Day 24 (10/04/17): training progress, visiting Agnes

Training is still progressing in baby steps, but I saw progress in multiple skills today. She's getting the hang of deliberately working for the treats. I got a little bit of duration at source in Nose Work, and more consistent duration of 4-5seconds in stand-stay. She was going to the mat with more intent rather than looking like she happened to wander on it. (I'm still working on getting her to go to the mat and then pause on her own.) We worked on IYC with eye contact while she was lying down and I kneeled in front of her, which was a new picture for her. The best one was that I got great nose touches to my hand target with both hands. I would toss the reward away and she was quickly returning to earn the next one.

We wrestled on the floor when training was done.

Today's field trip was to visit Auntie Agnes in San Francisco. She lives on a busy street and the number of people around was overwhelming for Terra, especially when they were walking right toward us. But as soon as we got off the main street, she was didn't react negatively to anything around her. She even peed on the sidewalk, though I had to stand and let her circle around me for a couple minutes first.

Once we were inside the apartment, she immediately relaxed and started exploring. Agnes' little dog, Frankie, was excited and zooming back and forth. The first few passes made Terra uneasy, but soon they started playing and were both running back and forth. So adorable. We did have to institute breaks as Frankie would wind up rather than correcting her as Chimera does.

When Frankie had had enough, he jumped up onto the couch next to Agnes and settled down. He growled when Terra got too close, and she definitely understood that message. She wandered around a little bit and found toys and chews, then settled on the rug and fell asleep. Such an easy puppy.

Amy said, "She looks like a muppet." She really does.

At the end I asked Agnes to practice the hand target, and Terra quickly recognized it and did 4 successful targets in a row. Then Agnes tried to do the stand-stay but Terra didn't recognize the cue and tried to just get petting or walk around. Thanks Agnes for helping do a little generalization for us!

Food-wise, Terra is back on 100% raw and doing well. I added a quarter of a daily portion of chicken liver and pork kidney to her breakfast and dinner. She didn't like the organs, which I've heard is fairly common. I minced them finely and mixed them into her breakfast and she just left a few pieces of organ in the bowl. At dinner I chopped a less finely, and she ate around it.