Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Chute!

Perri and I got to work at our training center on the Scary Chute before Molly's agility class.  I brought liverwurst and two really fun toys (a fluffy sheepskin tug and a skineez chicken.)  And as before, Perri was not going into that chute.  No way!

I tried at first playing with the chicken toy and getting her really excited and asking her to go in, but she said nope!  So we went to free shaping it with the liverwurst for a reward.  Looking at the barrel, sniffing, nose in, head in, then the paws started smacking the inside.  I asked her to stay and opened the fabric at the other end and asked her to come through a few times.  All of that helped break the ice and eventually Perri was willing to offer a full walk! through the chute.  I switched back to her toy to get the energy up.

Video of part of our session:


I watch this and smile because it helps me see how much Perri has taught me to keep playing.  More playing, less drilling!  We also took sniff/brain breaks outside.  I eventually used two broad jump boards to do a little mini sequence , handling in different ways and from both sides and Perri is taking the chute happily!

Let's hope it lasts.  Hopefully in Molly's agility class next week the chute will be used in the sequence and I can bring Perri for a run to see how she looks.

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