- Who would have known? Standing in the kitchen w/Lily at the kitchen entrance, if I say, "Go By" and THEN "Light" she is somehow able to go through the family room, turn the corner, PASS THE CALL BOX and go straight to the light switch. Not once. Not twice. But.....dependably. All week long. We just may have conquered that stim control demon!!!
- Today. Thursday, June 28, three times in a row, on cue....Lily went from the first floor, up the stairs, made the right choice at the landing, continued to the right up the stairs to the second floor, into the bedroom to the dedicated Emergency Phone under the desk, picked it up by its handle (thank you very much!) and carried it by the handle back to me at the front door. Thank you, Marge Rogers, for keeping me honest. Thank you, Sue. I didn't 'settle' and Lily has a beautiful behavior as a result.
- At the Eye Clinic for Animals where, two weeks ago, we had that memorable training session with the tech. Lazy Leash when leaving the exam room. Yesterday Lily was on her tippy-toes working SO hard keeping that leash loose. Out the exam room to the inner door. Waiting with anticipation at the open door. Walking to the outer door. You could SEE the self control oozing through every pore. Waiting at the door and leaving. All the way to the car. A "J" leash. Leaving the vet. I believe we have crossed "the final frontier".
- "Poke". The new alert behavior. Not a 3-minute behavior, but surely a 3-day behavior. Poking on cue only. But soundly. Resoundingly. Determined. When I'm standing. When I'm seated. When I'm stretched out on the bed.
- And I think the clothing tug is close to extinguished.
- Focus: Level 4. "Look". With the hand/arm signal. On the left and on the right. Looking at the treat and looking at where the treat should be but isn't yet.
- Communication: Level 4. "Left" and "Right". Still Step 1. But with a reliable 90% success rate.
- And, finally, "Paws Up" with a diversion. Building core strength. Resting on quiet paws. Licking peanut butter off of the tree trunk. The TL list had a good thread about "Sitting Pretty" and how to teach it. Made me think. They talked about cheese in a can. I decided to do "the same thing but different" with trees instead of walls and peanut butter instead of cheese. A steady Paws Up instead of Sitting Pretty. Still not with the confidence of 2 flat paw pads, but without scratching for balance. And with the PB on the tree instead of interior OR exterior walls, it's truly a win/win training opportunity.
So we are cleaning up some Bucket List behaviors and are on a definite roll! A good week all the way around.