Reply To: Lois and Monza (August 2014)

[Alana McGee]

Lois:

Instructor quote:
“Is the soil under the deck deep or shallow, or on top of a concrete slab? And is it very rocky with pea like gravel?”

It’s east Tennessee clay with some gravel on top.

Here is a representation of our indoor training. More boxes and things and I’m carrying a box with a few tools and attempting to desensitize her to me removing tools. Also, I’m capable of leaving a bag of treats open and Monza sneaking in and trying to self-reward with a jackpot. So I’m trying to remove treats from box, and place behind me. These exercise were an attempt at role playing/delayed reward/stay engaged.

In the 1st session Monza explores the room a little. This was the 1st session with more clutter and the cat sometimes sleeps by the glass doors or on the blanket, so I don’t think she’s truly working in the 1st 20 seconds. Then I leave my treats in my box with tools and she tries to shmooze her way into them and I chat with her as I move the treats aside without fussing at her. She investigates the tool box where the treats were but returns to the source. I don’t think I over-extended her though. She wasn’t anxious, but I wished I could have been more engaged at source and a little less distracting.

This is all very different from tracking and our prior NoseWorks training. I think I can be a little less chatty – role playing on video is awkward and I need to find a normal response. I do think Monza needs to learn to deal with me moving my hands, pulling out tools, etc. for real-life hunting.

Am I too distracting at this point?

My 1st truffle pieces have started to mold, so I will thaw a new piece. It was amazing how the scent from the fresh pieces peaked and has dropped off in the last 2 weeks.

Thanks Alana & Kristin!