Quick Training Update

Last night I did a short eye contact session with Molly. I used hot dogs as treats but didn't film it. I limited the length by limiting the number of treats to 10.

Today I did an approximately 3 minute session with Shawnee on distance and a similar session with Molly on finish. I filmed both sessions, but I think I want to do a few more before I post anything.

I am moved from the kitchen to the living room, so that I would have a new environment for training. Both girls have worked in the living room before, but I had been using the kitchen because it has more space. I had to move a rocking chair and the dog basket to get anywhere near enough space for the session. The chair for Molly's training does not roll well on the carpet. With Shawnee, however, things went better because treats did not bounce as much.

I use a timer set to a little over three minutes but started it before I started the film. I was shocked when the timer rang because I thought I would have more time than that. This proves to me how badly I need to limit my sessions, because obviously I've been training most of the time for far longer than I realized.

The shortness definitely paid off. After I told Shawnee, she was free and turn off the camera, she went twice around the object to try to get me to reward her again. I did give her one treat, but then I quickly took things up so she wouldn't do it again.

With Molly, I had trouble maintaining concentration for the entire session. The problem was that Shawnee outside suddenly found something to bargain and that dragged Molly away. While she was barking, the timer rang. I called her back and did a quick repeat then quit. I don't want her feeling like she decides the length of the session, but I also didn't want to keep going when she wasn't fully focused.

Despite her lack of concentration, Molly did very well moving when I did. It shows that I really was wrong about how well she understood the behavior. My continued repetition of eye contact made things worse because it made her bored. I thought I need to do it because she wasn't understanding what I was doing. Now I am confident that we will have this behavior mastered soon.

Finally Training Again

I did a short mat session with the girls yesterday. Even though it had been a long time since either had seen their mats, they did really well. I decided yesterday that I should test Shawnee on it today.

While the girls were out in their fence, I put the mats into place. Although Molly passed this level ages ago, I like to include her in practices and tests. It makes her feel a part of things.

As soon as I let the girls in the room, both ran to their own mats. I knew right away that Shawnee would pass her test.

Armed with my clicker and some fish flavored dog food, I started test. I sent Shawnee to her mat, and she went right to it. I told Molly go to her mat as well. Then I threw treats off the mat and repeated the commands. Both still went directly to their own mats and lay down. That passes L2 mat for Shawnee.

Molly reminded me how well she distinguishes different commands. I asked her to take Shawnee's mat and she took the right one. She took the mat as opposed to doing a mat behavior on it. She did the same with her own mat.

Then we played for a while, until Shawnee was good and tired. I crated her.

Then I decided it was time to do some were finished training with Molly. I haven't trained her at all lately. That she knew what she was supposed to do right away. She still won't hold eye contact while moving. But she is very quick to reconnect after she moved wherever I am.

Later, while Molly was out in the fence alone, I did some watch training with Shawnee. I've only done it in the bathroom before so this was new to do it lying on the sofa. She figured it out pretty quickly, but I only got up to a two second hold.

I need to get to training more with the girls, but it's hard for me right now. I'm frustrated by my pain levels and stressed with the government issues. It's also much more challenging to work with two dogs than just one.