(64) Hula Happy

This is about the most beautiful day. It's 64 degrees and sunny. Perfect for being outside. We still can't let the dogs run in the yard as it hasn't rained and the weed and feed is still on the grass but I did let Beeks run for a short time and watched him like a hawk as he ran around the house.

After I got home from work, I let the dogs outside while I brought in the groceries. When I let them inside both dogs followed me around and were holding their noses up in the air smelling me and the tops of counters. With the groceries I bought two whole cooked chickens. If there is anything the dogs love more than eating grass it's chicken. I always cut up the chicken so that I can freeze it or have it ready for cooking. I decided to get this chore done as soon as I put away my work stuff. Now if you want to see two dogs sit perfectly patiently for 30 minutes without moving, cut up chicken. Max tried to get his nose as close to the chicken as a Newf can(that is almost touching the chicken)so I put him in a down stay. He moved so that his mouth would be positioned just right in the event of a missed dropped piece of chicken. Beeks just sat with his nose and eyes right on my every movement. Even the cat tries to get close to the action, but I moved him to the bench at the other end of the counter. Boy did I feel popular. They waited until I moved to put the bones and excess chicken in the garbage. Then they followed me and sat perfectly expectant, eyes focused on me, willing me to share in the spoils. Okay(sorry Brad)so I did give them a l-i-t-t-l-e piece each. They were so happy. How could I refuse those patient loving eyes?

Now, for those who are counting, Lattice 2, Chez 0.

First let me way that I really miss Nana, she worked with Beeks and me and the plastic tunnel, trying to get him to go thru the children's tunnel. He had a frightful time with the tunnel and I decided that a hula hoop would be the best place to start. It was difficult to hold the hoop and coax him with the treats at the same time. I bought the hula hoop about a week ago but haven't had the time to work with him yet due in part to the three day rain we had over the weekend. Today was a perfect time to work with him. I put Max in the garage, tethered and worked with Beeks and the hula hoop in the driveway. I knew that lots of treats would be necessary for this task and I decided to use the Canidae training treats that they love. I started by putting a few in the middle of the hoop which was laying on the driveway flat. Then I held the hoop upright and touching the pavement. With one had I held the treats and with the other I held the hoop, coaxing and praising him to go through the hoop. At first he was just as hesitant as he was with the tunnel. Soon I could get him to go through once in a while, but not with any regularity. He found it easier to go from my left to right but wouldn't go through from right to left, he would circle around to go through the hoop when I could get him to do it. I remembered dogs see things differently from all angles, that is they see going differently than they see coming. So this made sense to me,Beeks was more comfortable going one way over the other way. But I didn't give up. I kept trying to coax him both ways. Soon he was going left to right about 40% of the time and 0% from right to left. I remembered that some dogs do better with modeling so I (no I didn't go through the hoop this time!) held the hoop for Maxie and what do you know? He loves treats and followed the treat through the hoop without batting an eye. He in fact really didn't need coaxing at all. He went through it like an old pro. The only difficulty was that he didn't get his hind legs through it, or rather he put his upper body through it, got his treat and thought he was finished. Such a Newfie. Then I went back to work with Beeks, hoping he had observed Maxies exceptional calm ability. Not so much, But slowly Beeks was able to go through the hoop fairly consistently on the left to right and occasionally on the right to left side. So many treats, but hey, we're learning here. I thought it would be good to do some other activity and then try it again, so we played some catch and fetch with the Frisbee and squeaky ball. When We returned to more practice, he seems to have synthesized the process because I could get him to not only go both ways on a regular basis but also I was able to lift the hoop up about 2 to 3 inches and he would still go thru it. Both ways! My hero! How cool was that? He over came his fear of the hoop, he went through it two ways and went through it when it was raised off the ground. I want to tell you that during this whole learning process he was anxiety panting like he had just run a marathon. I think it really taxed his brain. Its hard work, to overcoming fears and learning a new skill. I think he'll only need about a third of his dinner tonight.