Great news--
The Clark family from Manhattan Beach has adopted Einstein and he's been with them for several days now. After the first full day they called to say how well he is doing. He is warming up to them much more quickly than any of us had even hoped.
The Clarks have three children, aged 23, 13 and 5. We were worried about the fit with the 5 year old, but she has been wonderful. We explained Einstein's previous negative experience with a child her age, and she took it as her personal mission to show him that not all kids are going to scare him. With patience and some cheddar cheese, she won him over quickly.
We have MANY Shelties who need rescuing, so if you are interested in considering adopting a Sheltie, please click on the link over on the right side of the page. I recently learned that the Sheltie Rescue group often matches up a new dog with a prospective owner waiting in the applicant file and the dog may not even go up on the website. This group places over 300 Shelties a year. It's shocking that so many dogs end up needing to be rescued out of shelters or rehomed. There is nothing wrong with this breed, and in Northern California we didn't have this kind of volume. I think there are some "backyard breeders" producing a lot of dogs in this warmer climate down here. Anyway, we would love to work with you to help match you up with a wonderful Sheltie.
We also need foster homes. If you would consider being a rescue foster home, we would love to hear from you.
Thank you!
Monday, September 1, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Another breakthrough
E has been with us for almost 4 weeks. Usually his morning routine is he wants to be petted but won't come all the way up to me without me telling him to sit and then giving him a treat.
This morning, I could tell he wanted to come up to me, but when I'd turn to him he'd trot away, and trot around the dining room table, coming close to me each time but not explicitly coming up to be petted.
I was in my bathroom getting ready for work, and he came to the door-- again, the "I want to come up to you" vibe. I sat on the edge of the tub and one dog came up for pets. And so did E. No coaxing, no "sit" routine, he just came all the way up to me for a little scratching on his chest. It's a small thing, but a big thing at the same time.
Also, in the mornings he is very playful and wants to engage in play. He tries to get this started by acting all prancy and happy and then barking at me. I don't want the barking part, it's early in the morning and my neighbors will not be OK with that. I immediately turn away from him. If that doesn't stop it, which so far it kinda doesn't, I immediately go into the other room and shut the door, leaving him dumbfounded. After about 10 seconds, I open the door like nothing happened. This interruption of the barking is important. If I had more time to work with this in the morning, I'd wait for the moment when he stopped barking, and would C/T the quiet. The only time we have this barking is when we arrive home and he's greeting us, and when he's trying to play (or when my other dogs are wrestling and playing, and he's trying to join in, so he barks at them happily while they wrestle).
Also this morning, he proactively jumped onto the sofa to have a 20-min snuggle session with my husband. Dennis loved this, because E has been slower to warm up to him and now E is completely comfortable with him.
This morning, I could tell he wanted to come up to me, but when I'd turn to him he'd trot away, and trot around the dining room table, coming close to me each time but not explicitly coming up to be petted.
I was in my bathroom getting ready for work, and he came to the door-- again, the "I want to come up to you" vibe. I sat on the edge of the tub and one dog came up for pets. And so did E. No coaxing, no "sit" routine, he just came all the way up to me for a little scratching on his chest. It's a small thing, but a big thing at the same time.
Also, in the mornings he is very playful and wants to engage in play. He tries to get this started by acting all prancy and happy and then barking at me. I don't want the barking part, it's early in the morning and my neighbors will not be OK with that. I immediately turn away from him. If that doesn't stop it, which so far it kinda doesn't, I immediately go into the other room and shut the door, leaving him dumbfounded. After about 10 seconds, I open the door like nothing happened. This interruption of the barking is important. If I had more time to work with this in the morning, I'd wait for the moment when he stopped barking, and would C/T the quiet. The only time we have this barking is when we arrive home and he's greeting us, and when he's trying to play (or when my other dogs are wrestling and playing, and he's trying to join in, so he barks at them happily while they wrestle).
Also this morning, he proactively jumped onto the sofa to have a 20-min snuggle session with my husband. Dennis loved this, because E has been slower to warm up to him and now E is completely comfortable with him.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
More bell work and great progress
We moved back to the door leading outside and worked with the bells the same way we've been doing so for the last day... first on the floor, then hanging from my hand. We're not putting them back on the door, YET. Baby steps. Baby steps.
Working with bells in a new room
This morning before work, I took E into a new room and worked with the bells a bit more. Sorry for the dark video, I didn't realize the light in there was so bad. He did very well, despite the presence of the tripod and camera, which he dislikes. Here you go:
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Loving the bells
Hmmm. In our first session tonight, E was touching the target dot behind the bells but when he'd also touch the bell, it would jingle and he'd panic and run away from it. Next training session, he was trying hard to avoid that bell. Uh oh. That's not what we want.
I gave him some "easy wins" and ended the session to think about this some more.
Tonight I realized I needed to help him love the bells by taking them off the door, going into a different room, and teaching him to target them while they're on the floor. So I sat down in a quiet room with some GOOD treats, and he expressed concern that the Evil Bells were there. I went slowly. I handled them in such a way that they only made a little noise, put them down on the carpet, and let him smell my hand. See? That's what bells smell like, OK?
We started the targeting exercise, and by now he knows the game and is moving into it quickly. He'd look at them. I'd C/T. Then I went for the gold. I put little pieces of cheese near the bells. He gobbled them up as I clicked. I put one ON the bell. He gingerly took it as I clicked. I took about 6 little pieces of cheese and tucked them around the bells so he'd have to stick his nose right in there to get them, touching the bells with his nose. He was starting to like this.
I could see his attitude changing. We made good progress and I was running out of the cheese so we stopped, I praised and rubbed him down, and went to the kitchen to reload. (He was also getting tiny cat food bits, and small dog kibbles. I save the cheese bit for a high level of performance, like actually touching the bells).
We went back and I put the bells on the ground again. He seemed spooked again, so we backed up-- a C/T for just looking at the bells. After a few of those, he was off and running again, giving me some really good pushes on those bells. His fear of making them jingle seemed gone. He even whacked 'em with his paw once, good and hard. He got a jackpot for that.
I used the relative value of the treats to communicate my level of pleasure with his performance. A touch resulting in a jingle would definately warrant a cheese treat, and maybe more than one depending on the intensity of the hit. A nose-touch to the thick cord would just get a lower value cat-food bit. He was doing very well!
We took another break. I wanted to evolve to holding the cord in my hand, dangling the bells down so they were hanging. I'm starting to emulate the position they have on the doorknob.
Again, he started out concerned, so we backed up a few steps and "warmed up". Again, he progressed quickly. He was consistently nosing them and making them jingle a bit.
Another break.
This time, I moved the bells to my other hand. He didn't like that. But again, after a brief warm up, he was back in the game. By now, the other dogs were losing their patience and starting to scratch on the door and complain. He was getting distracted so I found a good successful touch, and ended the session with lots of praise and scratches.
After the session, I took him out and he immediately relieved himself. When a dog is eating treats like this, especially when combined with the pressure of a few training sessions, it will usually make him have to go. By the way, it's important to make sure you potty your dog before you start a session, too, so you don't have a dog who is distracted because he kinda has to go.
I did "therapy dog work" at Stanford Hospital when I lived it the Bay Area, and a team of us would go in and give dog visits on a floor for about an hour. We would of course "empty" our dogs before going in, so you'd think they'd be fine. Without fail, as soon as we'd leave we'd head for the grass and all the dogs would have to go. And go. And go. Even though they enjoy the therapy dog work, the pressure of it seems to stimulate the other body functions and I think this applies to any kind of training session. So keep that in mind, if your dog's been concentrating and working hard for you, give him a bio break afterward.
We have one family coming to visit E this weekend. We'll see if it's a good match!
I gave him some "easy wins" and ended the session to think about this some more.
Tonight I realized I needed to help him love the bells by taking them off the door, going into a different room, and teaching him to target them while they're on the floor. So I sat down in a quiet room with some GOOD treats, and he expressed concern that the Evil Bells were there. I went slowly. I handled them in such a way that they only made a little noise, put them down on the carpet, and let him smell my hand. See? That's what bells smell like, OK?
We started the targeting exercise, and by now he knows the game and is moving into it quickly. He'd look at them. I'd C/T. Then I went for the gold. I put little pieces of cheese near the bells. He gobbled them up as I clicked. I put one ON the bell. He gingerly took it as I clicked. I took about 6 little pieces of cheese and tucked them around the bells so he'd have to stick his nose right in there to get them, touching the bells with his nose. He was starting to like this.
I could see his attitude changing. We made good progress and I was running out of the cheese so we stopped, I praised and rubbed him down, and went to the kitchen to reload. (He was also getting tiny cat food bits, and small dog kibbles. I save the cheese bit for a high level of performance, like actually touching the bells).
We went back and I put the bells on the ground again. He seemed spooked again, so we backed up-- a C/T for just looking at the bells. After a few of those, he was off and running again, giving me some really good pushes on those bells. His fear of making them jingle seemed gone. He even whacked 'em with his paw once, good and hard. He got a jackpot for that.
I used the relative value of the treats to communicate my level of pleasure with his performance. A touch resulting in a jingle would definately warrant a cheese treat, and maybe more than one depending on the intensity of the hit. A nose-touch to the thick cord would just get a lower value cat-food bit. He was doing very well!
We took another break. I wanted to evolve to holding the cord in my hand, dangling the bells down so they were hanging. I'm starting to emulate the position they have on the doorknob.
Again, he started out concerned, so we backed up a few steps and "warmed up". Again, he progressed quickly. He was consistently nosing them and making them jingle a bit.
Another break.
This time, I moved the bells to my other hand. He didn't like that. But again, after a brief warm up, he was back in the game. By now, the other dogs were losing their patience and starting to scratch on the door and complain. He was getting distracted so I found a good successful touch, and ended the session with lots of praise and scratches.
After the session, I took him out and he immediately relieved himself. When a dog is eating treats like this, especially when combined with the pressure of a few training sessions, it will usually make him have to go. By the way, it's important to make sure you potty your dog before you start a session, too, so you don't have a dog who is distracted because he kinda has to go.
I did "therapy dog work" at Stanford Hospital when I lived it the Bay Area, and a team of us would go in and give dog visits on a floor for about an hour. We would of course "empty" our dogs before going in, so you'd think they'd be fine. Without fail, as soon as we'd leave we'd head for the grass and all the dogs would have to go. And go. And go. Even though they enjoy the therapy dog work, the pressure of it seems to stimulate the other body functions and I think this applies to any kind of training session. So keep that in mind, if your dog's been concentrating and working hard for you, give him a bio break afterward.
We have one family coming to visit E this weekend. We'll see if it's a good match!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Target dot goes near the jingle bells
We moved the target dot yet again, this time to the door where the jingle bells are. We're going to start slowly moving it behind the bells, to get him to bump the bells.
You'll notice that we "back up" in terms of our criteria-- once again, because we're in a new location, the game feels different to him so we C/T for merely looking at the dot, and it progresses quickly from there. We got our first "bell touch" in this sequence. I chopped it up a bit to make it shorter for you-- the entire session was 15 minutes long. The dot is inched up behind the bells over the course of this session.
You'll notice that we "back up" in terms of our criteria-- once again, because we're in a new location, the game feels different to him so we C/T for merely looking at the dot, and it progresses quickly from there. We got our first "bell touch" in this sequence. I chopped it up a bit to make it shorter for you-- the entire session was 15 minutes long. The dot is inched up behind the bells over the course of this session.
Target dot goes onto the wall
Here is Einstein about 40 minutes after the previous post, working the same target dot which has now been moved onto the wall. The environment was very distracting, my dogs were barking, the window shade was flapping and making noise, a car was pulling up out front, and my snoozing husband got irritated with my other barking dog and started to scold him, which I interrupted since that would derail Einstein. So in the midst of all that, here's how he did learning for the first time how to touch the target dot while taped onto a wall.
By the way, dogs have to learn how to generalize, and it doesn't come naturally to them. So just because he knows how to touch the dot on the floor doesn't mean he instantly knows how to do it when it's on the wall. That feels really different to him. With the immediate feedback from my clicker (my tongue click) he quickly gets the idea and this also strengthens his "generalization" muscle a bit.
By the way, he really dislikes the tripod and I'm standing right by it. I'm going to leave the tripod out in the living room and other places so he gets used to it and stops being suspicious of it.
Here we go:
By the way, dogs have to learn how to generalize, and it doesn't come naturally to them. So just because he knows how to touch the dot on the floor doesn't mean he instantly knows how to do it when it's on the wall. That feels really different to him. With the immediate feedback from my clicker (my tongue click) he quickly gets the idea and this also strengthens his "generalization" muscle a bit.
By the way, he really dislikes the tripod and I'm standing right by it. I'm going to leave the tripod out in the living room and other places so he gets used to it and stops being suspicious of it.
Here we go:
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