Monday Night Obedience Class

What a difference a little homework makes!
We have good news to report on Bungee's Mon. night obedience class. My personal goal for the night was attention first, and sticking to my plan of breaking things down for better quality work second. Success on both counts!

As has been the case, distractions abounded with the Gamble workshops still taking place outside the doors, barn doors open, the other dogs in our class, plus heavy rain and a bit of hail on the building's metal roof on & off all night.

Attention
One thing I did when she first "lost me" for the excitement she could see outside, was simply leave her. Some people might consider it wrong, others right, but whatever, it worked and I didn't resort to jerking her off her feet with a choke chain.

My attitude was if you don't want to pay attention to me I'm not paying attention to you. If I started out to get into heel position and she locked her gaze to the agility outside instead, I simply stepped quietly away behind her, dropped the leash silently and slipped away. I did this twice, once leaving the building and going to a window where I could see her looking for me, the other time going to a boring corner where nothing was happening of any interest to her, other than me waiting there, (but it had a mirror where I could watch her). Both times she held her position of sit while craning her neck all around, looking for me and not taking her eyes off me or the direction she last saw me leaving.

Each time I returned to her quietly & calmly picked up the leash, started over, with a much better result. At the same time, when we were back to work, and she gave me attention she got rewarded, fast, again and again. That recognition (reward) was really good information from me to her that this was just what I wanted her to do. For the next half-hour she was keeping at least one eye on me at all times and usually both. Though she had many breaks in that time, I never once lost her interest again when it was our turn to work.

That tactic may not have worked for another dog but it worked for her. I took a gamble that between our good relationship and the fact of her being a Border Collie, it is more important for to her to know where I am than to know where anyone else is, and my actions forced the point.

The Power Of Jealousy
At one point about 45 min. later in the class she got a little gawky again out that barn door to the agility class. The class had gone on a little long, and bless her heart, she really would prefer to be out there. I am happy to see that she loves it so. But that moment I lost her to the action outside again, I walked her quietly off the floor without hesitation, crated her in a strange crate (one of the instructors) facing away. I then went directly over to an instructor's dog I knew in another crate, released that dog (with permission) and played with it, out of sight to Bungee but well within earshot. She protested with a little whine, I waited until she was quiet. Returned to her & released her. Played with her a few moments and went back to work. After that I kept her attention completely.

Once we had attention, everything else went smooth as silk.

What I Didn't Do
At no time did I ever say her name to ask her to pay attention to me, nor did she receive any punishment, jerks, sighs, snide remarks or hint of frustration from me. She either did pay attention or she didn't and when she didn't the consequence was lose/lose to her, you don't get to keep on working, you don't get to be with me.

I simply created a desire within her to keep a closer eye on me and what we were doing together, which allowed a win/win, especially when I had upped the ante with a much higher RR for the thing I wanted most - attention!

Rewards
Fried chicken gizzards & hearts for bite-sized food treats (that I cooked & cut at home before class). A small Planet Dog "Old Soul" ball carried in a side pocket. A cow milker toy on a rope, carried out of sight in the back of my waist band, and a loop tug that I can carry over my shoulder and hangs almost to perfect heel position under my arm for nice placement of reward for heeling. I mostly used the loop tug throughout the whole class but mixed it up with a surprise a time or two. Each of these toys was chosen because they are somewhat thin and low profile, easy to carry in pockets and best suit us for heeling rewards.

Loading Value In Her Name
At home on Sunday & Monday, I also decided to "load" her name "Bungee" and the word "ready" by simply pairing them with a reward many times in a row. This really paid off as even when the instructor would say: "Are you ready?" smart little Miss Bungee would look at me on the word "ready" from him! So, when I said "ready," I really had super results!

For me this goes back to quite a long time ago when we had some family staying with us that were constantly saying Guinness's name around the house. They were overusing his name for everything. After they left I spent the next week putting value back into his name. What a difference it made!

I did this by doing 2 sessions a day of simply saying his name, click/treat, (C/T), saying it again, C/T, etc., and getting in about 30 repetitions each time. Easy exercise for very big pay-off.

The benefit then with Guinness was visible and immediate in improved responsiveness, especially when we were working. As expected, the benefit to Bungee was equally beneficial. In this case, I don't believe her name was "over-used" by either of us, but I was not getting the response for saying it I like to see.

However it happens, a dog's name can lose some value in the casual environment once in a while. I personally really dislike having to call a dog twice, or say their name more than once to get them to turn their head in my direction, much less come to me.

I don't know what the big training brains think of this concept, but I do know that it works really well in a short time to re-establish that nice, cracking responsiveness we all want from our dogs, especially in training, and it worked with Bungee last night!

One a separate note, now when family comes we know better. If you say our dog's names you need to have a cookie in your hand to give them.

Getting into Heel position
I have not yet put "heel" on cue. But I have now put "Ready" on cue. She has also stopped hopping an inch forward in anticipation on her sit at heel when I say "ready", or even when I don't!

Heeling needs a little fine tuning, as expected. At the present she tends to forge a bit creating a wide rear end. She's also moving in very close to me and will bump my left thigh with her head in this position. Placement of reward does improve this but circling large circles to inside left really puts her in the perfect spot and beautifully straight if I move into a straight line immediately after that.

The "Magic" Mirror
Last night I think Bungee discovered mirrors for the first time. There are full-length mirrors on several walls of the school. So U-turns presented some new challenges once she figured out they hold big reflections to look into! I actually saw her in the mirror as we were approaching at the moment I think she realized there is a lot to see in there! Her eyes got wide and she had this look on her face like: "oh my gosh, there's another place!". You should have seen her head go back and forth from the dogs on the floor to the mirror, as we rounded that corner the 1st time she spotted it! I wish I would have had a camera for those high speed double & triple-takes!

The next few times after that she approached that mirror eagerly and smiling, (and in total disregard of heel position!) just trotting around wide as could be, head going this way & that trying to put it all together, kind of like a kid seeing a carousel of horses at an amusement park for the first time - next to a big life-size mirror! But I just let her work it out and continued to be consistent with my method, rewarding her when she was correct. I also didn't avoid the mirror, instead walking by it more frequently as I was able.

Bungee being the fabulous & smart girl she is, she quickly accepted this strange mirror business and was right back in step with me like a pro.

Front
Recalls to "Front" were great! Backing up and breaking it down was the key to success, as always! I was not a flyball box on the 1st recall attempt!! Each practice got her in nicer and nicer and always straight and we were able to keep our criteria moving away about 10 feet. :-))

Everything else is really nice, just continuing on building up from where we backed up to.

Training Plan for Class
I did stick to my plan, made notes, if I broke something down and backed up at home I backed up there. I started at that same point in class that WE were working on at home. This is a little bit different than what the other students are doing, but we are shaping, they are not. This has always worked for me and last night was no different. I would much rather have a perfect 1/4 or 1/2 of an exercise than a sloppy whole exercise, because I know the whole exercise will come. The instructor knows this about me too and couldn't be more helpful or supportive.

I also used my clicker in class this week. What an improvement that made too! Dogs just need a certain amount of communication until they get it right. In our case we benefited from the extra "Uumph" the clicker adds, I suppose like boosting a cell signal if you will.

The DH went along with us and gave me all his pointers on the way home, as well as much whispered, face-twisting & contorted motions of criticism during class! You should see the sign language he's invented for my in-class heeling improvement :-0`!! Between the mirrors and his antics from the chairs, we could have made quite a comical video!

Hug your dogs & Happy Training!
...and remember It's About Love!