Mad woman tortures dog and plays with toys
31/12/08
We went to the close spot first thing this morning, about 6.45am, eek. She did really well straight out of the car on the lead- responding to cues well. We did sits and downs and moving together. Then she got a bit sniffy. I have to remember that we are working on extending the duration of “attention” in this context.
We ran around a bit on the harness, without much pulling to start. It was mostly a warm-up with a bit of pulling at the end. I then got her a drink and set her up on her mat with the lead attached to my belt which was being worn by a small tree.
After a few RP like things, including me running off and coming back, we worked with the “puppy”. I had it in the cardboard box, and worked on carrying the box off a ways. Then bringing the pup out briefly. These reps were interspersed with “sit for 10 seconds” types of easy reps. I then brought it out and jiggled it a bit like a pup jumping on my knee (I was kneeling down) and Amika stood up. I stopped moving the toy and waited. Then I said “no” and she remembered what she was supposed to be doing. As soon as she went down on the mat again, I went back and rewarded her with several treats.
At about that point, a car came and cruised our car park. We did LAT car, and they drove off around the curve of the car park and stopped. She was still a bit interested, and I wanted to see what would come out of the car. so kept up LAT. After a few moments, the car drove off. Maybe they didn’t like the look of us? Amika stood up again at this point, and I asked her to down again. After a few seconds, I sent her off the mat to sniff and moved the other side of the tree, as the sun was moving.
Back to working with the pup. I got to the stage I could bring it out while standing, and “run” it around me in a circle. Amika stayed on her mat. At the end I gave her a handful of treats on the mat and packed up. She wanted to examine what was in that box, but I told her to leave it. Next time, I’ll leave her on the mat and take it back to the car.
We finished up with some running and tyre pulling. At some stage while this was happening, the cops showed up in their paddy wagon to watch! I think mostly what they saw was us getting back to the car, having a drink, loading her up etc. They left about the time I went and retrieved my belt and lead from the tree. Wonder what they thought? In any case, glad they didn’t come over to ask questions!
PS-happy new year!
