(VICT) Re: Clyde.
- From: "Tamara Smith-Kinney" <tamara.8024@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 14:40:19 -0800
Giggles. I can so see that; the pattern sounds eerily familiar. You're =
no
doubt right about the actual reasons for Mitsy's behavior. She likes to
vary the games she plays with me or with her canine buddies when we're =
doing
pure play, so it wasn't really a new pattern. Still, when I found the =
ball
in easy reach for her the third time and looked over at her, I couldn't
resist the comparison to what I had been doing with her earlier.
She does have a tendency to mimick other dogs -- always the ones I love =
to
watch because they're so cool. And she has clearly mimicked me on a =
couple
of occasions. The most notable was when I had to rearrange the =
furniture
and change desks only a few weeks after she arrived. She laid on =
whichever
of her blankets was closest to me and just watched me, looking very =
serious
and a bit anxious, following me up and down the stairs as I moved stuff =
from
room to room. I would touch her on the head whenever I passed by,
occasionally taking time to bend down and fondle her ears and give her a
quick kiss on her forehead between her eyes. When I finally decided I =
could
quit for the night and collapse on the futon in front of the TV, she =
checked
me out, made sure I was settling down at last, then got very busy
rearranging her blankets and toys. She picked through the toy box, =
moving
things around in there, snuffling and huffing as she decided what should =
go
where, then she started taking toys from box to blanket, from blanket to
blanket, upstairs, downstairs, from room to room. Stopping every time =
she
past by me to touch her nose to my forehead and occastionally snuffling =
my
face and giving me a quick lick on the forehead between the eyes before =
she
went back to work. It was exhausting! And she worked for about an hour =
or
so while I drifted in an out of sleep between visits and listened to her
work and wondering what the heck. She finally decided she was finished =
and
lay down on her beside-the-couoch blanket wich a heavy sigh and went to
sleep.
In the morning, her toys were back in their box or on one or the other =
of
her blankets. She was very, very tired, and I was -- and still am -- =
very,
very puzzled. I enjoy trying to tease out a rational, doggy explanation =
for
the behavior enough that I haven't even tried to look it up. Still... =
What
the heck?
There's probably a perfectly mundane explanation involving her anxiety =
over
the disruption. Still, what a strange little dog.
Argh! Won't find out about the job until tomorrow morning. I wonder if =
I
will have any nerves that aren't completely unraveled by then. /smile/
Tami Smith-Kinney
-----Original Message-----
From: vi-clicker-trainers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:vi-clicker-trainers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Diane & =
Raven
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2008 1:45 PM
To: vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: (VICT) Re: Clyde.
>>She started coming up with new games to
exercise my mind... She would give me false leads on the location of =
=3D
her
ball -- pretending it was under the futon or the microwave stand where =
=3D
she
couldn't get it. Then encourage me to look with little licks and wags =
=3D
of
her tail. <<
Misty may be interpreting what you are teaching her a little differently
than what you intended.
I know this has happened on occasion. I had this one dog we were =
teaching
for the non-profit. We were doing our regular teaching routine to teach =
the
dog a controlled exit from a vehicle. The dog was being taught to not =
exit
the van until given a cue. We set up the routine where I would stay in =
the
van and my husband would exit and do some distracting moves and than =
give
the cue to the dog. While this was going on I would hold a long lead =
that
would be a safety line do the dog could not move beyond our grasp if it =
did
exit the van.
Well this dog was doing amazingly well we thought...all kind of =
distractions
and even false come noise etc. Than we increased the criteria and I was =
not
in the van any longer. Well, we had the hardest time because the dog =
would
leave the van before the cue was given if I was not in the van... we =
thought
it was me being in the van that was the problem so we started doing the
behavior with the reverse roll... when we started to understand what we =
had
done!
Before my husband would exit the van, in the initial stages of teaching =
this
behavior, he would hand me the safety lead. This very observant dog had
picked up on that physical cue. So that as long as the lead was first
handed to someone else the dog would stay in the van!! the lead was not
handed over the dog thought it could exit the van...oops... these =
observant
and intuitive poodles... so we changed the exit cue and started all over
again.. now the dog is wonderful with the controlled exit. It is tough
when the student is more observant than the teacher!! smile.
Maybe Misty likes you down at her level and it makes you laugh when she
kisses you when you are down there and that is a reward for her. =
giggle... =20
some dogs are very creative....
Best Wishes & Wags,
Diane & Raven
APDT#72225
http://AssistanceDogJournal.net
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Golden_Paw_ADC/
"My Assistance Dog is not my whole life, but she makes my life
whole"~D.L.Shotwell
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