Photos are finally posted and I just had to buy the shot that was captured of Ein doing his first ever successful dumbbell retrieve at a rally trial! He went out on the first send, didn't even notice the judge, grabbed it up and brought it to front. So proud of my little man, things are happening!
I cropped the digital file that I bought, here is the full size image of us on the rally course.
With an early day off of work this week as well as two actual free evenings, I was able to make time for some Ein training sessions. (Plus, Perri's rehab exercises are so much smoother lately - we have a rhythm so things don't take quite as long.)
We only worked on Stand for Exam one time this week - on down time in Ein's weekly rally obedience class. Ein has been doing well on his stand-stays in the lobby of our training building, so I decided to add a human distraction. I had one person walk along side of us, about two feet away. He did not even break his gaze with me. I asked another person to walk in a circle around us and this also did not phase him. That doesn't surprise me, "Stand with Distraction" is a Cynosport Level 3 Bonus sign and Ein has never had a problem with it. I asked her to walk around us again and when she got nearly to Ein's right side, she stopped walking. Ein noticed, her pause created enough spatial pressure to challenge him. He quickly reoriented to me with his ears not quite as perky as they had been. I asked her to walk away and jackpotted Ein. That was enough for one night!
As I expected, when we actually put in the work on the dumbbell, Ein progressed quickly. We had a session or two still stuck on being a frozen corgi statue with his dumbbell hold. Nope, cannot walk and hold that thing at the same time. Out of the question. I ditched the chin rest and started asking for hand touches. Still nothing. I started asking for running to a hand touch with no DB in Ein's mouth, kept it super upbeat and of course successful. I started mixing the hand touches in with his holds and finally got a weight shift forward while holding the DB. Click. And alternate back to the happy fun hand touches without DB. It wasn't long before he was stepping towards the hand touch while still holding the DB. Yay!
The lightbulb went on and we are enjoying stitching together all the little links in the behavior chain. Pick up to hand touch. Pick up walk to hand touch. Tonight I got brave and wanted to see if he would pick up, turn and bring the DB to my hand. (We have worked on the pick up and turn separately) This was no issue! Initially I had the DB about half a foot away from us (sent him from "heel position", I was sitting down.)
Finally I threw it about four feet away and held his collar and then let him fly. He dove at the DB, picked up, turned around and ran to me and pressed it into my hand and wagged his tail. Woohoo!!!!!!! Things are coming together nicely! Now that we got over that "can't walk and chew gum at the same time" bump, progress is huge.
Since the rally-o trial, Ein and I have been hard at work on his retrieve! We have been practicing every night. We left off the last time with some open mouth action on the bar of the dumbbell, but no teeth on. Throughout this week we stalled out pretty badly and I was feeling at a bit of a loss as to how to get Ein to understand I wanted him to bite the bar.
I enjoy my three very different dogs, and a lot of that is because of how differently they think. I learn so much! Perri was so difficult and tentative and ...excruciating with retrieve training, but she was very precise with everything she offered, and so thoughtful and good at offering different behaviors when we are shaping if other behaviors aren't "paying". Molly is like a bull in a china shop, but there was little to no shaping process for the bite. Molly grabbed onto that dumbbell in our first session with no hesitation. (A calm hold is her challenge.) Ein on the other hand is again different! Ein really excited, he is happy and he wants to do good and get his treat and make me just as happy as he is. He is mouthing the bar, tonguing it, nibbling it or just "nomming" it and then panting at me with joy. Is that what you wanted? It's too much! And no bites in there to even try to mark. And he is happy to offer the same exact mouthing behaviors again and again, though they do not pay off!, and then pace around in frustration and nose touch my arm. It is how he brainstorms!
I love his enthusiasm! I tried to use his treasured nylabones to help him generalize what I want (teeth!). He looks at me like, "No! I don't want to enjoy my bone right now, I would like to earn treats. You're so silly, but it's okay."
Furthermore, Ein has always been very afraid of the clicker. The first time I ever clicked around Ein he hid behind the toilet for hours! I have to use a verbal marker for Ein and this is much harder for me. I am not consistent in the noise I make, and my timing is not nearly as precise as it is for the clicker. Every now and then I try the clicker with Ein and his reaction is almost always the same: cringing and avoidance. Last night I gave it another try with our softest clicker and to my delight, Ein did not react negatively to the clicker! All those times watching me work with Perri and Molly must have finally desensitized him to that terrifying click.
So with the clicker I was able to be a little more precise. If the bar would even clack on his teeth as he opened his mouth over it I marked that. He quickly started nibbling the end and that has progressed to some nice bites with the back teeth. It felt like a major victory! We were stalled out at this point months ago when I was teaching him his retrieve just for fun, but now I am absolutely determined to get this trained. And Ein just loves it!
A little clip of us working together tonight. I love to video my training sessions. I see here that I am pushing the DB into Ein's space more than I would like. I am still struggling with my click timing, but I am getting used to how fast Ein is. He's not sure what to do so he just does a bunch of stuff. It's hard for me to get used to his style and split out what I want, but he is offering more bites so I know we are getting there. I also don't like how high I give him his treats, no reason for him to have to reach up that high for them.
I love this. I feel like me and my boy are pointed towards another fun little journey together!
Late last December, I applied for Perri's "Versatility Excellent" certificate from Versatility in Poodles. When I discovered VIP and read over the requirements for a Versatility Certificate, or a Versatility Excellent Certificate (there are two levels.), I was surprised to see that Perri was eligible for the VCX certificate.
The certificate is earned by a point system. There are ten different categories: Conformation, Obedience, Rally, Tracking, Agility, Hunt/Field, Working, Flyball/Scent Hurdles, Herding, Miscellaneous, Temperament Testing. I have bolded the areas that Perri earned her points in.
Obedience we submitted Perri's CDSP CD and her AKC BN.
Rally we earned points for her WCRL RL1 and her AKC RN.
Agility we earned points for her AKC NA and NAJ as well as completing CPE Level One. (We don't have certificates for our current achievements in CPE.)
Working we earned points for Perri's therapy dog certification, her year of service and her achievement of the AKC Therapy Dog title (THD.)
Miscellaneous we earned points for Perri's Intermediate Trick Dog title.
Temperament Testing we earned points for Perri's Canine Good Citizen Advanced title.
Part of me wanted to wait until I could add higher level titles into a certificate like this. But I went ahead and submitted it. Because I was amazed in what we had accomplished in 2014. I was amazed by the boost in Perri's confidence. 2014 was our first year as a therapy dog team, our first year as an agility team and it was a year of much growth towards our future as an obedience (and rally!) team. Perri truly is a talented, complicated dog and I am lucky to be her friend.
I would love to earn AKC's VCD1 title: we have the NA and NAJ, we will need the CD and the TD. I think Perri would adore tracking and it is on my To Do List.
And by the way, our selection of "hold" items is growing: magic eraser, sponge, toothbrush and now wooden spoon. I only wish I had a chef's hat to perch on her head for this photo.
Perri and I started our gold spot in Hannah Branigan's Obedience Skillbuilding 2 class on FDSA. We are working on many things but one of my main priorities is a happy retriever. We have been tasked with generalizing our retrieve to different objects. An excellent suggestion, and one that didn't come with a little guilt on my part because we did work on this very thing a year or so ago. I just never kept up with it past a handful of sessions. Nowhere near enough to make an impact.
I'm in a different state of mind with the retrieve now, though. A year ago I was overwhelmed and resigned to the fact it was not going to happen. To the fact that Obedience in general was (probably) not going to happen. Now I have Perri doing a good hold, she has solid understanding of what I want. We need to make it more fun and boost her confidence with the exercise.
I still struggle with those overwhelmed and self defeating feelings. Obedience is so big. I am finding it grounding and important to focus on specific criteria in my training sessions and not let the big picture get me down. These growing pains and lessons learned are an important shift away from clueless green trainer. Actually remembering to go into a training session with my criteria in mind is a whole new mental project for me. I am not a "planner" in life in general, but it is very important that I learn to become one when it comes to training my dogs! They deserve that.
The last time that I posted about the Dreaded Dumbbell was in September. Since then we have worked on the exercise a handful of times, often with a wilting poodle. Like Molly's weaves, "She doesn't like it.", I knew that somehow I was (of course) the problem all along.
Over the past month I have been trying to best choose a Fenzi Academy class that can help me teach Perri, and after reviewing our Library lessons, I have decided that I was lumping parts of the retrieve chain on Perri. What we were having a lot of issues with was her picking the DB up and then doing a hold but only a light one and then dropping it at the slightest provocation. We have been focusing on a more solid hold. Last night for the first time again I saw the tail wagging. I paired each rep with a pivot of Perri's body, which she loves, and it keeps her up and happy. Something seems to have clicked and I really do think that she understands that she needs to hold the DB until clicked or otherwise released.
It is true progress that I could take a photo of her doing this. I have tried in the past (should not have been taking photos with how delicate she is.) but she would drop it before I could even raise the phone to eye level.
I feel very good about this. I feel extra good that Perri wants to keep trying. She is not the same dog that she was a year ago! Of course, I am not the same either. I have learned her so well. I know when I can push for more, and I know when I need to back off and do a trick, an easier rep, or do a break for her brain to soak in the information.
My brain is still full of "Nevers" for Obedience, but I am having fun with the training and my brain does have a big "Maybe" that it just might all fall into place after all if we just keep having a good time.
Almost all of my goals for Perri have fallen away, and have been replaced with the simple goal of helping her to be confident. To learn tricks. To not shut down and be overwhelmed. And it always feels like one step forward, three back. No matter how hard we work, a leaf blowing in the wind might derail her if we have the nerve to venture out of my basement.
We have not worked on her dumbbell retrieve in months. The thing has been collecting dust. I had not given up on it, but knew that it was something that was going to need to wait until later. I have this fantasy picture of "later" with Perri in my mind. Because as much as I joke that Perri is a Martian and A Mess and tricked me with her cuteness into taking another fearful dog in, I truly believe in her. I see an incredible dog in Perri. I see a dog that just needs to break through a wall, and all of the puzzle pieces will fall into place. When this amazing thing may happen, I could not say. So I just say...."Later."
An issue with Perri is that she has a very hard time trying something again if she does something "wrong". Especially something on the more "complex" end of the spectrum, such as bending down to pick up the dumbbell and placing it in my hand. (Do not laugh, we have not progressed further than that.) But tonight? Out of nowhere I just decided to play around with it. Perri remembers everything we worked on. She is to pick the dumbbell up and rest her chin on my open palm while holding the dumbbell. Where Perri begins to get overwhelmed is if she picks the dumbell up and opens her mouth: before reaching my hand, while in my hand but before I click, or picking up and dropping as soon as possible. For quite some time it was almost as though the thing tasted like poison to her. We generalized picking objects up but that seemed to only help a little. The real issue was Perri being overwhelmed by the entire experience.
Tonight I lost time. We must have worked for 15 solid minutes on it! I backchained what I wanted to start with, since it has been a while and then she was doing so well that I was able to toss the dumbbell. Perri had some mixed success. Still some trouble at times with picking it up and then walking it several feet away from the pick up and putting it back down. (And then looking at me hopefully wondering why I did not click it. HA!) But the coolest thing was that Perri was completely enjoying herself, completely willing to just pick the dumbbell up and try again. At one point I tossed the DB and it banged against my washer, making a loud metallic noise. Perri stopped and stared for a beat and then walked over and picked the thing up, then walked it back to me and set it in my palm. I was floored!
My dog's tail was wagging. My dog kept trying even when she was "wrong." My dog enjoyed something that used to overwhelm her. And furthermore, my dog is doing agility trials - and having fun! My dog is heeling ...forwards and backwards. My dog is really trying hard. I do believe...my dog has gained a whole lot of confidence. And more to come.
In other unrelated news...
Ein is doing amazingly well and is completely back to normal. As much as I keep taking his chew bones from him, he just keeps finding more! His mouth does not seem to bother him, not even a little bit.
I just discovered that the judge tells you "Tally Ho!" when it is time to release your dog at an AKC Coursing Ability Test. It is hard for me to express just how much I love this.
Perri is back to school too! We started the next session of Open Obedience this evening. We have a new instructor since our prior instructor has a new litter of puppies to care for at home.
We ran through some heeling practice and some drop on recall practice. Perri was rather lovely with her heeling (even on the Figure 8!) and so so with her DOR.
When we moved to dumbbells.... Well all of the other dogs were retrieving with varying levels of expertise and Perri "does not look happy about her dumbbell." in our instructors words.
And that's true. Perri is really not all that happy about her dumbbell. Especially not in class. At home I am rewarding fast running to the dumbbell, snappy grabs and other signs of life/enthusiasm. They do occur...at home. Sometimes.
Our instructor was kind enough to come over and talk to me a little bit about Perri. She suggested that I take a step back and start shaping object grabbing of all kinds. She would like to see Perri eager to pick up random objects and toys from the ground. She says this should help "build Perri's ego up." I agree and I think this is a good plan. Tonight we started with a ball of paper crumpled up. Perri was overjoyed to be working with a fun new person! She shaped looks at the ball of paper and moved up to nose touches. Nose touching the paper wasn't so easy for Perri. (sigh.) She did it pretty readily when the ball of paper was being held, but on the ground Perri would peck the air and then wag at our instructor. A nose touch on a ball of paper? I guess that's a lot to ask for. She did do it though when our instructor held out on her and she got a major jackpot and party for her efforts!
I appreciated the customized advice and extra help that we received tonight and Perri and I will work on confidence building with both her hula hoop and object play. Whatever it takes!
I have been burning through books like crazy over the past few weeks, and of course a fair amount of them have been dog books. I thought I would share...
Pawprints in My Soul by Lou Dean
I picked this up for a buck at the most recent library book sale in my town. Thin book, quick read. Kid growing up on a big farm with her dog and family. Her parents aren't getting along, divorce is on the horizon. She wants her parents to stay together and teams up with her dog Shorty to try to save the marriage.
This book took me way longer to finish than a 159 page book should, I just couldn't get into it. There was nothing particularly wrong with it, though, and it was a cute story from a kid's perspective.
The Other End Of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs by Patricia McConnell
Nope! I had never read this before! I have actually read very few of the Big Name books in intelligent dog training (I have stuck mostly to memoir-type dog books.) My interest in training is (obviously) growing, and so will my "to read" list.
I loved this book. Of course. It is richly informative and interesting at the same time. (My brain can shut down if there is too much Intelligence coming my way. Truth.) I felt like I learned plenty on how to relate to my own dogs in ways that make sense to them. And that is the way that it should be. Dogs are intelligent, thinking and feeling creatures and I owe it to my dogs to learn to "speak their language" - especially if I want to be in a partnership with them in the agility/rally/obedience ring. I am grateful that this book exists and could probably stand to reread it to fully absorb all of the information presented here.
A New Leash On Death by Susan Conant
One of my absolute favorite "guilty pleasure" book series is "The Cat Who..." series by Lillian Jackson Braun. They are short little mystery books that I can finish in less than a day and they are ridiculously fun to read.
So I was pretty delighted to find a similar series about...dogs! This book is the first in the series, our hero is "Holly Winter". It opens in Obedience practice! I felt like I was back at "club night" in the ADTC. It was really fun to read a book where the character's world centered around competitive obedience. Well of course someone is murdered (choked with his leather dog leash!) and the mystery has to be solved... I look forwards to reading more of these books!
The Clicked Retriever by Lana Mitchell
When Perri and I took the "Intro to Retrieve" class, I overheard that our class material was based on this book. It was.
I read this on my Kindle App for iPad and was a highlighting fool. The book leads off with some Clicker 101 which was a helpful reminder and then it tells you how to shape your retrieve from the ground up, with troubleshooting. The dumbbell, gloves and articles are covered here.
I predict this will be an absolute favorite of mine in the years to come.
For advanced clicker trainers, perhaps much of the book would be a review, but for me there was a lot of new stuff. Especially the reminder to continue clicking within your chain of behaviors to strengthen the entire chain. (For instance, it was a great reminder that when Perri reaches or walks to TAKE the dumbbell, click her for moving fast! Not just when she gets to the dumbbell and picks it up. This will give her a tremendous confidence boost.
"It's when trainers become serious that dogs also become serious, and then they become worried. Worry leads to mistakes, fear of being wrong, and a failure to work. Keeping it light can prevent stress from entering into your retrieve." If this isn't a motto for me to live by, I don't know what is. "It stands to reason that if you are going to throw crooked, always throw a little to the left. This is especially important on the Retrieve Over High Jump exercise."did not think of this! (of course, I never think of anything.) I know I am going to be a horrible dumbbell thrower, so I really thought this was some welcome advice. "Reluctant or "slow" dogs, however, often make the best retrievers because their trainers are not able to bypass any steps in shaping the TAKE and hold behaviors." let's hope so! Because of Perri's low confidence, we seem to stall out and progress at a crawl, so I can only hope that someday that will actually be good for something.
But speaking of retrieves and dumbbells...this is Perri's latest break through behavior and I am very proud of her. One day at a time.
Remember that CDSP Obedience trial that I entered Ein and Perri in? Yeah, it's coming up.
And then there is that nagging weekly Open class that I have Perri taking. Oops!
These two things help tether me to Obedience and remind me why (I think) I love it. These things keep me from flying away into agility land and never ever returning to Obedience.
Also, Ein loves to train with me. It's not like with Perri, she's gotta be in the right mood. (Although that mood is striking her more often than not lately.) Ein just genuinely enjoys pleasing me and earning snacks. So when the box arrived in the mail with Perri's new Perri-Friendly wooden dumbbell, there was one in there for Ein as well. Why not teach him to retrieve a dumbbell? He will enjoy it!
Tonight was our first chance to work on it, since we just got home from the beach. Ein did a lot of fast pacing in front of me. TaterTotTail wagging in furious concentration. He kept giving me his paw. He gave one or two eye flicks towards the dumbbell that I was able to give him a "Yes!" for (I don't use the clicker with Ein, the noise used to scare him.)
I ended our session with a dog who consistently looks at the dumbbell. He's onto this game. We are going to have fun with our new toy.
