NeylasMom Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Violet and I started obedience class in February at a new school, but after a couple of classes I was less than enthused with our experience and so unmotivated that I wasn't doing the training at home. Finally I realized if I was unhappy, I should talk to the owner about our options. We spoke last week and she said if we worked on the skills needed to pass level 1 for the next week we could come a bit early to level 2 this week and provided we "tested" reasonably well, we'd stay in level 2. So basically we have been busting our butts for the last week to get those skills, but, and here comes the brag... Violet has NEVER laid in the sphinx position and I do mean never, even her sit is lopsided. I would really like her to have a down cue where she actually lays like that, so from the start I put her normal down (flopped on her side) on the "relax" cue and have been working to shape her down. We started by me luring her into a playbow with a treat and clicking for that. Then I started clicking after she stayed in the playbow for longer, and then for any back leg movement while she was in the playbow. And then we were stuck and I was really thinking she'd never get it. Until tonight when the stars aligned and I realized I needed to click for forward back leg movement only, and then that I could move the lure forward once she was in the playbow to get the forward movement more readily. All of a sudden, PLOP went her butt on the floor!!! I immediately tossed a huge handful of treats at her and then we had a big party being silly and goofy and jumping and spinning around. She did it a few more times with a little encouragement from the food lure and we stopped because I wanted to end on a high note, but I am pretty confident that even if we don't have it on cue by Thursday, we will have the behavior down solidly I'm so proud of my girl. She is still figuring out what all of this training stuff is about and I've seen a ton of improvement from her in this past week. She gets frustrated much less easily and basically seems to be getting the idea of the whole thing, but this was huge. It was also a reminder to myself that shaping is always effective if you're patient and think through the steps to get to what you ultimately want the behavior to be. Okay end total shameless rambling brag. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inugrey Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Violet and Jen! Quote Colleen with Covey (Admirals Cove) and Rally (greyhound puppy)Missing my beloved boy INU (CJ Whistlindixie) my sweetest princess SALEM (CJ Little Dixie) and my baby girl ZOE (LR's Tara) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenbo Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 AWESOME! Quote Camp Broodie with tuxedo Summer 12 and tuxedo Dio 6 Missing KC Kitty 2000-2016, Myka and part of my heart 2006-2020, and Saint YellBoy 2014-2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greysandmollie Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Congrats Violet for making Jen be the best darned dog trainer she can be!! Quote Donna and...Lucy and Chubb Rascal H 10/1/91-5/22/04 My best friend and Bounty Boon 1/23/99-6/25/07 My boy with the biggest heart Cody 7/28/99-8/1/13 My boy that always made me laugh and Dylan 5/12/04-12/29/2017 The sweetest boy ever Miss Mollie 1/1/99-1/30/15 and Pixie -10/10/2017 Lincoln -2/14/2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krissy Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Yay! Don't you just love the feeling you get when the lightbulb goes on? I swear I can literally see it in Summit's eye every time it happens. It makes me all warm and fuzzy and proud inside. I think this is what it feels like to be a parent, but it's as close as I ever intend to get to THAT particular feeling. Congrats again! Quote Kristie and the Apex Agility Greyhounds: Kili (ATChC AgMCh Lakilanni Where Eagles Fly RN IP MSCDC MTRDC ExS Bronze ExJ Bronze ) and Kenna (Lakilanni Kiss The Sky RN MADC MJDC AGDC AGEx AGExJ). Waiting at the Bridge: Retired racer Summit (Bbf Dropout) May 5, 2005-Jan 30, 2019 Like us on Facebook! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 Thanks guys. Yay! Don't you just love the feeling you get when the lightbulb goes on? I swear I can literally see it in Summit's eye every time it happens. It makes me all warm and fuzzy and proud inside. I think this is what it feels like to be a parent, but it's as close as I ever intend to get to THAT particular feeling. Congrats again! Yes!! And me too. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galgomum Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 AWESOME!!! Quote ~SAGE~ Save A Galgo EspañolPetra Postma Photography Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyTzu Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 :yay Quote Wendy and The Whole Wherd. American by birth, Southern by choice. "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!" ****OxyFresh Vendor ID is 180672239.**** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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