This is my first attempt at posting from my phone. So far so good. This afternoon, I worked with Callie on getting her to indicate the scent of her treat when she finds it. Both Cash and Callie are very good at the "find it" game...I usually pick a treat and hide it in the house or yard. The treats vary so I let them smell one and then release them to "find it". For Cash, the reward is the hidden treat. For Callie, the sqeaky ball is her final prize. This is the first time I've tried getting a signal from one of them. I started Callie with our usual game...the treat accessible to her when she found it. Then I hid it under a cup so she had to work a bit more to get to it. Next I added cups with no treat (I think these are called "cold") and praised her for finding the "hot" cup. Then we progressed to upside-down mason jars where she might need help getting to the treat. My hope here was to see what signal she chose to indicate the find. She pawed at the jar so I marked that with "yes", rewarded her and helped her get the treat out. Next we moved to upside-down bowls...even harder for her to turn over. Again she pawed at the correct bowl. I continued to mark the behavior and reward her for indicating the scent. She got her well deserved sqeaky ball! Good girl! Callie is recovering from a knee injury so during her absence from agility and herding, this type of "work" is great for her! This is the first time I've seen her really look satisfied since her injury. We have kept her busy during the long rest period, but that's just not the same as "working" for her. She is peacefully napping now :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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