13 Months: Training - Day 26

Max and Jack relax in my office while I write Jack's blog.

Yesterday was a full day for Jack with his sister Chautzie taking a fall and not able to get back up right away and then spending the day learning how to stay in position while I wandered about him.  Exciting and busy for Jack, but I was worried for his sister - she's such a sweet girl and I really didn't want to hear that her time had come just yet.

This morning, as Ronda brought him up the ramp the first question out of my mouth was about Chautzie.  She was up and a lot more stable than she's been in a couple of days and this morning doing well.  We'll take it day by day with her, since we think she may have had a seizure and hit her head on a wall during it.  So, life is a bit unsettled for Jack right now, but we are doing out best to keep it as normal as possible.

So, this morning he found I was out of whack with our normal routine.  I had fed the other dogs already, but my cable had failed and I was on the phone calling to fix it.  I can't get my work done if I can't access the internet.  This set our morning lesson at a later time, but with him sliding out of position on his sit, I found I was unable to keep up with his lesson - so it's been a slow and a bit off day.

So, today we'll work on Sit and Target and see how the rest of my day goes!

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.  I have been working on this behavior for a while with Jack, though he didn't know it.  In my house, to prevent Attitude from being run over when all the dogs exit, I have them sit and wait to be released - generally after I am certain Attitude is out of stampede path.  Jack had to learn to sit facing the door and then keep a sit while the door opened.  Jack does this now without thinking.

Now I am working on him sitting at an already open door. I ask him randomly to sit at a door and reward him with food or affection when he does.  He's doing very well.

Jack is working on Level 2: Step 2 Sit.  In this step Jack is asked to hold his sit for 30 seconds while I stand 5 feet away from him.  Jack did so well with my walking away from him  yesterday I was able to work up to 5 feet away from him, which is what Step 1 asked for.

Today I worked on adding small amounts of duration every so many times I walked up to 5 feet away from Jack.  He did well up to 3 seconds and then started to slide into a Flat.  I will continue to build up Jack's duration with a Sit.

Target

Jack is working on Level 2: Step 1 Target.  In this step Jack is asked to touch a metal, plastic and wood object with his nose.  The more objects we offer him the better he'll understand the behavior.  Jack did well with each object and will start to work on Post It Notes next week after he's had a wide array of objects offered and he's got a solid touch with each new object.

Come

Jack is working on Level 1: Step 2 Come.  In this step Jack is asked to play the Come Game between two people 10 feet apart.  Walter was visiting today and so we tried the game.  Jack doesn't know Walter well and Walter wasn't ready for how aloof Jack can be with strangers.  Walter stationed himself some 20 feet away from me and started trying to call Jack to him and Jack simply sat behind me  and ignored him.  It took my asking Walter to come and stand beside me to get Jack to participate.  He would turn his head when we each made a clicking noise or a kissy noise and fed him a kibble each time.  Though he didn't run or walk between us, we did start a new relationship with Walter and Jack to begin the foundation work of training Jack how to recall.

Observations

I have been dropping my cane or e-cig case every so often, by accident, and Jack has flung himself away in fright.  Emma, on the other hand, moved in to investigate my cane recently after it fell - so I know over time Jack will become accustomed to the events and not startle as badly, but clearly he's never had the sky fall about him.

It looks like a bit of "drop this" and "get a treat" will help Jack through this problem.  It's easy enough to do and will quickly improve his confidence.  I'll miss him throwing himself upside down and flinging his feet in the air like an upturned turtle, but it'll make his future job so much easier.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	2	4	4

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	2	0	2	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