18 Months: September 16 - 20

Goofy Jack.

Jack the goof!  What a silly boy Jack has been.  He loves to learn so much he gets to excited to learn.  he makes me laugh.  Just today I was working with Jack on retrieve and he did this flop and flip thing with the dish cloth we were working with.  He's funny and playful and gentle and can be a handful to train because of it.

Jack is learning to retrieve.  With the number of times I've seen his handler unable to pick up anything due to spasms in her back it became the priority for our learning.  He was so excited about grabbing the items I was offering he wasn't getting anywhere close to a hold.  I decided to change direction with him and shaped him to picking up a dish cloth.  It took two days of shaping, but he got it.  He's not perfect, but he's getting closer every time we work on it.

Since the break through of picking up items I have worked on his putting them into my hand with purpose.  Jack is not natural at sharing what he has in his mouth and this has been a harder lesson for him.  He's starting to move his nose forward and place the item in my palm, but it will be another week of training before we see the final product.

Another factor for Jack is he thinks I am pointing out food when I point and forgets I am asking him to pick up something.  So this too is being slowly worked on.  He's starting to get the idea that when I point I want him to pick up something, but again, we are in the rough stage of carving out a new behavior and none of it is very pretty right now.

While working on this we revisit the idea of taking and holding an object in his mouth for me.  He's bearing down with his teeth with a great deal of pressure and I have tried different textures and densities to see what would soften his grip and get the focus on what I am really working on.  It appears Jack is gentlest with metal objects, which he has no problem taking in his mouth, so I will work on his hold with a fork or spoon for a while and then transfer the idea to softer objects when he has the concept.

We also worked on Mat behavior and Distance this week.  In his class he was introduced to the idea of getting on and stopping on his mat.  I continued the lesson the following day and was seeing him get on and drop on his mat.  Nice.  I also worked on going around a pole.  I worked a bit on it o Monday, where he was totally confused and had no clue what I was asking, and again on Wednesday where he got the idea and started showing signs he understood.

We need to continue Zen for Jack.  He is so food focused that he stops thinking when I hold treats.  I have been using a treat bin and reaching only for the treats after I have clicked instead.  This has slowed him down a bit and gotten him to thinking of what he needs to do to make me click and treat.

I have also used shaping for this concept.  I want him to understand he has to do something for me to click and treat.  Once he gets THAT rule he should excel at learning.

Overall Jack is progressing with retrieve nicely.  When we were working in the kitchen I did see a lot of offered behaviors where he was figuring out what I was clicking for.  He did sits, flats, targets, paw raised (for shake) and eye contact all for a click before looking at the dish cloth.  I see a bit of that when I am sitting also.

When I am sitting the primary thing he offers is a flat or head on my lap.  The behavior of head on lap is due to our need to clear a thick semi white goo out of his eyes daily.  I started it in the bathroom, where he follows me and wants my attention.  I have treats by the toilet and when he lets me clean his eyes he gets one.  I have taught him to rest his head on my lap and let me clean his eyes - it is becoming a loving default behavior when I sit anywhere - which will make it easy to teach him a task for providing comfort when his human is having major spasms.  I find when he does that and I am in a lot of pain that it eases my pain to run my finders through his hair or pet his head while he rests there like that.

Overall, Jack is doing well this with his training.  I need to slow him down a bit so he can learn and progress, but otherwise I am happy with his progress.

Jack will have surgery on his tail next Monday.  His tail bone is still growing on the end and has pierced the skin.  To prevent infection or injury to his tail the bone spur will be removed and his tail cleaned up after the bone is cauterized to prevent regrowth.  He may need rest more than training next week.

18 Months: Progress Update

Gentleman Jack

I know it's been a long time since I wrote on Jack's blog, but that doesn't mean that Jack's training came to a halt.  A lot has happened for Jack and myself since our last update.

I had a foster dog for a while.  Her name was Maura and she was a handful all by herself.  During her stay here Jack stayed at his owner's home during the day.  At first she tried to crate Jack during the day, but that failed miserably.  Deva, Jack's German Shepherd sister, taught Jack he could escape the crate on day one.  Together they found enough trouble to ruin Jack's owner's language.  I was informed they had raided the counter, chewed a phone, destroyed DVD cases and basically found all sorts of mayhem.  This continued the entire time Jack stayed unsupervised and by the time he returned to me, he was without question out of control when it came to the crate.

I had barely instilled crate skills in Jack at the time, and thus found myself at a loss as to what to do about Jack and his crate behaviors now that they were gone.  Since a friend (Thanks Judy) loaned me a set of crates to crate Maura, Emma and Dieter (who at the time was still crate bound) I had enough crates to rotate who was in what crate if I had to run an errand.  Emma went into a plastic crate as did Dieter and Jack took over the wire crate.  He also came very close to destroying it.

After two rounds in the wire crate and no successful escape, Ronda brought back Jack's crate.  The one he learned he could escape from.  I once again asked him to stay in his crate while I was gone.  I came up with a few strategies to convince him that escaping crates in MY home was not possible.  I removed his bedding - since he returned to shredding it again - and then parked my power chair in front of the door with the back of the crate pressed against a wall.  Low and behold, Jack couldn't escape and within three times of leaving him for errands I was able to return bedding without his shredding it.  I left the power chair in place each time I left for up to 5 times of leaving him in the crate and then moved to leaving the glide rocker in front of his crate door.  I did this until Monday.  On Monday I crated him, didn't block the door and left for a quick errand to pick up my son.  He was still in his crate when I returned.  I did it a second time when I took my son home.  Today I left him again in his crate when I went to run his Rott/Mix sister Chautzie to the vet - which is the longest time to date of leaving him in an unblocked crate and returned to him calmly and quietly waiting for me.

The howling, fit throwing, door popping behavior has been replaced by a dog who willingly enters his crate, quietly lays down and is calm and waiting for me when I return.  I am not getting the howling (which we had not fully removed before the upset in his crate training) and over excited behavior on exit I used to get.  This does not mean he's crate trained for anywhere but my home just yet.  I need to take this one the road and build up his crate behavior again and again until he's crate trained - but we are making progress.

When we last left Jack he was struggling with Zen.  His drive for food was so strong that he couldn't think and thus learn.  Jack is now 18 months old and with age his ability to self contain has improved.  I started to make real progress on Zen once he returned and watched it blossom when Jack attended his first group class.

Jack took Headstart at Diamonds in the Ruff in August. I saw a huge improvement in Jack as he took this class.  Ronda and I took turns taking him into class, so I also got to chance to see his progress as he attended from one week to another in the classroom setting.  Another bonus was I was an assistant for one of his classes, so I got to see him in class all three weeks!  It was fantastic.

His Zen snapped into place after the first class he attended.  He picked it up at the Ruff House and carried it over to my home.  He also learned he could be in a busy room and still focus on me, something he had trouble doing.  On his second class he was very alert to Ronda, and was - with some difficult - able to ignore me.  Ronda was having a bad back day and Jack was alerting her to her pain and comforting her.  I took him to his third class and the dog I had taken in on the first one was refined and controlled.  He could relax and put his chin down, join in on the training, wasn't as worried about the instructors and his Zen was up to my putting treats on his feet and all around him.

Meanwhile we've worked on leash manners, focus on us while out and about and adding duration to his sit and flat.  I've also been working on his separation anxiety.  What I haven't done is an honest evaluation of where Jack is and what needs to be done next.  I'll be doing that shortly and move forward with Jack's training.

Right now Jack is attending Prep at Diamonds in the Ruff.  I will check what his homework for the week is and work on that as well so he has greater success in his classes.

16 Months: Training - Day 39

Jack spent a 4 day weekend with Ronda.  She had taken the time off for the Memorial Weekend in hopes to go camping, but had injured her back so badly a week earlier that she was unable to leave for her trip.  Instead, Jack spent the weekend curled up with her and giving her comfort while she recovered.

I am happy to say that for the first time in over a week Ronda was almost walking normally.  Jack truly needs to learn how to do retrieves, something Ronda could have badly used with this injury (something that happens to her whenever she has to bend too many times and I've seen her like this before).  This means working hard on his other foundation skills that build up to the retrieve.

In that spirit Jack entered my home today to work on shaping.  I spent the day working on two skills that build his understanding that he makes me click and  forces him to think of what I am asking of him.  It was a good day for training for Jack, but a bad day of no play.  Emma injured her ACL at the end of last week and is on restricted activity, which means that Jack and her cannot just relax and play like they normally do.

I do want to mention I have noted that Jack's concept of waiting to get what he wants is still very poor.  Though he's offering some level of "other dog Zen" and I am seeing Zen creep into his daily life, his idea of waiting for a treat or not mugging a person who is eating or even not jumping on his Mom when she comes to pick him up is low.

I have setup some "Zen" traps in my home.  Emma fell for one and learned quickly that if a bone, even a new tasty one, is not on the floor for her to have she cannot just take it and chew on it.  I have placed a bone in the window sill by my front door.  It is now being left alone without issue by her and Jack.  I also left a slice of cooked bacon on my counter today for  most of the day and noted no dog attempted to get on the counter to steal it.  This is fantastic, because it tells me where Jack is on his Zen concepts.  Jack has Zen issues with people in general.

Today's Lessons:

Sit

Jack is working on Level 2: Step 1 Sit.  In this step Jack is asked to sit while I walk 5 feet away from him.  Jack is able to do this now 90% of the time I work on this step.  He is also able to handle my walking around him in both directions and walking 5 feet to his left and right.  Jack is about to pass this step.

In the training I am doing with Jack on this step he's working in a low distraction setting and has little problem with the lesson.  On the other hand, working with his Mom when she arrives is very different.  Today we started his lesson on sitting and waiting for her to walk up to him.  With her back finally on the mend enough to give her relief and return her to her normal pain levels, the last thing I wanted was for Jack's jumping up on her and bouncing off of her to reflare her spasms.

I put Jack on lead and stood on it when I opened the door.  I had put Emma in the bathroom and let Max and Dieter exit the house when I opened the door.  I told Ronda to walk toward him only if he was sitting and to stop when he broke his sit.  It took us up to 5 minutes before Ronda could cross the 5 feet to him while he was seated.

Once she got to him he jumped up and I took the lead and walked him away from her.  He had to walk back on a loose lead (which he defaults too) and great her calmly.  Whenever he got too excited or he jumped I once again walked him away and returned him to his Mom.  In the end he stood close to her and kept his cool.  It took a total of 10 minutes to work through this, but Jack learned a lot and got the ultimate reward of greeting his Mom when he succeeded.

We'll continue this process to teach Jack to calmly greet her when she comes to pick him up.

Shaping

Today I wanted to teach Jack about his body and his ability to make me click.  I also wanted to work on Jack learning to think and try new things.  When Jack gets confused he lays down and stops moving and I want to break him out of that pattern and teach him he can and should offer me behaviors to find out what I am asking of him.

To do this I worked with him on sitting in a box.  Jack has had a couple of lessons with the box before and he's getting the clue the box has something to do with the lesson, but not what yet.  Today he tried sniffing, sitting and laying by the box.  I would toss the treats off to the side for him and to my amazement Jack looked at the tossed treat and then to me, I gave him the go ahead to eat them and he got up and did so.  So, my Zen training is taking, just not in some areas I need it!

Jack did get his front feet in the box once today, but he's not fully into shaping with the box.  I think I'll continue this lesson until Jack gets the idea he can do many things with the box to get a click.

Observations

Jack is a sweet and loving boy, but he's a bit clingy and pushy with his need to be in on everything.  He needs more real life experience in Zen and lessons on Communication in regards to giving space when people are walking through the house.  Jack is progressing nicely and this week should be fun as we work our way into shaping behaviors with the box.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	2	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	3	0	1	1	4
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	1	1	1	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

15 Months: Training - Day 38

Food Dish Zen - Max, Attitude and Dieter.

Attitude always struggled with Zen also.

Zen, the foundation to all the other behaviors Jack needs, seems to be his hardest lesson. Jack is better than when he arrived and had zero Zen behaviors, but he's still putting his nose in or on everything and tries at least once a day to steal a treat out of another dog's mouth while I am training them.  His "other dog working Zen" is improving daily, but he's still struggling with it. So, I chant daily with him, "Zen, Zen and Zen!"

Zen; what is it?  It's the ability to wait to get a reward.  To wait to get the reward to go outside or his turn for a treat when I am doling them out to the entire household or a pet or even to get his treat AFTER he's done a behavior and not try to take it from my hand BEFORE.  Zen means wait and you'll get what you desire - most of the time anyway.

So, here is Jack, Mr. Impatient himself, trying to figure out exactly what I want and he's starting to get it.  The classes I have taken with Emma, which has had some new material as compared to the same class when I took it with Max, has helped.  That new material has given me more tools for explaining Zen.  Max's classes have also worked. In Max's classes we are learning how to ramp up or calm down a dog depending on our needs.  In this case, Jack needs to be calmed down around treats - and he's getting it.

So, Mr. Impatient is starting to display true Zen behaviors in certain situations - the more I explain and the better I explain what I want will lead to him offering it in all situations.  Here's hoping for that happening.

One thing he needs serious Zen in is "Mom is home Zen".  Ronda has done something to her back and has been in terrible pain.  She's walking like poor Dieter was at the beginning of the week.  I can see it wearing her and slowing her down.  She's clearly struggling with the pain and Jack's over reaction to her returning home is only adding to that pain.  Jack jumps on her and mugs her when she returns and that is something we'll need to stop.  I think tomorrow Jack will learn jumping at her will result in being stuffed in my front bathroom - he simply needs to learn calm when she returns home.

I do want to apologize to Ronda.  I was on the phone with my Mom when she arrived to pick up Jack and my son was there.  I didn't have time to chat or even dress Jack and manage the dogs.  I felt bad because I felt rude to my best friend when she picked up her very energetic boy and my sending Walter out to help her get him dressed.  I am sorry I didn't give you any time to chat or find out how things went - I wasn't ignoring you, honestly!

Today's Lessons:

Zen

Jack is working on Level 2: Step 3 Zen.  In this step Jack is asked to wait 30 seconds while a treat is on the floor.  Jack is not ready for this - 1 second is a life time to him right now.  I am still working on quick rewards for eye contact and working the same basic lessons I did yesterday.  Jack is improving rapidly on these and I am starting to see the confidence in the game which means he's finally understanding.

Once Jack is able to offer Zen the moment he knows a treat is in my hand we'll be well on the way to solid Zen behavior.  I will continue to remind and refresh on Zen behavior until Jack becomes the Zen King.

Observations

I believe a stronger job of controlling Jack's greeting of Ronda when she comes to pick him up is required.  His jumping and mugging is a clear sign he loves her, but not appropriate behavior and needs to be redirected.  I will think on various ways to explain to him what I want and work with Ronda on teaching him a calmer greeting routine.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	2	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	3	0	1	1	4
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	1	1	1	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

15 Months: Training - Day 37

I see this a lot during the day.

This is Wednesday's blog post.  My week has been so full with building raised beds and caring for Dieter and dealing with server issues with my day job that I am running behind on a lot of basic work for the dogs!  Jack is doing great though and I am very proud with how well he occupies himself when I am busy.

Jack and Emma have been playing hard when we have outside time and learning a lot of new thing while he's here.  He started the week with power saws and power drills while my Mom and I built four new raised beds for my yard and I was pleased to see him sleep through the process.  He has been doing well on letting other dogs eat out of their bowls without trying to help and he's starting to off "other dog training Zen", though it is so very hard to do.

He's also spent the week giving me snuggles and hugs a lot.  He's a very affectionate dog and loves to give kisses or just be held in a hug - something dogs normally don't like, but he hugs back and he loves it.

I also shaved his face. He was squinting through the fur on his face and I finally couldn't take it anymore and took my clippers to him.  At first he and I were playing a dance of "how do we do this" and by the end of the clipping he was reluctant, but willing to let me finish the job.  He and I are now working on "clippers can make you feel happy" by my pulling them out and having him touch them with his nose and giving him a treat.  After three days of this he is wagging the moment he sees the clippers.  I have had them unplugged sometimes and plugged others and done it with them both on and off (he doesn't nose touch if they are on, just looks at them).

But with the busy week our training schedule has been off a bit and he's not working on lessons as often or long as he was before his vacation.  Hopefully next week will be better for both of us.

Today's Lessons:

Zen

Jack is working on Level 2: Step 3 Zen.  In this step Jack is asked to stay away from a treat on the floor for 30 seconds.  Jack's Zen has been his weakest point.  He simply cannot keep his mind around food and he's very very very very hand oriented.  He loves to nibble on fingers when he's excited - though there is not pressure or malice in the act - it is a sign that he has a problem with self control regarding hands.

I have been working Zen in as many ways as I can find to help him keep his nose, teeth and tongue under control.  Jack would be fantastic at Zen if his mouth would just listen to his brain!  In Emma's Finishing School class we were shown a few ways to explain Zen to the dogs and I am using those techniques with Jack to further explain to him what I want.

I am asking him to look to me, not my hand, not the treat, but me when he sees the Zen hand.  I have not added the cue back in yet and won't until he's got total control of himself - Jack simply gets too excited and tries stealing treats out of my hands the moment he smells them.

These new techniques are working.  One is to hold treats in both hands off to the sides at shoulder level.  Jack can look at my hand all he wants, but he will not get a treat until he looks at my face.  He quickly got this idea, since it gave him a clear "what to do" action, and he was quickly locking into my face and eyes and not even looking at the hands.  When I said "Yes" to mark he did right I would feed a treat from the hand he did not look at.

Another technique places the treats on a chair or my knee and again he's not to look at the food, but into my face.  He had a harder time with this at first, but soon had it and was a champ.  Each time he looked into my eyes I would click and feed a treat from the pile right into his mouth.

Taking the second technique further I put a pile of treats on the floor and would only pick up and hand him one when he looked me in the eyes.  Again, the click happened when he focused on me and not the food.  This one again threw him for a loop and he was on his side, sliding into home with tongue in action trying to slurp a treat from under my protective hand.  He got it in the end, but he had a hard time with this concept.

We worked for his entire lunch on this lesson.

Sit

Jack is working on Level 2: Step 1 Sit.  In this step Jack is asked to sit while I walk 5 feet away from him.  Jack has a hard time with this concept.  He wants to get up and follow, something he does naturally with people he likes, and finds my walking away too tempting not to follow me.

He is starting to get the concept and I am starting to see confidence in his sit when I walk away or around him. He is starting to build duration on every 10th time I walk away and we got up to 6 seconds by the end of his breakfast!  Great job!

Observatons

Jack is a sweet boy who loves people in general.  Once he considers you part of his world he's like glue on you. I am one of his "people" and he loves to see me.  He gives hugs and kisses and even just leans into me and rests his head in my lap off and on all day long.  He is the most affectionate dog I have ever met.

He has a hard time therefore being separated from his people.  Learning Distance and Duration will give Jack more confidence and he should come out of Level 2 with an extremely solid foundation in key behaviors of Sit, Down and Stay.

Jack is doing a great job and I am not worried about his progress at this time.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	2	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	3	0	1	1	4
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	1	1	1	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

15 Months: Training - Day 36

Jack is learning to sit for duration.

Yes folks, Jack is back!  Jack went on a 10 day trip with Ronda and experienced a lot of exciting events.  He stayed in hotels, visited restaurants and even went to a Zoo.  He did fantastic on his trip and was able to do some service dog work while he traveled.  When at the Zoo, Ronda had difficulty going up a hill, which is part of what Jack is being trained to assist with, and he was able to provide the forward momentum work she needed to finish climbing the hill.  She also experienced times when her balance went awry and he was able to assist with her maintaining her balance and not fall.  Great job, Big Boy!

He was also able to attend a graduation and the reception afterwards.  What a busy time for Jack.  He soared through without much issue.  He had a couple of events that frightened him, but Ronda handled the situations properly and he gained confidence.

Today he walked through my gate like he never left.  We had seen each other over the weekend and the moment he'd seen me he jumped up and hugged me.  I am clearly a person he loves and enjoys seeing.  He was thrilled when I just fed him his breakfast, since my Mom was over and we were in the process of making raised beds for my yard.

Today Jack settled into the life of visiting Auntie Charlie by playing in the yard, wrestling with Emma and stealing Max's Frisbee whenever he could.  He was a perfect gentleman and I noted several wonderful changes with him.

Before he left for his vacation with Ronda he was a bit sound sensitive and jumpy when things fell.  He slept next to the tree, less than 8 feet away from the saw horses where we were using a power saw to cut wood.  He just looked when boards dropped to the ground or we dropped a tool.  He even looked when I accidently dropped my grab stick on him - a complete change from Mr. Turtle who would flip over onto his back and flail his legs in the air when things fell around him.

Jack is a very stable dog who I have little doubt will succeed in becoming a fantastic service dog in no time.

Today's Lessons:

Sit

Jack is working on Level 2: Step 1 Sit.  In this step Jack is asked to maintain his sit while I walk up to 5 feet away from him.  At first he had a bit of problems with this step and then seemed to settle in and remember what I was asking.  We had worked on this before and he was close to handling the concept, but hadn't perfected it yet.

Today I worked on a bit of duration while standing five feet away from him. One nice thing to see with his return is he isn't sliding into home like he did previously.  I had him slide into a down only once and after that he had a stronger and more controlled sit.  I do believe he's strengthened his stomach muscles, which has made doing the sit sit for duration easier.

I only got one training session in today, since I had a busy morning building raised bed boxes and caring for my male Dachshund, Dieter, who ruptured a disc in his back.  Dieter requires a lot of personal care when he goes outside.

Instead, Jack got to settle back into the routine of coming to my home and training with a light training day and lots of good play.

Observations

Jack is maturing into a fine dog.  He's still a goofy boy who enjoys playing and is a calm boy who can lay and quietly watch me work.  He is confident when dealing with new situations and gentle when meeting people.  He can be a bit of an alarmist when seeing another dog or person at a distance, but I am working on that.  He isn't when on lead, just when in the yard, but it is something I am working on with him, Max and Emma.

Today I shaved his face down, since his face hair had grown long again.  He's due for grooming and Ronda is arranging his appointment, but until then I decided he'd be more comfortable if he wasn't squinting through the hair on his face.  He's not totally comfortable with the idea of being shaved, but let me do it.

I will have to work on clicking for grooming to make a required part of his life easier on him.  I will include that in his daily training.  I will keep everyone updated on his progress.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	2	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	3	0	1	1	4
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	1	1	1	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

14 Months: Training - Day 35

This training board allows the dogs to practice new skills.

Jack is progressing nicely with Target.  Like Emma, I decided to work on a single behavior this week to get him really thinking about what I was asking of him and it made a huge difference in his learning curve.  Today I pulled out the training board and worked with Jack pushing the "door" shut during his breakfast.  He was trying to solve the problem, but not really fully involved and it dawned on me that I have been asking both Emma and him to do behaviors that require a bit higher value reward to get them engaged in the training.

I chopped up some hot dog and cheese and added it to his kibble for lunch and sure enough, Jack was ready and willing to play my games and stayed engaged and involved the whole time we worked.  I even saw the "hey, why did we stop" look when I told him it was break time.

Once Jack knows a behavior he offers it with total commitment, but until then he's tentative and shy about offering anything.  I don't think he's fully equated that there is technically no wrong answer, just no click.  He'll get it and start offering more active behaviors when he's trying to get me to click.

It's been a great week with Jack and I believe he's progressing in both his basic training and public access training nicely.  I hope soon he can attend his first class and really begin expanding his horizons.

Today's Lessons:

Target

Jack is working on Level 2: Step 5 Target.  In this step Jack is asked to close a cabinet door with his nose. Jack yesterday got the idea to touch a flat surface, a wall, with his nose on cue, so today I brought out the training board and showed him what we are actually working toward.  Jack was curious about and willing to work with the training board and progressed nicely on his morning lessons.  He was touching the "door" on the board with enough force to move it and eventually close it.

On our afternoon sessions we worked with an actual cabinet door.  Jack closed the door several times, but he's still shy and tentative with the behavior, so we'll continue to work this step for a while.

Jack is progressing nicely.

Homework

Jack needs to practice Level 2 Target - both the steps and Comeafters this weekend.

Work on Come as a good thing.  When out in the yard call Jack to you and give him a reward for coming to you.  Teach Jack to come quickly by making Come fun when just relaxing in and out of the house.

Observations

Jack will be heading to a new adventure soon.  Ronda, his owner, has a vacation planned in which she'll be traveling with Jack.  I won't be seeing him during that period of time, though I will be caring for her Dachshund DJ.  I believe Jack will enjoy his travels and practicing his skills while out in the world.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	2	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	3	0	1	1	4
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	1	1	1	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