YouTube Clip, Knees

Hi,
Finally I have got around to create my first litte YouTube clip. Well, it might not be the most professionally edited piece of work, shot on a dull day with an Olympus pocket camera (wishing for a proper DV-camera for my birthday in June) etc. However, it was a lot of fun and hopefully I will get around to do more. Maybe some instructive ones as well.

Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp4oufvScD8

I am working towards CAP 3 (Kay Laurence, Learning About Dogs) and I hope I will be able to present some of the work towards that through my YouTube channel as well. I will let you know.

For the time being I am quite sad because I have had to take a break from giving courses and helping people with their big dogs. All of this due to a long term knee problem that has accelerated over the last few months. This means that I am going to do a partial knee replacement. The plan is not in place yet but I hope the first knee will be done this spring.

I am concentrating on getting better, training my own dogs as much as my knees allow and I will be focusing on my Animal Welfare studies at Anglia Ruskin University. However, I still give phone consultations to boxer owners and owners of bigger breeds, I also expect to be able to take on behavioural issues of smaller dogs again fairly soon + the micro chipping will still be going.

Give me a ring or send me an email if you have any further questions.

Talk soon,

Ewa xx

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ewahighland

8th and 9th training session Bill

8th training session
Started to add in default. He responded really quickly.

I was quite amazed with how quickly he got it. It is always like that, I find, that if you do the foundation work properly then the rest is really simple and becomes very clear.

Later in the evening I showed Andrew and despite the distraction of him being there Bill still did the behaviour on cue.

9th training session
It was not really a planned training session. Bill came with me shopping. A bunch of children surrounded me, asking all sorts of questions about Bill and dogs in general. Then they asked me if he could sit or something. So I thought to myself, yes, why not, I might as well try it and see if he does it in this environment. No harm done, if he hadn't done it - I would have known that it was stretching it a bit much.

So I tried and I used my release word instead of clicker since I did not have the clicker with me (I had treats in my pockets though :-)). He did the behaviour every time on cue apart from once when he did it without cue. He did the default really well and guess if it was a success amongst the children! I think Bill has done some good advertising for dogs today, which is very well needed.

Conclusion
Continue proofing the behaviour. Add in length to it.

7th training session - Bill

Planning

• No target stick
• Cue: Pointing at him with two fingers

Training

• 2X10
• First set, every time when he anticipate going up on his back paws, I give the cue
• Second set, introduced default

Analysing

• Worked really, really well. I would say that he definitely has started to get the cue after this training session.
• Proofing is still needed
• Delaying so he stays up is on the agenda after that

Sixth training session - Bill on back paws using target stick

Plan

• To lessen the target stick and possibly fade it out
• 3X10

Training

• 3X10 + 1X10 later
• Started with a few nose touches when he is still on the floor
• Moved on to raise it again so that he comes up on his back paws
• No problems here at all, he anticipates the movement every time and could start fading the stick
• The last set I did with no stick at all, I pointed with two fingers at him.

Analysing

• Continue doing the two fingers, if hesitation, possible have to go back to stick a few times.

Found and old unpublished note about Elsa tracking (from March!)

Well, I published it but it looks a bit strange since it suddenly is added in to Bills target training :-).

Search on the label you are interested in if you would like to follow something specific.

Ewa

Tracking, Down stay, Recall, Group, Jumps

Sunday 15th of March 2009

Tracking

Plan:

Serpentine track, not too long. Food in every foot step. Not opened Ceasar dog food in the end, hidden. About 10 minutes.

Training:

Group of people watching, good for Elsa and good for me. Had her sitting before I let her go on the track. Happy tracking, a little bit confused at times but comes back to it.

Analysing:

I laid too narrow bends in the serpentine therefore she got a bit confused. However, she solved it and got to the end without that much struggle.

• Need to do bigger swirls if doing serpentines.
• Good to have people watching.
• I should could lay much longer tracks.

Down stay

Plan:

• Lay her at the club while other dogs are training.
• Reward when head is down.

Training:

• Quite a long down stay, probaly about 10 minutes. Other dogs doing sendaway, playing and just generally training.
• Rewarded her while head down.

Analysing:

• She is very stable.
• Need somebody else to click while head is down. Otherwise she goes on my command and/or my looking at her.

Recall

Plan:

To see what she does if I recall her from a down position on a 30 paces distance.

Stop in the present position.

Training:

Laid her down and called her to the present position.

Analysing:

Need shorter distance for a little while since she started to swing a little on her way in.


Heel work around group

Plan:

Just walking around a person, reward while concentrating on me.

Training:

Lost concentration first but gained it back. I backed out of the situation and we started again. This time a lot more successful. We stopped really close to the guy that helped us. I clicked and rewarded her with pulling game with the "kong".

Analysing:

Need bigger groups as soon as possible.

Fifth and sixth training session

Fifth training session

YES! I think we are repairing the biting/chasing now.

Training:

2X10

From clarity to clarity, Bill just got it and went like a little clock - nose touch, click, treat - nose touch, click, treat.

I left it after 2 sets.

Analysing:

Right thing to go back and sort out our little hickups.

Sixth training:

Plan

To higher it so that he has to raise up to touch it.

Training

3X10

First set, got it straight away.

Second set, started to work away the stick which he responded really well to.

Analysing:

Decided to go over hand signal to verbal signal. So next session, lessen the stick and move over to visual cue - two fingers pointing at him.