Week 5 LaLa Training Blog: More Exposure to Outside Distractions and Dropping the Leash Inside

As my dog's performance improves or is at least manageable in less distractions, then I start pushing the distractions a bit at a time.   I want to challenge my dog but not totally overwhelm them.  For me this becomes a judgement call.  I can wait for more perfect performance in non distractions.  I can also increase their performance in non distractions by pushing them a little bit when I am fairly sure they can handle it.  I decide later whether that ended up being a bad idea or a good idea.   With LaLa, it was a good idea as she did better than expected around distractions.  Her biggest distraction is my husband, Robert, moving in and out of her view BTW.  Next biggest distraction would be critters, but they are definitely second place to Robert.

In the above video, a couple of ways of increasing reliability for later on have been started.   The first is that we are outside on the porch (an easy way to start outside distractions or introduce a new skill to outside distractions).  The second thing is that I am not holding LaLa's leash, but she is dragging her leash for this exercise.   So I have her leash on but not held for Circle Stays and Long Place (inside or on the porch outside) but if I increase the distraction even more later, it is entirely probably that I will need to take a step back and hold the leash again until we build her impulse control up wherever or whatever that dog training environment or distraction ends up being.

For some food reward luring exercises, I can work her off leash (only because she is into it with food) INSIDE.  Again this builds her confidence and ability to some day do these things off leash in different environments (however, almost any way you do it takes a long time to work and proof).  If at some point she was not listening, she would go back on leash.   That phase may happen when I start staggering the treats later on.   When I do that ends up being a judgement call with my own dog, since our timeline is not guided by anything immediate right now.  With a client's dog and less time, often I need to prioritize the goals of the client and try and match the pace of that dog's owner and the owner's learning curve as well.  The tricks and/or commands that she can work (lured with food) off leash and inside are send to place, spin or follow the hand, pretty (new trick), look or attention to name, heeling, let's go, come or recall, and take it and out (dumbell exercise). 

The below fetch exercise can be a gateway to a lot of different activities for a dog (including the advanced portion of competition obedience).  I happened to start this because there was the slightest suspicion of us around her toys at the beginning.   So teaching her that most times she is going to get the item back begins the trust process.  That is, LaLa trusting that we aren't just arbitrarily taking things from her all the time.  In fact, these things can be worked into games and more fun for your dog.  I started this with food trades for an out.   Then she got good at the opening her mouth portion to get it.  So basically get in and out reps were rewarded on the out.  Of course in order to get the reward, LaLa has to take it and hold it briefly.  In this video, I am doing it without treats.  Depending on if she keeps working well or not with this, I may introduce food rewards again.  This session she did very well.  A couple of times she wanted to bite the ends instead of the middle, and a couple of times she tried to avoid the dumbell.  I just look for improvement in our performance and activities, and this was successful improvement at the end of week 5.

Play training is becoming easier to start with LaLa.  I even got her to play with me standing (her on the floor) today, which I think has been a little intimidating for her.   I don't ever know if we are going to be able to do really good play training, but the process is worth it either way.   It only takes me  3-4 minutes every other day.  The trick right now is to pretty much let her "win" (run off with her toy).  So in other words, when I am playing with her, I am not practicing "out" or "leave it" with the toy.   I put her toys that she likes to play with, back up for a couple days after the session.   Those toys are fluffless lamby and a ropey toy.  Occasionally, a chuck it ball will do the trick too (just not thrown at her or the wall, just tossed up and let it drop on the bed).  She does not like things flopping near her head, so I avoid that.  Also, I try to be silly with her in some portions of the day by stalking and chasing her or by playing hide and seek.   This way she may get the idea that I like to play too (with her).   The improvement is that I can now initiate a short play session (as well as I select the time and toy well and follow those rules).    It would be fun if we could more actively use play training in the future, but it is not a requirement.    Just getting LaLa to enjoy playing with me for short periods of time would be enough. 

Observations at the end of the week:  LaLa is a fast learner.  She generally does like to do training and activities with her people.  Interactive play has been more of a challenge than her obedience exercises.  She can occasionally be stubborn (like if she wants to keep track of Robert or watch the critters instead of working), but overall she is cooperative with the lessons.   Compared to my previous working dog Shana, she is very chill.  She likes (and we provide) activity and adventures, but she can also relax with you during the day.  We will see if that continues, as I sometimes suspect there is a wild woman in there.