Buster Snow Day. 1/7/25 TWO in a ROW!! + article practice 1/8/25
Another straight line in the snow with Scent Pads. 90 paces total. NO articles. He was excited to go out! Two weeks ago, he was running the other direction when he saw me put on my tracking books! Now he is whining to go! Progress!
He did another GREAT track today! I was so happy and so was Buster! Put my gloves on this time. Gave him some love at the start. . .he wants to hug me. Excitement? Frustration? Anticipation? Nervous? I am learning to deal with his personality more and more.
He pulled well, but not like a bull moose from yesterday. Much more maneagable and steady. Ate/stopped at almost every Scent Pad! Had a short moment of checking out something, but came right back to track. Enjoyed his BALL at the end!
Buster Snow Day. TWO in a row! 1/7/25 Video
Article Games in the house:
On the track—he looks so happy! Look at that slowly waving tail!! He likes the food—and was looking for it! And it’s possible he’s making an association between the ball the food (SP) and the track—his tail wags more at each SP…which might be the food, or might be anticipation of the ball.
ReplyDeleteNO ARTICLES!! I want you to just take articles on the track out of your thoughts for now. His behavior is still fragile, and if he finds the articles even a tiny bit aversive, the tracking behavior will disappear again. We can add them much later—that part is easy. Keeping him loving this game is 100% of our focus right now.
Hope school is cancelled all week and you can get out in the snow every day!
Going to go watch article videos now. Leigh, he looks the best he’s looked since he was a little puppy.
Love the attitude for his articles—he thinks this game is fun. Couple of small things—one click—and feed! If he then wants to carry it and down, great, click and feed that one too. But make sure you click —and feed—the very first pick up. It’s interesting he’s eating happily in the house.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a porch or deck? If so, first, see if he will take food there (with the same enthusiasm you see in these videos). Practice food eating there (I have to do this with Fletch—first we get food eating at a location, and after it’s solid, we add training), when he’s eating enthusiastically, train the article again. If he’s picking it up, I’m happy. No need for the down unless you want it (but think about it’s possibly being aversive on the track in bad weather—avoid anything he finds aversive!)
Oh…question. If you play ball, can he eat? can you use ball play to reinforce eating? He takes a treat, you throw the ball—several times. Will he now take a treat? If so, this can be a separate training sequence for you to strengthen food eating. It might not work—and don’t push it if it doesn’t. We can come up with other strategies.
We are training eating as a behavior, like sit or down.
Yes, he is super happy and go-lucky in the house. Yes, we have a deck. Snow-covered at the moment. . .maybe I can try the garage. I like the fact that he is off-lead (can't do that on deck). Have NEVER brought his ball INSIDE the house. . .it is so big and messy! I just ordered another one. . .maybe we will make that the INSIDE ball? So the duffle bag w/ shoulder strap is working for now to carry his ball(on my backside) as long as it doesn't fall around to my front. One click and feed! Especially on the first pick up of glove! Will do! Thanks, Judi!
DeleteOh, and no turns yet either. Let’s get 2-3 more days like today before we add an element of difficulty. He’s feeling confident now, and we don’t want to squash that. Please too keep in mind that this progress will likely regress when the snow melts…. So building his confidence is our goal for the snow. That emotion paired with tracking will hopefully help us through the transition.
ReplyDelete