Wednesday, December 7, 2016

training diary

Cat feeding all good.
Now doing nice leave it's. Practiced with tossing treats (which are always 'his' as I used tossed treats due to early hand-shy issue issues), so now teaching some are his (take it. get it), some are not (leave it) and some are the cats (cat's name). He obviously understands the concept of name = possession, which is bizarre but seems true, maybe it's eye contact & body language (with said cat). BUT all this equaled, once, tossed a treat for him and Simba raced for it, and Sonic looked at ME (yay, good dog, here's a different treat). Nice choice on his part. (Simba didn't want it anyway--so Sonic got to have it later)

Off leash: taking him to the dog forest more often as there are less and less dogs outside now. Lots of dogs on Sunday, and again Tuesday. Watching him to see how he handles off-lead dogs. With very rare exception, does not play with dogs--does a polite greeting, sniff and move on. If the dogs are over bearing, too much energy, will do a fun imitation of speedy gonzales, but doesn't come back for more except with less energy, as in, darts away at 100 mph, comes back with less rpm, by that time, other dog is thinking Whoah, you are too fast for me, and not much more happens. Sometimes I slow up to join with folks with dogs, and Sonic will either ignore & move on (greetings done, you are boring, behaviour), sometimes engage in mutual sniff & pee session then move on to explore the woods, or just run ahead, or, if I stand around long enough say, hey, can I earn a treat here? He's just not all that into dogs.
He's has twice really liked a dog. Once, a female pug, mutual chase, then he kept trying to entice her to chase game, and circle round to come and get her (pugs just can't go that fast), and last week a goofy lab, he actually played some mutual chase and stuck around for peeing games & more chase. I walked with the owner. But that's it, mostly neutral, occasionally wary, definitely willing to stick up for himself, and communicates that with upright body language & look aways (hey, I'll stick up for myself if I have to, but I'd rather not have to). This works with any well socialized dog. He will respond to a cheerful 'let's go' if I think tension is building, or it's one of those bully dogs that will push his buttons instead of letting him move on un-molested (he does not like contact sports).

Petsmart: will go on Sunday afternoons only. There are actually dogs there on Sunday, dogs plural, lots of dogs, dogs in store and and dogs in class, barking puppies. So there's something to work with, and when there's something to work with, he learns and does well. Even with surprise dog in face-->he looked at me. Had a conversation with a lady in the parking lot. She had a gorgeous white shepherd pup who got bored and lay down. Had him on a loose leash while dogs went in and out. Worked him on his traffic lead indoors, he's good, getting more relaxed, interested in treats, not doing any 'training' right now, no commands etc he's on a leash, looking at just getting him comfy with the idea that dog over there doesn't equal dog in face, and he's starting to understand that--ie, he looks at a dog without expecting to have to deal with it. Take him out in the parking lot for breaks, and play & train there, and he's playing.

Agility: he's now looking forward to playing frisbee/tug in the parking lot at the END of his off-lead forest walk! Whoot. So, took along a pole (to practice wraps) and a mat (in lieu of table) and put all three things together. He liked it! So another place to train, my yard is too small

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