and week 10 of 2020

Review of February:

Scent-work was introduced. The coin hasn’t dropped yet – by any means – but we’ll just have to continue putting in small repetitions here and there, until it does. We’ve started, passed the first hurdle (me and my confidence), and now we just work it. He is able to search through two floors of the house for a pig’s ear, so there is nothing wrong with his nose – he just has to figure out what the game is about.

TEAM 1, exercise 1. We’ve got the basics down. Sometimes he forgets himself and stands on my feet instead, but a platform really helps him understand. We are definitely doing tricks instead of non-toy engagement.

It seems trainers for high-energy sports like their dogs to be a bit jumpy – I really, really don’t. I may want to train agility going forwards, but I’m perfectly fine with my dog being a bit on the calm side. And non-toy play and engagement brings out the jumping and nipping (at least so far). Certainly, I should and will work on it, but for the time being, calm and focused tricks it is. We have a nice sequence of hand touches, spins and surrounds.

A couple of walks with a friend during February. He adapted to being around her, and we made good progress on behaving nicely around her dog. Meeting people along the path was still a bit of a nightmare though. He needs distance, and that can be hard to facilitate.

Mass training with his therapist:

3-400 grams fish cake, over an hour at a pretty busy park. Contact, focus, contact, focus, redirect, calm. Fenris started at awesome, including doing happy slides and rolls in the snow (a slope with a good view and good distance to the main path), but towards the end he was mentally exhausted and the stress mounted for most things. In between we worked at joggers, baby strollers, crows (who were either teasing him, or hoping we dropped fish cakes), old/young/slow/fast people, and various dogs. There was a small dog park there, which was empty, so our therapist suggested we let him in there to see how he was off leash. Well, he barked and ‘patrolled’ the barrier to the path, whenever anyone passed, but in between he played and ran and jumped all over. (And found a mud hole to drag his leash through.)

I’m very glad I took the effort to whip the whole family out on expedition. A) Everyone gets to learn something, and B) no-one has to try to do several things at once. Husband held the leash, son kept extra look-out, daughter and I did the treats (though at one point the therapist pointed out Fenris was getting unsure where to look for reinforcement, because markers and treats were coming from all over).

All in all, the therapist said it wasn’t fear anymore, just stress (I must admit, I’m not entirely clear on the difference) – so we are now working on stress management. There may be medication involved, but otherwise teaching him what to DO when stuff happens around him. A sit is a nice start, for example.

We also need to create a cue Se!/See! which is basically to be a hey you! signal. Turn away from whatever, and pay attention to the handler instead. (I’ve seen/heard/read about it in passing – called a ‘turn sound‘.) I foresee problems – mainly due to his single brain cell having trouble focusing on other stuff when his nose/attention is locked in on something… But – we start on very low distractions…

He got a handful of kibble strewn on the floor when we got home, just to keep him out of the dishwasher, but otherwise we figured he’d had enough food for one day. He also had enough excitement, and hit his Sleep button around 8pm. He’s starting to use that button so regularly, that I’m beginning to believe it’s no longer a mis-click, but conscious.

Several times lately, he has used his Brush button too – I don’t know if it’s because brushing feels nice, or if it’s a by-way to treats, or if he’s testing out ‘what does this button do?’

Plan of March

Social

That should be two instances of training at the Obedience course over the month (unless I’ve lost count of how many are left). My basic weekly plan involves two conscious outings as well (or one course + one outing).

Environment desensitising – we have snow this weekend, so we should drag out the skis in the garden at least. Later start working on my daughter and her bike.

Obedience

The next TEAM 1 exercise we are looking at is coming in to heel position (onto a target) from 2m away straight ahead, and from an angle. As long as I get the distance right, that one should be pretty easy. At the end of the month, we chain the two exercises.

In Awesome Obedience we are focusing on the Retrieve and recapping pivots and paw-targets. We need to work more on building and incorporating Toy Rewards – putting it under stimulus control, returning the toy within an appropriate time, etc. The first part of Retrieve now is to hold steady with a chin target for 5 seconds. He can do it, I just need to reinforce it as a reminder. The next is to take steps forward towards the target – up to five solid steps. (He can do one solid, at least.)

There won’t be much Scent-work this month, outside the CANIS foundations. Seriously, there’s plenty going on as it is…

Steps to Success

Facial handling; teeth, gums, eyes, ears.

Foot handling; 2 nails per week.

Door and car zen

Work on settling and calming on our schedule. Not necessarily ‘following the book’ here, but giving myself a little kick in the behind on working this.

Sports

Now that the platform is finally in da house (I went out and bought a plank of near appropriate size, then added sticky feet out of some hard sponge-ish material), we can get deeper into some agility stuff like unstable surfaces and noise.

In addition, for handling this month, we’ll continue practicing our crosses. I wanted to introduce/differentiate Away and Side, but that might be moving too fast (plan B’s and grace). Maybe towards the end.

For Rally, we’re starting on doing three (random) exercises in a row. Building duration and tolerance for duration before rewards. At this stage I will also need to start varying the length. (One exercise, three, then two, etc.)

Tricks

Sit Pretty, Spins, Twists, jumps, high fives.

Crafts and Shopping

I really want to purchase a formal jump this month (with proper wings and supports, rather than trying to balance random sticks on piles of cookery books), but I have to look at the financial side, first. A dog is not a cheap hobby – and when some fool breaks our car mirror, things have to be weighed against each other. (Did I mention plan B’s in the yearly review? Yes, I did.)

(Update today:) I have looked at agility jumps online. Three sticks in an H-form is pretty cheap (2-400 NOK), but can’t be used indoors. Wings on the side of the jump is ‘professional’ and quadruples the price. For indoor use, there’s cones with holes at various heights, that double as cavalletti equipment. I’m counting pennies, and considering whether to buy the cone-set or the H or both. Pro version is out of the question.

The internet is a strange and scary place. I found some places cheaper – but I don’t care to support businesses that also sell e-collars and so-called anti-barking equipment (which is basically a prettier word for shock therapy, or spraying aversive smells). I’d rather spend a little extra for ethical practices.

Week 10

Retrieve

• Hold with a chin target
• 1-3 steps towards the target.

Finishes (sit or stand beside handler). CANIS: Work on pivoting in from front. It’s the critical part of the TEAM exercise, without the distance requirement this week.

Toy: Very simple tug/release. I have to research this to get a good build up.

Rally: The randomiser app suggested Sit-Stay (Handler goes round) + Left Spiral + Single Slalom.

Walk+Look up (CANIS)

• Handler walks backwards, while dog looks at face. I think our current criteria are at 3 (human) steps.

Handling: brush, face. 1 nail each session. (Starting with the dewclaws.)

Social

• Obedience course Tuesday
• Sit-and-watch in Lonevåg Thursday.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Weekend
Fitness	Hindlegs	Long walk	Forelegs	Long walk, social	Core	Long walk
Agility	Back cross, toy reward	Noise	Back cross	Noise, movement	Back cross	Wobble board
Obedience	Finishes Retrieve	Course: Finishes Walk+Look up	Walk+Look up Retrieve Toy	Finishes Toy reward	Retrieve Toy	Finishes
Other	Handling	Toy reward	Handling	Scent	Scent	Tricks, Grace, Rally Bike

(I wonder if anyone actually reads this far. Drop me a note if you do!)