13 Months: Training - Day 16

The dynamic duo - they both claim I falsely
imprisoned them today!  Snots.

So, today was an off day for me and a great day for Jack.  I have two appointments today, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and thus had to crate Jack.  Ronda brought his crate over so he and Emma could both be crated when I left and at 9:20 AM I put Jack into his crate with some chews and in view of the living room so he could see Attitude and Dieter.  Emma was placed in the crate in the master bathroom with a couple of chews to occupy her.

Both Jack and Emma can sit in their crates for up to 3 minutes before having a total breakdown and screaming for a lawyer.  It was Emma who started protesting she was framed and that she wanted to her phone call - a moment after I shut the door I heard Jack make the same claims.  I hate leaving them like that, but it is necessary until they can both be given freedom to relax in the house without us home.

When I returned both were quiet, though I could see Jack had moved his crate in during his protests and Emma had found the hole in the bed in her crate and destuffed it while I was gone.  I cleaned up their crates and relined Emma's with a new blanket.  I am leaving Jack without bedding for the second outing - he's shredding his bedding and thus lost permission to have any for right now.

I didn't train this morning.  I had too much to do to get ready to head out of the house, so I fed Jack and Emma their breakfast as a meal in their bowls.  They ate well and were satisfied with full tummies when I left.

On my return I trained both Emma and Jack.  They were more than ready to train and I had a great set of sessions with both of them!  What an amazing level of progress Jack made since yesterday - he simply amazes me.  He's finished his food for here for the day, but tomorrow I look forward to a longer training session before my afternoon appointments.  I believe Jack is getting the idea of what is paying and not paying and is offering the behaviors I want more and more!  I am very pleased with this.

Today's Lessons:

Puppy Push Ups

I have been trying to teach Jack Puppy Push Ups since he arrived.  What are Puppy Push Ups?  It is rotating the dog between a Sit, Flat and Brace (Sit, Down, Stand) in different orders to teach him that he can do a Flat from a Sit and a Flat from a Brace; a Sit from a Flat and a Sit from a Brace and a Brace from a Flat and a Brace from a Sit.  The three allow me to teach him the different cues faster and to proof them with stimulus control by ensuing he's doing the cue he's told instead of the cue he thinks might come next and getting into a chain of behaviors.

Jack has been hard to lure or get to participate in Puppy Push Ups and I was frustrated that a great training tool as outside our grasp currently.  Today he was offering Brace, Flat and Sit in rapid fire succession to get me to click and treat him.  I am still doing some luring, but as he comes into the position I am telling him what it's called and switching between hand and verbal cues as we play the game.  Jack did a great first and second round of Puppy Push Ups before he grew tired of them and stopped playing the game.  Now that I know his limit, I will keep the game just below that number and keep him wanting more!

Sit

Jack is working on Level 1: Step 3 Sit Comeafters.  Jack is to learn to offer sits when I am in different positions to him.  Since I am building up his overall understanding of Sit, I have taken him to many new locations this week to practice.  The front yard, the office and kitchen and ramp and even out in the street to work on his sits.  I ask for sits to go outside and sits to get his leash on and sits to get affection.  I ask for sits a lot and reward them with either food, affection or life rewards.

Today I asked for a sit and showed him he could stay seated in one direction while I walked around him.  At first he would break his sit and try to turn toward me, but with his height I was able to keep his head following me instead of his body and soon I was walking circles around Jack.  This is currently off leash and only in my kitchen, but it is a huge breakthrough for Jack and I am very proud of him.

Observatoins

Jack has separation anxiety.  He's a soft natured boy who needs to know what is happening around him and where his people are to totally feel secure right now.  My leaving today with him in a known crate (his crate from home) has helped a bit with his Velcro mode - he went and laid by the front door while I worked Emma today, which is new.  What he does have though is a fear that I won't return if I leave him.

To help with this I leave him in the house off and on when I go to the mailbox or check outside.  I shut a door between him and I and do something in a room without him and I crate him when I leave with Max for an errand he can't attend and return and make no big deal out of my return when I release him from the crate.  I will start some crate work to help him stay calm in it when he can't see me for short periods of time and build up until he's fully crate trained, but for right now, I am giving him a whole picture that his world will not end if I am not in sight.

This week will be hard for him, because I don't have a lot of time to crate train him, but I will work with him while I am here to help him understand my leaving his sight is not the end of his world.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	2	2	3	2

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	1	0	0	0	0
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	1	0	0	0
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	0	0	1	0	0

Level 3

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

Level 4

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