Shaping

Wow what a weekend.

This is the hardest I think I have ever had to work.  I really thought Marty was coming along as a treat delivery system, but last weekend she just wore me out!  We had to get up before it was even light out and drive all the way to dog school.  (We have never been to dog school on a weekend before.)

We got there before anyone else and we got to play car games for a little while.  That was okay.  Then I got to say hello to Miss Pat and Miss Shirley.  That part was really good.  They arranged the classroom into little blocks.  I have never seen in like that before.  Marty brought my crate in, so I thought we might play Nosework games, but she didn't put my harness on me.  I decided I didn't want to be in the crate.  Pretty soon a lot of other humans and dogs started showing up.

We had to sit in a circle while Miss Pat talked.  I REALLY wanted to go see all the other humans and see what kind of treats THEY'D brought, but Marty said she would give me A LOT of treats if I just stayed on my mat and chilled.  Her definition of A LOT and my definition are not EXACTLY the same, but she got a little better with practice.  Miss Pat talked for a lot longer than she normally does during class.

After that was finally over, we went back to our areas.  Everyone got a partner, and I got Cassie!  Cassie is training Miss Shirley.  (Cassie is very lucky, because Miss Shirley already had already been training with her other dogs before Cassie went to live there, so she is a lot more advanced than my human.)

We played the game with the box again where you get treats for doing ANYTHING.  I had to show everyone how bad Marty is at recognizing me doing stuff.  Everyone agreed she's very bad.

Then we played an even easier game where I try to get Marty to give me treats for moving my head.  MOVING MY HEAD!  That's it!  If I move my head EVEN THE TINIEST BIT she has to give me a treat.  I don't even have to move, I can just sit there.  This is a great game.  I got a lot of treats.  (By the end of the weekend, Marty got so good at it I taught her to say "Look Left" just before I turned my head.)

After lunch (I took a nap during lunch, training Marty wears me out, plus we had to get up really early AND we went in the car) we got our mats out and we were supposed to go lie down on them.  So I did.  Did I get a lot of treats?  NO!  Marty took my mat away and wanted me to go lie down on a piece of paper.  What goes through these humans' brains?  Do they even have brains?  Why would I lie on a piece of paper when I could lie on my mat??  Needless to say, I did not do that.

All the humans were supposed to work on a new trick.  Marty wanted to give me treats for picking up my bag.  I have no interest in carrying my own bag, I have humans for that!  So instead we worked on her giving me treats for putting my head through a basket.  I did that some, but it's a very boring game.