So last Thursday was Ash's first "behavior modification" training session. The trainer came over and we just spoke for about an hour. She told me her observations and small things she wants me to work on until our next meeting. Most of these things are geared at teaching Ash how to calm down and focus. So for example, one of the things that I have to do every day, multiple times a day, is have ten pieces of food/treats and when she's sitting in front of me I have to tell her "Look" and start feeding her the pieces of food. I have to say the word "Look" as I put a piece in her mouth and it needs to be done quickly. Like this:
"Look (treat), Look (treat), Look (treat) . . ." and so forth. The object is to get her to expect food anytime she hears that word. She'll look at me in anticipation if I ever say "Look" from this point on. Then I also have to reward her for looking at me on her own. This is a seperate exercise called "auto check in". This one is too complicated and long for me to explain, but here's the goal:
The goal for the DOG is to voluntarily - without prompting in any way - automatically check-in with the handler roughly every 5-7 seconds.
There were other things too, like not petting her unless I initiated it. She noticed that Ash is very affectionate with me and that whenever she comes over, I pet her. Whenever she lays down and gives me her belly, I pet her. Whenever she comes over while I'm sitting down and she puts her head on my lap, I pet her. I basically pet her whenever she's around. [
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As for her feeding, I usually give her breakfast in a kong, which is good, but they always want to me make her work for her dinner as well. Not just give it to her like I usually do. They recommended a Buster Cube or a game making her look for it. They said if I had access to an open area of grass (such as my mom's backyard), that I could just throw her food in the yard and she would have to look for it. I also will be buying a "calming cap" to use on her while we're in the car.
So that's it until next session, which is December 7th I think. So far . . . .it's going o.k. I don't seem to get the timing right. At least it seems that way to me. Whenever she looks at me on her own (for the auto check in thing) I feel like I miss it or am too late in rewarding her. I don't know. Could just be me over thinking it.