Was hoping to use the tennis courts but they’ve locked them for the winter. They were very icy anyways. So eneded up in the parking lot behind the city hall. It’s pretty safe and not busy at all.

Worked on L1 Down, Sit, Zen and Touch and on L2 Leash manner (in one spot) and LLW.

For Leash Manner in one spot I was really going for simple eye contact in order to get her attention in a strange environment. She was on leash for safety reasons so it did end up being a L2 Leash. A couple of people walked by us and she was very good. She did walk to the end of the leash towards the first man, but not the second one.

SHe was very good on all L1 behaviours.

not so good was that she cried in her crate the whole time I was working with Griffin. I’ll tell more on crate training in a separate entry of her journal.. . . Have found a big hole in her training but we’re working on it. It had to do more with "Training Zen" than with the crate!

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Down	3	0	10	4	60%
Leash Manners	5	10	0	0
Sit	3	0	10	2	80%
Target	3	0	5	0	100%
Zen	3	0	5	0	100%

Several short sessions in different rooms of the house (basement, grooming shop, living room)

Still working on the Down Stay and keeping the rhythm and enthusiasm up with some action behaviours.

Made some more progress on the Down Stay. Instead of stepping forward and stepping back I now step forward (up to 5 steps), turn around, face her, return and pivot back! It’S the whole exercise except I need to increase distance. This is so great. . . We had been struggling so much trying to increase time first instead of distance. Sometimes you just have to try something different.

Nike has caught on the Contact concept so quickly. It was fun fun fun.

Still haven’t decided on the final behaviour for the shaped Trick. I’ve shaped jumping on the box (all feet on) and once on, she’s been clicked for pawing at it, nosing it, lying down, sitting, standing with her front paws on the edge. . . I’ll have to pick something soon and shape that.

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Contacts	3	15	0	0
Crate	4	4	0	0
Distance	4	0	10	2	80%		6.0 ft
Down Stay	2	20	0	0			5.0 ft
Go To Mat	3	0	10	0	100%	10s	5.0 ft
Trick	3	10	0	0

Well look at this!
Nike passed L3 Zen with no trouble whatsoever and little training (only duration) where Griffin still gets way too excited and has a hard time going for the whole 20 seconds on his first try. He does eventually on his 2nd or third try but needs reminders first.

So we’ve been working on the Down Stay. I swear this dog is mounted on springs! To tell the truth I was pretty convinced I would never see any breakthrough on the stays with Nike. I have never had this much trouble teaching it to any of my dogs.

Anyhow. . . building up duration while I was in front of her just led to pure frustration no matter how small I started, how slow I increased the time, or how many times I started again at the beginning. Nike just got very frustrated. . . and so did I in the end.

So it was time to try something different. I sat on the floor with treats and all the dogs. I asked for a Down and got it from all the dogs (except Rosa but it’s okay she gets treats for just helping out LOL.)

I rewarded all dogs starting with Nike. If she got up while I was rewarding the other ones I waited her out until she downed on her own (no cues) before distributing treats again. Once she didn’t get up so much (Sue’s theory of Laziness!!!) I started treating one dog first, then her (increasing time) then two dogs and her, then three dogs and her, then having to pass in front of her nose with the treat to give it to Kali (tougher distraction) until she was solid. Then I got up and started again while I was standing.

Of course this was over several days/sessions. . . once she was solid I put the other dogs away and started not with duration but with me moving away from her. First I started with staying in place and moving one foot forward and back C/T, then the other foot C/T, then one foot then the other foot C/T, then taking one step AWAY from her and stepping back C/T.

. .. we’re up to FIVE steps away and back!

This morning I didn’t feel like putting the other dogs away so I asked Griffin to Go to Mat, put Kali on the Down Stay and let Rosa be my wagging tail ghost . I set Nike facing Griffin about 5’ away(he’s on the Mat) so I could walk away from her, reward Griffin and walk back to her before C/T.

Nice job. I can see how hard she’s thinking about this and how much self control it takes her to not spring up!

We’ll get there. I know it seems like there’s a lot of distractions and usually I would not start with so much but it really seems to help her. Now that she seems to have grabbed the concept I’ll be just alternating sessions with and without the rest of the gang from now on.

I’M pretty happy about this!

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Contacts	3	15	0	0
Down Stay	2	20	0	0			5.0 ft

Continued on after testing DOwn and Scenting. I’ve now added some movements on my part for the "Stay". There is improvement on these but it’s really slooooow.

Go To Mat – All we need is adding duration up to one minute.

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Go To Mat	3	0	10	1	90%	10s
Sit Stay	2	15	0	0			2.0 ft

I have not logged in recently but we have been working on and off more often than not taking advantages of everyday situations to practice this or that. It paid off specialy for Nike’s down.

Scenting was an easy pass. I had started on it a couple of days ago as a fun action behaviours to do between the dreaded "stays"!

Stand – After being at the shows and doing a lot of stacking. Standing on one cue was an easy one to pass.

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Down	2	2	0	100%	Yes
Scenting	3	2	0	100%	Yes
Stand	3	2	0	100%	Yes

Have started on L3 shaped Trick and it went great. I love shaping! We worked from glancing at a box to nosing it, pawing at it, putting one paw on it, putting two paws on it, to finally jumping on it. I would now like her to turn and face me once she’s on it and to finally sit on top of the box or to stand/stack with her front feet right at the edge of the box. . . will decide later which it will be.

Zen – worked with her and Griffin to increase time.

Crate – Have found a hole. She can stay in her crate for hours without making a noise if it’s in the van or at the shows, but at home when I’m just next by working or training another dog she whines. She also does it if I walk out of the room . . . Bummer
So have been rewarding being quiet while I train Griffin or groom dogs, starting with very short periods between rewards and increasing gradually. I just have to put my mind to it. . it’s something I often just don’t think of doing.

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Crate	4	5	0	0
Stand	3	0	10	0	100%
Trick	3	30	0	0
Zen	3	0	10	0	100%	30s

Two short training sessions working on Down from a sit and Down Stay lying down at my side and in front of me. I am not about to move away from her! But she’s improved greatly on just staying there without fidgeting or making any little noises. We went up to 10 seconds with her at my side and 15 seconds with her in front. Will start adding movement (me) and/or distance once she reached 30 seconds of a solid stay.

Good session

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Down	2	0	10	1	90%
Down Stay	2	0	30	2	93%	15s

L3 Target – A couple of days back I retrieved the Easy Button from the drawer where it’s been for a while and decided to give it a try with Nike since she was hitting a target the size of a paper book pretty consistently. It was a success right away. I simply needed to add some distance and she needed to learned that just touching it was not enough, she had to hit it hard enough (she’s soooo small!) in order to make it "speak". That became my final criteria.

She passed the test this morning with success. She’s shown wonderful understanding of my criteria when she hit the button and turned back to come back for her reward but stop midway when she realized she was not hearing "That was Easy", turned around on her own and went back to hit it again hard enough this time,

Smart girl!

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Target	3	10	0	100%	Yes

WaaaaHoooo! We have completed three days of testing Sit (NTA) being successful three days in a row. Wonderful progression!

I wish Down was progressing the same way but it’s a bit more difficult. I trained this after I was done testeting and actually Nike downs from a stand very reliably. . .it’s downing from a sit that seems to be the problem. . . oh well! I consider that a small hurdle compare to some of the other stuff. She does the behaviour, we just need more repetitions.

Also tested Watch and Stand Stay and BRAVO! Nike passed. I made it a 12 second test in both case and tested both in two locations (kitchen and doggy room). . . just to be sure :-) She was wonderful.

Down – Worked both Down from a Stand and Down from a Sit. Interestingly enough it’s easier for Nike to down from a stand.

Target – Need a bit more practice to be reliable on cue. Distance is no problem.

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Down	2	0	20	4	80%
Target	3	0	15	4	73%

Watch – I find that if we’re doing daily stuff that she has no trouble staying with her eyes locked on me while she follows me around. But I have to re-explain the duration concept if we do this "formally" i.e. if I just sit or stand there. But I think it’s just a matter of time. She did great today and went up to 12 seconds using the 300 pecks method. I was throwing the reward behind her and after getting it she would spin around and find my eyes on purpose again.

Stand – I find Stand and Watch progression go hand in hand at this time but she makes less and less "mistakes" as we keep practicing this. Fidgeting is the big hurdle here but she is getting there it’s just that some days are good some not so good. Patience. . . Patience.. . .

Target – Had not done any of this lately so started with uncued reps.. . of course she had to realize that I had switch games and that locking her eyes on me wasn’t it . . .
Had no trouble with the cued reps.

Good Going Nike!

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Stand Stay	2	0	10	3	70%	10s
Target	3	15	5	1	80%		5.0 ft
Watch	2	30	0	0		12s

It looks like I’ve been neglicting Nike in the past couple of days but it was not the case. In addition to Leash Manners we worked quite a bit on Watch, building it up to about 15 seconds under all kinds of conditions and a variety of locations and positions. Played the lost dog game today in the field and she was swinging around so quick to find my eyes again wagging her tail and being all excited about the whole deal. Lots of fun and she’s almost ready to be tested.

Keeping the duration behaviours for last might not have been the best of ideas and it might take us a while before we can test Sit Stay and Down Stay.

On the other hand we’ll be checking the box for Sit (NTA) pretty soon. I test it every morning and train it during the day. I will call it a pass once she gets it right for 3 morning in a row. Coming soon!

Today we tested Leash Manners and she passed. The distraction was me throwing handfuls of kibbles to the other 3 dogs about 5-10 feet from me and Nike. They had their breakfast while we just stood there.

Very short session this morning using real treats instead of kibbles and working on action behaviours except for Eye contact which I kept very short. I will use Watch for locking onto my left hand at waist level for heeling purposes and Eye contact for "everyday look at me and pay attention" behaviour.

L3 Target – Working from about 4 feet away and will be gradually decrease the size of the target. I’m ignoring (not clicking) her backing up to the target. I’m still clicking for a nose touch once in a while but will eliminate those soon.

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Eye Contact	0	10	0	0		5s
Target	3	0	10	2	80%		4.0 ft

Leash Manners – Practiced this 1-minute loose leash exercise 4 times throughout the whole time I was downstairs, in 4 different locations using various distractions (next to the cat while she was eating, on the doorstep to outside with the door opened, just outside the shop on the porch with the cat going passed us, walking away, laundry room while I was taking the clothes out the dryer). The only time she pulled was to follow the cat outside.

Distance – Increasing distance gradually. 100% success at 3 feet. A couple errors/hesitation at 4 feet.

L4 Target – Very eager to follow the stick. No grabbing, just wants to nose touch it.

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Distance	3	0	15	2	87%		4.0 ft
Leash Manners	2	4	0	0		1m 10s
Target	4	0	10	1	90%

Have worked on Stand Stay over the past couple of days and Nike still seems to think that if I haven’t clicked her after a while that she needs to offer me a new behaviour. Will leave it for a couple of days and work on Sit Stay instead. I hope that once we get pass 15-20 seconds on one of the stays that she will have caught on to the idea that being still IS the behaviour <g>.

So that we don’t get bored with duration exercises I’ve started on L3 Target . I’m asking for a paw touch. I am shaping this from the very beginning, from glancing at the target to going to it head on and touching it with one paw. I might decide that she should touch it specifically with only the right or the left every time. Although I click for R or L paw, she seems to be using her right paw most of the time at this point. In today’s session we went from glancing to touching it with any part of her front i.e. front paws or nose. I’ve opted to NOT click when she backed onto the target crawling backwards . . . .

hmmmm . . . maybe crawling backwards could be my L5 captured trick!

Did a bunch of Sits and Downs. Good progression on the downs. Have started rapid firing to keep her in position longer as she tends to pop up on that one too. Sits are solid.

Also went outside to introduce Leash Manners. I threw a couple handfuls of kibble in the grass for the other dogs and had her on leash a couple of feet away. She didn’t pull on the leash at all during the whole time (about 3 minutes). I was C/Ting her every once in a while when she was closest to me and probably went up to 30 seconds between clicks at some point. I’m not sure she understands why she’s being clicked. The thing is, she’s stuck to me like glue whenever she knows there’s a possibility of being trained/rewarded and since I went out with the clicker and kibbles in my pocket . . . . maybe I should use a more powerful distraction???

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Down	2	0	10	1	90%
Leash Manners	2	1	0	0		3m
Sit	2	0	10	0	100%
Sit Stay	2	0	10	1	90%	15s	1.0 ft
Stand Stay	2	0	20	5	75%	7s
Target	3	15	0	0			3.0 ft

Again using Nike’s breakfast for this session. Started by testing Go to Mat which she passed easily.

Good Girl Nike!!!

Followed that with her first try at Stand Stay. Fantastic ! Using again the 300 pecks method we went up easily to 7 seconds without her moving any of her feet. Within a few sessions she should be up to the 10 seconds required for the L2 test. But no pressure <g>

Also started Watch. She gives me eye contact very naturally and been rewarded for it for ages, so it’s just a matter of working up to holding it for 10 seconds. She watches me intensily whenever she thinks there a possibility of being "trained", but she’s so small that when I’m standing she really has to stretch her neck to find my eyes if she’s close to me, or she moves away from me so that she doesn’t have to stretch so much. I’m definitely considering having her watch my left hand at waist level instead for eventual heel work . . . L3 Heel asks for Dog and handler heel an about turn with eye contact. That would be physically very difficult for Nike to do.

Actual eye contact could be a separate behaviour for turning her head around, looking for eye contact and paying attention to me when I ask for it in everyday situations.

I’m so proud of her progression with Sit. It is a behaviour that I ask for at every opportunity now and she responds wonderfully. It has become quite automatic and I sould be able to test it for L2 very soon.

Good Going Speedy Nike!

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Down	2	0	10	2	80%
Stand Stay	2	0	30	5	83%	7s
Watch	2	10	0	0		4s

First tested Stand successfully. Using Hand signal and Voice cue together. Voice cue will be easy to drop since Nike responds very well to the Hand signal for this one. L2 Stand Stay should come naturally too.

Go to Mat – I’ve retrained from the start following Sue’s instruction more closely by C/Ting for getting on the mat then rapid firing while she’s still on the mat, than throw one off the mat. Nike was starting to get on and off too quickly sometimes not getting four paws on the mat. This works much better. Only need to increase distance before testing.

Sit Stay – Just introduced. I’m starting with Sit instead of Down Stay simply because Nike’s sits are much more reliable. But oh boy! those first 10 seconds are the toughest. At the beginning she just thought if I didn’t click she had to do something else <g>. . . clicker dog. . .what did I expect ?!? LOL I admit I’d rather not use the clicker for the stays. I find it’s a lot less confusing for the dog and since the timing is not that important with stays I find it just works better with "good!" or "yes!". . . Using Nike’s breakfast I got up to 7 seconds before I ran out of kibbles, starting with rapid firing, then 300 pecks. Walking away 20 feet and coming back with her staying seems such a loooong way down the road!!!

L2 Sit – Without training aids. . . I must say once in a while I give her a Sit command out of the blue and she responds more and more often. Very good going there. This one should not be as difficult as I first thought.

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Go To Mat	2	0	10	1	90%		3.0 ft
Sit	2	0	3	1	67%
Sit Stay	2	0	30	5	83%	7s	1.0 ft

First time training in the basement and Nike was a bit distracted by all the stuff thrown around and smells too. But it was good session and she learned to work in a different environment.

Down – Had to go back to uncued repetitions. She resists going down and would rather give me other behaviours like sit, stand, paw or nose target my leg . . (have to put that paw targetting behaviour on cue!!!) Also she naturally downs from a stand much more easily. L2 asks for a down from a sit which she seems to have more difficulty doing.

Go to Mat – Coming along great. Have increased distance and still need to practice in even more locations/rooms. Good enough for a pass though but I want it more reliable in more locations.

Zen – Just need a bit more reliability on Couch Zen. She tries so hard to stay away from the treats. . . she understands and it’s a beauty to see the wheel of her brain go round and round. Hand Zen is very solid. Couch Zen is up to 10 seconds but needs a second cue at about 8 seconds.

Trick – Ended up on a fun note with a couple easy hand target and moved to the Kiss trick. This one is on cue and ready to be tested soon.

Good session in a new location.

Good Nike!

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Down	2	10	5	2	60%
Go To Mat	2	0	15	2	87%		5.0 ft
Sit	2	0	15	0	100%
Trick	2	0	15	1	93%
Zen	2	0	10	1	90%	10s

Also had a shot at Zen and Go to Mat and although it was good enough for a pass in both cases I was not exactely happy with the reliability. Needed two cues on Couch Zen (I know it’s allowed. . . ) and was slow to get there (distracted) on Go the mat so it ended up being a training session for these 2 behaviours. But good work nonetheless :-))

Go Nike!

I’m recording a bunch of short sessions together which took place at various times this morning.

Got to Mat – Have put it on cue and am now clicking only for 4 paws on the mat. I was just a bit slow clicking once and Nike SAT :-))) Wow! what a bonus, now she sits on the mat almost everytime so I will add that to my criteria soon. It’S not required for the test though. I’ll train it in one or two different rooms and will test it before the weekend.

Stand – Very interesting. Had to put it on cue very fast because
although she was popping up real quick and I clicked it, I don’t think she
was realizing that I was clicking her for popping up. Now I click the CUED
pop-up stands ONLY. I alternate between Sit (treat-treat-treat to keep her
there but no click) and "Stand" (C/T).

Distance – Now on cue and ready to be tested.

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Distance	2	0	15	1	93%
Go To Mat	2	5	15	2	87%		3.0 ft
Sit	2	0	15	1	93%
Stand	2	0	15	0	100%
Zen	2	0	15	1	93%	8s

Started off by testing L2 Target which Nike passed easily.

Continued with L2 Distance, this time using a plunger. Didn’t lure at all this time. It was interesting because NIke’s first reaction was to nose it, paw it, make it move rather than going around it. So shaped from just moving past it, then turning her head a bit, then her body, then going around. Was able to put it on cue after about 15 repetitions.

Did a bunch of Sits with no body movement from me whatsoever. Just voice cue.

Introduced Go to Mat using a small blanket. Shaping only from about 3" away. Clicked for any number of feet on the blanket. Got 4 feet on it most of the time. Will put it on cue soon.

Moved on to L2 Zen. Nike is staying off a treat at nose level palm open for 5+ seconds. Have started the Couch portion of this behaviour, except I put the treat on the bottom step of the stairs. It’s at nose level for Nike. Have gone to 5 seconds using small jackpots (4-5 kibbles). Going well :-))

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Distance	2	15	5	1	80%		1.0 ft
Go To Mat	2	10	0	0			3.0 ft
Sit	2	0	10	2	80%
Zen	2	0	15	2	87%	5s

Introduced two new behaviours for Nike. Distance (go around a pole) and Stand.

We also worked outside in the backyard which is a lot more distracting. She thought a couple of times that the leaves falling might contain some treats ;-) and she just had to investigate a couple of them LOL . . . after all treats have been known to fall from the sky in this area while we train!

She figured out that going around the pole made me click after I lured her around it 2 or 3 times and although she did try a few "known" behaviours (sit, down) at first after I stopped luring. She caught on much faster than I expected. Once she saw I didn’t click those she thought she’d try this new thing we were just doing before. I use a bit of luring when I train but I always try to keep at a minimum and would rather shape instead, but I find luring a bit speeds up the process with some behaviours.

L2 Sit and L2 Down are done without training aids. We’re definitely not there yet and we’ll build up to it gradually. Right now I’m down to using only the one voice cue but still C/T every repetition. Will also have to work on downing from a sit. Have been doing it mostly from a stand before.

Stand is going to be an easy one (I think) since Nike pops up very quickly from a sit or a down with very few hints from me. I think I should actually work on getting her to keep the sit or down position for more that a few seconds before I actually put "stand" on cue.

Fun training session. . . Good girl Nike Bee!

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Distance	2	10	0	0			1.0 ft
Down	1	0	10	0	100%
Sit	2	0	10	0	100%
Stand	2	10	0	0

Nicely Done!

Considering she wouldn’t down at ALL in training up until 10 days ago . . . until this turning point where she did a great down next to me on the couch while I was reading and of course I didn’t have any treat on me and no clicker. But I praised her like crazy . . . I knew we were going to be okay from that moment on and that she would offer me a down again eventually . . . and I would be ready for it next time.

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Down	1	10	1	90%	Yes
Zen	1	5	0	100%	Yes

L2 Handling (tested with Nike up on the freezer) & L2 Crate : Nike already knows those two behaviours. Been going in different crates in different rooms/locations on cue since since puppyhood and handling through showing and grooming (she’s a wirehaired daxie so needs stripping!) Just logging in the Levels tests.

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Crate	2	5	0	100%	Yes
Handling	2	1	0	100%	Yes

Good session with the other dogs present. Tested (cold) L1 Sit and L1 Target, went on to train L1 Down, L1 Zen and L2 Watch. Also tested L1 Come outside in the field. Very solid and reliable recall.

L1 Down – INteresting to note that the down was the easiest behaviour to train with Griffin. He gave it to me instantly and repeatedly, a default behaviour with him. But he struggled with the sit. Whereas it’s the opposite with Nike. She offers me a sit naturally bit resists the down. I have to go back often to uncued repetitions. But within a couple of sessions the progress has been really good. It just needs to be a bit more consistent before I’m happy with it enough to call it a pass.

Good Girl Nike!

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Down	1	3	10	2	80%
Watch	2	0	10	0	100%	1s
Zen	1	0	10	1	90%	5s

Come – Tested outside in the field with 3 other dogs present (my own dogs).

Target and Sit – Tested in the living room.

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Come	1	5	0	100%	Yes
Sit	1	5	0	100%	Yes
Target	1	5	0	100%	Yes

Trying to train in as many locations as possible. SOme locations (like the basement) proved to be more difficult for Nike to get into the game.
Trick – L2 – Introducing "the Kiss". Very simple. A variation of target, consisting of Nike touching my nose or lips with her nose. No licking allowed. Just a nose touch.

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Down	1	5	3	0	100%
Sit	1	0	5	0	100%
Target	1	0	5	0	100%
Trick	2	5	0	0

Recall. Solid recall with mild distraction (Griffin, Kali and Rosa were outside too).

Last of the L1 bevahiours to be trained today. Nike is ready to be tested for all except maybe for Zen because I haven’t asked consistently for a full 5 seconds.

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Come	1	0	5	0	100%		35.0 ft