So now that we are over half way through the year, I wanted to review my goals for Sophie and myself and see where we stand:
1) Continue to work on Sophie's box turn We still have work to do. She does well with a prop in but once it comes out, I can only get a few clean turns before she forgets to lift her rear
2) Work on our starts so we are more consistent I am happy to report that for the most part we are doing pretty well with this one! Could use more work but so far so good
3) Learn to pass when a dog is coming out of the lanes Have not even tried this so far this year. We choose to focus on her starts and box turn. This will be our next hurdle.
4)Continue to work on leash reactivity and "Look at that" game Progress, she has had some great days/events with no reactivity and some days where its harder for her. But overall I am so pleased with our progress.
5) Take advantage of the hiking trails in our area and explore Not as much as I would like but we have enjoyed a few hiking trails in our area
6) Work on recall in high distraction areas like the beach eep, haven't worked on this in months!
7) Participate in the October walk for K9 Cancer have a month left to sign up!
8) conquer the teeter! work in progress!
9)earn first leg of rally novice title We are signing up for an APDT rally trial in October.
10) have fun! DEFINITELY!
I think we have done pretty well so far. I will be signing us up for our first Rally trial and hopefully our first CPE Agility Trial in Dec. Now that flyball season is winding down we have some more time to travel and train for other events.
I am nervous to try these new venues/events but also very excited!
I like this idea of evaluating goals halfway through the year, sounds like you're making good progress with them! :)
ReplyDeletepatty,
ReplyDeleteI am interested to know how you are working with Sophie on her reactivity? Delilah can be reactive (at times) and my friend's dog is ALWAYS reactive. I need to help them both.
Thanks!
Jodi,
ReplyDeleteWe tried a few things before we found something that worked for Sophie.
I met with a behaviorist and she gave us a few options. Said that some techniques worked better for some dogs and to see what worked for us.
1) Was to hold Sophie's attention as we passed another dog by popping a treat in front of her nose and then proceeding at a quick pace.
Did not work for us. Sophie was so worked up at seeing the other dog, she could care less that there was a treat in front of her.
2) When I saw a dog, Have Sophie sit at a front position, give her the watch/look command. Treat when she complied and have her continue to focus on me as the dog passed us.
Worked for awhile but I got super nervous trying to make sure I spotted all dogs before Sophie did which I am sure worked its way to her. In addition, Sophie realized that the watch/look command meant a dog was nearby and the command became a trigger for her.
I realized the problem with that was that she knew a dog was nearby but could not see it approaching from behind us which just freaked her out more.
3) I found Leslie McDevitt's Control Unleashed...great book! We started using her "Look at That" game. Every time Sophie saw a dog, she got a treat for looking back at me. She didn't stare down the other dog because it was a quick look and then focus on me. She could look at the same dog 10 times and would get treats so long as she looked back at me. The dogs became synonymous with treats for her.
We started out from far away to keep her under threshold. I let her see the dog and then I would make a noise to get her attention. The moment she turned her head, even a little, I clicked and treat.
She picked it up pretty quickly and would look at the dog and swing her head back to me. We worked on this a lot from far away near a park or outside of classes.
Eventually we moved into the classroom setting. Her first agility class, I spent the entire class, clicking and treating. It helps that Sophie is immensely food motivated.
I don't use the clicker now. I also know Sophie's tell signs. If she gets tense, we walk away and I let her calm down. At tournaments I watch her carefully. If I notice any signs of tension, we walk away and play the Look at That from afar.
She still has her moments but has gotten so much better. I used to be the last one out of the car at agility so everyone else would take their dogs potty before I brought Sophie out. Now she is fine coming out, potty-ing and hang out in the parking lot next to a bunch of dogs. I still give her space but she is a different dog. She is relaxed and focused on me.
I also notice even when she does react, I am able to get her back in control very quickly. Whereas before it took a lot longer to settle her after an outburst.
Feel free to drop me an email if you have questions. I am no expert, this is just based on personal experience and what worked for us.