13 July 2009

LLW Training with Shawnee

I don't remember when these sessions happened. The first is made with the netbook and the other two after we got the video camera. But it is still not THAT recent. I am just way behind processing vids. I am even more behind with training.

Edited to add: I realize I didn't explain the goal of these trainings for those not familiar with the exercise. The goal is to have Shawnee walking on a loose leash (meaning the loose is hanging slack enough for the CLIP to her collar to relax into a vertical position--not pulling ins't enough). She should also be paying attention to ME. The goal is to reward the moments when she has the loose leash because she is paying attention to the handler, not just because she isn't pulling. For example, if the leash tightens, I have to go back until she returns her attention to me. It isn't enough if she just backs up but stays focused on the distraction element.



Session 1




Notes: The leash is too long.

Session 2



Notes: The distraction was not strong enough.

Session 3



Notes: I only planned to have one distraction -- DH behind the camera. Once I started training I noticed that getting too far away from him resulted in her being attracted to going around the house. Going that way usually results in a car trip. So I ended up working with two distractions in opposite directions. In some cases, she was also a bit too distracted by the garden. I think retraining in the same location it will go better, but I'm not sure.

Using a human as a distraction is a bad idea, because he is trying to tell you what to do. This made it difficult to concentrate on training the dog and doing what you know you're supposed to do.

While fishing for treats in my pouch I missed a lot of really great reward situations when she was paying extreme attention to me. In the future, I should stand still while getting treats, so I don't miss the wanted behaviors.

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