Say Your Prayers

Hi Kaye,

Thanks for the session yesterday and for getting the Mary Ray training DVD.
I really enjoyed it. What a spectacularly generous thing it is, for someone
like Mary to be willing to show us how she gets such amazing results with
her 'freestyle' dogs. It is always about breaking things down and teaching
them one at a time, but just how to go about that is not always easy; until
someone points it out that is. Then it is blindingly obvious.

I guess there are very good reasons Mary trains  working breeds. They are
incredibly focused and willing. That much energy could be hard to live with!

As you saw, I am still mopping up messes in my 'foundation training' with
Fido. The 'say your prayers' trick really brought up some interesting
dilemmas. I must admit I was surprised how 'skittish' he was about touching
me with his front feet. I have noticed he seldom jumps up and actually
touches me. He'll often bounce up and down in front of me, inches away with
out quite making contact. I thought it was just about being gentle, but
obviously he's  'precious about his front feet'. I wondered later if he
might have had a prickle or something because he really snatched his feet
away as soon as he touched my fore arm. I fondled his feet a lot to check;
there was no problem! Luring him with cream cheese and letting him lick it
to get his mind off his feet as you showed me was a great solution.

I've been working to desensitise the 'backing away from me'. In familiar
circumstances it is getting much better. I'm glad we stopped when we did,
even though we were a very long way from getting him to 'say his prayers'. I
am very keen to work on 'you don't need to  back away'  as a top priority. I
think it probably started when I was overenthusiastic, and he was under
confident as a tiny puppy. I smothered him with affection I suppose, looming
over the top of him.

'Saying your prayers'  is a very easy trick and I'm sure we'll get it
quickly as long as I address the core issues quietly and patiently. This
morning I worked on having him 'allow me' to loom over him without him even
'thinking' about backing away. We were in very close quarters comfortably
until I asked him to sit up with his front legs off the ground. That made
him uncomfortable. I'll keep working through that discomfort until it's gone
and then go to the stage of getting his front legs to settle on my arm. It
can be quite difficult training things like this, because they seem so
irrational. The facts are the facts even if they seem ridiculous. I would
have been a better trainer if I'd backed off much earlier at your place, or
changed my track. I was a bit taken aback to tell you the truth. I didn't
expect him to react so strongly. It really only took one or two repetitions
for Fido to tell me 'he's got a thing about touching me with his front
feet!' I hope I'll hear it quicker next time and be flexible enough to
change my tack. 

We didn't get too far with the bow either. I think by that time he was a bit
confused as I was. The bowing is a stretch he does pretty regularly. I'll
see if I can capture it a few times and then train it more. Fido is still a
pup. In some ways he seems very robust and grown up, but in learning new
things he can get worried. Again I think looking after his confidence needs
to be number one top priority. What a challenge!

It just occurred to me I should intersperse  training 'specific responses'
with some activities like 'touch the box' where every thought he has is
right not just the one I am aiming for. And all this, with lots and lots and
lots of play!

Cheers,

Richard