13 Months: Training - Day 25

Jack is a big happy boy!

Jack's world is changing each day we train.  He's learned to communicate with me and is now working on figuring out what I want.  He does the same with his owner, Ronda, as well.  He has a huge love for Ronda and jumps on her when she comes to pick him up.  We are working on that behavior by having him sit before he can greet her and now we are bringing back off of Ronda when he starts to jump and request a sit again.  It's a process which will eventually lead to Jack understanding he can't jump on her to greet her.

I am thinking though I may work with him, solo, at the gate when it's time for him to greet her and click for calm when he sees her at the end of the day.  It will define what we want with better clarification and should speed up the process for both of us.  I want to do something similar with Emma when she's greeting new people, but again, the goal will be to work with both dogs solo and then combine them in higher distractions until they can join the entire group in the house and stay calm when the greet people at my door.

I do not have to train this behavior at the door for them to understand the concept.  I can take them to a less charged location and train the behavior so they understand it and then work it in the door when they are ready.  That is the joy of training - you don't have to setup the exact situation to give them the tools and then later, when they have those tools, add the situation back in to help them understand why they were taught how to cope with a new and stressful situation.

This weekend Jack got to go on a short field trip with Ronda.  She called to discuss it before taking him and did a fantastic job of watching his body language and noting the areas that caused Jack stress.  He went to Costco for less than 15 minutes - she noted the sound of the freezer section and the hot tub they had in the building both caused him stress.  I will take him back to work on those two areas again and help him have a positive experience with both locations.

She then took him to Northwest Seed and Pet for less than 15 minutes again.  He was tired by this time and a bit aloof, but still calm and relaxed at her side.  He was a bit worried about the tight aisles, but in the end he did fantastic.  These short and focused trips are helping Jack learn to work in public and Ronda wanted to ensure she knew what to look for to prevent him learning bad habits in public - she kept his nose under control, watched his body language and respected his need for reassurance when needed.  Nice job, Ronda.

Today's Lessons:

Sit

Jack is working on Level 1: Step 4 Sit.  In this step Jack is asked to sit at an open door. Today I worked with walking up to my office door and asking Jack to sit just before it.  Jack did great and soon was offering a sit as soon as we got to the door without a cue.  Since we've also worked on this for my opening the front door and his waiting to be released to go outside, I am happy with his progress.  We'll continue to work on this behavior until it is very strong and he's able to sit at an open door for 30 seconds, but will continue to progress Sit other ways as well.

Jack started Level 2: Step 1 Sit.  In this step Jack is to sit while I walk five feet away from him.  At first Jack found this very difficult.  I would go to move and he'd stand to follow.  It took many tiny slices until Jack understood what I was asking.  Jack does tend to slide into a down if asked to do a sit for an extended time, so this behavior, which has a high rate of re-enforcement, is perfect for building up his stamina as we begin to build duration in his sit.

Jack did well with this step and I will continue to build his sit up and begin adding duration in 1 second increments until he can easily keep his position until asked to take a new one.

I worked with Jack for 10 sessions on Level 2: Step 1 Sit and 5 sessions with Jack on Level 1: Step 4 Sit.

Observations

Jack is starting to really think when we are doing a lesson.  He was just reacting and offering behaviors that had worked in the past, but now that I am adding difficulty to his behaviors he's having to think of what will make me click.  It's a wonderful transition from learning to communicate to learning to think and I enjoy this part of starting with a dog as much as I enjoy the first glimmers of understanding in Level 1.

We'll continue to work on Sit and Down with distance and Duration and finish his Level 1 behaviors this week.  Thankfully, my son is visiting, so I can work on Come finally with him and see if we can't get it fully completed.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	2	4	4

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	2	0	1	0	1
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	1	0	2	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