City Women meet Aston villa at Ashton Gate. 4400 attendance.
My Women's World Cup adventure was also about making memories and hanging out with good friends.
This dog is happy..6 months on Fluoxetine. He's enjoying a much less anxious life. He still reacts to firework bangs but soon returns to normal. Progress, not perfection.
Boundary games today. This is the first thing I asked of him in this different environment.
We are playing this game at home and the rehearsal does help as you can see the second time he does stay on the mat.
Working with a street dog like Tommy is super hard. He doesn't have the desire for most of the games. His happy place is tug or fancy footwork with a tennis ball!
National dog day. This dog wouldn't accept food 30 mins ago and then whilst the gardener's were near us he played the game. Attention Noise helps the dog disengage from something and then engage and move towards you.
Progress not Perfection!
Dawn Chorus at the park. A bonus for the night shift I do, I get to go to the park at 5.30-6am for an early dog walk. It was dark in November when I started this ritual. Now it's getting light, Spring is here.
THIS DOG is doing well this week and today an excellent recall. It's never been good, he will come in proximity to me but never a good recall. I have the high value treat and we practice.
Also key to this good work is my relationship with him. After a few stressful months of long hours, not enough sleep, short practical walks I've been grumpy and shouty. I stopped that this year and it's definitely helped. I now work part time and can now start to enjoy our walks and trust him a bit more.
A bit of enrichment and value added to the bed.Tommy often takes his chew and position s himself on the rug. I'm reminding him the best choice is to stay on the bed. We had a great training session outside. Tommy disengaged from the bunny in Eastville park and engaged with me playing with sticks and taking food when I got him to recall. This is progress. X
Training THIS DOG!
Today we are out in the field playing Distraction, MARK, treat. (DMT).
Tommy is very aware of people and he would create distance if off lead from people or stay in the cover of the wooded area.
Here I am acknowledging there are scary people around and offering something nice. It's Positive pairing and at this early stage I reinforce rapidly with high value food. (Chicken)
This is stage one for a dog that has never been able to take food (high arousal) outside. I've rehearsed at home for the last 4 weeks, so this is PROGRESS.
CLEVER DOG Tommy. X
The joy of a new toy! It's good to introduce new toys to your box. Also remove a few old ones to keep play fun and juvenating.
I've selected this multi purpose toy. It has a squeaker that might well last and also grooves which help clean those canine teeth. It bounce unpredictable too!!! See video.
Who's a good boy? This dog.
Today the trick I'm working on is rear foot targets.
It's hard work but we have succeed with previously avoid objects such as the half filled water bottle and the spiky yoga touch pod. By the end there is progress. Again this session was 10 minutes long. Tommy went for a lie down in his crate after!!!
You don't need to do long stressful walks with your dog. Just engage with them, use some new equipment and food they like.
I use Tribal small breed or Puppy kibble with a bit of chicken mixed in to make it high value.
Progress not perfect!
Thus weeks work. Foot targets,I've done 3 really short sessions and pleased with Tommy's work.
Pivots ate now starting to look slick and Tommy is mirroring me.
Whoop whoop!
I'm working on perfecting Magic Twist. Tommy's accuracy at catching was low at beginning of Nov. I've been practicing for only 3 mins everyday for over a week. I will make a new video to show improvement and how playing for as little as 3 mins makes progress.
He's a happy dog with a log.
Excited release cue....OK go
We play this game ' OK go' a lot at home but Tommy is still very much alert in the environment to get excited. This shows I need to choose my moments and places for less distractions to get some results.
We are playing New games!
Premack, where we throw a toy, then release the dog 'OK Go! Then the tricky bit of can they listen and do another action????and then they get the toy.
Toys in the box, develops focus, listening and it's fun and cool. Well done Tommy. X