MENTORING SESSION AGENDA: 9/16/10

This Thursday it will have been a month since we last met in Balboa Park and our last mentoring session before Sue's clinic.  It's a milestone session, because we will be finishing up Level 2 and moving ahead to Level 3.


LOCATION:
Where it all began.
The parking lot behind the Sports Museum.
We'll plan to "de-brief" over lunch in the cafeteria.

PLEASE BRING:
chair
Steps
Clinic Handout
crate
your dog's Training Record Chart (up to date)

PREPARATION:
Complete L2: Leash: Steps 1 - 5/including all WWWW
and as you complete each Step and its WWWW CHECK OFF THE BOX
We presented this behavior shortly after Sue's last clinic.  Here we are almost 6 months later.
Focus on completing this prior to Thursday, please.

PREPARATION:
The ZEN required to complete the above behavior.

PREPARATION:
Have at least one person other than yourself teach L1 ZEN to your dog (as we did in class last week)

PREPARATION:
L2 behaviors
We tested L2 behaviors a month ago.
We will re-test those behaviors your dogs did not pass last month.

PLAN:
Zen
Watch
Leash: L2 from both books
Re-test unfinished L2 behaviors (and others)
Retrieve

Review Level 3 and begin.

PROBLEM SOLVING:
In the past we have "tolerated" certain unacceptable behaviors in each of our dogs.
For this session, those behaviors will not be tolerated.
Does this mean that problems will be solved by the end of the session?  No.
But this will be our underlying mind set.

Please come with a plan and a no-nonsense approach to a solution.
Plan in advance how you intend to change your training agenda to convey this message to your dog
(or someone else's dog, since we will be handling each others dogs).
I want you to think decisively and affirmatively as you plan.

The three of you have discussed "manners" of your dogs as a "missing link".
Sue's explanation of vested vs non-vested work addressed "manners".
This session we are going to tie it all together and get started.
Think Sue's analogy of a 10-year old boy in her discussion of vested vs non-vested behavior.


DISCUSSION:
Training Smart
Making the most of your training time.

MIND SET
There is no difference in the vested behaviour and the unvested behaviour. The purpose of V/UV is to teach the dog a state of mind while wearing the vest. 

What happens when he's not wearing his vest? He behaves himself and takes his cues from the trainer as to what "behaving himself" means. He does what she asks him to do, he keeps the leash loose. When asked to Come, he Comes. In the absence of a specific cue, he LLW, but may sniff or roll or solicit people with his eyebrows as they walk by. He may be going to do agility or going to the dogpark where he'll get excited and chase things - he has to maintain enough dignity not to be bothersome. There may or may not be an opportunity to be rewarded for paying better attention depending on what's happening. When the leash comes off, be behaves in an appropriate way for the situation.

What happens when he's wearing his vest? He behaves himself and takes his cues from the vest as to what "behaving himself" means. When asked to Come, he Comes. There is no LLW when vested. Vested means Service-Dog-Walk. There is no free time for soliciting people, and he is not going anywhere that's going to be exciting. He does SDW whether the human is paying attention or not, whether he is asked to do it or not. SDW is a vested default. Maintaining a small team footprint is a vested default. Not heading for a nearby tree is a vested default. There is ALWAYS an opportunity to be rewarded, whether the human appears to be paying attention or not. Taking the vest off is, essentially, giving him a "FREE" cue - he's free to return to his unvested, semi-paying-attention, responding-to-cues life.

Think of a 10 year old kid's behaviour in his own back yard. Now think of the same kid in church. How is he dressed? How does he behave? His mom asks him to sit in a chair and be still for a few minutes in the back yard, and he does. Being still doesn't mean he can't wiggle his eyebrows at the little girl next door or try to pick up ants on his toes. He sits quietly by default in church. No difference in the overall sit-still behaviourl, but a difference in the motivation and his general attitude, facial expression, and how many ants are climbing on his feet