A Good Good Day

Gosh, I just read that last blog and wow, it did not sound like me at all.  It was very we did this, then we did that…  Not my normal flow.  Today we finally targeted with the clickers.  So awesome!  So, let me explain.  Graham gave me and Lucie clickers, these little metal boxes attached to a wrist coil.  The dogs have been conditioned to enact desirable behaviors like, touching their noses to your fist.  So, we would present our fist and then say touch.  The dogs would then touch their noses to our fist. We would click to reinforce that behavioral cue and then the dog would get a treat. It is important to treat the dog each and every time you click the clicker because you always want the clicker to = a pay off.  So, why does it matter that Bethany can touch my fist with her nose, besides it being a fun party trick, you know like tying a stem into a knot with your tongue or shuffling  a deck of cards with one hand? It is important because when I say touch and click she can learn things like “Bethany , touch chair,” click, or Bethany, “touch, mail box,” click.  She can then learn to target important objects, or locations for me.  Awesome, right? So Miami people, you may see me around next week working with her on this.  It is pretty fantastic.

Oh and speaking of pretty fantastic, let’s talk about the mall.  So, we went there to work on escalators.  Bethany is so chill and calm. She heals on, she stays a step behind me and she walks off with no concern in the world.  She does not: 
A. Jump up and down celebrating like a crazy creature, um Andi.  I still remember Mel and I doing escalators and saying to me in her I am not all that amused voice, put your dog into a sit.  (Mel is another class supervisor, the equivalent to Dell.)
B:  Bethany also did not Michael Jordan leap off the escalator.  Many of you may remember this was the Randall approach.  She did it perfectly.  I told Megan earlier how great of a job  she did with her.  Well then we also went shopping for a shirt for Lucy’s daughter. It was funny watching  she and Graham work together to pick it out.  During the course of this shopping expedition  we came to the collective agreement that We do not understand the purpose of see-through clothing.  If anyone has further incite on why they buy it or when they find it a good idea, please feel free to share.   

We also did some walking in FDR Park where we saw a few different dogs.  She did great working past them, but was intrigued when she was just sitting as they walked by.   After that Lucie and I had a rather amusing lunch with Kathy, the Director of Training, Graham, Mel, and Mel’s niece.  They are all rather fun people. Being here is nice, but I will be happy to be back sleeping in my own bed, seeing my people, and not getting up at six am.  See all of you sooner than later!