Alley Oop Review

We have been using the Alley Oop for cue discrimination with Lily:  Touch, Go Around and Retrieve.  Now we are separating each of those behaviors for RRR (Review, Remind, Re-teach).  This morning - Touch.

Dusting Off the Alley Oop 2

For the second session with the Alley Oop I decreased the distance between me, Lily and the Alley Oop.
I discovered that what she couldn't understand at 7' she did understand at 4'.  Hmmmm.  Where have I heard that before?

First, just Touch.  Even when she bumped the Alley Oop onto the floor, she still went and Touched it.  Then, Go Bye without the Alley Oop before I added the Alley Oop to the bag.  Success.

Finally, all 3 cues in one session.  I am purposely having Lily Retrieve the Alley Oop last.  In subsequent sessions, I will not add distance.  I will change the order of the cues and continue working at the same distance until she is secure.

Dusting Off the Alley Oop

The Alley Oop seems to be the cue in itself.  I added the verbal cue too soon and immediately realized it, so dropped the cue.  I'm looking here for Lily to touch the Alley Oop with her nose only.

In watching the video of the first session, I see, too, that Lily wasn't sure what I wanted and her paws were dancing.


Testing the fluency of "touch".  This was good for me to see.  When and how to switch from training a behavior, when I am looking for Lily to repeatedly volunteer the behavior as opposed to having a fluent cue - when she only does the behavior when cued to do it.

Cue discrimination.  Settling down and thinking.

Lots of food for thought and discovering training holes.   We both had fun, Shayla shared in the treats and it was a good learning session for me.

With a little review, I'm seeing that cue discrimination is the current challenge for Lily.  Because it involves focus and attention, listening for and then processing information.