Tough Tunnels

I'm feeling pretty sucky about our tunnel/distance/discrimination skills training tonight. I asked Silvia what we could do to train this. Then I tried it and it went exactly the way it has always gone. Tibby decides which end she wants to go into and she ignores my directions. Or I have to go right up to the entrance I want her to take.


Silvia said, " What you would need is a better send to a tunnel – lesson 1, exercise 2… You can practice sends from the wrong (back) side and similar to teach her to search for an entry no metter what, even when it’s hidden some as in this situation with an A-frame.

Try a straight or only slightly curved tunnel, so that she can’t choose a wrong entry and you can focus on distance first! Try also strange approaches (tunnel curved away from you, tunnel hidden some behind weaves/see-saw etc.) and similar to have her search for it more on her own. There are so many things you need to try out in training first to be prepared for everything that it’s really not easy… But I’m sure it will just get easier&easier! You came a really long way already."

I said about our newest tunnel video (above), "What am I doing wrong here? Tibby really doesn’t like to be restrained, so I sometimes push back on her chest. She was maybe a little tired from our long hike yesterday (and getting a bath and full blowdry/groom).
It seems like I either have to go all the way up to the tunnel entrance with her or she will just decide that she is going to do the tunnel on her own.
Could this be because we have done a lot of shaping? So she is trying to offer something that she thinks is right?  

“so that she can’t choose a wrong entry and you can focus on distance first!”
Oops missed that part – so I should just let her choose whatever end she wants?"

Silvia said, "No, it’s not shaping, I do tons of shaping with my puppies and they still understand the body language really well. I think it’s partly because you’re both still learning about the body language and because she doesn’t have a will to please that herding dogs poses. Try to use a longer side of a room so that you can set the entries even further apart and she doesn’t see a wrong one. So no, I didn’t mean letting her choose, I meant taking one option out of the picture."

I hope know that someday we will get this and I'll laugh at how worried I was about it. I mean I thought Tibby would NEVER be potty trained! But it's still tough that this is lesson ONE of the foundations class and we are taking the class for the THIRD time and we still don't have it.

Wet But Fun Lesson

I'm writing this so I don't forget everything from our lesson today.  It might not be all that interesting to anyone else :)

Great lesson even though it was raining.  We were soaking!  Tibby had an amazing (probably her best ever) recall - she was sniffing some bushes and whipped around when I called her and came (running!) right away.  She also did a good job of coming in for a hand touch when she was zooming around.  Progress!!  Amazing!!  Tibby is SO SMART!

I used a new treat today - peanut butter in an old toothpaste tube.  Worked really, really well.  Love it!
First we worked on the tunnel.  Things to remember - Go slowly - small changes (moving/bending tunnel) and work until Tibby is comfortable.  No pushing Tibby in the tunnel!  Let her think it out - be patient.  Don't say oops! :)  Verbal praise when she goes in and while she is in the tunnel. 

Then we worked on this from the 2nd lesson of the ST foundation class.



Yes!  Really!  We worked on it!  When I asked Loretta if she thought we could do it, I thought she was going to say, "Ha! ha! Um, nooooo."  But we did it!  We did the first 4 parts and Tibby did a great job.  This next week Tibby and I will work on the first 4 parts together and I (just me not Tibby) will work on handling the last 4 parts.  Then when I can do the whole thing by myself I'll add Tibby and try the last 4 parts.  It was really, really fun.  I didn't think it would work, but we did it!  Tibby is really smart.  I stood by the first jump, without saying anything and Tibby just jumped right over it - it helped that Loretta had added a few extra bars to the jump, so Tibby couldn't knock it down. :)

I have to remember - Tibby is sensitive to pressure - no pushing or rushing.  Patience!  Stop comparing Tibby to anyone else's dog.  Tibby will do what she wants when she wants to, so why stress her (and myself) out about something that is uncontrollable.  Don't bore Tibby with reps of boring things - make it fun, so she wants to do it.   The MOST IMPORTANT thing:  We are making progress everyday! :)

I love having lessons! 

Great First Lesson Today

This morning Tibby and I had our first lesson with Loretta from Full Tilt Border Collies.  She is a really great teacher.  I liked the way she taught - it was great!  Very easy to understand and very encouraging.  I didn't leave feeling like Tibby and I had a horrible relationship and we would never get this game called agility.  I left feeling like, "Ah ha!  That's how people teach xxxx and xxxx.  Well, that's not so hard.  We can do that."    Also, she has the most beautiful place.  It's so pretty and there is so much pretty, soft green grass to run around on.  Tibby also thought the grass was beautiful (and yummy).

We worked on so many things: cik/cap (which I especially want to work on because it is a foundation skill for the next Silvia Trkman class I signed up for - we are NOT going to fall so far behind in the next class!!!), spins left/right, running across a plank (Tibby did a good job :) ), reverse cross, front cross, another cross thing, but I forgot it's name - collection cue?, jumping over a jump.  We also worked on Tibby ignoring another dog.  All I have to say is that Loretta has THE MOST PATIENT dog in the entire world.  Tibby was literally pawing and sticking her nose in Loretta's dog's face (I think it was Lynn?) and Loretta's dog totally ignored her.  She growled, but that was it.  Wow.  Eventually Tibby turned to me a couple times and got a treat - progress! 

Tibby chased her ball and ate a ton of treats.  She had fun!  There were a couple times where she did a little zoomie around on the grass and wouldn't come back, but it wasn't as bad as I thought she would be.  Yay!  She didn't run away!  Yeah that's right she was OFF LEASH! 

We were both super tired when we got home.  After a short walk around the front yard to potty Tibby collapsed in the living room and fell asleep.  I was asleep soon too.  We slept for 3 hours!