November 2019 -- Day Six

 Now that she's gotten more use to the puppy and she's had some practice, I can start to call her to come from greater distances.

 I evaluate every situation to figure out how I can set her up for success while still pushing her a little bit to expand her skills.

 After a warm up, she does a really good job ignoring distractions to get the job done.

 Even when those distractions are trying really hard.

 It's one of the benefits of a food motivated dog and a good history of rewards that reminds her of all the good that come of responding well.

 We keep adding more distance as she improves and now out of sight recalls where she has to search for me when I call her.

 I still cheer her on as she comes running towards me.

 More times then not, she lands with a paw on my foot...just to be close.

 Or to pin me down to make sure she gets her reward.

 When working on "leave it" with real life items, it's helpful to have her on leash until she is responding better. That way I can hold the leash in close to my waistline and keep her just out of reach of the item.

 One clear, "Margot, leave it" and I wait.

 As soon as she backs off or looks away, a high value reward.

 I want her to realize she'll get something even better if she leaves it alone.

 Then we can work on walking past with a "leave it" to make it a little more challenging for her.

 I've added the low value treat to a low surface to help her learn to leave things alone on a table top.

 As she progressed, I could uncover the treats.

 If she tries to go for it, I say calmly, "No, leave it." If she continues to go for it, I cover it up. I'm not going to pull it away from her because I can't go around gathering up all the items that I ask her to leave. It needs to me Margot who does the work, not us.

 But, if she backs off or looks away...

 She gets a high value treat.

 If she sees an item that she normally would try to steal and chooses to back off or look away on her own, I reward that well.

 We definitely want her to be making those good choices on her own.

 If there is a temptation on the table and I tell her to "leave it"

 I'll reward her...

 And redirect her to a better activity.

 But I won't give her the item on the table. I don't want her thinking she'll eventually get the item that I've asked her to leave so she never gets the "leave it" item. "Leave it" means leave it alone and don't bug it again.

 If she sees something on the table...

 And makes a good choice...

 Like offering a sit, then I will give her the item if it's something she can have.

 The difference is that she asked for it politely. I hadn't told her to leave it alone.

It's a strong reward when she gets an item that she asked for politely.

November 2019 -- Day Five

When a dog has gotten use to another dog, a lot of times it's easier to get a good response on a recall. It's not as novel so the level of distraction is not quite as high.

We still practice recalls at that time so we can build the reinforcement history with her.

It's not only good practice but it helps her learn to take breaks and pauses in play so the arousal levels in play don't continue to rise. She tends to be a little overly excited in play, it's just her nature. But this helps her keep that excitement level from going over the top.

A new dog is much harder for her, especially when it is a fun little puppy. She was struggling to hear me with this cute little guy in the picture so I used a barrier to work on her recalls.

The short distance and the barrier helped her to be successful.

When she's successful...

I can reward. Then she's more likely to do it the next time I ask because she's had a fresh reminder that she'll be well rewarded if she responds well.

We'll practice numerous times before I have the two dogs out together.

Especially since Margot is such a bouncy girl, I want to make sure she is responding nicely to be before she gets to play with the puppy. If she starts to overwhelm the puppy, I can simply call her away.

Now that we are getting better responses, we'll work on a little self-control with the new distraction nearby. A short sit stay...

And a short down stay. Now I think we are ready for face to face introductions.

I'm still going to keep Margot in a controlled position to help the puppy acclimate more quickly. We know she is just bouncy and exuberant but the puppy may not understand that just yet.

I can reward her throughout that process to help her remain in position.

As she gets the hang of it, I can slow down on the rewards.

And now she's more focused in on me than the new dog.

I release her to go say "hi" to the puppy and they have a very appropriate greeting. Nice curved bodies, loose body language, and a chance to get a good sniff in to get to know the other dog.

And then a quick play bow from Margot which is a very appropriate greeting and interaction with a new dog but just a touch overwhelming to the puppy.

So I call her to me to slow her down and she responded beautifully.

Now that we've had some warm up...

She is responding very nicely to her recall.

That little tongue licking her lips lets me know that she is getting well conditioned to this recall.

She knows it always means she will get a treat.

Since this is a new dog and she did such a nice job, I reward her multiple times.

We've progressed her "leave it" to having our bland treat on the ground. The first time, I have it covered with my hand. Even though she is doing really well with "leave it," putting it on the ground changes the entire picture for her and she really wants to get to it. I calmly say, "Margot, leave it" and wait her out.

She'll run through a variety of behaviors to get it but I just wait.

Eventually she will back off or look away.

That's when I mark and reward with a high value treat.

Now we're going to change it up a bit and work on relaxing with that food on the ground. Not too relaxed with those elbows up but we'll start there.

I'll reward her with her elbows up this time but I'll expect a little more next time until she gives the behavior I want.

If she dives for the food, I simply cover it up.

Ok, let's try that again.

Getting better on relaxing.

Now that I'm expecting more, I wait for the behavior I want...

And reward her.

Now we're going to work on relaxing when I'm eating food at the table. I choose foods that aren't really smelly to begin with so it's a little easier for her and I set her up on the Treat & Train so I can reward her for relaxing on the mat.

I'm able to eat my snack while she's getting rewarded for leaving me alone and settling on the mat.

It doesn't take long before she is nice and settled on the mat and I can slow down on her rewards.