Keeper is a large puppy with very little training. She's naturally a soft and sensitive animal with a very good understanding of dog manners, so it's not hard to live with her. She was encouraged to put her feet up on people and lick faces (so gross!). Many times when I'm petting her it feels like a constant stream of *mouth on arm* "no" *mouth off arm* "yes" *eye contact and wagging, happy to be petted, wants to express that joy, mouth on arm* "no".... The time between each "no" is stretching out, and I have pinched her tongue to her jaw those times she's grabbed me hard. Sometimes she opens her mouth, then turns her head away. She's trying very hard to live by the new rules.
Ocho (our grumpy old crate dweller) likes her better than he liked Strider. Strider grew up with Mr. GrowlyPants telling the "kids" to knock it off, so there was a certain ear rotation that was "yeah, yeah, I hear you, old man." but Strider didn't give Ocho space. He never bumped him, but Strider was almost preternaturally aware of where he was in the world and would pass within a whisker length of Ocho. Ocho, being old, tottery, hard of hearing and with cataracts, did not find the sudden appearance of a fast moving puppy to be a good thing, and would sound off about it. Yet they often slept next to each other, with it being fairly equal on who would approach and settle touching the already snoozing dog.
Keeper, being big, clumsy, and not at all aware of herself in space, gives Ocho plenty of room, swings wide of him, and stops in her tracks when he stiffens. He's growled at her about five times in the month she's been here. Neither puppy has actually jostled or hurt the old dog, but it's so interesting to see him be more relaxed now that the big black dog in his life is not "buzzing the tower," as it were. [Sunny, the 16 month old English Setter, is fast, unaware, and sometimes clumsy. She's bumped Ocho off his feet a couple times, but she is "the right breed" of dog and does not get told.] Keeper does not currently want to sleep near any of our dogs, although I'm seeing more of her in the sleeping doggy mosh pit between the couch and the coffee table.
She's willing to climb in and out of the half crates, but doesn't yet want to sit in them, or back into them. (I'm asking too much. This is day two with this new training. I need to acquire some patience.) She does seem to be becoming at least marginally aware of her hind feet needing to be lifted to get in or across the sides.
We started two-person "come" before breakfast this morning. She lost focus on just going back and forth, but pepped right up when asked for a down (hand signal only at this point- but it was Dad who asked for it and got it, first try, the very first time he'd asked her for it!) or a sit when she came. I had locked up the Setters and put Duncan in a stay, Mom was still asleep, and we worked in the living room. I had accounted for almost all of the distractions... except biological. Once we were done and all the other dogs were roaming free again, she went tearing out to the yard, squatted to poop, tilted her pelvis and peed on the pile (highly efficient- had only really seen Ocho do that sort of EMPTY ALL CHAMBERS! maneuver before.) Maybe next time, potty break, then training. But, she stuck with the training, and waited to go out, which is promising.
She's also gaining the eye-mouth coordination to catch food 1/2 to 2/3 of the time. I'm going to miss being able to lob food directly at her head and watch it roll off between her eyes, but it will make distance training easier to reinforce now that she has the idea.
The hardest part of so much of working with her is that she is big, and she does have manners, and she's still utterly a puppy brain. I want to push and move forward and she doesn't have a strong enough foundation, yet.
I need to go back and rework Zen again. It remains a weakness, too many months encouraged to grab for bait and pester the hand while in a stack, I guess. Or she's just got a high food drive.
We're kind of scattershot through the Levels.
Zen: Level 0 (she keeps grabbing at hands that look like they might have food.)
Come: I can ask for and get Level 2 step 2 (dog comes 10 feet to have leash put on), but we're training on Level 1 step 2 (dog runs 10 feet between two people) because I don't trust it.
Sit: Level 1 step 3 and step 5 (She'll sit for real life rewards, which is step 5, and she'll sit with hand signal and on a leash, steps 2 and 3, but we're still working on sitting by an open door, step 4)
Target: Level 1 step 1, still working on the logic of touching a hand or a lid that does not have food, in order to get food/praise.
Down: Level 1 step 3 (tested with Dad giving the hand signal and getting the down in the middle of come training.)
Focus: Level 2 step 2 (two seconds of eye contact, and she's starting to give eye contact when she wants to train, get food, or communicate with people, which is Level 2 step 5)
She's also becoming very consistent about bouncing her chin on the edge of the bed in the night to wake me up so she can potty outside. I'm semi-consciously training persistence by trying to roll over and go back to sleep, and she's started prodding knees and elbows if she can reach them, and nose-pokes for things in the car.
For having her just over a month, she's doing pretty damn fantastic, once I type it all up.
No comments:
Post a Comment