more to learn, and Reyna will always be a sensitive dog who is harder to handle than the golden next door. I wouldnt trade her and her lessons for any dog. I cannot thank her enough for all that she teaches me, and for this second chance at ....everything!

Distractions in Nosework part 2

Unfortunately it was too difficult to manage the video camera and still pay 100% attention to Reyna for the very first steps since the hides where paired. So here are the first unpaired hides with the plastic container with hotdogs involved.

I could have rewarded her the first time she went to the cabinet and drawer with the birch, but I am trying to find that right balance of "accept less to get more" and while I know the hotdog smells were an added distraction I wanted to at least get her oh so subtle ear change that tells me she is sure. I didn't wait for the full focused response because of the hotdog challenge, but the drawers and cabinets are not new to her so I felt it was a healthy choice at the time.

I also did not correct her for a false alert or redirect her. I do not want a "zen field" to develop around food/toys in case a hide is near them...I just want her to learn they are just white noise in the background.

Lastly, after I rewarded her with the toy, we had a quick tug to the kitchen for some hotdog pieces. My goal is that this will help avoid conflict in her desires. She won't have to decide if she feels like searching for birch and a game of tug, or if she'd rather have the hotdog...if she alerts at source she gets both, if she false alerts she gets nothing until she moves on so she might as well stick to her job. Another hope is that by training it that way tasty smells in the search area will just encourage her to drive to source.

We are just doing a few right now and then lots of regular hides, but as she gets used to having more distracting smells I hope to have food, toys and strange new smells be a part of her regular sessions. I would hate to have her alert on a box of Tide laundry detergent just because it was new and different in a trial!