Griffin at CD Prep Class IV

We're almost done with class!  I miss the next two weeks and then one week left.   Somehow I mis-counted when I registered, I thought I would miss one class and just the very last week.  My counts were very off!

Tonight half the class was away at big shows, there were just two of us present. I almost had stayed at Training Group (in air conditioning!), but was a good student and came despite the 90* weather.

We started with some big looping heeling.  This was the easiest thing for me. I like being able to go and reinforce the specifics I like. Griffin did well with it. I was careful to stop to let him eat the treats and then only walk forward once he was ready.

Our next heeling activity was taking steps forward and then steps sideways.  This went well but it's so hard to do without turning my head or shoulders.  I don't like having to turn to see that he is parallel. I'm fairly confident on when he is parallel if we are going in a straight line, but when we're doing sidepasses, I don't trust Griffin to keep his back feet tucked in yet.

The following exercise was a big surprise to me, I was sure Griffin would do it.  We were supposed to get spins in both directions while heeling, and then add it into turning corners.  He is 100% in front of me and was 8% next to me. We tried to quick re-get, some in front, somewhat angles, and then next to me.   Not so great.  

We did a few sets of stays, some by ourself, the other dog doing Beginner Novice stays, and then some group stays.   The group stays...we had a brand new dog sit next to Griffin, he started moving to the dog twice...we moved a bit further away and he was good. He broke his eye contact to me a few times to watch things going on, but quickly looked back.  One almost-whine and a bit of shifting his head and front feet.

Stand for Exams: We did a few passes with the instructor walking a path 4' away. Horray.  Griffin did not move in response to her.  But he did move after I marked and before I could get up to him to feed. I was moving too fast going back to reinforce.

Figure 8's were interesting, the instructor does it a bit differently than me, cueing the turns 2-3 steps earlier than what I had been doing.   It was a little hard to adjust to... I'll experiment with this a little to see which works better.

Last was a few sets of recalls, what the instructor titles "Fun Recalls" and then a real one.   I'm not doing recalls to me and between my legs, I want him coming to me with his head up, no ducking down thoughts ever.  And I find the other variations painful....walk forward and back to the dog.  Release and run around.  Get the dog excited, yet stationary, and release to a tossed treat.   It felt messy at times, like he was watching my unintentional body language more than my intended cues.

We'll get to do some more training at camps over the next few weeks.  We aren't forgetting our obedience while we're gone.

A few thoughts after class:
- Some of the heeling activities ("Drills") and recall activities are to get us to be unpredictable and fun.  While Fun is never a bad thing.... I'm conflicted on the unpredictable part. I can understand the benefits and the long tradition of this being part of dog training.  But it's a bit painful for me. I think I want my dog to know what is next, I want him to be able to predict so he can respond to cues as quickly and immediately as possible, without having to think.   Or is the benefit of being able to respond to cues no matter what order, variable, etc....   more worthwhile?
- As I've mentioned recently.... markers are important.   In the first week of class, I tried to just reinforce things the way the instructor wanted. I don't want to be a trouble maker.  But without a distinct marker, my dog was watching my hands too much and trying to predict when my hand would move to his mouth.   Since then I've been trying hard to use a good verbal marker.  Things have improved.
- Stays:   Are progressing. Slowly.

Griffin at CD Prep Class III

Before class we worked on sidepassing (...nothing like last minute homework) and his stand stays. Once we get his tail still, it stays still. But that initial stillness can sure be a problem.

At class:

- Review of what we had done the week before. I wanted to leave Griffin in the car for this, so he wouldn't have to sit. But it was just too hot and the current vehicle doesn't have air. Hopefully next week!

- Call to Heel: Tossing a low value treat, calling the dog to heel. Reinforce with a higher value reinforcer. Griffin was working well enough I was comfortable dropping the leash (big garage doors open, ring gates across the front...easily jumpable!). But he was not returning to heel. Out of five repetitions, only two were correct. The other three he came up next to me. The instructor wanted me to keep walking until he was heeling. I wanted to re-set.... I'm afraid of letting him heel poorly, then well, then mark and reinforce and creating a dangerous behavior chain.

- Left and Right turns: Heeling in a big square while the rest of the group is in the center. When we were working his heeling was good for parts, poor for the others. When I'm working by myself I move out of position as soon as HE is out of position, but it's a bit hard to do that in a class setting. Not horrible but not all that great either. While we waited for our turn, we practiced sit stays and stand stays. He did well.

Other:

- He wasn't up for tugging. I tried a bit and then stopped...at the seminar we were instructed to keep going until we get it...but at the same time, that feels like giving a cue and repeating it and repeating it.

- There was some barking and impatience while waiting to work. I need to manage him better next time. Chews or a kong or a crate.

- There was too much excitement. One of the class members left her dog in a stay while she left the building to do something...her dog got up and got in another dogs face. It was tense. There was growling. I tried to hurry Griffin to the bathroom but he didn't want to go in there and so I ended up carrying him away. People think he's very reactive because I'm so paranoid.... but... better than him causing trouble or getting beat up (again).

Next week:

- I'll have a better management plan

- I'll have better training plans to work with him while we're waiting for our turns.

- I'll have a greater variety of reinforcers.

-We'll do more of our homework before class!

And we just realized, weeks into it, that one of our classmates has a dog from the same breeder. Not a very common occurrance!

Griffin: Off Leash Class

First night of "Off Leash Transition" class tonight. For once, a class I'm not teaching! The sad part is I wish all of my dogs could be in the class.

There were three other dogs in the class, a young very large breed and two excited herding mixes. And Griffin. As the dog with the most training, Griffin was in the middle of the line up. And very excitable.



- Recalls: We did recalls on the longline, I was VERY surprised that Griffin was immediately and 100% focused on coming to me. With the other dogs being interested and some vocalizing... I thought he would be more tempted to visit. Horray!
- Sits at a Distance: He's done a lot of this with field training, but...due to the excitement of the room, I only went about 10-15' away. He was sitting on cue. it was adorable.
- Walking with Me: (Sorta off leash nice leash walking) We did the demo for the class. He was cute. He was tempted to watch the other dogs. But he kept going!
- Collar Holds: He was really good with this. But I suppose he's never been one to duck away...he's almost tempted to stay out of 'reach range' if he wants something, but I think I'm imagining that. As I don't go for him if I don't think he'll come.

There was some barking, esp when we entered. He didn't eat immediately. He was able to do some other things (dumbbell work behind barriers), some stays, some sits out of motion. We did a lot of really nice heeling with really nice duration. We did some tugging and playing with toys.

But he could barely contain himself. We used a lot of food: 3/4 a block of cheese. A handful of mustard pretzels. Half a handful of peanut butter pretzels. A cup of kibble. And a few misc. treats. THAT said, I was careful with EVERY piece of reinforcement. He worked for every single little crumb.

Next week, we'll have crate near our station and do more crating/stays/settles and shorter spurts of working. I'll have him in the building before the other dogs come in, so that we don't have to walk so far to get to our station. I'll have a greater variety of reinforcers and cut into smaller pieces. We also need to go back to our Adventure Walks and out in public work. I'll give him closer to 100%. I got a bit distracted watching how the others were doing and being tempted to jump in and help teach!