April 6th - We've begun training Bonnie to perform Tasks  - TASK #1 - is to teach her to take objects by name, fom a selection placed in front of her on the floor.  The first part of this is to teach her that objects have LABELS and vocal names. . She has a basic idea of this because we did alot of work with the animals names. The "Kitty" has been an invaluable inpromptu training tool. "Kitty" is excessively LOUD when she wants in or out. No matter where we were in the house, if the "kitty" MEOWED I looked at the dogs (Bonnie especially) and said excitedly "KITTY! LETS GO SEE!" then we bounded over to Kitty and threw a party (much to kitty's dismay). Now i say "Kitty" in any tone of voice and Bonnie will go find the Kitty. It was easy for this American Alsatian to understand this information transfers to other animals and then people. She will recognize Solly, ME, (the Poodle) Kitty, Dad, "she"(is Rhiannon) and we're now teaching Dad to teach Bonnie to recognize MOM. (who is yours truly). Our next task is picking up objects by name. This starts with one object - "WAIT" command. then a get it command. Once shes got the jist of that game (she did in minutes) we start to put one on the floor and one in my hand. (I've named each one and done the introduction - thats kindergarden). When I say the object in my hand with the same TONE as I said Get It, I shove the one in my hand in her face. She takes what ever I hand her. (Accept paper - that has proven tough). so then we put that one on the floor, and snatch away the one we DON'T want her to take. Each of these steps - she has no choice but to do it correctly. Thats all we need with this breed is to show them what we want. Rarely do we need to correct problems (unless we've created them) because as long as the correct thing is shown to them to begin with - the American Alsatian will do what you've shown them with no deviation. I can count on that so I'm sure it will progress faster than I'm used to.

Our NEXT Task - #2 - is to hand her objects and have her place them (nicely and neatly) in a pre-ordained area. We started this outside, (there's more room for action and we have OUTDOOR toys and INDOOR toys. Bonnie knows and respects the difference. ) Easy enough in 4 or five handoffs she understood I wanted her to bring it "over there" and then come back here and then run "over there". I think she could have done that all day. She was SO excited about it!

My thoughts are still in the philosophy of a companion temperament in a natural canine body.  Bonnie has begun to dig a "dogbed hole" is what i call them. (Boy she DOES mind the heat).  its a curled up body-shaped hole for herself to lay in when she needs cooling.  THIS is a very natural canine thing to do. Especially for her body type.  This digging has personal purpose. Its not out of boredom or unearthing needs. First of all - I'm unsure how to treat this. On one hand - We NEED to see the emotional and followthrough response to biological stimuli.  Some petbreeds have diminished their natural instincts to the point they wouldn't KNOW to do that. We had several pet deaths in the area last year tdue to exposure. These were all companion dogs - shih tzu's english bulldog and a couple mutts.  None dug holes, although they were outside with diggable ground.  Of course none had coat, and most were short faced. So is it the exaggerated body that doesn't allow digging? I know little shih tzu paws aren't built for it.  Anyway back to Bonnie.  

The other part is if I should discourage this or not?  Its a survival mechanism, I beleive, so I don't want to take it away form her, but on the other hand, should I allow this digging?  We do not a digging feature in the breed, and neither does my landlord.

April 1 2013 - We have a pretty much normal set of manners on Bonnie now.  Much of my revamping of her training process had to do with separating work from home. Most of our issues had to do with Bonnie's work ethic of being on point when we leave the house and she is released from work when we return. i did not put enough emphasis on LAP Therapy and did not put her into a calm place of being upon returning home.  As I've mentioned before - life has been LIFE lately - and I did not invest the time to see her through the transition. Lesson learned and put in the books as a must do. Thankfully with a strong network of people to play this out with and an AMPLE CanineBrained education - The BRTA has put Bonnie back on track.

NOTE: Special attention was given to her obedience videos and recapping of notes for that obedience. I noted a dramtatic difference between working in the back yard and working in Public.  Chopping was profuse at home - almost non existant in Public.  My decisions came from those and other such observations.

NOTE:  Last piece of the puzzle to come to resolution is Bonnies dislike for the verbal spoken STAY.  I've enlisted other people to say the word. I've changed my hand signal, and theirs. She exhibits anxiety when she hears it.  Eyes, mouth, whole body shows discomfort. I can and have since noting this changed the stay action to verbal spoken WAIT. No discomfort - quite the opposite - she shows pleasure in the command.

Aside from behavior tweaks - TODAY I have had an issue with Bonnie - she has not been herslef for the morning. I observed her eating and chewing at the ground.  There is something growing in her kennel I can't identify. I've seen it - its not a strange plant.  Just can't find its name to find info on it.  She vomitted in the early afternoon, slimy green some toy bits - no undugested food.  Frothed at the mouth for a bit afterwards.  Just PRIOR to this, I had let her out in a hurry because she squatted and peed right in front of me. It felt to me as if she had no idea it was coming.  Then she threw up. She drank a normal amount of water afterwrds and then i took a nap. She peed on the floor while I was sleeping. She has NEVER done that.  She ate quite a bit this evening (dog food) and seems mellow but happy right now.   I would very much like to find out what that plant is.  -

My thoughts derived from this incident involve a Companion Dogs temperament - genetically set - and the natural ability of a Canid to discern poisonous plants from unpoisonous.

I'm deciding that I know enough horror stories of pet dogs eating poisonous plants to decide that I KNOW Canis Familiarius has for the most part lost its ability to discern.  Wild Canines know. Is it nature or nuture?  Has domesticating the canine done it? Are there breeds or categories of breeds that are more suseptible to this ignorance?  Is there a commanality of body shape or what they were used for?  I would like to know these things - because I would like to be able to see if genetically having a companion temperament means less of this or more?  Can this be canceled out through a totally natural Body structure?  So, Thats what I'm thinking about today.

March 18th - We've had marked success in walking loose leash. WHEW!!  I was worried there for a sec.

So I drew up a pie chart. Yes...a PIE chart.  I have some crayola crayons and I went to work.

There were a few things i wanted to illustrate for myself so I could nail down what was happening. My thoughts were in her motivation, as thats where I seem to get up the most. "What does she want?"

First I looked at her interaction with my two dogs - Std. Poodle and Corgi Mix.  They don't "Play". Once or twice Solly has bounced around with her a bit - but nothing else much and definately nothin from the poodle.  BUT - she'll hang out with them, and cue from them and we have just barely been able to get Bonnie to disginguish herself from the rest of them through eye contact.  (What I mean is....I Board alot of dogs. My personal  dogs have learned to know when I'm talking to THEM because I look at them in the eyes.  Long time boarders have also been taught this.  If they are all at the door - they've been taught only the one i look at comes in, the rest wait.)

Bonnie has not until recently been taught to differentiate herself from the rest of the pack.  What I did to "kick this in" was pull out the beginning of clicker training - with "touch" and "Look". 

"Touch" is dog hits black dot on hand with nose - click - reward bla bla bla.   "Look" is more difficult but once its there its solid. Hold treat up in front of face.  Make eye contact - VERY IMPORTANT - timing must be spot on.  Eye contact - click - reward. Voila.

NOW I have eye contact on command.   Yesterday (almost 24 hours ago now and I'm STILL smiling)  She was directed in all by herself, and didn't even bother to look back and see if the rest of the dogs were coming. (We have long timer Lhasa Buddy and Newbie Stella the Portugese Water Dog).  Major accomplishment.

Next, I wanted to look at what we are doing on these walks and why is there no "Partnership".   I've not encountered that before from a female. Only one or two times have I not been able to create the common ground for walks - and they were with intact over sexed males who didn't want anything to do with anything that wasn't a female in heat. - Actually - one of them didn't care if it was in heat or not. He was gonna get her anyway  - jerk.

Anyway - Bonnies whole mission on walks is getting back. OK. Why?  1.  Thats what her American Alsatian brain tells her is the thing to do in order to survive. Get home. (Yeah yeah I know its more complicated than that but I got Crayola crayons so...)

2. Collar comes off when we get inside.  This tells her American Alsatian brain "Job well done."  and its over.

3. Our walks have no interim destination.   Meaning theres no place to get to but home.  I'm gonna take full responsibility for that one. The cold has really pussified me this year. I don't want to be OUT unless I can NOT wear a coat.  and boots. and hat. and gloves. and my ears hurt. WAAAAHHHHHHH!  whine ** whine**.  So thats my fault.  The weather has broken and I'm gonna double my efforts to get her out doing stuff with a purpose.  We visited the river on Wednesday, and the "break" in the walk seemed to really help us both.

4. I've been using a Martingale collar for walks, and I've switched to a heavy jewel link.  The "ZIP" of the chain really gets her.  Like an early warning system.  Her ears are 90% turned back to listen and shes now turning back to see whats up If I make a vocal sound or shuffle my pace or anything.

5. Lois suggested starting her on the "Go Home" command, and we started that at the wrong time yesterday.  This is a neat story. I wish I could have gotten a picture. Yesterday I started to teach Bonnie "Go Home" (at Lois' suggestion). Its St. Paddy's day and we have an Irish Pub just down the block. So I let her go, and she starts trotting down the walk, JUST WHEN - four bagpiped men in Kilts (on St Paddys day?) round the corner. She stops looks at them. Turns, looks at me-back to them...then books butt back to me and hides behind my legs, peeking out. Doesn't run away mind you - just behind me. We let them pass, (shes shaking a bit but holds her ground) - The bag pipes go into the pub. Door closes, she looks up at me with this "OK...now?" expression I give a release and she runs straight home, without any further commands. Just amazing.  We will try again this afternoon hopefully sans bagpipe.

March13th - Ya'll crack me up. Tellin me how to touch the dog. Really, Its adorable.    I'm in a pissy mood so maybes not the time to write this. (NOTE - Discussion amongst CAAC-NAAC-BRTA members excluded. Thats whats the club is for - Lois or Jen are the only ones I answer to) 

OK - Bonnie's HYPERACTIVITY is not that of a ...lets say....Pointer or Lab.  I have not found the diction to describe what I mean. there is no "drive" behind the physical movement.   Nothing to chase or sniff out in her mind. Her movements - physically - are all an attempt at finding calming mechanisms for herself.     In my experience of training hyper dogs in the past - is to use that drive to my advantage - to focus the animal and eliminate confusion in the dogs function. ALL of my professional education comes from this concept.

NOW - I AM TRAINING A COMPANION DOG - Instead of duck calls and agility courses I have human emotion and desires as a tool.  This is very different and I DO realize that. I realized that 3 years ago, and THATS why I want to breed these dogs.  Anyway - I digress.

For me - her trainer - her imperfections are glaring. I demand PERFECTION.  So maybe I've given the impression these issues are constant.  THEY ARE NOT.  Most of them happen under fairly regular circumstances and are short lived and the public isn't aware most of the time, that she is BEING hyper when she is.  TO BREED STANDARDS - which are high - she is not a calm dog. To German Shepherd Breed Standards for instance, shes a friggin statue.  Yesterday a co worker asked me if they could see her be hyper.   Sure I said. I know how to induce it. But otherwise, they've never seen it cause I won't allow it at work.   

THATS the difference and where my mistake came from.  I did not follow Lois instructions for transferring work space and home space.   I made it too obvious.   Easy fix really - tethering lap therapy in the front yard. That should do it. Some kenneling, but I don't think a whole lot.

Something else just in passing here - don't want to get too personal - but my husband and I have been going through this "thing".    Its been hard and its strained our communication.   Its been pretty tense for days at a time in my household,.  A  young dog as intuitive as Bonnie is will not thrive (emotionally) in that environment. Its too confusing and heavy.  We're on the uphill of that "Thing" now and conditions (emotionally) are improving in our household.  So is Bonnies "ZEN".   I honestly don't know what I could have done to improve that for her. I did the best I could, which was pretty damn good - but not perfect.

OBSERVATION to note:  December has notes regarding Bonnie (16 weeks) cueing from my dogs. I appreciated that to a point - and did not want her cuing their undesirable behaviors.  I HAVE been successful in that - but there is a side effect I wonder if it has put some different ideas in her head or something.

FOR INSTANCE - Both Poodle and Corgi mix LOVE to bark.  We used to live in the mountains. They could woofwoofwooffrom a half acre away when someone pulled up.  Now we're in the city and the rules have changed. So we're still working on it.   BONNIE will not bark. (Sometimes a "yip" at her toys but not anything else). Most of the time, (this is important) I know when someones coming so I control the dogs and everything is OK. BUT----

If someone knocks unexpectedly, of course barking explodes in my household and she will do one of 2 things - run under the table and hide, OR -

Jump on the other dogs nipping at them.  My feeling is that she is trying to get them to stop barking. - not because she wants them to do the right thing - but because she doesn't want to have me get displeased with them. Not sure what that is....I'll be thinking about it most of the day....

 

March 12th 2013 - Yesterday went to pot pretty quick and I did not have much time for structured lessons.  We did do the STAY in the same spot and it was very good. No head dropping or other physical signs of lost confidence.  No walks outside, but we did some backyard stuff off leash, mostly slowing her approach - instead of barrelling into me, she "finishes" swinging around in back of me.

I was asked in Facebook to sight some differences in other breeds vs. Bonnie and training procedures.  I've had difficulty explaining the differences as I do not as yet have labels and scales of this dog's temperament.  First thing to note is her "watching".  She observes and intentionally processes what shes watching and stores information for later. She watched me put together this treat dispenser thing (gift for a friend) dog hits the level and the treat pops out the bottom.  When I pulled it back out to wrap it - I tried it to make sure it still worked. I noticed Bonnie watching the bottom of the container - (EVEN THOUGH I had NOT shown it to her - given her a treat - or ANYTHING - she kept watching the bottom - knowing that was the business end of what ever it was I had - and thats the end I seemed to be concerned with, so that became HER concern.  Seems like a small insignificant thing - but really it was amazing to see. And you CAN. - see it - ...."when these dogs think something through you can SEE the wheels turning."  (Thats Jen Stoekels  quote-I know I'm not the only one who can SEE it).

Another example is what I'm currently dealing with.  The fit she throws coming home.  (THIS IS WHY I KEEP NOTES)

In the beginning of her conditioning - I set her up alot - to learn which direction I want her to go.  These were leg signals - some hands but mostly how I moved my legs. THEN - I was going over our car manners.  BECAUSE I can drive her somewhere, and shes not pulling until she gets near where the car is parked. Bonnie will have the same desperation to get into the car that she does getting into the house.  NOW -a characteristic of the American Alsatian Temperament is the desire to be close to home.  This is PART of their temperament. Lois bred this into them (YES-ITS ON PURPOSE) so they would not end up in the pound for wandering.   Much the same as a good Bird Dog Breeder would chose stock that can flush well, - the desire to stay home is TEMPERAMENT.  Bonnies genetic makeup has many of the Temperament Characteristics almost exaggerated or magnified because she is so strongly bred.  AGAIN - much in the way that a good bird dog breeder with a good flushing dog doesn't have to train - a good companion dog breeder with a good homebody doesn't have to train.

BUT - the dog will have to be trained to properly use the talent it was born with. For Bonnie - we have to now teach her the proper way to be home. 

March 11th 2013 - Over the two months of basic obedience and companion manners that "i've trained with Bonnie - we have developed two major problems.BESIDES the chopping - and GREAT NEWS I think I may have figured that out. Almost to the point that she CAN work with the public again. Maye.

1st STAY - This is going to be really hard to verbalize but I'll do my best:

-------HISTORTY - Bonnie began learning STAY with Lois' Training manual - I followed to a "T" except I turned in front on second step, instead of going out sideways. All was fine until her first correction. Until I backed out of her territory displacement (2 ft) she started to slink away.  I corrected her by picking her up and putting her right back where she was.  This is my normal correction for Puppies breaking a STAY. "Something" happened then. At THAT point. She has lost ANY confidence in me or herself in a STAY.  I feel she feels I can't control it like the other commands. No function to follow and it makes her very very nervous. 

--------OUTCOME- what we've ended up with is a perfect solid STAY until I am 2 feet out of her space.

PROCESS of REMEDY - I will undo the STAY thus far by allowing her to break it and not correcting - a few of those and we'll be back to square one.   We will start again using the STAY instructions in AmAl book by Lois, and see if we can renegotiate her confidence.   We started yesterday in the corner of the kitchen. So she will have no where to slink to if she starts to feel uncomfortable. The result of that is she lowered her head so she couldn't establish eye  contact. (Remember the beginning - she wouldn't at ALL?)  When I lifted her head to have her look at me she squeezed her eyes shut. Lastly, I put food into the equasion.  BECAUSE as soon as my hand goes up for the hand signal she drops her head. I hold food in front of the open hand, and I have her attention to about 80%.       

METHOD(S) - counter coditioning for confidence with food, then processing steps and movements at a much slower pace.

_________________________________

2nd - HEELING - Let me rephrase that - Loose leash walking. HEELING in the "box" she OK with. Not perfect but good enough for a 7 mo. old for sure. Good enough for a full grown adult even, but out of the HEEL - loose leash no pulling walking. Not good at all. I DO NOT feel the partnership - the "dance" - between her and I. What I feel is her overwhelming desire to get back home.  OVER - WHELMING.   She rounds the corner to our block and she loses all self control. Starts to shake and chop, and all she wants to do is drag me (doesn't care if its causing me discomfort or pain) SHE WANTS to get home.  

Correcting this is highly agitating to both her and I and I wonder if corrections aren't the way to go.  Walking anywhere has become unpleasant for both of us because of the ordeal we go through coming home. (She pulls the entire time shes not on a heel - but we'll get that under control soon enough - if we can get past THIS)   So far we have tried "resetting" and do it over until she gets it "right". "RIGHT because we haven't even touched a level of control thats "right". I can get to the walk way before she LOSES it. Screams, throws herself on the ground, jumps at me chopping away. Its disgusting really. Embarrassing too - what do the neighbors think I'm doing to this dog?  I've tried picking her up and holding her till she calms, I've tried correcting her (she doesn't seem to notice the choker until she has thrown herself around enought to choke). 

METHOD and PROCESS------------We will eliminate all "WALKS" from the house to wherever and back. All we will do for the next few days is out to the end of the walk way and back. 10 feet at the most. Then we will go out to the side walk. I will also be spending some time just "hangin'" out front to hopefully erase some of the boundaries she has set for herself - cause sure as hell didn't set them. Maybe I should have ;).

March 10th 2013. - Jeez Louise almost a whole month since my last entry?     OK - well Its been a very busy month for Bonnie and I.   Every day - EVERY DAY - has been devoted to calming her down and finding ways to make her deal with corrections better.   Bonnie is NOT as calm and mellow as breed standards require - some of that is congenital and some of that is environment. I can "pull apart" and "untangle"  her hyperactivity from her true self and what is influencing her.  For me, its easy and obvious to discern what comes from being with my dogs - who are a little high strung - and what is from her temperament - even her "personality".  So her training and conditioning has taken on a very different method - I find myself using very many techniques that I use with abused or neglected dogs.  SHES HAS NOT BEEN ABUSED - OMG I swear reader - if you take that and run with it I'm gonna be pissed. I said techniques - BUT - her temperament is unique in such a way that she has a "extra" sensitivity.

This dog understands English better than any other I've met.  One prime example is the other day teaching her to go upstairs  with a loaded pack.  She was all flustered cause she kept launching wrong, so I'd make her do it over. She fell aprt very quickly. So we took a break. Then a couple hours later, went to it again, and she did it perfect right off the bat - and knew she did it right. I really think she laid there and THOUGHT ABOUT IT.    Folks.....shes 7 months old.    um? need I say more?

Yes i do. Need to say more.  Training this dog and conditioning her for therapy work has a new dimension I have not encountered.  Not in one dog. I've gleaned certain portions of this temperament from other breeds, and can deal with it mixed in one. But I have a very very hard time communicating it.   As I build the notebooks, its almost impossible to translate them into type.   Some methods have become facial expressions - both her and I. 

 

 

February 13 2013. - Bonnie has been with us for 70 days.  She is 5 1/2 months old.  She weighs 55 lbs on a good day. The wicket says 21" at the shoulder but I think she was scrunching down.

All teeth are in - straight and her bite is perfect.  CONFORMATION PHOTOS NEEDED. 

Bonnie completed basic and novice obedience tests on 1/25/13.  I wrapped both together into one test. Performed in Bega Park on the concrete round. We had men and women and children and squirrels and dogs as distractions. She whizzed it.  After tests were completed and brought back for re-evalution by BRTA - we found several errors in territory displacement and recognition of release jestures.   Which brings us to our next subject - which is very hard to write about on so many levels.

 

CHOPPING:  Action of closing jaws in a snap and INHALED breath two or more times consequtively.

WE'LL TAKE NOTE HERE THAT THIS BEHAVIOR IS IN NO WAY AGGRESSION. QUITE THE OPPOSITE - IT IS SUBMISSION AND A SELF CALMING MECHANISM.

Here is a video depicting best i could the chopping. After every command and certainly after corrections you can see her close her mouth?  Every time she does she snaps her jaws shut - you can here the teeth meet. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEU8iLFn7hk

So far - here are other videos of dogs that do the same thing. The Boxer in this video is exxaggerated compared to Bonnie - but thats it.