Too late for my post

I was a bit surprised to find out that the CU_Dogs list has been disbanded this week (before I had a chance to post my question). I found another list CU_Support so I will join it and perhaps post there instead.

Reorienting in Control Unleashed

I wrote a post that I was going to send to the Control Unleashed (CU) list but thought I would think about more and post it to my blog instead.

I have started watching the Control Unleashed: A Foundation Seminar DVD set. It has been a while since I read the entire book.

Taari, who was a singleton puppy, is not very confident around other dogs. She also is very motion driven to the point of not being able to watch agility on TV without getting excited and barking at the dogs. Even while watching the first two CU DVDs she was making low "urrr" noises. She gets very high at trials and in situations with other dogs.

I have a really big problem that is starting to get better with Taari. She will get in front of me on course and bark at me when she doesn't know what to do next - especially if I am not able to keep up with her. See one of her runs for an example of this behaviour especially the last few jumps. I am leery to try the reorienting and encouraging her to come in front of me outside of the ring for fear that it will make things worse inside the ring. I think that I have rewarded her already too much in front of me and that is what has caused the problems in the ring. It got so bad that it was suggested that I do not reward her in front any more (including where she is when I feed her). I would prefer that she stay at my side and just look at me. I will have to think about this some more and see how I can still apply the CU principles without further exasperating the problem of her getting in front of me on course.

I should also mention that she gets in front of my Spice as he comes in the house or comes down the stairs. So it is a bad habit that not limited to me.

Matching

Counting isn't progressing as I hoped. I think that the dogs are looking to me for some sort of cue and that I have confused them. There are times when they seem to be getting it but other times not. I should have kept better records.

I am going to try something different - matching symbols. I have created three pairs of matching symbols - circle, triangle and plus symbol. I will rerecording the Talking Symbols and try to see if the dogs can match the symbols. I am also going to try to be more careful and make sure that I am not confusing the dogs. Perhaps even using the Manners Minder so that they are not watching me so much.

Counting

I have been trying counting with my dogs. I recorded "one", "two", and "three" on different Talking Symbols. I put a piece of paper in each of them with large dots on them corresponding to the recording. First I put out each symbol individually and the number of objects on the symbol. They I asked how many? Clicking and treating when the dog touched the symbol and the symbol played its message. Now I have been putting out more symbols (at first two and sometimes three). I have been changing the positions of the symbols as well as I don't want the dogs to be choosing the symbol based on location. I have gone back to just putting out one object for now. Once they seem to be touching the correct symbol most of the time I will go to two objects and then three. Not sure when I should try a different set of objects.

A couple of interesting issues I have been having is my older sheltie Spice (almost 13) is rapidly going from one symbol to the next. Good exercise for him but not what I want. If a dog touches the wrong symbol should I just wait and click when the right one is touched or should I say "too bad" and have the dog sit and re ask the question? I am worried about the dogs developing a pattern or not really looking at the symbols and just touching them at random. I sometime remove the extra symbols so that they are able to get it right and break the pattern of touching multiple symbols. Things brings up something I am struggling with. I think that I often tend to make things easier for my dogs - perhaps too much. This may have resulted in them not thinking enough and not dealing with failure very well. I also may be expecting the dogs to learn quicker than they are and I need to be more patient.

Spice was better tonight and not going from one symbol to the next as much. I also thought that Taari was also better tonight as well. Both were touching the correct symbol more often. I have to be careful with Taari because she may find the Talking Symbol rewarding in itself.

Talking Signs - more testing

I tried putting the Go Talk Buttons in a muffin tin but that didn't work out. The muffin tins were too deep and the dogs didn't really want to paw the buttons when they were in there. I tried putting several layers of cardboard in the muffin tin to raise the buttons up but that didn't work either.

Then it occurred to me that I should try Velcro. I didn't want to use the Talking Symbols Velcro so I searched the house and finally found some and a board to attach the buttons too. I first tried regular Velcro and it didn't work that well as the buttons still moved too much. The Industrial Strength Velcro was better. Now I had a new problem. If the dogs pawed at the buttons just the right way the battery compartment opened and the top came off. This can be solved by either putting a larger piece of Velcro on the back to hold the battery compartment closed or using a piece of tape.

If only I could get my dogs to put some weight on the button when they pawed it. Right now they are not and the button doesn't always play the message when they paw it. Sometimes what happens is that the light comes on but no message is played. I duplicated this by rapidly pressing the button twice.

Talking Signs arrived

I got my talking signs yesterday. I ended up buying 6 of the Go Talk Buttons and 3 Talking Symbols. The Talking Symbols are twice the price of the Go Talk Buttons per sign.

The sound quality appears to be stronger and better on the Talking Symbols. Both will allow 10 seconds of recording.

Both have a small red LED that lights up when recording and when playing. The Go Talk Button takes one battery and the Talking Symbol three.

The magnet in the Talking Symbols is stronger than the Go Talk Button. The Talking Symbols come with velcro as well.

Just to get the dogs using them I recorded "yes" on both and rewarded them for getting it to play back the recording.

The Talking Symbols are more sensitive as well. My dogs had to often paw several times at the Talking Button before actually pressing the button and making it play the recording. Taari my younger sheltie (13lb and 14" at the withers) has become better at it so it may just be a matter practice. The Buttons move quite a bit and at one point last night Taari was starting to play with it like she does a Babble ball (a ball that plays phrases when moved). It was amusing to see her batting it around between her paws. There is a larger surface to touch on the Talking Symbols (more than 4 times the area of the Button). The Go Talk Button requires more pressure than the Talking Symbol.

It is not readily apparent which one is more robust. The Go Talk Buttons may be more slobber proof given that the Talking Symbols have a grill over the speaker. The speaker appears to be made of metal though. It is my plan to have the dogs paw the talking signs so hopefully slobber will not be an issue.

I think that the Go Talk Buttons will need to be placed in something or attached to a board to hold them still. I will have to think more about this.

The Talking Symbols could be used on their own as is.

Here is a Youtube video showing both kinds of talking signs and Taari playing with them.

More Silent Signs

Today I continued working on getting the dogs to target the correct coaster. At first I started with only the coaster with the picture of the game on it. Then I added a blank coaster. Both dogs were pretty successful in the morning session so in the afternoon session I decided to switch games. They were also successfully pawing the coaster of the other game. Next I added a blank coaster. Sometimes helping them out by pointing to the coaster. In the evening session I decided to have the dogs go to a mat and then I would release them with okay. Taari seemed to be less successful. Then I noticed that she was looking at both coasters and when I released her she frequently went to the one she was looking at. I realized why this was happening as that is what I expect when I do gambling work with her. So I now have to be careful and make sure that she is looking at the right coaster when I release her. She did start to release herself and go to the correct coaster. I am not too worried about her releasing herself because she was picking the right coaster and was not waiting for me say "yes that is the right one".

I haven't added the question yet as I am unsure if I want the question to be "Which game do you want?" or "Which game is this?"

One problem I am having is making sure that they touch the coaster with a paw. This is where I think that the talking signs would help. I would wait until I heard the sign talk (i.e the dog would have to hit the sign and cause the recording to play). There would be feedback to the dog that they had touched the sign appropriately - it would speak the word or words associated with what they touched. I would also not be confusing the dog by clicking it for a bad paw or not noticing when they did hit it. (Aside - I can see that a Chicken Camp would help with my skills.)