Day 28
I really must take some video. I have my new GoPro and haven't used it yet - I am totally out of the habit, which is bad, because video shows up so much.
Anywho, things we have been working on and making progress with the last few days:
1. Down and walk around. Cracked off lead, both at home and out and about. To be honest, I've not tried it again on lead because we've not been anywhere they've needed leads.
2. "Rubber band pivots" where the dog orients into heel position on a pivot disc, then I reset with a tossed treat around the "clock" so that they come back to the disc from different angles. All very confident with this now.
3. Run in to target at heel position. I stand in my formal heeling position (left hand on waist, right arm straight, feet slightly apart and shoulders square, looking down at my left foot. Quickly put left hand out into a target the dog has to jump up to, in the heel position. Toss treat behind, reset my formal stand and, as the dog comes in to position, put the hand target out again. The idea is to build energy in the heel position, and, as always, loading the rear end.
4. Sit-stay with Ginny. She loves being included in the training - her tail doesn't stop wagging! We're going really slowly with this, as she's still learning how to learn, but she's getting the idea, for sure.
5. Front-foot targeting with Ginny. Working with a folded piece of vet bed so it's a large and obvious target. Again, slowly does it and sometimes she seems to understand, but then loses it again immediately, so I'm just doing a few reps at a time. My idea with this is to help her become a bit more thoughtful about where she puts her feet, so she'll have fewer incidences of falling on her face!
) she responds by moving into position.