I learned a few things today that in a perfect world would have been missed.
It was raining, not just raining, but pouring rain, nasty wet newsworthy weather. My meet-up partners had to cancel, so it was just team Sonic. Worse yet, Sonic has a bit of limp today, so that meant meant a big fat no to the fun stuff. No play, no excitement, no getting the dog excited, no spins, no twirls, no tugging, no chasing, no no no & more no.
I decided that 'stays' would be okay for a slightly sore dog, and I'd keep the running to minimum by being boring. So the treats would come out, but not get tossed to be chased. I'd speak soft and calm, no excitement, no cheer leading, no chase me rewards. And guess what; he loved it.
I brought some carpet mats along so he'd have something warm & comfy to practice on. I put them out under the pavillion in Memorial Park. The pavillion is a great rainy day public training space; much of it was crispy dry, a little dark but plenty of fresh air, a dry surface, and a bit of a view. My raincoat & bag tossed aside turned into a confusing distraction (both much easier to see than the carpets) so I put the raincoat on one carpet and bag on the other. Now he has some clear targets to head to. I moved them further apart, and at one point, had to put them closer together. It's always good to back up a few steps if the dog is hesitating. I didn't much care what he did as long as he 'stayed' at the carpet, and moves out ahead of me with confidence (easier said than done).
Sorry about the lousy video (dark) but here's a sample of what you can practice on a less than perfect day.
So what did I learn? I learned that sometimes 'fun me' is 'confusing her' to Sonic. Sometimes 'fun me' is 'she's pushy' to Sonic. Sometimes I throw too much at him at once, thinking, but he knows all this, and I fry his little brain until he spins in unprompted circles. What I saw is that while he seemed a little bored at the beginning of what turned out to be a very long session, by the end, he wanted more, and he wanted action. He was ready to play, to run, and to spin on cue. Well, not today, sorry Mr Sonic. But I learned a few things by slowing things down and tuning down the excitement.
Sometimes being forced to things differently can be a learning experience.
Have you had moments where your routine was broken, you had to improvise, change things up & learned a valuable lesson as a result?
It was raining, not just raining, but pouring rain, nasty wet newsworthy weather. My meet-up partners had to cancel, so it was just team Sonic. Worse yet, Sonic has a bit of limp today, so that meant meant a big fat no to the fun stuff. No play, no excitement, no getting the dog excited, no spins, no twirls, no tugging, no chasing, no no no & more no.
I decided that 'stays' would be okay for a slightly sore dog, and I'd keep the running to minimum by being boring. So the treats would come out, but not get tossed to be chased. I'd speak soft and calm, no excitement, no cheer leading, no chase me rewards. And guess what; he loved it.
I brought some carpet mats along so he'd have something warm & comfy to practice on. I put them out under the pavillion in Memorial Park. The pavillion is a great rainy day public training space; much of it was crispy dry, a little dark but plenty of fresh air, a dry surface, and a bit of a view. My raincoat & bag tossed aside turned into a confusing distraction (both much easier to see than the carpets) so I put the raincoat on one carpet and bag on the other. Now he has some clear targets to head to. I moved them further apart, and at one point, had to put them closer together. It's always good to back up a few steps if the dog is hesitating. I didn't much care what he did as long as he 'stayed' at the carpet, and moves out ahead of me with confidence (easier said than done).
Sorry about the lousy video (dark) but here's a sample of what you can practice on a less than perfect day.
So what did I learn? I learned that sometimes 'fun me' is 'confusing her' to Sonic. Sometimes 'fun me' is 'she's pushy' to Sonic. Sometimes I throw too much at him at once, thinking, but he knows all this, and I fry his little brain until he spins in unprompted circles. What I saw is that while he seemed a little bored at the beginning of what turned out to be a very long session, by the end, he wanted more, and he wanted action. He was ready to play, to run, and to spin on cue. Well, not today, sorry Mr Sonic. But I learned a few things by slowing things down and tuning down the excitement.
Sometimes being forced to things differently can be a learning experience.
Have you had moments where your routine was broken, you had to improvise, change things up & learned a valuable lesson as a result?
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