Sunday, April 27, 2014

19 Months: Days 299 - 302

Wet Doodles are pathetic things.
Monday

It wasn't until bedtime that I noted a message from Emma's parents.  They wanted to drop her off at the top of her drop off time instead of the bottom.  That's fine, I am up so if they make that choice I am available to receive her.  I texted them and told them that and found I couldn't really sleep.  I was tired, which is why Malcolm's Sunday write up looks off, but I couldn't sleep.  I was also in pain from playing pool and needed my body to stop protesting as loudly before sleep could take me away - that or get so exhausted I had no other choice but to sleep.

That made starting the morning harder.  I figured Emma, two weeks out from her groom, would have the deep perfume scent in her coat again and unlike the week before, which had an amazingly warm day for her to spend her time airing out and the scent dissipating playing in the yard, today was cold and damp.  I decided, after waking and seeing the low hanging clouds, that I would have her shower with me.

I let Malcolm just cool his heels while I made coffee and relaxed.  Emma was due at 7:30 AM, but I wasn't truly surprised when I got the 7:40 AM phone call  stating her owners were running behind and were heading out.  Emma arrived at 8:00 AM and an amazing thing happened - Emma walked loose lead from the car to the gate in a single run without putting her nose to the ground.

If you remember, I talked about what loose lead walking should look like and today I saw it in action.  Her owner was walking normal, arm loose at her side, lead up the right length and they walked together in confidence to the gate.  It was a thing of pure beauty.  It took three or four stops on the way up the ramp, but each time Emma remade a connection with her handler like she does with me when I stop and they could start again toward me.  It took twice for Emma to try to reach me without getting over excited, and when she did she chose to walk past me and pretend I wasn't there and then turn to me and looked up.  It was the best ever hand over she's done, even better than the one on Friday when I walked her to the care taker.  It was a pure joy to watch the sudden connection between them.

I let the crew out and held Malcolm's collar until he calmed and sent them to play for a few minutes.  After calling them in I fed them their meals, giving Emma half so I could take her later for a public access run. I had decided to take her and Malcolm out, but didn't want to run them out at the same time today.

She went to kiss me and confirmed she needed to be bathed.  I had thought about it Friday when I was running my fingers in her coat and it felt dirty and stiff, which is a sign the oils her coat produces due to being a Labradoodle, were getting heavy.  I set up the shower and carried her in.  She doesn't like showering or getting a bath and I won't call her to put her in and ruin her recall, which is fabulous.  While I was carrying her she scratched the inside of my left thigh.  Okay, nails need to be done too.

I use baby shampoo on her so I don't totally strip her coat.  I got her bathed and the water turned a muddy brownish grey color.  Yep, she needed a bath.  Technically, she needs a weekly bath to keep her coat soft and clean.  She doesn't have fur, but hair, as a Labradoodle and like our hair, it gets dirtier faster than a dog's fur does.

After wringing her out and rubbing her down with the towel I let her run in the house while I got ready.  I now had scratches on the inside of both thighs.  Since I don't have a removable shower head, the only way to rinse her off completely is to lift her into the water and she caught me again when I did.

The break after the shower was needed.  She can't go from shower to dryer right now, but we'll get there.  I got dressed in my caftan and combed and braided my hair and then sat on the front porch with the dryer and dried her.  She doesn't like that also, but at least she was 99% dry now.  I gave her another break and let her play a bit and then groomed her.  She also doesn't like that.  The last thing I did was trim her nails.  Yep, she doesn't like that as well.  Poor girl was certain I was out to get her by the time I finished, but she got a lot of jerked venison while I brushed her out and did her nails.

She looked great, her coat was soft and she smelled of fresh baby shampoo.  All is good.  I had planned on taking her out, but after my orthopedic appointment and finishing up Malcolm's public access I returned with my back on fire and exhausted.  I thought if I ate something and rested a bit I would be up to taking her out, but it became clear I wouldn't.  I bagged it for the day and called her into my lap and we watched Star Trek Voyager while I stroked her and loved on her.

I fed her the remainder of her daily meal at dinner and she ate every bite.  It was a good day for training handling and seeing what needs extra work.  I need to make showering a bit more enjoyable and the same with the rest of the process of making her public access ready.  It's a shame she has a coat that needs so much work to maintain when she truly doesn't enjoy any of the process to care for it.  I will work on improving that for her.

Emma is learning to work with higher distractions.
Tuesday

I have been doing to much and this morning told me exactly how much I had been doing.  Sometime during the night a weather front had come in and it was pouring rain when I woke.  I couldn't get warm, my legs were fatigued and burning and I felt unstable when I walked.  I also had a hard time just waking.  Emma has gotten so good about waiting quietly for me to wake and let her out and thus the rest of the house is quiet when I finally pull myself out of bed.

Last night, at 10:30 PM, my brother Shawn called to chat.  I had been in the middle of editing Malcolm's blog and lost an hour of writing time to chatting with my brother.  I finished up, but was sore enough and to the point of over exhaustion that I couldn't fall asleep.  I had gone, briefly, to Walmart with Max to pick up some Pepsi Max and Iron Man 3 from Redbox on the credits I had remaining from my free trial with them.  I have two days left to use them and a set of movies I wanted to see.  Iron Max 3 was one of them.  I ended up laying in bed, in pain and exhausted, watching the movie until almost 2:00 AM before I could sleep.

That meant I was, again, working on less than 4 hours of sleep when morning came and I just couldn't get myself going right away.  It happens like this - I have a busy week like I did recently and I end up the next week thrown for a curve recovering and still busy as heck.  This week is splattered with appointments, including going to see Spirit, a new client, today.  I try to schedule my appointments in the afternoons so I can use the mornings to do training and keep the routine for starting our day as steady as possible, but somedays I stumble through that morning routine.

Since I couldn't warm up I decided the cost of raising the temperature in the house was worth it.  I set the thermostat higher and slogged through showering and feeding the dogs their morning meal.  I fed both Malcolm and Emma half of their breakfast and took a break waiting for the sharp edges of my pain to subside with the OTC pain medication I had taken.

I was tempted to take the morning off, but too many of those and both of my trainees won't progress.  Instead, I decided today to combine their training.  Malcolm needs to work on Go To Mat and Other Dog Training Zen.  By his age Emma had Other Dog Training Zen down pat, but Malcolm is a bold, confident, inquisitive dog who finds it very hard to not be part of everything that is happening around him.  Emma is a soft, gentle soul who prefers to be off to the side and out of the way.  They couldn't be more different.

I gathered Max's furry mat I use when we go out to the con's to protect his elbows when he lays on concrete and set it up in the corner of the kitchen by the stove and counter.  I then setup the x-pen into a wide flat V shape to work Emma on being in a confined space and feeling secure.  I worry for her, she's soft and has a lot of worries in her and somedays it's a battle to shore up her confidence.  Somedays she seems like she'll shatter into tiny bits if the world says boo and the next she's forging into territory I would never thought she would.  She makes my head hurt sometimes.

Malcolm concerns her when she's training.  Since she has such sound Other Dog Training Zen, his bold thrusts in to join the play sends her off to let him try what I was training her.  He needs to learn to lay quietly to the side like Max and Dieter does and not send her to her corner when she's the one I am working on.  Today was the start of that.

I had no plan to train Emma something new, just work in a new location, inside of the three sides of the x-pen, while Malcolm worked on solving how he got the other half of his breakfast.  I would only ask her for her Level 1 behaviors and watch for improved body language and decreased latency on her cues as we worked.  I video taped it and share it below.

Malcolm improved with each 3 minute Round and soon he was staying in his corner and not bothering her.  The more she saw I insisted he not pester her, the more confident she became.  She started to stand taller with her head higher and her latency decreased.  We finished with a bit of targeting with a spoon and then targeting the wire of the x-pen itself.  The last thing I did was make it make a soft sound - which at first scared her, but each time I did I gave her a treat and soon she was willing to make it rattle herself (she tried on the last kibble) and clearly recovered from the soft sound.  I will increase the volume of that sound as she improves and with time will narrow the area I ask her to work in, but while we work this concept, we will do it with her Level 1 behaviors to watch for confidence and decreased latency to ensure she's emotionally doing well.  During this training I will work Malcolm on Mat behaviors to ensure he learns to wait when I need him to in the background and he doesn't need constant micromanagement when I am out.

Why is Malcolm's need to go and wait quietly where I ask him important?  When Max and I shop we have a routine at the check out counter that took me a bit to train.  As we pull up to the end of the belt I park him under it in a down or a sit and drop his lead.  I then work at unloading the cart by walking around it and using it as a brace to prevent a fall.  I am exhausted by this point in my shopping and shaky on my feet, but it's easier to have Max parked and staying safe tucked under the belt while I unload the cart.  I then cue Max to get up and hand me his leash.  When I am paying I have him lay between me and the counter and then follow me to the end of the belt and lay while I bag my groceries.  He then stands on cue, picks up his leash and hands it to me so we can leave.  The store is highly impressed with this display, but none of it would have happened had Max not learned to lay where I asked him and stay until I released him and I taught him while I was doing something that took my attention (or appeared to) away from him.

Malcolm is starting that early training.  Eventually I'll be wandering about the house and tossing him treats while he lays where I put him and waits to be released.  I will work from being within feet of him to stepping out of his sight.  Emma has learned this lesson and learned it well, but Malcolm is just beginning this journey, and like Max and Emma, he's starting it on a Mat to give him a better idea of what I am asking.

Emma's ability to handle stress is improving, especially since her weight is finally back to where it should be.  I have been feeling her ribs, backbone and skull and she has the right layers of muscle and fat over all points.  I can no longer feel her hip bones easily and she's building muscle on her hips and shoulders.  She was being fed enough, don't get the idea she wasn't, she's just a roadster and was burning more than she was taking in and increasing her intake has made all the difference.  She is doing very well eating 2 cups of food a day to keep that tiny body properly fueled and I do believe it's stabilized her mood overall.

Her problem is she's hyper vigilant and tends to react and not recover well to her environment.  It could be simple experience or it could be an underlying anxiety and without a bit more work on her level I won't sort it out.  Every time I think, "That's it, she just can't do that" she surprises me and suddenly explodes with confidence.  I had a period of time where I was certain she'd be career changed because of her extreme reaction to learning to retrieve, a primary skill, and then suddenly she got it and it's her favorite thing to do.  The same with removing clothing.  She was so soft on her pulling and worried about it and now she loves it.  So, with Ms. Ever Changing Mood, it's worth seeing if a bit of patience and breaking things down won't make her suddenly fly and show me up.

This morning, when I was getting ready, I asked for my slippers and she got them with her tail wagging, her body in that super happy mood she gets on a retrieve and her eyes flashing.  I also asked her to get a sock from under my bed, which she did with joy, and when I put it on the first thing she tried to do was remove it and I swear she was laughing at me when she did it.  She sure had me laughing.  So, who knows, maybe she'll suddenly get it and when she does just settle into her skin.

Comparing Malcolm to her is unfair.  Jack is her closer counter part for learning.  Her family has told me that she's making leaps in her learning at home.  I am to the point of showing her what I want, sending her home for the weekend and her solving the problem and applying it to her handler.  Jack would and does do twice as much and works four times harder for Ronda than me, and Emma is that way with her handler.  With her, I suspect the relationship with her handler will make a huge difference for her.

Malcolm has a strong relationship with me, but he also has a strong personality.  He takes the world in as a challenge and tackles it with relish.  Jack and Emma have never been that way.  The stand back, evaluate and then decide if they are okay with it.  Malcolm rushes in, decides maybe THIS situation may be a bit much AND THEN tells me.  It's like having a Ying and Yang in the house when training, but the challenges each presents has made me a stronger trainer.

I do train all day.  Settling while I am working on the housework, watching TV or working on the blogs teaches them how to relax.  Following me about and exploring what I do teaches them curiosity and allowing them to explore and check it gives them experience with new objects.  They have to have manners going out the door, use their cues throughout the day and learn each moment they are with me.  Just because I have a scheduled time for formal training doesn't mean I am not, in some way, training them all day long.  They don't live in a vacuum and thus can't turn off their brains when I am not holding a clicker.  Each interaction is a lesson.  Each behavior praised or affection given is reinforced.  Each behavior that they get away with, from eating every stuffed toy in the house to digging in the yard is also reinforced (self reinforced) and each time I approach them I am either teaching them my approach is safe or not - Emma is the only one who seems always worried about my approach, not because of bad interactions, but because she is a worrier.  Bad Dog in my house is something that gets tails wagging.  Calling them idiots of buttheads when I find them doing something they shouldn't (according to me, not them) results in curious looks and happy tails because it's said in a soft and affectionate manner.  Emma is just so very very soft she at first worries when I come into her view - I always reassure her she's fine, but that low level anxiety concerns me.

Today I found Malcolm had taken one of my slippers into the bed while I showered.  He hadn't chewed it, but apparently thought it should be able to watch Iron Man 3 with him.  I came out, saw the slipper and Emma shot out of the room, stopped and looked at me and then returned with her tail wagging.  All it took was my brow knitting to send her away and a smile at her and my telling her she was goofy to bring her back.  I looked at Malcolm and said, "Slipper?" and he cocked his head to the side and looked me in the eye.  Two different personalities.  Two different dogs.  Two different ways of dealing with stress.  I said, in a playful voice, "Bad dog." and Emma began dancing around me and smiling up at me.  Malcolm cocked his head with his doggy smile in place.

My standing gets a glance from Malcolm and Emma shooting out of my way and checking in to see what I am about to do.  Never have I harmed her, but she is just a very sensitive dog.  She reminds me of Attitude in that way.  Attitude was a bit skitty around me, but trusted me utterly.  Jack did the same thing; I'd get up and he'd shoot out of my way and then return to see what I was about to do.  It's the difference in how Jack, Emma and Attitude face the world.  Attitude never met a stranger, could enter a building with confidence, but god forbid you moved something near her or made a big noise.  Jack grew comfortable with things moving about him and Emma, with careful training is - she was terrified of my power chair when I introduced it to her and now jumps up and rushes to me when I sit in it because all good things happened from it.  She just needs time for me to decide if she can generalize that the world is safe or not.

Jack did in the end, Emma is in the process of learning to generalize the concept.  She's showing promise in many areas and if I carefully slice this right she may show me the heights she can go to.  She's surprised me many times, I will be pleased if she does yet again.

Malcolm doesn't worry me at this time.  He's becoming more tolerant of strange dogs, children and can go to new locations and really shine.  He to may surprise me, but so far, I am not worried about how he's progressing.  He doesn't have his basic skills as solidly as Emma, but he's also only 8 months old.  Emma has very solid basic behaviors, except her leash work and her focus, and has a lot of her tasks built already.  She's in a new phase of learning and with this phase we'll see if age and careful introduction makes her the dog we have hoped for all along.

Malcolm & Emma Part 1


Emma: "Think she's still breathing?"
Max: "Hope so, I don't have thumbs to open the food container."
Wednesday

Yesterday I worked for the first time with a new client dog.  She's a lively one year old Boxer cross named Spirit and she's absolutely lovely.  She has a deep desire for physical affection and when I arrived it became clear she wasn't feeling up to her best.  She hadn't eaten that morning and not matter the value of treat we offered, she was not interested.  This was the same dog I had met only the week before that was food driven and willing to work all night for food.  It threw me for a loop for a bit, since I was there to work on some behavior problems and begin filling in foundation skills and build up to task and public access skills with her.

She's a rescue that was acquired through another program that didn't finish her training.  She has a solid sit and down, some understanding of leash work, but her teenaged brain is fully on fire and she hasn't had the full level of socialization and introduction to public access work that her handler requires nor does she have any tasks.  It angers me when a client calls whose been failed by a program and truly needs a fully working dog.

The handler is dedicated and extremely sweet.  She had already started the dog's homework from the week before, did her personal homework without fail and provided me a list of tasks she needs the dog to do to assist her.  I had asked her to get the training material I work with and read the introduction and begin Level 1, which she did.  I asked her to pick up a second book which related to her health issues and look through an appendix which listed tasks a dog can do for her and check off the ones she needed for herself.  She did this without fail also.  All of her needs are very attainable and realistic.  She's going to be a great client and I am angry that such a fantastic person would be given a dog too young to work full time and not trained for her needs when she so badly needs the dog up to speed.

Spirit is a powerful dog with a mouthing problem, common for her age.  She is also a jumper and has poor impulse control right now.  She doesn't know how to work around busy traffic and loud trucks frighten her currently.  Careful counter conditioning should help her, once we can begin roadwork.  She, like Malcolm, also doesn't know what to do when she sees strange dogs, so counter conditioning again is required to give her the tools she needs for her job.

With her not working for food I said I would just work on building a relationship with my new client.  In this case, I have been asked to spend 40 to 45 minutes with her working her myself and then the rest of the time spent talking to the client about that week's homework.  I have little doubt that Spirit will flourish with her assignments with such a dedicated handler.

Spirit loves to play.  She's a teenager with a load of energy and play is a lovely way to learn.  I decided if she wasn't up to food just yet, we'd just use play and affection, something she does value, as her rewards and put the clicker up for the day.  I tested her body handling and found her to be a funny girl.  She flopped into my lap and rolled about with pure joy.  She leaned into my neck with her big head and just let me rub on her.  She doesn't mind her tail, body, legs or feet being handled, but her head sends her into fits of mouthing and head throws.  I could lift her ears and lips by the end of our time together, but it was a lot of careful work to get her there.

Her mouthing is normally fairly gentle, but she gets excited and pinches with her front teeth and she did this several times during our lesson.  I played Dead Hand with her.  Each time my hand ended up in her mouth it went dead and as long as she didn't pinch, it remained dead and no longer fun.  If she pinched I made a small, sharp sound like a pup and she'd stop and look up at me with her lips resting on my hand.  I played Dead Hand until she let me touch her face softly on the side and finally to touch her lips and lift them, she flipped her head and popped her mouth over.  With time, she'll trust me touching her head, but she also needs it with her human.  This is a dog I'll have to teach a different greeting procedure too when in public.  I do believe the same one I used for Max will work just fine for her - or even better, the one I used for Malcolm.

She's a jumper also.  She jumped on me and her handler a lot.  I have to click for four on the floor once she is up to eating again.  Teaching her to keep her feet down is important for her primary job, but that willingness to jump up on her handler can be channeled into a task later.  One task her handler will need is much like one I need, deep pressure therapy.  She will be a dream to teach that behavior - she was flipped upside down with her hips in my lap showing all her girl parts to me at one point.  She is truly a lovely dog and I was laughing as I rubbed her belly and watched her lay in total contentment for almost 5 minutes.

She loves tug-o-war, but doesn't know the rules yet.  We played and slowly she learned to release, but that play was grueling for me.  My arms, neck and shoulders where jerked badly with a full blown bully breed tug-o-war game and the felt like mud afterward.  She was calmer after a round of it and soon laid not far from me watching the world through a window.  A lot of positive things happened and an assignment list came with it.

She doesn't head snap when she hears her name.  I assigned the Name Game.  She needs to learn to eat.  Discussing her eating patterns with her handler I found some days she decides to eat some or none of her food and she's lean as all get out.  She could do with a bit more weight.  That tiny acorn that I let grow into an Oak Tree in Emma is developing with this lovely girl and I just don't want to deal with another dog that I don't know one lesson from the next if she'll eat or not.  I assigned Teach Your Dog To Eat.  The family has a 12 year old daughter that Spirit loves, but mouths a lot and climbs and jumps on a lot.  I assigned that when Spirit jumped on the daughter that as long as she was in a safe spot (not able to fall and get hurt) to cross her arms and turn away and call for an adult to remove her.  The daughter is to carry a stuffed toy at all times and if Spirit goes to mooch her to put the toy in her mouth instead; I do not want a child playing Dead Hand with the dog.  I assigned the adults to try Dead Hand, but if she got to pinching too much, to also use a stuffed toy and transfer the behavior to the toy.  The family is also working on Level 1 with her, once she knows to eat.

It's a lot of homework, but Spirit needs rules and boundaries and we are setting them now.  Once we have those set and she learns to communicate via Level 1 we'll be on our way to tackle the bigger goals of her training.

Why do I mention this?  Because I paid a high price for the tug-o-war game today.  I woke with a pinched nerve in the base of my skull on the left side. My neck and shoulders were very sore and very stiff from the jumping and tugging.  I was psychically exhausted and had a major migraine.  I struggled to get out of bed and bless Emma, Max, Malcolm and Dieter they all just watched me until I could get up.  With the migraine I was sick to my stomach and dizzy.  I was also touch, light and sound sensitive.

I got them fed, feeding Emma and Malcolm only half of their breakfast and noting all four dogs didn't have enough food for the week.  Emma's parents had promised to bring more food when they dropped her off and I informed them I didn't have enough food for her for the week, but they hand't returned with it yet and I wasn't even sure if I had enough to feed her dinner.  I knew I didn't have enough to feed my three dinner in the bin.

Sick to my stomach and ready to fall over, I called my son and informed him that our plans to meet on Friday to get food wouldn't work.  I needed food asap.  Walter, who'd called early this week had asked if I needed to go soon for dog food because he needed cat food.  I had told him yes, and we both thought we had enough to make it to Friday.  When I mentioned I needed to get food today, Walter stated he too didn't have enough food to feed his cat.  It worked out and Walter arranged to come in the afternoon to go with me to pick up dog food.

I staggered back into bed and crashed out for 4 hours.  I woke with the worst of the migraine gone and still feeling sick and exhausted.  At least I wasn't about to toss my cookies because of the pain.  The rest of the day, except for a required run for food for my boys, was spent cuddling with Emma or just relaxing in the house.  It was better I regain my strength and not loose my temper because of pain.  Emma was in a fabulous mood and enjoyed chewing bones, practicing asking to get in my lap and relaxing.

Emma's confidence really improved!
Thursday

Our week comes to a close with Emma.  She's left for an adventure with her family in Montana and will return on Monday.  That meant today I wanted to get some more review on doing behaviors within a tight space and then spend extra time grooming her up for her trip.  If you remember, on Monday I had given her a bath, blown her coat dry with the new dryer and then brushed her out and trimmed her nails.  On each day of the week I endeavor to brush her, even though she finds it unpleasant, so that her coat doesn't get snarls in it and the loose hair from her Labrador side is removed from her coat.  I don't always achieve this goal, since my arms and hands can be extremely painful and her coat can become too long for me to easily brush out.  This week I managed to brush her out everyday, which left her coat soft and clean.

Today was the deep brush, which takes about 40 minutes to complete.  Malcolm had me giggling while I was doing it.  He had been laying in my recliner while I sat on the floor with Emma gently brushing out her coat, rubbing Show Shine into her ears, muzzle and tail to make the much longer hair easier to groom and then running through her coat with a tight toothed comb to get the extra snarls and loose hair out.  Malcolm poked her in the ear, kissed her face and at one point laid with his chin on her shoulders and lovingly looked me in the eyes.  I don't think Emma was terribly amused by this, but she stood silent while I brushed, teased and fluffed her coat.

I had woken tired and painful with the pouring rain and deep chill of the day.  I had struggled to get our day started and was running the best way to configure the x-pen to advance Emma's tight spot training and dreading the required house cleaning I had to do.  I hadn't touched my dishes all week and it looked, again, like a nuclear bomb had been set off.  I was just about to get up and do the dishes, so the video I made didn't make me look like a slob, when Max went into "someone's here" barking.

It was John, who was stopping in to see if I wanted him to bring out Yoda again for another training session and to inform me his old Husky was failing health wise.  He's 14 1/2 years old and Shiloh has had some health issues in the past.  He was in the ER the night before and John isn't certain how much longer they'll have them.  I feel for them.  The price of loving an old dog is loosing them one day and I am facing that myself as my boys age.

While I was taking with John I loaded the dishwasher and after he left a few minutes later I finished up the kitchen.  I have a very small kitchen, so looking like a nuclear bomb going off in it doesn't take much.  I then configured the x-pen like a octagon with a wide opening, setup the mat for Malcolm and started the training.  Remember, when you watch today's video, I am not feeling well.  I had been way overdone yesterday and today I am feeling better, but still flying on low fuel.  My timing is off and my ability to split my attention is poor.  Malcolm's getting up and coming to join the party has more to do with lack of reinforcement than anything else and is all my fault.

My observations of Emma as we trained pleased me.  Though still a little unsure, she's more confident in this training than the previous one in the week.  She's not as worried about the x-pen any longer, can handle other dogs nearby better and is more engaged overall.  Her latency is low, which is great, and she was able to try new things within the confines of the space I gave her.  I have yet to get to truly tight spaces, but this amount of space is working okay and once we revisit and see if she's really up and flying we'll make her space smaller and retrain again.

In the beginning, when Malcolm came into her space she went to move away and showed discomfort.  In the end, this only happened after she picked up the glove and tried to give it to me.  Her ability to work with her close improved and should continue to do so as her confidence improves.  I will not train her a brand new idea, such as a new task, with other dogs near, but now I can begin proofing with dogs near as a type of distraction.

After that we spent the day cleaning and grooming.  I groomed Emma after our training session and then Vanessa came over to work on the house.  She cleaned the living room floor and we then went into the bedroom and organized my closet.  Actually, Vanessa did and I told her what could be thrown and what I was keeping. She did a great job and it took the 2 hours she intends to help me around the house each week.

Emma spent most of that time out in the living room just hanging out.  When we would take breaks or just sat chatting at the end, Emma climbed in Vanessa's lap and got loves.  Malcolm, on the other hand, spent most of the time chewing on a piece of wood he brought in, putting his nose in everything and truly not being a big help.  Max showed him that the best way not to help is to be directly where the human was going and Malcolm learned the lesson well.

It was a quiet day, but a good one.  Emma made good progress on her lesson and is less sulky when I am grooming her.  In both Malcolm and Emma I am seeing improved self control, maturity and self entertainment.  Next week with Emma should be exciting, since we can return to task training again.  Malcolm will pick up on Level's training and improve his Go To Mat and Stay behaviors.

Malcolm & Emma Part 2


Level 1
Zen Target Come Sit Down
Step Completed Completed Completed Completed Completed

Level 2
Zen Come Sit Down Target
Step Completed Completed Completed Completed Completed
Focus Lazy Leash Go To Mat Crate Distance
Step 3 Completed 2 Completed 2
Jump Relax Handling Tricks Communication
Step 1 3 Completed Completed Completed

Level 3
Zen Come Sit Down Target
Step 3 Completed 2 1 1
Focus Lazy Leash Go To Mat Crate Distance
Step 0 Completed 0 4 0
Jump Relax Handling Retrieve Communication
Step Completed 2 Completed Completed 1

Level 4
Zen Come Retrieve Target Relax
Step Completed 0 Completed 0 0
Focus Lazy Leash Go To Mat Crate Distance
Step 0 Completed 0 5 0
Handling Communication


Step Completed 0


Saturday, April 19, 2014

19 Months: Training - Days 294 - 298

Roadwork, tug tasks and more....what a week!
Monday

Emma arrived 1/2 hour after drop off time today.  I had, previously, decided the household schedule would no longer be delayed waiting for her arrival and was in the middle of the next stage of Malcolm's modified training plan - he started roadwork the week before and needed more work on behaviors for passing homes with fenced dogs.

I had to shift his training plan by 1/2 hour so that when I had Dieter and Max barking in the yard I was within sound ordinances and not completely annoying my neighbors.  I was working Malcolm on Levels behaviors when Emma arrived, but was about to send him and Max and Dieter out for playtime since it was 9:00 AM before returning to training.

As a result I just let Emma loose in the yard to explore and play before starting her day.  After her owner left she went to my front door and nudged the handle asking to be let in.  I opened the door for her to let the boys out and caught up Malcolm to prevent him from mugging her to death.  It's been a week since they saw each other and on Monday's Malcolm mugs her with joy when reconnecting. Malcolm is being taught a more appropriate greeting for friends and family dogs and holding him until he calms helps.

Emma was busy towering over Dieter and poking him and Dieter was busy grumbling at her.  I told her to "Get off that Dachshund" (a sentence I never thought would be an almost daily utterance) and she broke off and headed out to play.  I let her play with Malcolm for about an hour.

I finished Malcolm's training and then called her in to free click her for any behavior she chose to offer to loosen her up.  She offered Sit, Down, Tada, Back Up, Spin, and Target.  When asked she gave me prompt Shake and High Five and as I started to cue behaviors she was spot on and with no latency, except for Sit.  For some reason her sit is shaky, so we'll tighten it back up.  She was happy, engaged and taking kibble without hesitation.  It was lovely!

For our next round we returned to one of her last tug tasks.  She needs to learn to pull a full sized door open or closed.  I chose to use my front door and use the tug I have attached to it.  She was thrilled and targeted the tug and worked up to taking it in her mouth and finally pulling.  Though she doesn't have a hard pull, she was moving the door and she backs up when she does it.  It's a good chain and just needs more work to make it a good solid one.

I have used only one type of tug with Emma and I have a different type of tug on my bathroom door. It's a bumper type tug I put on the door when training Max to teach the same behavior.  Max uses it to open the door for me now when I need him too.  After a solid Round with Emma on the front door, even with Malcolm moving in and out of our training area, I sent her out for two minutes of play.

On our next Round I moved her to the bathroom door.  The front door was closed halfway, thus creating a shadowed area in half of the entry.  I was standing to the Emma's left, thus blocking her from the living room and Malcolm was sitting by me hoping for more food.  He's never full from what I can tell.

It was this blocked in position that worried Emma and where moments before she was eagerly taking food she couldn't now.  I opened the door all the way, moved to the other side, sent Malcolm out and Emma was back in the game.  Emma has problems with body pressure - I will need to solve this if she's to work in any location that blocks her in.  Max has had to work in tight spots in public and if Emma can't it will impede what she can do for her handler.

On our third Round she just stopped trying at the door.  I sat with her and had Malcolm sit about two feet away. I knew the problem was Malcolm being close and I just wanted to turn Malcolm being near her into a good thing when she's learning.  She can train with Max right next to her and Dieter right next to her and even Jack right next to her, but Malcolm throws her for a loop.  I normally crate Malcolm, but he's started Other Dog Training Zen and I am leaving him out about half of the time we train to build up that skill.

Emma simply shut down for the last 1/4 cup of her food.  I sat and cuddled her for a while and then sent her out to play for a while.  It was actually a good start to the week and gives me a good picture of what I need to work on. Time to research body pressure and how to help a dog be less sensitive to it.

My son came over with a woman who will be helping me around the house.  Emma was thrilled to meet her and I noticed something about her - her normal 15 minute, out of control, coming out of her skin with excitement behavior is greatly reduced.  The change in food has helped calm her.  I had suspected that she not only didn't like the food we had been feeding her, but that it was part of her uncontrollable excitement.  She calmed in a matter of two minutes and never got as wound up as she normally does when meeting new people.

Overall her entire nature is calmer.  This is a good thing.  Excitability was becoming a major problem for this dog and I was hoping to find a reason for the worst of it and it appears we have.

After the company left I let them play for a bit and then crated her for the walks of the day.  I had started Emma on roadwork last year with the power chair, the only way I can get any distance and real exercise for any of the dogs in.  She started terrified of the chair and over came that, then too distracted to walk in a straight line and not risk being run over and we fixed that.  I then started her on traffic training and she freaked.  She just couldn't handle the sounds or movement of traffic.  I pulled back further and would drive the chair and her and Max to quiet neighborhoods and work on just walking with the chair with Ronda and Deva at the time.

We worked known neighborhoods with known dog yards and had Emma on one side of the chair and Max the other.  The first yard, a pair of yapping Yokies sent Emma into fear peeing. This was with her on the other side of the street from them and Ronda and Deva as a barrier between her and them.  It would continue that way all summer we tried roadwork.

She did straighten out and work with the chair nicely.  She did extremely well with placement and position, but she risked life and limb when a dog barked, even in a distance, by freaking out.  For her safety, in the end, we stopped the roadwork and found other healthy ways to expend her energy and build her muscle.

Today I took her out last.  I had walked Max and scoped the neighborhood I would work the dogs in.  I then took Malcolm on a highly successful and very adventurous run (read his blog to learn of his walk today) and returned to take Emma.

I made the choice to let Emma tell me how much she could do.  If all she could do was get to Park and back we did more than before.  My original goal was to the edge of the bridge and back, but once on the road that plan changed.

Emma is able to enter and exit my gate while on the wheelchair leash.  I got her up on the sidewalk with her head up, her strut in place and her having a good time, though a bit looky loo at first.  There was stress, but it was mild stress, not the freak out, put herself in danger stress of last year.

I am going to share a portion of Malcolm's blog post with you - it explains the bridge and why this is a milestone for Ms. Emma today:

Park Road Bridge, Spokane Valley, WA
There is a bridge I go over to the neighborhood we are working this week.  This bridge spans the freeway, which means roars of trucks and the whine of tires and all those freeway sounds are flooding us as we go over the bridge.  Next to us is a two way street called Park Road (Spokane Valley Washington) which has a single lane going North and a single lane going South.  Next to each lane is a bicycle lane and in the center is a painted median.  I use the West side sidewalk currently working the dogs.  On my way to our walking neighborhood I am facing the South bound traffic directly next to the sidewalk, on the way back Malcolm has his back to this lane as cars approach from behind and travel within a few feet to his left.  When we are on the bridge cars passing heading North and South, plus all of the freeway traffic merges into a multi-directional quagmire of sound and when I was first training Max to work with the power chair and taking him for walks, returning with traffic behind him upset him a lot.  I have posts in other forums of my careful counter conditioning to that bridge.  I was not about to let Malcolm become fearful of that bridge like Max had been, so when I am crossing it I do exactly as I did for Max.  Right now he gets a treat for every line in the sidewalk and with time I'll space that until he doesn't need it anymore.  I also give him a treat for every car passing right now and will slowly change that to every car passing from behind and then fade the treats.  It's worked, Malcolm has no problem with the sensory overload of this bridge, doesn't react to trucks, motorcycles or anything that passes us from behind and is perfectly good on the bridge.

At the very end of that walk is a double curb cut and Malcolm now handles it very nicely.  We then go from a sensory overload into a quiet little neighborhood where we roll along the side of the sidewalkless streets; thankfully traffic is very low.

Imagine soft Emma facing this location with her head high, her step frisky and taking treats every line in the sidewalk without hesitation.  We reached the edge of the bridge and she was still eager to go, so we went.  I did for her the same as for Malcolm because I also don't desire her to be afraid of this bridge.  It is the main route into three or four of my pre-planned walking routes for the dogs.

Emma trooped along that bridge like she'd done it all her life.  She took each treat and chewed happily and trotted with all the sound and her confidence grew.  We reached the double cut curb and she navigated it with ease and off into the neighborhood we went.  We didn't have a single problem from turning with the chair, staying in good position and enjoying her walk until a dog behind a 6 foot wooden fence barked and she nearly came out of her skin.

I have to say I was watching her trot along at about 4 or 5 miles an hour and she looked in pure heaven.  She was glancing about and lifting her nose to take in the smells and looking like she could go all day long if I let her.  She was completely enjoying herself and it was beautiful to see.

We did stop to meet a man I know along the way.  He was in his yard watering it when we were passing.  He was tall, lean and wearing a baseball cap.  Emma is a bit leery of strangers when out in public settings and I wanted this man to say hi.  He is very appropriate with dogs and he just put his hand out and Emma was rewarded for looking (she lowered herself and backed up a bit and looked to me and got a treat) and then sniffing (standing a bit taller, backing up less and more animated) and finally touching his fingers with her nose three times - all on her choice and no pressure other than an offered hand.  Each exploration was met with a bit of tripe or cube of ham or soaked kibble and she grew confident by the end.  It'll take more meetings like this, but she'll learn strangers of all shapes and sizes are good if I pick the right people to meet her.

When the dog barked she did a 180 flip in the air and turned to face that direction.  I stopped, gave her three or four treats and then cued her to continue.  She recovered a few seconds later and off we went.

On the final horn of our walk is a street with dogs I know are out in their yard.  One is Dancy Feet.  He is a Rottweiler/Boxer mix with Wobblers.  The other two are Stompy Feet and his brother.  They are black, stout dogs with prick ears and long (extremely long) black hair.  I suspect they are a mix of some sort, but I don't know what.  Dancy Feet is on our right as I approach and Stompy Feet and his sibling are on our left one house further down.

Dancy Feet has been very calm as we pass lately and just laid on his porch and watched us.  Emma had no problem with him.  I can see Stompy Feet through a set of bushes and started a approach, turn and retreat routine with Emma to get her near the yard.  She was on the opposite side with Stompy Feet and his sibling on her left.  I did three approach and retreat with each approach being a bit closer before she noticed them.  We then worked past them, with both Stompy and his sibling making a gruff racket at us.  Emma was a bit excited and a little fearful, but she didn't freak.  She looked once and barked under her breath and then took the rapid fire treats I was giving her and flew past the house.  The change in her once we were past was remarkable.  She stood taller, her head held in the "I am the queen of the universe" setting and her step so proud she was trying to lead the chair.  It was so nice to see.

We returned to the bridge and with each passing car and each line in the sidewalk I gave her a treat and she never once reacted.  She was still on cloud nine getting past Stompy Feet and even when a big truck rolled past us she didn't flinch.

We ended with a tired and proud Emma who returned home standing tall and carrying loads of confidence.  This years roadwork proves to be much more successful!

Emma loves playing with Jack.
Tuesday

I just couldn't get started today.  I recognized the feeling.  I had done too much the day before and with a previous week of hectic appointments and near disasters and a full weekend of working Malcolm, I had hit a wall.  Before I would have pushed my way into it, struggled against it and only made the remainder of my week a declining curve of energy.  Now, after so many hard crashes that have taken me days to recover from, I decided today would be the play day for the dogs.

Malcolm looks like an adult dog and it can be easy to forget he's still a puppy at heart.  He is still physically, emotionally and mentally maturing and it means he still needs to be a puppy and I still need to cherish his silly moments and laugh at his antics.  He's a funny dog with a sense of humor and a zest of life that rejuvenates me in ways I cannot explain.  I watch his new discoveries and his bold explorations of his world.  The sound of the smoke detector is a new sound or the sight of a teenager wearing a backpack a new bit of data for his brain to mull over.  Even our walks expose him to a world he's never seen before and if I focus only on his training and turning him into the working dog I need, I'll miss his childhood and all the joys an 8 month old pup brings.

So, I plan days to be nothing more than his owner.  To laugh at him when he stuffs his face in a bucket of water and flings the water around or his sudden bursts of energy as he leaps and bounds in only the way a young animal can.  I revel in his head cocks, his curiosity and his clear eyes as he takes in the day and literally enjoys being alive.  How could I not and not forge the bond that will carry us through our partnership together.

This morning the sky hung low with gray clouds laden with moister.  I could feel the chill of a early Spring day before I even opened the front door of the house and let the dogs out for their first potty break.  Both Emma and Malcolm raised their heads when I finally rolled and took my deep cleansing breath, but waited until I got up to let them out.  The entire household has learned that barking and going nuts makes me go back to bed, so they all quietly padded out to the door.  There is a silent excitement to start their day and I have to remind Emma, who starts to bounce up and down like a rearing horse, to calm herself and wait for me to release her.  The opening of the door confirmed my impressions of the day - it was chill and damp and just one of those days you curl up with a good book and a cup of tea and tuck under a blanket and retreat from.

Once the dogs were back in I headed back to the bedroom with my warmed coffee and pulled up the forecast for the day.  It threatened rain.  I looked out at the dull gray sky and agreed.  It said the afternoon would be warmer, but I suspected it would rain by then and that meant roadwork, one of the few things I could do with the dogs, would be out.  Okay, what to do with two high energy youngsters and a grouchy old man?

I called my friend Robin and we caught up, shared our successes and discussed some training ideas for Emma.  She's having problems with being in tight spaces and Robin had some great training ideas to improve her confidence.  Just what I needed.  I shared my insight from Debi Davis regarding working a duckling with a power chair and we discussed many other details only friends find interesting.  It was a great conversation and one that really helped me focus Emma's training for the week.  She's coming up on working tight spaces for tug tasks and after seeing her reaction the day before I realized I needed to take a step back and rework that part to make the rest of her training more successful.

I let the dogs go in and out and play in the yard and finally called Ronda.  I wanted to see how she was doing, since we hadn't talked much during her recovery from her surgery.  Jack has graduated during her recovery.  He's done the last of his public access training, polished skills she needs and is doing his job.  Jack and Ronda are our first graduating team and I am so very proud of them.  Jack is a young dog also.  Ronda said he was driving her nuts because she couldn't burn off the energy he has and invited us over - another reason for the call.  I figured she'd be up to a visit from the crew and there's nothing better than an afternoon of playing with known and safe dogs for my trainees.

We headed out shortly after the rain fell.  I was eating lunch when I called Ronda and needed to run a quick errand before we went to our destination.  I was having issues with convincing myself to move and leave the house - which happens more often than I like to admit and was just thinking of the best way to get the crew to the van when I heard the patter of rain on my roof.  Good thing I decided against the roadwork, it would have been a miserable wet and cold event.

The last time I took Max, Malcolm and Emma to Ronda's to play I let them out the front door off lead, popped the side door to the van and opened the gate for them all to load up.  Emma was so hyper excited she shot out the front door like she'd been shot out of a rocket and flew down the ramp like a Greyhound and then ran through the gate and leapt into the van while barking in a rapid fire bark of hyper excitement.  I wanted to prevent that.  Just because we are off to do something fun doesn't mean all the rules of calm and happy behavior is out the window.

I dressed Max, gathered Malcolm's gear and lead and picked up Emma's lead and she went into hyper excited mode.  I ignored her and walked Max to the van and loaded him up and left him to get Malcolm.  I put a lead on Malcolm and walked him loose lead to the van and loaded him and left him to get Emma.  Emma was still bounding off the clouds and I went about gathering my stuff until she sat and vibrated and waited until that decreased into happy dog emotional state.  Had I put a lead on her while she was as excited as she had been I would have been rewarding and reinforcing that excitement.  Just giving her time to burn through and choose to calm herself gives her the tools to self calm and keep herself under better control.

When I opened the front door she shot out like she was on a fire and hit the end of her lead.  She chose to return to inside and sit and look to me.  I cleared her to go again and she did it a second time, but not as hard as the first.  Again she came in and sat and I cued her to go again.   This time it was controlled and she was in a calmer state when we started for the van.

I need to mention something about walking a dog on a lead - it should be just like walking along holding a person's hand.  The handler's body should be completely relaxed, their grip loose and comfortable on the lead, the hand and arm relaxed at the person's side and the stride normal and comfortable like both human and dog are taking a Sunday stroll along a park lane.  The human shouldn't be changing their stride to keep the dog with them.  They shouldn't be holding the lead in a death grip.  They shouldn't be holding their arm out straight or upraised or tense.  They shouldn't be so worried the dog will make a mistake that the dog is left with nothing but micromanagement.  The lead shouldn't be so long the dog has a chance to get 3 or 4 feet ahead or to the side, but instead held about 6 to 8 inches from the dog's collar where it can easily be loose and relaxed and the dog can get information from the lead sooner when needed.  It should be as comfortable as walking with a loved one - a dance of shared responsibility.

When walking the dog, just walk.  The handler should have their head up, their shoulders squared and an air of "nothing is wrong" about them.  They should also be watching from the side of their eye to see if the dog is ABOUT to hit the end of the lead and stop before the dog does.  No jerking on the lead, no commentary, just stop.  The dog will look back to see why you stopped and in time, with practice, will learn they are to return to your side.  Emma will do this when I stop.

Emma's lead is extremely wide and extremely long and it makes holding the lead comfortably hard - so I wrap 90% of the lead in a loop in my left hand and have about 6 inches of lead between her and me and start walking.  I watch in a way that makes her think I am not and when I see her get distracted and start to go to the end of the lead I just stop.  My hand is still at my side, my body is still upright and when she turns she sees me looking down with a neutral face and she quickly prepositions herself to my side.  I had to do this 5 times for the first half of the ramp.  She was highly excited, but the stops gave her a reminder that I expect her to walk loose lead and next to me with her shoulder by my thigh.  Once she remembered she walked loose lead to the gate, walked out the gate with no problems and then tried to shoot to the car.  Two more stops and one turn and walk away (she was really excited) and she got the idea and walked loose lead to the car.

In other words, be it Max, Malcolm or Emma I insist on leash manners.  If they sniff I back up and continue to back up until they are able to look up and focus back on me and retry.  I do it as often as I need to.  I set my time up so that I can take the 10 or 15 minutes extra it takes to get the dog where I want on a loose lead.  In the beginning I give myself 30 minutes or more depending on the dog's age and amount of training.  If I am in a hurry I don't carry them, but put a harness on them and clip to it and they are allowed to pull all they want - it's not their flat collar.  Loose lead on a flat collar is a must - no matter how exciting the world is.

With Emma loaded in after a successful reminder on leash manners, we headed out and completed my errand and went to Ronda's house.  Ronda and I had discussed Malcolm's problem with going over board when greeting Jack and what we needed to do to stop him practicing the behavior.  Here is where Malcolm becomes the over excited, out of control and overboard dog in the group.  I let Max into the yard first and then Emma. I insisted Emma walk to the gate loose lead and enter under control, not shooting in over excited.  The goal is to create an emotionally balanced dog and have them also enjoy their lives.  Allowing times when they loose their mind and become so excited they can't think is not good for them for overall behavior as a working dog.

Malcolm was last.  Ronda would have Jack on lead while I kept Malcolm on lead and Malcolm would not be able to greet Jack until he was calmer than his shoot to the moon excitement he normally does.  It's a progressive stage thing that we need to work on so that in the future Jack and Malcolm can work together and/or meet in the store and Malcolm doesn't loose his brains.

Ronda let her dogs out and came out with Jack on lead.  Malcolm was struggling to rush everyone, crying and whining and sounding like we were torturing him.  We weren't, but he was that excited.  Emma was happily exploring and Max was off doing his own thing and Malcolm was in a brainless frenzy trying to drag me to Jack.  We were over ten feet apart.

It took us 10 minutes to get Malcolm to calm.  Each time he sat and looked up to me we took a step.  Each time he wound back up I stopped and he had to return to calming himself.  At this point in learning this new behavior food would have been lost on him.  He was too wound up to really figure out anything more than what we worked on - Stage 1, calm yourself fool to move forward.

After the first two times he went to rush into Jack's face and I walked him away he got the idea and finally he got in some licks and came back as I walked him away.  Four more approaches and he finally stood by Jack completely calm.  I told him Yes and released him.  He and Jack went off to play.  It was a lot of work for a brief moment of "THAT'S IT!" and off they went - running and wrestling and having a blast.

He played in the pool and ran and wrestled and ran with the neighbor dogs on the other side of the fence and barked and played and ran.  He chased with Max and Jack when we played fetch and even brought the ball back once.   He emptied about half of the pool by digging in it and putting his face in it.  He "Poked the Bear" several times with Deva, Sheba and Chautzie.  Poking the Bear is our term for boundary testing with the adult dogs that normally don't desire him nearby.  All three girls tolerate him well, but don't play with him.  Sheba has bad hips from having been hit by a car and then not having them set by her previous owner before Ronda rescued her.  She is lumbering and sweet, but she doesn't desire a frisky pup in her face.  Chautzie is a 13 year old Rott/Bully mix and is simply uninterested in a young dog.  Deva is 7 and doesn't want any dog near her when she has a bone or ball - she tends to hover over her prize and bark in a high pitched tone when she's telling another dog to go away.

Sheba had crawled into a cool spot under the steps of Ronda's deck when Malcolm went under to mug her and say hi.  She gave him a very appropriate correction and he came out yowling and protesting she had removed a limb and then ran off to play.  He went to kiss Chautzie and she looked up from her comfy bed on the deck and grumbled at him.  He turned and left.  He spent a large amount of time laying "just near" Deva while she had a whining high pitched fit at him and would move in, slowly, lick her face and then move out.  He wanted her ball and was trying to convince her to give it up and she refused.  He was playing the "I'm not poking you" game as we call it and she very appropriately told him "like is not fair" by not sharing her prize.  a lesson he needed and after almost 10 minutes accepted.

He was tired and clearly spent, but he just wanted to play and would get Jack to join him.  Jack is telling him appropriately when he's gone too far and then the two of them run off and wrestle and play Catch Me If You Can and Tug-a-Dog and other games and really ran out their energy.  Malcolm didn't stop and start to rest and say, "Yup, that was fun" until 2 1/2 hours after we arrived and didn't really stop and take long rests until 3 hours after we arrived.  Pent up much, Mister?

During this time Emma explored every corner of the yard.  She ran and played and sniffed and marked and had too much fun.  She would come up and cuddle with us for long periods and then head out and explore every corner of the yard.  We had a good laugh as she followed Jack and Max and lifted her leg, yes her, and peed over their marks.  I keep saying I did that poor girl a disservice raising her with all male dogs.  Attitude was in her life for a short time and was not healthy and she was playing and involved with Max and Dieter and Jack for most of her life.  Attitude died this month one year ago.  That August Emma started to lift her leg to mark as she followed Max about my Mom's yard and I catch her often lifting her leg and marking behind the boys.  Today she was in full marking behavior.  Silly girl.

She barked at passing dogs and people and simply had a good time.  She was clearly enjoying herself and really loved nothing more than to run about with her nose down and checking out every new scent she could find and then seeking even more to fill her brain with.  She loves her play dates at Ronda's and always explores and really enjoys herself and then goes into the rips and runs the yard like a wild dog.  She can cover ground too - Ronda's yard really lets her get her full speed on.

It was a lovely day of being dogs and learning new lessons.  Like children dogs learn as much through play as they do through lessons.  Young children have scheduled playtime during the school day and get less of it as they mature and move into Junior High and High School.  I think that is a shame.  I think our children should have scheduled breaks for being teenagers as much as they did for being children.  Just because play changes as they mature doesn't change the fact that social interaction with peers continues to give important lessons.

Malcolm is learning about patience and communication with his kind.  He's learning to recall from distractions when I call him back from running the fence or barking at someone passing.  He's learning to play with breaks and recognize when he's accidentally hurt or frightened another dog.  He's learning about social structure, older dogs, small dogs and how his body moves.  He's a teenage dog, but he's still in that grade school need for playtime.

Emma is learning to be part of a group and be okay not participating in all of the games, that as a mature dog she can select to do something by herself and it's perfectly okay.  She's learning independence and dog communication and recall from distractions (her recall is fabulous) and how to take breaks between play sessions.  She's learning how to calmly meet a dog who doesn't want to play and how to choose activities that meet her mood at the time.

A lot of learning happens in play.  Very young children play house, pretend to clean and cook and go to work in preparation for adulthood.  Puppies and young dogs do also.  All young animals do.  Watch any documentary on Africa and watch young wild cats - play is how they learn to hunt and eventually support themselves.  For our pet dogs, play is how they learn boundaries, understand their peers and take pauses so they can control their own excitement level.  With a proper adult dog, teenagers like Malcolm, learn how to play for short periods of highly arousing play and then take breaks and just hang out and explore together before returning to highly arousing play.  If he doesn't get the clue when his appropriate play companion tells him it's time for a break or a pause in the game, the adult dog tells him in several appropriate ways which include walking away, becoming a bit vocal or anything that doesn't cause the pup harm physically, emotionally or mentally.

A pup who cannot take those pauses, stays at a heightened arousal state and doesn't learn self control is a pup who cannot work in public because of poor impulse control.  Both Emma and Malcolm have learned well the lessons I desire in play.  The trick is not to have daily "dog park" like play dates, but occasional ones that supplement their overall exercise program.  Walks, human interactive games, training and nose work all play a part in teaching a balanced dog who can go from a play session to working in a store without issue.  The varying exercise types prevent an overload of stress hormones and adrenaline.  A single type of play can backfire even with a pet dog.

Today was our once or twice a month I take the crew over to Ronda's and let them just blow steam and really work out their energy for the day.  The day ended with calm, quiet and tired dogs.  It was a great day!

Off to help another dog feel safe.
Wednesday

The sky was dull grey again.  Clouds laden with rain hung low as I staggered out of bed to abuse the alarm.  I have to say, Emma has finally decided that waiting for me to wake fully up is a good idea; she just laid and waited for me to finish my morning of alarm clock abuse before quietly stretching and getting off the bed and walking out with the boys for the first outing of the day.  I, on the other hand, could feel the effects of this weather front deep in my lower spine and my legs.  Even the short distance from my bedroom to my living room was enough to make me feel like I had drained all the fuel from the muscles.  There are days I wish I could just bounce up with enough energy to face my day and not worry if today is the day I need to put aside half of what needs to be done.

I gave her half of her breakfast and saved the other half for later in the day.  I had plans for her, since I had a client consult, and she only eats about 2 cups of food a day most days.  A full belly at night makes our mornings much easier I have found and she's less likely to have an upset stomach in the morning.

My kitchen looked like someone set off a nuclear bomb in it and my fridge was a biohazard zone, but I simply didn't have the emotional, mental or physical energy tackle that part of my house.  I actually barely had the energy to focus this morning.  The weather and last weeks spoon marathon really took a lot out of me.  I spent the morning waiting for John and Yoda to arrive watching Warehouse 13's latest episode, drinking my coffee and eating my meal and using my IPad.

She was a bit taken back by Yoda when he came into the house.  He's big, and I do mean big, and she's a tiny mite next to him.  He stands 30 inches tall and weighs almost 120 pounds.  He's big and lumbering and sweet as all get out, but she was clearly having a problem with how big he is and so I went to let them out.  She got trapped between Max and Malcolm, who had a spat on the porch (not a fight, but a spat as in siblings snarking at each other) and it was a bit much - she yelled like she'd been murdered and then ran to me.  Okay, we'll just give her a hug and send her back out.  She was fine after that and even checked Yoda fully out in the end.

After John left I setup the house for Max and Malcolm to remain loose and decided not to leave Dieter loose with them.  I gave both boys a raw bone, but didn't have one for Dieter and really didn't want a bone spat while I was gone with Dieter in the middle.  I crated Dieter and while I was getting what I would need for Emma, the 1/2 cup of kibble with a cube of tripe chopped into it and the leash in my hand, I waited for Emma to get past the bounce and hyper excitement she gets when she thinks I am taking her out.  There is no point in putting her leash on when she's like that and reinforce the behavior.

It took about 2 minutes to get the van and when we arrived at the client's home it took about 5 minutes to get to the front door of the apartment complex and another 3 minutes to go from the lobby to her door (which is about the same as walking to the van) just to ensure she was walking in the right position and on a loose lead with her head up and not ping ponging beside me.  I do have to say, she was 100% better this time than the last time I brought her to this client's home.

This was her third visit to this client and on each one I have worked on shaping the final behavior I want.  On her first visit she was distracted and unable to lay still for most of the visit.  She explored the small one bedroom apartment and checked in with me and was nervous.  On the second visit she spent about half of the time exploring the the other half practicing just laying near me, but not in a proper position yet.  She was nervous, but not as nervous as the previous visit.  This time she spent maybe 5 minutes exploring at the end as a reward and the rest either providing demos or laying in a proper tucked tight position, facing the same way I was, against the side of the chair I was sitting in.

This was not easy for her.  She wanted to sit up, put her chin on my leg and demand my attention, move out of position and turn laying out in "traffic" facing me and was fussy for 2/3 of the visit.  The final 1/3 she got the idea.  Each time she went out of position I gently guided her back and heavily and only rewarded for her being in a settle against the side of the chair tucked "out of traffic".

Traffic, by the way, is where she can be stepped on.  When she's working she'll need to tuck tight against the chair where she is the most protected from being stepped on, especially as a black dog, when at a rest with her handler.  Teaching her to tuck tight against the chair I am sitting in, be it a regular chair or my power chair, teaches her how to tuck out of traffic and be safe.  Insisting she remain in a settled position until called upon and returning it when what was needed was finished, starts her very early and highly important public access skills for going to movies, dinners and social events.

She was not anywhere near as nervous as she's been in the past.  As a matter of fact the moments of worry was more that I wasn't paying attention to her or my hand was moving over her head and was easily resolved by letting her know what I wanted and rewarding the behavior.  She was eager to demo retrieve steps and happy to eat the last of her breakfast.

I use Emma for this client because she too has a soft dog and I have told her in the past the troubles we had teaching Emma to retrieve.  Her dog is no where as soft as Emma and he's progressing at a much faster and with a better attitude than she did when learning to retrieve.  Emma is a huge moral booster to anyone who sees her retrieve now.  She loves to retrieve.  She derives joy doing a retrieve.  She makes it clear that a solid retrieve and a solid hold can indeed be taught if patience and effort is put into the dog and worked at the dog's rate.  I truly feared at one point that I would need to career change her because asking her to do a retrieve was so adversive for her - then she burst out the other end and became a top notch retriever.

She also models the behavior for a small dog who also has a beard.  Murphy is a Shitzu and like Emma has a beard.  It seems that dogs of similar structure learn better from each other.  Jack didn't get the idea of a retrieve watching Max, but he did Emma.  Emma didn't get somethings watching Max, but she did Jack.  Murphy is closely watching Emma and mimicking her.  Today he started to do the take and give game and for the first time really took off on it.

At the end of the lesson a bag of treats Murphy's handler gave us fell by my chair between it and the end table.  Emma tried a head on approach to pick it up for me, but couldn't get to it that way.  It took a bit of direction, but I got her to go around the chair and come between the end table and the chair.  She wasn't sure what to do next, so I lifted the edge of the bag for her.  Yes, I could have gotten it myself.  I had a perfect training opportunity for her and decided to use it.  This will be similar to her getting something that fell between her handler's chair and a barrier and teaching her to approach from behind to get to it and then coming back around makes her retrieve more useful.

She got the back and brought it around and gave it to me and I dropped it back where it had been and sent her back in.  She went right in, picked it right up and came right back with it.  We had a celebration.  We then worked on doing her bow in a new location and had a bit of fun and let her explore.  Overall, the entire 1 hour and 40 minutes we were there was a wonderful advancement in proper service dog behavior.  I was very happy.

Walking back to the van was a different story.  She needed repeated resets in the lobby and again on the walkway to the sidewalk and out to the van.  I had to be about 10 feet from the van before she got it and walked perfectly.  She was exhausted and happy to return home.

She chewed bones and relaxed for most of the rest of the afternoon.  I needed to run to the store and took Max, so I left her loose with Malcolm and Dieter for the 30 minutes I was gone and came back to a fully intact house.

She needs more work on focus in new locations and more work on her leash work.  I also need to meet with the family to work with them on ensuring her leash skills remain good.  I think helping them relax and be more natural when walking with her will aid her in keeping solid leash skills.  Right now, her skills are not good enough to enter a non-pet friendly store and until they are we'll continue to work in other locations to build up her basic leash work.

Another dog needs my help.
Thursday

What a full week this has been for Emma.  She again attended a client consult and played the roll of a neutral dog for a training exercise.  I have a client with an 8 pound Min Pin named Coco who is under socialized and fearful.  She becomes fretful of dogs when seen on walks, fear charges when they enter her home (which some do when family members visit) and resource guards her toys and food.  I have my work cut out for me, but we are already seeing remarkable progress with Coco.  Her owner is dedicated to her and does her homework faithfully.  She, more than I, will make the difference in Coco's recovery.

Since she's a bit of a pill when first meeting dogs in the home, I left Emma in the van with Max.  This is a good lesson for Emma, since she needs to learn to wait patiently in the car if needed.  She is doing fantastic with this part of her training and was sitting quietly in the passenger seat waiting for me when I came out 30 minutes later.  Mind you, right now I can do this because the weather permits it.  Shortly none of the dogs can wait for me in the van safely due to heat and earlier, in the deep cold, I would not have asked it of them either.  This time of year and early fall are the only times I can help them learn this vital lesson.

Coco had calmed with Malcolm working with her in the home, so when Emma was brought out Coco didn't even react to her.  Emma was more excitable than Malcolm and thus a new energy level for Coco to learn about.  They've met before when Coco came to visit at my home for an afternoon, but it's been a while since that day.  Emma spotted Coco and looked at her with interest and then went to explore the smells of her new environment.

I have a problem with Emma's nose being stuck to the ground and on constant high sniff mode.  I am working on it, but if she can't learn to walk with her head up it will affect her future.  I took her across the street and stood on the sidewalk across from Coco.  A car passed us at that time and Emma startled and lowered to the ground.  I quickly rewarded her for looking to me and she recovered.

She was excellent as a neutral dog.  Though she wasn't walking well on the lead, she wasn't focusing on Coco either and thus made it possible for Coco to work on her lesson.  Emma is still weaving a great deal on lead, she pulls hard and tends to keep tension on the lead and constantly forgets that there is a human holding the other end.  Walking her is tiring, unlike walking Malcolm who doesn't even feel like he's attached to the lead.  I am working with her on paying attention to her position and walking properly, but it's just not happening.  Her distraction level is simply to high when she's out in the world.

We moved back to the sidewalk where Coco was working and Emma, now able to focus on me as I reminded her I was on the planet, sat alert and happy beside me.  She fell into a perfect working mode at this point and it was a moment of magic.  Coco worked another lesson and we moved to the side on some grass and Emma forgot I was on the planet.  Coco on the other hand forgot Emma was on the planet also and was doing amazing with her lesson.  Her owner has great timing and really works hard on the lesson as we practice her homework for the week.

We practiced Emma and Coco walking by each other on the sidewalk while Coco worked on her lesson and Coco was spot on as was Emma.  It was a moment of magic that both Coco's owner and I were happy to see.  Only last week Coco couldn't have done what we asked today and here, with focused work on her homework, Coco was flying forward on her skill set.

After that Emma and Coco had a lovely greeting and Coco was very comfortable with her.  Emma is a very gentle dog and Coco responded well to the soft greeting Emma offered.  We did practice counting "1. . 2 and Let's Go" so Coco didn't get over her head in a greeting and could do a quick 2 second "hi how are ya" and walk away before she had time to react.  Emma, who knows this type of greeting, was perfect.

Emma worked with Coco for about 30 minutes and did fantastic and really helped Coco with her lesson.  Good girl.

We headed to Target so I could get some supplies with a gift card a friend sent me and I left her and Malcolm in the van while Max and I did our shopping.  It took us a total of 10 minutes to do our shopping and I was about to leave when I thought, "What am I doing?  This is a perfect place to train!" and shut off the van.  I took Emma out and spent at least 5 minutes walking her from the van to the front of the building.  The distance was less than 100 feet.

She was rubbernecking at the cars, people and birds flying overhead.  She was moving her head like a tiny raptor seeking prey and her body was almost vibrating with energy.  I want the dogs happy in their job, but her level of excitement is not functional.  I'll have to revisit Target twice more to see if she improves.

As we passed the doors the very sensitive door sensors set them off and they slid open.  Emma ducked and jerked closer to me to get away from them.  I stayed calm and gave her a treat, which she was taking well, and went by the next one, which did the same.  She again jerked, but not as bad.  By the third she looked and then looked to me.  Excellent.

There is a bench about 8 feet from the last exit door, which is a double set of doors that don't slide, but swing out and then bang on a set of rails on each side of them.  The pneumatic control makes a wheezing sound as it starts and then hisses and the doors snap open rapidly.  As we sat the did just that and she jerked badly again.  I gave her a treat and then began treating her for looking about and looking back to me.

It was really busy today, despite the early hour and constant downpour.  About 80% of the people had small children between the ages of infant to kindergarten.  As many passed they'd smiled at her and commented on how cute she was.  She saw men with and without hats, women in head scarfs and long flowing coats. She saw a LOT of children either being carried, walking, running, riding in carts or pushed in strollers.  She saw people using umbrellas.  She did very well with all of that.

At least three friendly strangers were given permission to pet her.  She was not wearing her harness, since I want to re-socialize her to strangers and don't want her seeking attention in harness.  She is shy meeting a new person.  She ducks low, lowers her head and goes up to them to sniff and then suddenly is okay and warms up and enjoys meeting them.  Each time she met a stranger I gave her a treat and by the third one she was more upright and confident.

She had problems with cars passing behind her in the parking lot, so each time one did I fed her a treat.  She soon stopped paying attention to the traffic sounds.  I will need to take her to the truck stop nearby and work on her listening to big trucks and feeling okay by their sounds.  I did the same with Max when he tried to bite the tire of one driving by us on a walk one day - it was one of the few times I grabbed him and pushed him on his side out of total fear.  I took him to the truck stop and asked a driver if he could check the truck and then we went and watched them move about for about 15 minutes - after that he was much better about them.  She needs to do much the same.  Find out they are BIG CARS and then see them move and hear their sounds and relax around them; currently they terrify her.

The door popping open with that wheezing sound and then a stream of people spilling out of it suddenly bothered her also.  Again, I gave her a treat each time it opened and people came out.  Soon she was not paying attention to it or the people any longer.

She did try to reach out and sniff people as they walked by and her head kept moving in that raptor type movement.  She was physically stiff and really never calm, but she did well for her first time there and I am hoping to see calm by the third time.  She is such a different dog from Malcolm who just takes things in and sits fully relaxed and blase about the world about him.  He never reacted to the sounds of traffic behind him and ignored the people all together.  The only thing that bugged him was that door and even that he soon tuned out as I fed him a treat each time it opened.

She was unruly on the leash on the way back and it took almost 5 minutes to return to the van.  All told we sat outside of Target for 15 minutes and she did make progress on some of her trouble spots, but it is clear we need to rework the location to get to really calm behavior.

After that I took her to the bank.  The bank is quiet enough I can see how she's doing in a business and gauge other locations to take her into.  She was unruly on the leash and it took me 3 minutes to walk 15 feet.  She was better indoors, but it took a bit to get her to just sit at my side and wait for our turn.  She continued the tiny raptor movements.  When we did our transaction I was at a desk, so I had her tuck before my feet.  She did, but couldn't maintain the position and I had to send her back in twice more.

She was just as unruly on the leash to the van.  At this point, the bank and pet friendly locations are the only places I will be working her indoors.

When we returned she was excited and happy, but I saw no overt fall out.  She played a bit in the yard and then came in and crashed out for her nap with the boys.  She was happy when Vanessa came to help clean the house and handled the vacuum and steamer with her normal caution.  She curled in my lap for a while as Vanessa did my living room floor and then went and laid in my recliner as she did the kitchen.

After that I had to leave for another client consult. Since it was a new and unknown dog both Emma and Malcolm stayed home.  I crated her with a new raw bone and did the same with Dieter.  She got her smaller crate, which she's more comfortable in and Dieter got the big crate.  Malcolm was loose in the house.  I was gone for 2 1/2 hours and when I released her she was calm and happy.

She has become a dream to crate at my home.  She enters when cued, remains quiet and is calm when I release her.  She needs to build up slowly at home and at her Grandma's home in her home crate the same way.  Start with putting her up for 1 minute and build up until she can be left for longer periods. Don't lump the behavior and go for 4 hours in the crate when she has only worked up to 10 minutes.  I built her up over the course of a week from 1 minute to 1 hour, but I did it in 10 minute increments after working up to the first ten minutes.

She ate all but the last 1/8th of a cup of her dinner.  I suspect I fed her about that much extra during our training today.  She was quiet and calm after dinner and went to bed and promptly fell asleep when I setup in the bedroom for the night.  I have not seen any overt fallout yet, but will watch tomorrow and gauge if she can handle one more outing this week or just needs to work on going into tight spaces for her lesson.

It was a good day.

What a week!  I need a nap!
Friday

Emma has a very busy week with a lot of stuff happening in it.  On Monday she went for her first run at Roadwork and did very well.  On Tuesday she got a day of play with Max, Malcolm and Jack at Ronda's house.  On Wednesday she attended a client consult.  On Thursday she attended a second client consult and went to Target and the bank.  Today was a day of rest and recovery.  That was an awful lot of stuff happening and she just needed to slow down and process what happened this week.

She enjoyed her day sleeping and running in the yard off and on and just hung out with the family.  She hadn't shown any fall out from the busy week and giving her a day off before she went back to her family was a good end to a long week.  She ate well when I fed her and seemed to truly enjoy just relaxing around the house for the day.

At 4:00 PM I took down her leash and leashed her up after she stopped jumping, but before she was completely calm.  I had spoken in the morning with Robin and she explained that she had taught calm leash manners to her dog a bit backwards by rewarding calm after the leash was on and as he improved each time she worked on his relaxing when the leash was attached she worked back until his leash didn't mean anything more than to relax, even if she picked it up to put it on him.

I decided that it was worth doing with Emma.  She's just not relaxing once the leash is on and that excited behavior is carrying into everything she does.  I want happy, but relaxed behavior when she's heading out to work.  Today I gave her a half an hour to work on relaxation on the leash.  I sat reading a book on my IPad and rewarded her for sitting, laying down and eventually putting her head down and then built duration.  By the time the family came to pick her up she was about half asleep again and relaxed.  She wound up on hearing them, but we were at a much lower point than previously.

When she excited and barked I took her back in for a second and tried again.  I got the door closed and she barked again (she can go into excitement barking) and I backed her up each time.  She walked with a lot of control and quiet to the gate.  It was the most controlled and the calmest she's ever been.  She exited the gate and with a few stops and waiting for self control, got quickly to her hand off.  It was the fastest, most controlled and calmest pass off we've ever done.  I will continue relaxation protocols with her leash and teach her to physically, mentally and emotionally relax when she has her leash on.

It was a long week but a good one.  She made great strides on her skills this week and the change in her food has clearly helped her calm down.  I am looking forward to see how much more she calms as we move through the first 6 weeks on her new food.  Next week should be enjoyable.


Level 1
Zen Target Come Sit Down
Step Completed Completed Completed Completed Completed

Level 2
Zen Come Sit Down Target
Step Completed Completed Completed Completed Completed
Focus Lazy Leash Go To Mat Crate Distance
Step 3 Completed 2 Completed 2
Jump Relax Handling Tricks Communication
Step 1 3 Completed Completed Completed

Level 3
Zen Come Sit Down Target
Step 3 Completed 2 1 1
Focus Lazy Leash Go To Mat Crate Distance
Step 0 Completed 0 4 0
Jump Relax Handling Retrieve Communication
Step Completed 2 Completed Completed 1

Level 4
Zen Come Retrieve Target Relax
Step Completed 0 Completed 0 0
Focus Lazy Leash Go To Mat Crate Distance
Step 0 Completed 0 5 0
Handling Communication


Step Completed 0