A Morning of Play

We spent 2 hours in the park this morning. We played Scavenger Games, tug, Downs and Recalls to the whistle. Luna had a blast swimming, then racing out of the water, onto grass, and literally throwing herself sideways to the ground to rub herself dry.

We played the Scavenger Games with kibble in the grass and cheese for recalls and downs. She did great, even downed on the whistle without needing the hand signal.

Oh, and she backed up, in yet another new location, for a new toy (a Safestix)!

To, from, and through the park I ride my bike, and Luna runs alongside. In the park she's off leash and outruns me, to the park she's on leash and cantering beside me on a loose leash. On the way home she trots.

What an awesome morning with a boatload of fun!

More Back Up Progress!

This morning Luna demonstrated the ultimate understanding of the back up as an operant behavior; my parents always dole out bits of egg, cheese and meat from the breakfast table. Luna, thinking about how to get those goodies fastest, looked at my mom for a moment and then, very deliberately, BACKED UP!!! How cool is that?!!

After our morning walk we worked again on backing up on cue for a game of tug. I did 5 C/T's with kibble, just to get the behavior and remind her again of the word that goes with the movement. Then I took a ball-on-a-string and cued a back up. Two wobbly reps, and then she got it and backed up smoothly for the ball.

Time to find a bit more space so she could back up further without bumping into things. We went into the street, where we might see CATS. Luna didn't care. The first try was spot on; I said 'Back!' and off she went. On that first rep I always take the first two correct steps, just to make sure she doesn't give up. After that I got 4 steps, 5 steps, and even a double back up when I didn't click when she expected it; instead of quitting, she stood for a moment and then she just backed up 3 more steps!!!

Yes, I think I can safely say that we're making good progress!

Back Up: Adding Cue & Ball Reward

We've spent 3 sessions now on adding the cue to the back up. She goes between 3 and 5 steps reliably, and I don't really see the point in adding more steps. We might do that sometime, but for now I'm happy with this. She clearly understands what the behavior is (walk backwards), and that's enough for now. We can work on duration/distance when we feel like it.

Our back up setup is basically the same as the solo Come Game; I toss a treat out ahead of me, when she turns back I drop one between my feet, she eats it and she backs up. I add the cue when she finishes the treat between my feet. X15, and then I 'test' her understanding by switching to a ball instead of treats. I taught Luna a default down-when-someone-holds-a-ball, so now she has to really think about what I'm saying; skip the down, just do the back up. The first few reps are a mix of both. She downs and then backs up. I click the first 2 steps and we play tug with the ball. After 3 reps she's got it and I get a nice, clean back up of about 4 steps consistently!

I suspect we'll do a few more Remind, Review, Reteach sessions before she can do it 'cold' for the ball, but her understanding of the cue is definitely growing. She backs up faster and further WITH the cue than without it.

Learning Plateaus & Giant Leaps

Wowza! It took 7 sessions, but we've finally made it over the 'can't go further than 3 steps' back up hump.

All this time, if I waited for a 4th step, she would quit. Sometimes I got a 4th step by accident, but more often it was 3 steps and then, if I didn't click that, I'd get LOTS of noise with sitting, downing, targeting my foot, anything but backing up. Then I'd have to start her all over again with hind-foot movement backwards.

Tonight I set out once again to explain it to her, but she surprised me and gave me FIVE solid steps back on the first trial! And again! And again! And then I clicked a few times for 4 steps (literally stopping her in mid-backup) just because I was afraid of losing her if I kept going for 5. Didn't faze her at all, she went right back to 5 or even 6 when I let her go again!

What a great breakthrough. And so solidly, she was rhythmically stepping back right, left, right, left, right, left. It was beautiful!

Hopefully she remembers tomorrow, and if she does, I think she's ready for a cue.

Backing Up – Session 3.

Yesterday, in our second session, Luna ended the session being able to back up 3 steps consistently. She was calm, quiet and focused. So was I.

Our third session today had a lot of changes. We worked in the living room instead of the kitchen. I used cheese instead of kibble. The camera was filming.

In short, this was pretty crappy. I lumped, I clicked when she stopped instead of when she moved, I disengaged with her without disengaging her. Luna whined, sat a lot, got stuck a lot. The worst of it is not on video because I hadn't pressed record that time. We got 2 steps sometimes, 3 steps sometimes.

Lessons learned; FOCUS! Click for movement, not for stopping. Start with one step, when that's good, move to two. Then three. Don't start waiting for two! And forget about the camera.



For Lynn; these are the 'nesting cups':

Nesting cups & back up.

Homework for our next visit to the dog school; nesting cups and backing up. We started this morning.

Well, nesting cups was easy-peasy. There are 9 cups in my set, and Luna could nest 7 of them. The last two were too small to hold in such a way that she could aim well, although I might try them next time.

So, we moved on to backing up. I sat on the floor and paid close attention to her back legs. If either moved a tiny bit backwards, C/T. I placed the treat on the ground in front of me so she'd come forward to eat it. By the end of the session she could take 2 steps! We'll need to take it slow to make sure she's going straight and not trying to 'target' objects with her hips, but she was definitely getting it! Also, the noise level was very low. Does that mean we're both starting to understand this shaping thing? :D