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| Who woulda thunk he'd be such an amazing dog the day I took this? |
It was in a discussion with this very friend that I came to my solution. Robin, my friend, is working with a more experienced trainer than either of us and he's sharing some wonderful insights. Each time she learns something new from him she shares it with me and builds up my toolbox. I would love to go and spend time with this man and learn from him, but that isn't in the cards right now. Instead, I get the benefit of learning from what he's taught Robin and applying those lessons to my dogs.
I have changed the program a bit since last we left. I normally fed all the dogs first thing in the morning and then worked on lessons individually with the dogs in my charge. This method had left it a bit willy nilly with their training, unlike when I first started with Emma and used her meals as her treats and had her earn her kibble, but even then, it wasn't structured right. I worked her too long sometimes and too short others. It was happening with all of the dogs and I could tell it was either inhibiting their ability to work or not giving them enough information to make the connection with the lesson.
Today Jack earned every kibble I gave him. He gets a single meal at my home during the day and that meal constitutes his training treats for the day. One cup of kibble is a lot of training. The trick is not to try to feed him all of it all at once, but to spread it out over the course of the day and do structured lessons.
Today Jack worked on Zen, Retrieve, Sit/Stay and Focus. As one knows, Zen is the foundation to all the behaviors needed to become a solid pet dog and/or working dog. Jack has had struggles with Zen and we've approached it with different methods to help him learn. Ronda has done a fantastic job with his homework. I returned to Zen Level 1: Step 1 again today with Jack and was extremely pleased with his focused and calm approach to the lesson. It was clear from the very first Zen hand that Jack had been working on his lessons at home.
We did 2 sessions of Zen. In the first we worked solely on keeping his nose away from my closed hand. He got rapid fire rewards for the 2 minutes we worked. On the second lesson Jack worked on making eye contact when presented with the Zen hand and attaching the cue "Leave It" to the behavior. Jack did very good with this lesson and was able to keep his nose away from my hand and make solid eye contact.
We did two sessions on Retrieve today also. I structured his first lessons to be 2 minutes with a 2 minute break between them and then built up to 3 minute lessons with a 2 minute break between them. Jack was able to take the pencil in his mouth and hold it without chomping down on it for up to 3 seconds with a bit of fussing and close to chomping behavior between 4 and 5 seconds. He is starting to hold the pencil more behind his canines than in his molars, though about 3 seconds he starts to move the pencil behind his molars. I returned to just taking the pencil in his mouth behind his canines and rewarding that for several repeats before asking for duration in 1 second increments again. I was able to get up to a good 3 second hold, but need to stop his head movement before I push him further on duration.
We did 2 lessons on Sit/Stay. The first lesson he worked on just sitting in a more upright position. I had been thinking on what made Jack more likely to slide into a down and not hold a sit for 2 to 3 seconds at a time and what made Malcolm and Emma such super stars at a Sit/Stay. It is the position of his front feet. He has them a bit too far forward and he's all sloppy in his sit. He looks like a pouting teenager when he sits. So, to start the lesson I asked for sits and only the ones where he had a good posture did he get a reward for. I will continue this to improve his posture and increase his success at a Sit/Stay.
After that we worked on simple duration. I stood less than 5 feet away from him and clicked for 3 and 5 second Sit/Stays. He was solid at 3 seconds, but weak at 5 seconds. We got one 7 second Sit/Stay, but it was clear I was pushing him too fast by the number of times he slid into a down or stood up. I backed up on duration and rebuilt up to a 3 second Sit/Stay and rewarded that and ended the lesson. The second time I got him into a good Sit/Stay position and worked on Distractions. I tapped the wall, waved my arms and moved my feet while he was watching me. He did a great job of staying in a sit and only popped into a stand a couple of times.
We worked Focus 2 times today. I decided to work on eye contact with Distractions. Jack makes fantastic eye contact normally and can keep it pretty well, but only when things are calm. I held my arms off to the side and waved them in circles like a propeller and started to laugh as Jack's eye brows danced from left to right as he tried to make eye contact and peek at my arms at the same time. I had treats in both hands and he was trying very hard to earn them. He made eye contact finally and I gave him a reward. The game was on. I waved them like wings and swung them like an ape and circled them like a ninja - he was able to make eye contact each time. It was a very fun lesson.
Jack earned his first meal of the day by 2 PM and was able to rest and play for the rest of the day. He was clearly tired and content after having worked his brain so much today. I do believe this type of training program will work very well for all of us. I worked with Jack over the course of 30 minutes and got in 6 three minute training sessions and most of his meal in him in the afternoon after working 4 two minute sessions for his morning training session. Even if I only work for 30 minutes a day on lessons in the home he'll be getting more one on one time with me than he had prior to our break; and I won't feel so burnt out as I did previously.
Jack will continue working the Levels in scheduled lessons and public access in planned outings as we take newly acquired skills on the road.
Tuesday
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| Hi, my name is Jack and I have a nose in your face addiction. |
Jack and I have been working on calm, focused Zen behavior since he arrived. He's a snatch and grab dog when it comes to treats in people's hands and when giving a treat to another dog. He is also a bit food stupid and when food is involved he tends to forget himself and looses track of his lessons. It's been a slow and painful road to get his self control installed around food and especially regarding food in people's hands. Seeing this steady progress on Zen and Jack truly working to earn the treats I am offering is wonderful.
Since Jack works for a single cup of kibble a day I am only able to get in about 6 lessons total for the day. I like to break them up to prevent tiring myself out and give Jack time to process and work on the lesson we just worked on. On Monday I had worked three lessons switching between what we were working on and thought better of it for our future training sessions. Instead I pick two behaviors to work on for the day and split them between our morning and afternoon lessons. This seems to help because Jack's improvement between Round 1 and Round 3 when working a single behavior is remarkable and his return the next day or two days later is even better.
We revisited the other behavior that had been a major issue for us - Sit/Stay. Jack has been unable to break the 2 or 3 second barrier for months regarding Sit/Stay. He tends to slide into a down and/or wander off and disengage from the lesson. It has been a terribly frustrating lesson for both of us. Over the vacation I returned to reading my Levels Book (reminder, do this sooner) and found a trouble shooting section on the very problem I was having. I hadn't even thought that Jack's teenage slouch sit could be the problem, but it really was.
I mentioned this to Ronda and asked she only reward sits in which Jack made a good triangle when he sat. This meant he needed to have his front feet properly under his shoulders and wasn't rocked back on his hips like he'd just drank too much. She did this over the vacation and I could see the results of her careful reward system for solid, proper sits - Jack is now placing his front feet at an angle that improves his ability to stay in a seated position.
With this part of retraining his sit in place and his Zen improving Jack broke through the 3 second barrier with a vengeance. We flew through 3 seconds and then 5 seconds and ended the first round at 7 seconds. I was in heaven with this sudden improvement and his quiet, focused approach to the lesson. The two minute break made a remarkable improvement and we blew threw 7 seconds to 9 seconds by the end of the lesson. I wasn't clicking yet at a solid average for our increasing difficulty and would later learn to vary the rate of enforcement better, but I was using a varying rate of enforcement as I normally do to keep him engaged and throwing the longer Sit/Stays in off and on to see how he was doing.
Our third round went up to 11 seconds! What a remarkable change from the dog that got me so frustrated that I was inventing new swear words when working. I am certain every dog in the house thinks I am mental because I mutter curses under my breath in a happy sing song. It's the frustration of knowing that somehow, somewhere our communication was broken. My conversations with other trainers who have different or more experience than I and taking classes with the dogs has improved my communication with the dogs overall and I am finally not cursing under my breath in a sing song, but enjoying the sudden blast of success we are having. It's the upcoming plateu that will bring back my special language, I just know it.
Wednesday
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| Boy they make the beds small here. |
We did three rounds of Level 1 Zen and managed to get him still for 3 seconds, but couldn't get stillness for 4 or 5 seconds. I swear Jack learns in circles more than a straight line. He'll get it one day and circle back and repeat what we just went though the next and be solid by the end of a lesson and then not have it for a day or two.
For our second lesson of the day we did Retrieve for Round 1. He's also chicken necking when we work on his hold. Jack is retrieving objects for his handler and me, but he doesn't have a soft mouth or a solid hold and he's a bit wild with his retrieve still. I am smoothing the retrieve out, which is happening in stages, and building a solid hold and soft mouth. The pencil in the picture should display what I mean. It started as a new pencil and ended a mangled mess. Each week I start with a new pencil and will know when I have a solid soft mouth when the pencil ends the week as it started.
I can get him to hold still for 0 to 2 seconds when doing a hold, but after that he either pulls back or pushes forward or does both in rapid succession. I want a still, focused hold, so I am working slowly on getting that stillness at a rate he can handle and process. In time he'll have it and with that hold a lot of wonderful retrieve abilities can be built up, such as helping with laundry and bringing items over a distance to his handler.
Rounds 2 and 3 were on Sit/Stay. I decided to work on distractions for most of the the time we worked. I tapped or banged on the walls, opened and closed cabinets and the fridge and did a funny jig (which with me is very funny) and kept an average rate of re-enforcement of 3 seconds up. He was fanatic after the first couple of times I had to reset him into a sit. He's really getting the idea and just watched and earned his kibble. I ended the lesson with another 11 second stay. He's really made huge progress since we started this new training routine and I am very proud of him and Ronda for all the hard work they do to continue his education.
Thursday
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| It's the weekend! |
For Rounds 2 and 3 we worked on the famous dropping kibble. He had a harder time with this at first, but then got the idea and would look at the falling kibble and then me and get his reward from my stash to the side. I pushed a little hard and bounced a few kibbles off of him and he couldn't control his lips and the kibble somehow ended up in his mouth, but that wasn't his fault.
For our second lesson of the day we did 3 rounds of Retrieve. We have not broken through chicken necking at 3 seconds yet, so I continued to keep his rate of re-enforcement at 1 second and slowly snuck in 3 second holds and managed to get a few nice still ones. We'll continue to work on this and encourage him to keep the pencil behind his canines and not in his molars. He also attempts to shift the pencil to his molars at 3 seconds, so I am cupping the pencil in my hands so he can't flip the pencil back and reward when he stops trying to do so. I am noting a softer mouth is slowly developing.
Jack made amazing progress this week and we got more training in this week than we've done in previous weeks working. I was not nearly as tired by the end of the day with the dogs and the dogs were in much better moods and more relaxed because of the higher level of mental stimulation. The vacation I took was vital for all of us and we are entering a new year with a new attitude on training and achieving goals in ways we never did before. I am very excited about how this week went overall.
| Zen | Target | Come | Sit | Down | |
| Step | Completed | Completed | Completed | Completed | Completed |
Level 2
| Zen | Come | Sit | Down | Target | |
| Step | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | Completed |
| Focus | Lazy Leash | Go To Mat | Crate | Distance | |
| Step | 1 | Completed | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Jump | Relax | Handling | Tricks | Communication | |
| Step | 1 | 4 | Completed | 1 | 4 |
Level 3
| Zen | Come | Sit | Down | Target | |
| Step | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Focus | Lazy Leash | Go To Mat | Crate | Distance | |
| Step | 0 | Completed | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jump | Relax | Handling | Retrieve | Communication | |
| Step | 0 | 0 | Completed | 2 | 0 |
Level 4
| Zen | Come | Retrieve | Target | Relax | |
| Step | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Focus | Lazy Leash | Go To Mat | Crate | Distance | |
| Step | 0 | Completed | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Handling | Communication | ||||
| Step | Completed | 0 |
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