A Week of Training: Friday

Blaze:

• Rally: A fake run through, no signs set up, just seeing where we were. We just need to test this elsewhere and do more training with distractions.

Luna

• Tricks: Working on her paws around an object behavior. She's so gentle! This will be a challenge. I need to go get a PVC bar instead of using random things. But she was readily offering the behavior.
• Tricks 2: Working on getting her up into a begging position. She was sooo hesitant to follow the reinforcer-lure!

Griffin

• Scent: I hid his item twice in the shed (in a plastic bin and up on a shelf), he successfully found it each time, I don't think I helped him other than the "Find it!" cue . When I did 2-3 reps outside (once hidden under shrubbery) I pointed him in the general direction with a "find it" and he started scenting immediately!
• Trick: HOlding an object. He wasn't able to hold his beg position very long, probably sore from yesterday, so only 30-40 seconds on that and I won't do more until tomorrow.
• Field Retrieve: we did 2-3 reps with a bumper. he has a great return to heel and his wait while it was thrown was good too. I need to work on that steady aspect more though as it wasn't as solid as I would like.
• Stacking: Again, just a few reps. Megan fixed my accidental training of getting Griffin shifting his weight back rather than forward so now he looks good
• Grooming: I combed out his back feathers today. We started work on tail but htat'll be some separate training sessions from the back feathers. Tail touch. feed. two hands on tail. feed. When we're doing SFE training I can pull on his tail and swish it and he's steady, but when I have the brush and am thinking brush thoughts.... he knows it. That means I'm going too fast, too far, and not enough reinforcement.

I had all intentions to do tracking at the park or school in the evening, I already had to go to town to work with the 4-H'ers, but it just didn't happen. I intended to do it after, as we finished early and there was still some daylight. That didn't happen either. Hopefully we'll make it out today!

Here's some of the Figure 8 training from Thursday: