More 'puppy-ness'

Fizz was trying SO hard to get sleeping Vik to wake up and play with her.  She employed all her best and cutest puppy tricks, alas, to no avail.   Its hard being a Wuppy some days! :)

Backing up and perch work

Fizz and I haven't worked on backing up in a very long time.  No particular reason, it just kinda fell off the radar.   Went back to it, and this is our first session back.   Recently, we've been working on 'down' a lot and you can see her offering downs frequently.   The biggest challenge for me is waiting this out, and resisting trying to lure her back up.   I am not walking into her to get her to move back b/c I want her shifting her weight back, which comes when she makes the decision on her own to walk backwards.

Dogs learn best when the choices are purely theirs.     Think of the last time you followed someone to a ... party, new training facility, trial, a friend's house....anywhere.    If you then needed to leave before your 'guide' was ready to go.........how confident were you in how to get back to your start?   Luring creates behaviors that LOOK good, that seem 'strong,' but then when the lure is gone.......the behavior quickly falls apart because it wasn't really learned, it was simply 'done.'   

I have been pouring through my learning theory books, trying to find the scientific explanation of a phenomena seen here, and I can't find the silly thing I'm looking for....how frustrating!   But essentially, there is a double dip in learning a new behavior.  The behavior seems to start coming together and then suddenly 'disappears.'  The key to it is to wait out this first dip.   There's a scientific explanation for the processing that is going on, at a neuron level....but as I said, can't find it. :(   After the first processing, the behavior grows in strength an appearance again.   There is a second dip, but of less deterioration than the first, and then the behavior grows again at a much more rapid rate.   One of the keys to training is being willing to wait out those dips, to know them for what they are and to know that 'it will get better.'

In the backing video, there are 2 significantly long times in which Fizz is in her offered down and I have to wait her out.   It seems interminable when working through it, and admittedly, patience is not my strong suit.  However, I can also see, in re-watching the video, that the time she spends in down is quickly shortening because in this session, down is not being rewarded.

This video is long, 8:45, and with a slow connection, may take some time to download.

Fizz and I have been working this week on perch work, to teach hind end movement that will feed into heeling, specifically on maintaining position, making left turns in strong position, and getting into heel from 'around the clock.'    In this session, my goal was to get her to start turning in a circle around the pot, independant of me moving.  I want my movement and body position to be out of the picture, so that she gets a stronger understanding of her own movement.   The past two sessions, we've been really stuck on her depending upon my movement, and I think the reason is that I didn't increase the criteria when I should have, and dug us a rut.   However, here, she finally moves out of the rut, very happy to see it! :)

On being naughty.............

Fizz will be 5 months next week.   Surprisingly, her "puppy liscense" for obnoxious behavior seems not to have run out with Vikka (who will be 10yrs in August).   Vik is one of the most staid, patient dogs I have ever met.   She is supremely confident and put off by very little.    Still, her patience with Fizz continues to amaze me.    The photos are from Feb 1, the video is from our woods walk yesterday (Feb 7).   For the entire hour of our walk, Fizz pestered Vik, and not once did Queen Vik offer a cross word.   What a GOOD girlie!!!! :)

Come on....ya KNOW ya wanna play with me!!!!

What do you mean "No thank you" ????

Here watch, I'll go first!

Really......you REALLY don't wanna play??

Our walk yesterday, Feb 7th.