Reply To: Shannon & Cricket (DRTDT)

[Alana McGee]

Hi Shannon!!! SORRY!

Going to address each video separately to keep this more orderly!

First video

We really like the way you handle your energy in the situation, Cricket looks loose and happy.
We do love how once she?s done a quick investigate the world, she saunters over to the target and offers her alert.

Correct, “show me” does not mean what you think it might. If you want to go ahead and use that you should practice pairing some nose targeting behaviors with hot target and the verbal cue/ command. We know you do use this as part of the alert sequence, but try in less complex environments building that cue with desired behavior.

When outside I would reward when she does her first alert (IF you know that is the correct target!) and then do the digging, as you have just done, and reward again once it is in your hand. We are building delay and endurance here, but Cricket might decide to try something else if she doesn?t get the response she is looking for from this scenario.

You did offer her a cookie initially. Great. Before you ask for that ?show me? while she is rooting around- I would reward that too- and then ask for the ‘show me?- as a re-alert behavior. But practice the nose target and the cue as well in slightly less complicated environments too and that connection will build.

Don?t worry. You handled it ok! When she came back over- perhaps prompted by your standing, that was perfect- and actually an AWESOME teaching moment- kind of ideal for this situation as she came back over to alert by her own volition without a verbal prompting from you. I suspect that the delay in getting her reward (from the digging) prompted her finding stimulus elsewhere aka tea balls! Good job on getting her to nose touch multiple times after that find.

WE LOVE THE TOY. Her nose touches and then frisbee- WHAA! That was PHENOMENAL. SHE WANTED the target and then the frisbee. HOW AWESOME. (*Can you tell how excited we are!)

WE LOVE Cricket’s response to the toy. We know you were planning on using the toy occasionally when hunting, but have you been practicing with it at all recently much? That right there was Superb.

Love how you connect in hide 2 (and how she flies through the screen mid air when it transitions video clips! Cricket really likes those teaballs too! This hide was really well done. You guys were great.

We like her with the toy. We know it can likely be a distraction and as you have said she won?t then focus on anything else, but whatever you?ve ben practicing with that- good work.