If any of you cyber people met me in person, you'd definitely not see me as the video'n type...and it's so true....BUT it does totally help you tweak your handling skills.
My session at the Chief with George, is a great example...I was able to see which technique he would be most receptive of and successful at the time...
In reviewing...I was able to put together this little clip that highlights the games and techniques we used and when they worked the best even TTouch!
All that gooey stuff I said, using TTouch and playing ball and using treats, tricks, "show me" game... kept his body language a lot more fluid than when I said very little and just waited for him to offer something relaxed.
This doesn't mean that I will be a PEZ dispense and won't raise criteria for him! I've got to ensure he's learning rather than using treats/ play/ ttouch as a crutch to avoid the off leash dog situation...I always raise criteria ...just at a pace where the dog is still relaxed. It's less jolting on their systems.
So for now, I'll put a warning at the beginning of the video to turn down the volume unless you want to OD on sugar ;P Boy was that ever embarrassing but it worked and all that lov'n came from the heart so that's all that matters to me. Hopefully we'll be far enough along in our work so George will be ready for an Out and About class...if not...maybe Alice will have a reactive Out and About class running that we can join ;)
I also learned a long time ago (8yrs of Dogsmart classes...bound to have some retention of what I learned) that when a dog does "react" it's important to rest them for the day after wards, so their bodies can recover from the surge of chemicals (adrenaline, et al...it takes me a while to calm down when I'm hyped up!) that sent them over the top. We just hung out the rest of the day, and then played some agility games in the yard that night and ended on passive attention stuff before bed.
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