Reply To: Lois & Speed (DRTDT)

[Alana McGee]

[b]Assignment[/b]: minimal visual identification, outside.
[b]Location[/b]: ?enchanted meadow? by raised beds . Flat, thick grass, surrounded by forsythia.
[b]Hides[/b]: 3 in wet grass with a few wet leaves over the top. Hide 1 was close to some wild green onions. I was a little concerned they might be too smelly. Hide 2 is in thicker/taller grass. Hide 3 is right in front of a forsythia branch.
[b]Conditions[/b]: Wet! Low 60s, no wind, muggy.

Kristin, great suggestion about priming with Speed. I had not been doing that. I did a priming exercise today today and he looks much more confident starting out. Great observation.

I did some of the ?Better Than a Cookie? game with him at the end. This session was before breakfast and he was a bit more fixated on the treats in my pouch/hand and was popping up/leaving source. I?ll do a ?better than a cookie game? with him this week as part of our priming instead of standing and holding the ?primer? tin out for a nose touch.

Wet conditions are more difficult so I included the entire session so you can see him work. I don?t see any signs of stress or frustration. The biggest things is Speed pops up when I verbally mark his initial indication. I think I need to drop the verbal marker, swoop in there and deliver treat at source, pause, get a little persistence, reach in and pull grass away and then reward again. Thoughts?

Also wanted to note that he did fine close to forsythia branch.

Only other observation is he is sensitive to my movement and switches direction when I take just a few steps. I’ll have to make note if too much movement from me ever starts to causes stress. Hides 1 & 2 were pretty fast under the conditions. I gave some encouragement as our rate of reinforcement was dropping after Hide 2.

I?ll do blind hides on Monday or Tuesday and report if there are any problems; otherwise this is my last post for week 2.

Thanks Kristin and Alana!