Page's training update

EEeeekkkk! Where does time go to these days? I cannot believe it's been three weeks since my last post. Now to update Page's training.

Page -- agility

Page continues to shock and amaze me in agility. She learns incrementally from one lesson to the next. Weaves are a great example. I started training weave using the 2x2 method (I'll never use another method to train weaves). Page learned very quickly moving to 4 straight up poles. Then we trained at the kennel club one day, and I walked by the weave poles and Page dove in them and did 10 continuous poles on her own. Shocked, I asked her for the poles and she weaved all 12.

A week later at our lesson with Jenn at Incredipaws, she worked easily on two sets of 6 poles being rewarded in between the sets. Within a couple of days she was weaving all 12 poles. Here is a video of her last set of 6 poles before working 12:

I love her form in this video, and she looks even better today.

Our lesson with Jenn was great. Jenn started us with one jump to check on our foundation from the ground up, and we progressed to sequence 10 obstacles. I had already identified a few things to work on before the lesson, and I was very pleased that Jenn didn't find anything else I missed.

In addition to weave poles, I needed to work on Page's A frame contact. Over the winter I wasn't able to work that on a low A frame like I had her dogwalk and teeter contact performance. Once my equipment was outside, I was always forgetting to ask someone to help me lower the A frame. So I'd just work Page on the bottom of the A frame, wrapping her into her 2o2o performance.

A week after our lesson with Jenn, we were working at the kennel club when Page kept "asking" to do the A frame. She'd look at it and take a couple of steps to it, and then she'd look up at me like, "can I please??" Finally I said, "OK go do it." She ran to the A frame and I expected her to fly off the middle of the downside like she'd done before. Instead, she ran all the way down the A frame and straight off. I was so surprised she didn't fly off, but she still didn't do what I wanted so I just stood there and didn't react. Page looked at me and it was as if you could literally see the light bulb go off over her head and she said, "OH! Wait a minute!" She turned and wrapped herself back up on the A frame and gave me a perfect 2o2o with a chin touch and then looked back over her shoulder at me with a big smile on her face as if to say, "THAT'S what I was supposed to do, wasn't it!" Wow, talk about problem solving! From that time on, she has been sticking her A frame contact regularly.

The final thing we needed to work on was the rear cross on the flat. This is a tricky one for Page, and it continues to be a work in progress. The other thing that makes the rear cross on the flat tough for Page is how much she prefers her right lead. It makes turning right easier for her and turning left more difficult.

So with all her foundation under her belt, Page was ready to being sequencing. She started classing 8-weeks earlier than I expected. She's easily handling the challenges presented in her first two weeks of class, and I'm learning more things we need to work on as we go.

Page's latest list of homework includes reinforcing startline stays and contact performances. Page loves agility and she's quite fast. She's getting pushy on startlines and contacts. I haven't had a dog like this since Reece, but over the years I've sat on the sidelines and watched many good handlers let their contact and startline performances go for the sake of the almighty Q. Now that I'm the handler with the pushy dog, I can see how easy it is to let that criteria go when your dog is so fast. It's going to take a lot of willpower to make Page honest and hold her positions through proofing, but it's something I need to do for long-term success (versus the short-term rewards of early Qs).

Our other area of homework is becoming a team, which will be an ongoing process. I'm already pleased that Page does read my body language and motion. She is beginning to understand to take the obstacle in front of her, but she's not solely obstacle focused. Getting forward motion out of her isn't hard, but I can tell reading lateral motion will be a work in progress for some time.

In all, I'm very pleased with Page's agility training. She's easily 3 months ahead of my earliest predictions for her. Now it's up to me to keep working on handling drills and consistent criteria for startlines and contacts.

Page -- field

Page's field training has been intense during the spring. She has done lots and lots of pile work to build her worth ethic and deliver to hand. It's paid off! She now enjoys pile work, thinking it's fun. When she ran into trouble with large bumpers, she only worked large bumpers. She did pile work through heavy cover and changes of cover. She did pile work through lots of decoys. And she did pile work with ducks.

After a visit to Mitch's in late April, we did pile work on water. Page handled this very easily. In training she still wants to drop the bumper or duck at the edge of the water to shake off and then she'll come in to heel and deliver to hand. I've been working on this with a "hold" command and meeting her at the water's edge, but attrition hasn't totally fixed this. It's something we'll continue to work on.

Page is ready for transition, and I have sent her to more than one bucket once. Her lining is fantastic. However, with hunt tests coming up, I'm going to hold her where she is and not throw anything new at her. Page's water set ups looked great this month, and she lines her marks regardless of what is in her way. I'm pleased with her courage and marking ability.

It's fun to be Page

I have received a couple of emails that I haven't been posting any adventures on the dog blog this week. I apologize and promise to do better! ;-) We don't want a fan revolt! We value our readers! 

Page has had a busy week. On Monday after tracking and a 40 minutes woods walk, she got to meet my mom's retired teaching buddies. Page walked into my parents' place and up to each person to say hello. She's so confident! They kept asking how old she was and said repeatedly how good she was - better than most adult dogs they knew! I did remind them that she'd just been on a 40 minute walk!

Soon, we missed her but we didn't have to look long. My dad had come into the kitchen to fill a lunch plate before sneaking off to the den. Little Ms. Page, ever her mother's daughter around food, was sitting prettily next to him hoping for a treat from the counter top! Believe me, she doesn't get fed from the table or in the kitchen!

Page slipped away one more time to go find Reece. She really likes him, and he really likes puppies. They had a tail wagging good time before we had to head back home.

Golden friend Laurie got to see Page on Monday. As Page finished playing with Laurie, she turned and trotted away. Laurie busted out laughing and said, "Where did those LEGS come from!" Yep, Page has started growing, and it's not going to be pretty! On Monday, from the front she looks like a cute puppy; and then she would turn around and you saw a narrow puppy butt and the longest back legs you've ever seen! 

Page and Devon are fast friends. Devon plays "little momma" to her, correcting her when she needs it, watching over her and playing with her. Devon is Page's favorite friend and this week she tried to wrap Devon in her "binky" again. I think Devon got the upper "paw" this time.

Remember that old adage that kids play more with the box then the toy it came in? Well, Page discovered milk jugs this week. I usually set the empty gallon milk containers next to the trash can and wait until I take the bag out to take out the milk jug. Page ran into it on Tuesday evening, which sparked an awesome new game for her. Even Devon got into the act! 

After spending a day under my chair in the living room, the milk jug resurfaced on Thursday and continues to be the favorite play toy this week. Oh, and make sure you check out those back LEGS! How can you miss them???

On Wednesday we ran an "errand" to the Toledo, Ohio, area to pick up some agility equipment from Mark's Agility Equipment. Mark makes awesome agility equipment, and he and Robin are great agility competitors and wonderful people. My dogwalk, A frame and teeter are all from Mark, and I just bought a double jump, triple jump and three sets of 2x2 weave poles. 

Page and Devon came along for the ride. Both girls settled down and rode like the experts they are. They also pottied quickly when we stopped, and Page ate well on the road. It's wonderful to have two seasoned travelers even if one is only 11 weeks old!

On Thursday we headed north to get Devon's CERF. Devon was clear with the only remark being the distichia we already know she has. Dr. Krohne showed me how to pluck the eyelashes, and she said since Devon is so good on the table I could do this myself to give her more comfort.

Page came along for the ride. Both girls got to talk with a girl in a wheelchair in the parking lot. Devon is a fantastic therapy dog, and Page got to say hello, too! Page also got to go inside the vet hospital and say hello to the staff. She even got weighed (she was 17 pounds and most of that was legs).

I'm happy to report that on Friday morning when we woke up, Page's front legs had grown! She's now just as tall in the front as in the back! Of course, she looks like a puppy on stilts, but she'll look worse before she looks better! And those new long legs are a little hard to control on the stairs. This morning her feet got going a little too fast, and she slid down the last few stairs landed like a bean back completely sprawled at the bottom. Good thing I have extra padding over the hardwood at the bottom of the stairs.

Here's the last video clip of the week. I didn't start the camera in time, so I'll try and get a better clip in the future. However, this is Page running in from the back of the yard after hearing her come whistle. She hasn't forgotten what that means!

2x2 training day 10

Well, today got away from me a little. A cold front come in early before we got any 2x2 work done. We were able to sneak out between thunderstorms and in a few sprinkles to do one session. 

I set the jump up and did 12 poles. Devon nailed the weaves with really nice drive. She was excited to work and flew to the poles. She did some difficult left entries, but when we moved to the high challenge right entries, she broke down and started entering on the wrong side again. I finally got a few successes and stopped. 

Devon is weaving out all 12 poles with only a very few exceptions. She does know her job. I know it's demotivating to her when she hits these problem entries because she does lose drive. The good news is she continues to try.

Tomorrow I'm going to set up the 2 pole bases as the first 2 sets, then the solid 6 and then another set 2 on the end. I'll start the session with the first two sets of 2 poles open and work those difficult right entries. I may spend the whole session on working those right entries; I want to give her confidence on this side so she will weave equally on both sides.

2x2 training day 9, evening sessions

I took advantage of some extra time yesterday afternoon and gave Devon a few more attempts at the 12 poles. I added a jump, and she did fairly well. We had a series of misses on the right entry which we successfully worked through. This was her first session where she was not 80%. 

It was hot and the dogs need time to adjust to the change of temperature. Unfortunately, we've had about 3 days of mid-60s and low-70s, but they haven't stayed around for the dogs (or people) to adjust. I think this was happening to Devon, since she's reacted to the temperature each time it's spiked. 

My plan due to her lower success rate was to go back to 6 poles and work entries. Her success rate on the right entry has been very low the last two days. We have class on Tuesdays, but I planned not to work the weaves. However, as class started, Devon was the only large dog. So we took the opportunity to work 6 poles in a new place!

On her first attempt, Devon reverted back to her previous behavior of making the first pole then walking away from them with her head up in avoidance. I called her back, got her reengaged and asked for the poles again. This time she was successful! She was thoughtful and slow, but she was successful! She got a lot of praise and reward for this successful attempt, and then her energy was through the ceiling!

Her next 6 attempts were all successful from various entries along the arc. I even included a high challenge right hand entry and she was successful. She was driving and solid on her skills. Rosie saw the difference. She said not only did she know her job now, but she was excited to do it! Yes, this was the best part!

2x2 training day 9 -- we have 12 poles!

This morning I put two sets of 6 poles 15 feet apart. Devon did six attempts, two from the middle, two from the right and two from the left. I rewarded between on the first 3 attempts, then rewarded 50% of the time. On attempt 4 she popped out early on the second set, so we redid it. Just like the DVD, she wanted to drive forward to the second set of poles and the reward was actually "interrupting" her. 

I moved the poles closer and did four more attempts, rewarding 50% and she was perfect. So for the last attempt, I put all the poles together for a set of 12 poles. On the first time she came out at pole 6 and looked around like, "Ooops!" I laughed and brought her back and this time she nailed all 12 poles. She got lots of praise for that and we quit!

The two things I like best about what she's doing is a) driving all the way through the poles and b) not worrying about where I am until she finishes her job. Devon has her head down, and she's really working those poles. I love that. And because she knows her job and is working them, she doesn't care where I am as she works. I can run with her; I can be behind her; and I can run past her and be several feet beyond the poles when she comes out. 

Devon truly has a complete understanding of her job in the weaves now. I did not keep track of exactly how many minutes per session we worked, but I can agree with the DVD that it is just at an hour total training time at the most. Have I said recently how much I love this method???

2x2 training day 8

After two days of tracking and a challenging track this morning, I only gave Devon one weave session today. I set up 6 poles, which was where we left off last time, but I was ready to adjust the 2x2 bases to help her with entries if I had to. I took a jump out with me but I wasn't sure if I'd use it. 

I started Devon with her favorite tug toy and she was ready to work. She nailed her first attempt. She was strong and had a two footed style. In the first four attempts, she only missed one entry and bounced right back. We did several (5) more in the low challenge entry area and she was perfect.

After working harder left entries, I moved to the right for some more challenging entries. I had Devon lined up so she'd have to really wrap the first pole. She had been successful on this last week, but she was not today. She entered with the first pole on her right three times. I changed her entry slightly and she was successful, which I praised. I slowly worked my way back down to where she had trouble, and she was successful to lots of praise.

I moved back to the left side for a couple of last entries. Clearly I should have stopped with our success. On the second one, she turned away from the poles and wandered off. At first I thought she had to go potty, but I called her back. I refocused her and she re-engaged. I did two more attempts to make sure I didn't pattern train a marker on her entry, and I stopped.

This was a successful session, because Devon worked through a problem on the right side entry. She was 80% successful. Tomorrow I'm going to do fewer attempts in my sessions, since I believe I did too many this time. I'm going to move to two sets of 6 poles and see if we can get 12 poles over the next couple of days.

2x2 training day 7

Devon is weaving 6 poles!!! There, I skipped to the end of our training session on Friday; but the news is too good not to share! 

We met Agile Gold at Pawsitive Energy for a really fun training session on Friday. Devon was extremely distracted on the dirt. It also didn't help she had to watch her brother Ian track (Horrors!! Tracking is Devon's sport!) and then actually watch out the window of the van as Emma tracked right in front of her nose (Triple horrors!! Her best buddy is tracking and no one invited Devon to participate!!).

For Devon's first session, we set up two sets of 2x2s with the second set only slightly offset. Then I worked some very hard entrances. Devon nailed most of them, only missing the weaves when she was distracted. She bounced right back and made the entry with each mistake. Kathy and I agreed it was time to add the third set of 2x2s. 

In retrospect, I probably should have off set the three sets of poles slightly on her first couple of tires. However, Devon was doing so well, I just knew 6 straight-up poles wouldn't be a problem for her. She missed the first entry but was successful every other time. She was nailing entrances at a level I've never asked Ian to do, and her right hand entry (wrapping the first pole) was stronger than her soft-side entry.

I think the best thing about this session is that Devon clearly knows her job now. As Agile Gold already commented, Devon is now developing a two-footed stride through the weaves. She's never had a stride or style of weaving before, because quite frankly she really wasn't weaving. As Gayle put it, "she isn't weaving, she's wandering!" And as usual, Gayle was right!

I am so excited that Devon is at this point. She's now taking a couple of much deserved days off from weave training to hang out in the Escape (while I work laying tracks) and be a demo dog at a tracking seminar. I can't wait to jump back into the 2x2s on Monday to finish out the protocol!

2x2 training day 6

Before I did Devon's training, I rechecked my progress with the DVD. I'm glad I did. I saw that I should have moved my location at least one more time before I closed up the two sets. I also saw that Susan opens the sets and really works the entry angles before closing them up "for good."

So today I took advantage of a change of "H" or habitat. I loaded up the 2x2s and headed to agility class. Devon had already had a full morning, so I knew I was risking her being very tired. I did one sequence with her, but we had to go back and work some extra skills. Last week Devon was refusing the A frame. This was due to her being completely out of whack and needing a chiropractic adjustment. Her shoulders were jammed in front and back and her pelvis was out. Dr. Bonnie fixed that on Sunday.

Because of the bad memories from her struggle last week, Devon refused the A frame a couple of times before she was successful. We had a big party when she was. After I ran the sequence, I went back to a jump, teeter sequence, since she bailed off the teeter, too. It was a new one and the pivot point was much farther out than she's used to. Devon is also very observant of the sandbags under teeters. I wonder if she thinks the thing might not be the safest if they have to put all those sandbags under it! ;-)

Anyway, after being successful on the teeter and the A frame, both in sequence, and greeting her fans in the gallery who told her how brilliant she was (that's really her best reward); she took a break and I went for the 2x2s. Liz is a gem of an instructor, and I'm grateful for her letting me use the rest of class time to work the 2x2s. Devon really needed this worse than she did more sequencing. 

I put the two sets on a very steep angle and about 1 ft. apart. I had a nice seam in the matting as my reward line. I worked some of the hardest entries yet, and Devon just nailed every single one. And the best thing I see is her driving through the poles! I closed them up to 2 inches, and she was again perfect! She only failed once, and that was because someone from the next class was coming in, and Devon was just sure Ginger needed to pet her! However, Devon went right back to work when Ginger ignored her. Good girl!

Again, I closed the poles up to straight. The first time Devon missed the entry and went in the second pole, but she turned right around and fixed herself! I gave her one more low challenge entry, and we called it a session!

Before dinner, I went back out to the yard to introduce a jump. I had the two sets of poles only 1.5 inches apart. Again, the best thing I can say about this session is how Devon was driving to the poles even over the jump! I gave her some low challenge entries first from the left and she was fine. 

Then I gave her what I thought would be a fairly straightforward but slightly tougher left entry, and she went in the second set. Three more attempts were failures, but she continued to try and drive. I did move the jump very slightly towards a low challenge area; I didn't move it more than 4 inches. This was just enough help that she made the entry. We had a big party, and she was successful on a second attempt at this slightly easier location. Next, I moved the jump right back to where she had failed, and she was successful twice in a row.

I know Susan said on the DVD not to help them. However, I did see her change a jump slightly when Trendi was having an issue on a difficult angle. I used this same philosophy when I "helped" her or tweaked the angle on our situation, and immediately moved it back to where she had failed. 

I then moved to the high challenge right entries. Even though this was previously Devon's hard entry area, she was successful every single time, and I threw a lot of nasty ones at her!

Finally I moved back to the hard left side and did the entry Trendi had trouble with on the DVD. Yep, so did Devon; she went in the second set of poles. But after three failed attempts, I moved the jump literally 1 inch. I was tempted just to pick it up and set it down in the same spot to see what would happen. Again, Devon nailed this entry. I moved the jump right back to where it was, and she was successful. We called it a very excellent day!

On a side note, this dog has got to be exhausted. She was up at 7 a.m. with no nap before going out to the building at 9:15 a.m. to meet Debbie and Grace. Devon worked right along side Grace for an hour (including play time with Grace before her training time). Devon came inside for a drink and then it was off to agility class. We got home at 2:30 p.m. and she crashed until about 6 p.m. when we went outside for our second session of 2x2s. I think Devon will be glad to have the rest of the evening off!

Tomorrow I'm taking the 2x2s on the road again, this time to a dirt arena. I'm planning to start again with a steep angle and only an inch apart. I'm again going to add in the jump. Based on how successful she was today, I'm planning to close the two sets up for her jumping portion. If she does that, we'll be ready to add in another set of 2 poles!

2x2 training day 5

The last two days have gone by in a blur! Day 5 went very well. I changed the location of the 2x2s in the field but stayed in the same training yard. I started with the two sets of poles 2 feet apart. This time I did entries all up and down the entry arc, especially the high challenge area. 

I continue to be amazed at Devon's progress! She's driving through the two sets of poles, and she's really looking for that second set! After not missing a single entry, I closed them down to 1 ft. and tried several entries. Again, not a single miss. Next, they went down to just a few inches. Again, she was perfect. 

Then I took the plunge! I moved them straight in a line and held my breath! Four poles straight up ... never fear, she nailed it! I only did three approaches from the right, left and low challenge entry arc. However, Devon was driving through those poles! Yeah!!

2x2 training day 4

Well, the weather forecast proved better than expected. No thunderstorms so far! Unfortunately I had a lot to do today, so we only got one weave session in. But it's the quality, not the quantity - and Devon did great! 

Gotta love that latent learning. I set two sets of poles up, and they were about 10 feet apart. On the first time, I rewarded between the two sets of poles. She did great. I did three different entry arcs, including the one that gave her trouble yesterday and she was perfect!

So, I move them closer together, about 5 feet, and made the angles steeper to 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. This was a challenge! I again rewarded between the two sets on the first and third time through. Generally after the first and third time, I stuck to rewarding the first set 25% of the time.

After the forth request, I went back to that devil of a right hand entry that caused her problems yesterday.  The first time I asked, she turned too tight for the first set of poles, putting her on the wrong side to enter but she checked herself instead of making the wrong entry - hallelujah! I called her back and resent her and she nailed it! We had a HUGE party on that one! Talk about learning! Wow, this was impressive! I did one more at this entry arc to reinforce her success and she did great. 

Because she only made that one mistake, I moved the two sets to within 2 feet of each other, with the bases parallel but in line. If I would have moved the second set 2 feet, the poles would have been in line. I only asked for three attempts here, since I really challenged her. I did a left entry arc, low challenge entry arc and right entry arc. She was 100% on every attempt, and best of all she was bending her body to make the second set of poles.

Ok, it's official -- I'm sold on this method! I can see Devon thinking through what to do with her body to make these two sets of poles. I believe she's finally learned this skill. I can't wait to see her improvement tomorrow. I plan to start with the two sets right where they were today when we left off and increase her challenge in her entry arc. If she's successful, I'll move the bases even closer and keep going.

2x2 training day 3

Today we started back with the 2x2 training. In our first session, we just revisited 2 poles and worked as much of the entry arc as possible. This was the first session Devon made a couple of mistakes. 

The mistakes came when I was down on the side of the entry arc with dog on right that required a strong wrap around the first pole; she entered with the first pole on her right. She did this twice, but I held my ground and let her work on the problem. She wandered around the poles and still tried to engage them, which I thought was good. I called her back and on the third try she got the correct entry. We had a huge party. 

I worked other entries and came back to that one. She missed it two more times, but still remained engaged with the poles. This is a huge accomplishment. We have transferred the value and these two poles are important. A month ago, she would have given up. This time again on the third try, she got it. 

I went back to some easier entries and quit on successful attempts. She still had an 80% success rate, so I decided to add the second set of two poles in the afternoon session.

In the afternoon session, Devon was really curious about these other poles out there. I rewarded the first set, then the second time through I let her go. She hesitated for a second, then went through the second set to a great party reward!

I kept rewarding 50% of the time between the two sets. When I delayed the reward for the second set, she started driving toward the second set. After a few more tries, I decided to work down the entry arc. Just as she had in the morning session, she started missing the harder right entry which requires a wrap of the first pole. 

This time I gave her a second to think about it before calling her back. Just like the morning session, she was staying by the poles trying to work through why she didn't get a reward. On the second mistake, she actually took her foot and pawed at the weave base. I wasn't sure if this was frustration or if she was offering behaviors! We've done a lot of clicker work lately with her pawing or smacking something with her paw.

Just like the morning session, on the third request she got it. I continued to work entries, and she was solid on all the other entries. I decided to move the second set of weaves closer to the first (about 7 ft.), and just ask for a couple of low challenge area entries before calling it a day.

A side note about toy rewards. In the morning session, I changed the toy we were using. This new toy was a fleece knotted tug with a tennis ball on the end. We did not have as good of results with this toy. Devon didn't seem to like it as well as the previous toy; she wasn't as "up" with it. She was also biting my hands very badly with it. At one point she grabbed my entire hand in her mouth and clamped down causing me a lot of pain and tooth marks (I yelled and she got the point)! Devon does occasionally get my hand when she's going for the toy, but she has NEVER bitten me that hard. 

A couple of throws later, she jumped straight at my face when I took the toy. This was clearly frustration, and it could have been from the stress of the exercise. But in the morning session I didn't throw anything new at her other than upping the challenge of the entry and the new toy. In the afternoon, I switched back to the toy we had been using and Devon's attitude was much better. She tugged and played, and I didn't have any hand grabbing or jumping at my face, even though I put more "pressure" on her in the afternoon session with the second set of poles. I just don't think she liked that new toy at all.

Overall, Devon continued to have an 80% success rate in both sessions. Her only errors came on the entry I know we have problems with. However, she was getting entries in this right side arc that she would have never made with the previous methods we've used. It was only when I went very low into the arc to really challenge her when the errors happened. Clearly this entry will continue to be our biggest challenge, but she's already doing it better than before.

The weather is supposed to be bad tomorrow with thunderstorms most of the day. I'm disappointed we might have to skip another day, but the weather is supposed to turn very nice for several days after tomorrow. In our next session, I think I'll pick up with the two sets of poles back at 15 ft., but move them back to 7 ft. within a couple of repetitions. For Devon, I believe the next few sessions of moving the 2 sets of 2 poles together will be critical since her problem area has been skipping pole 2 and weaving 1, 3. 

I remember that the DVD says to continue moving and don't stay at one place too long. I'm going to have to balance that with making sure she's solid. The 80% rule should help me with this, so I need to remain vigilant about record keeping.

2x2 training day 2

I slept in this morning (hey, it's Saturday), so I only have time for one session. I again took my session outside, but put the poles in a different location than yesterday. My reward line was going in a different direction, but it was not going in the opposite direction as it was yesterday. I moved the poles to the 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. position, and I had a nice fir tree to mark my reward line. In three sessions, I have now been trained to make my reward line markers very big so I can see them from all the entry arc angles. 

Devon did amazing again! She was 100% on her entries and only started to keep the toy and roll over once after attempt #4. She immediately returned to me, though. She was also more drivey than yesterday and handled the restraint into the collar very well. I got some nice pull toward the weaves before I released her. I did a good job of letting her see the poles before I released her, versus just turning her and flinging her toward the poles.

Devon nailed some very tough entries. I went very low on the sides of the entry arc to challenge her. She did great and really sought out her entries, including the right side wrap of the first pole. I'm especially focusing on this entry since that's where I first started seeing her confusion when she began to enter with the first pole on the right. 

Because she was so successful with very tough entries from the right and left as well as in the low challenge entry area, I stopped after 8 attempts. I think it's time to add the second set of 2 poles. 

Tomorrow we're supposed to have thunderstorms and she has an appointment with Dr. Bonnie, so no weave training tomorrow. Now we're off to meet the Ripleys and Terrie to plot and run VST tracks. Hey Angela, these are the tracks for your seminar next week -- hope you enjoy them!

2x2 training day 1

I think we had a very successful day! Our first session was this morning in the building. I set the poles up with my reward line before I brought Devon out. I had string cheese all prepared for her high value reward. As always, Devon raced to the building.

Devon is so stinking smart, and remember I started her weave entrances by clicking with 2 poles. So, she took one look at the poles and went, "Oh, I know this game!" and raced through them so fast I didn't have time to get the cheese out of the baggie for her reward! 

As Susan Y. warned me, I should have practiced throwing (I did practice with the toy!). Plus, string cheese rolls! Let's just say Susan Garrett would have been horrified at where my rewards landed, but Devon got the idea. 

I was also so frazzled that she got it so quickly, I forgot to count how many times we attempted the poles so I could calculate her accuracy. I do know she was successful 100% of the time, and she only came back through the poles once. I was able to get the entry arc in the low challenge area and dropping into the entire entry area to the sides.

After reviewing my notes from the DVD, I decided to move the poles outside for the afternoon session and use a toy.  We were ready for the "H" in the DASH principle. The DVD comments that you shouldn't stay too long on one area and use latent learning. Devon is a big latent learner, and the way she got right on the two poles told me we could move ahead.

I got her tugging with a brand new tug toy (which really sent her over the edge) before I asked for the poles. I used a lot of voice and started with the restrained release. I did all of the entry arc in 180 degrees. She nailed every one of her entries and never came back through them. On the third attempt (see I counted this time), she wanted to keep the tug toy and roll on her back. While this is very cute (which is why she does it), it stops the flow of training. I kept her moving and didn't allow her to stop the flow after a reward. 

In 12 attempts she was perfect every time and wanting more. We stopped. I did noticed two things as we trained. First, she wanted to turn to her right as she went through the poles, and once even wrapped her nose around the second pole. Because she's done weaves before and was clicker trained entries on 2 poles, that turn to the right and nose wrap told me she knows what we're setting up. I'm hoping this leads to greater understanding as we move to two sets of poles.

Second, she wasn't as drivey through the poles as the dogs on the DVD (of course they were border collies). However, I believe this was more of an individual dog thing. Devon is very thoughtful, and she's not one to get so high she doesn't think. For example, in field she'll never be one of these dogs who flings herself in a belly flop into the water after a bird. She trots with purpose into the water. That doesn't mean she's not intent or intense about her work. She's just sensible. 

I think combining those two observations (she wanted to go right to more "ghost" poles and she was thinking) is what caused her to be a little less "drivey," but I absolutely know she was learning.

More tomorrow!