If I'm actually going to show Gabby (and Siri!) at the MMBC WCRL trial in April, I figured I should probably train the dogs!
My focus with Gabby has been heel position and stays. Yesterday we had three training sessions, one of which was in public. Gabby has a staring problem. I generally attribute it to her lack of vision as that seems the most likely reason a normal/stable dog would stare at other dogs for an uncomfortable length of time without reacting.
Yesterday our field trip was to the dog park. This dog park is really nice because I can walk about 10 feet outside of the fence line, and we can work on reorienting. The first pass, I think she stared at a dog for a full minute before reorienting. And then the dog would move and she'd stare again. We slowly made our way down the fence-line then took a detour to play/train away from the other distractions. When we made our way back to the car, Gabby was offering bouncy behavior, attention, and reorienting at an alarmingly fast rate.
This scenario isn't new to Gabby but the situation was. We usually either go into the dog park (when it's empty) or we walk the trails. I was very happy to see that the work I've been putting in has been paying off!
Our other training sessions yesterday involved pedestal work, right finishes, and stays. Today we worked on transitioning between food and toys. I still can't quite believe that we're finally to the point where she will re-engage with a toy after I've used food. That was an incredibly lengthy process, but she was doing it pretty well this morning!
Goals for the rest of the week: downs, stays, stand, and more toy/treat work!
