(sorry I missed out on week 5 - its been hectic!)
Pics to come later - can't find my camera cable at the mo.
Tonight's goals were to increase Max's levels of relaxation while also increasing activity and movement. I suggested that Trish work through the Relaxation Protocol (Karen Overall) stages right from the beginning of class, and whenever he was getting too hyped up to return to their mat and keep going with the RP. This was on the basis that Max has been settling very well doing the RP on a mat at home. Based on the fantastic results tonight Trish & Max are going to take their RP practice 'on the road' to help him develop calm focus in lots of situations.
First stage: Max practiced RP on his mat nearby, Farah and Mirri worked on parallel game, using two cones for 'touch' and a mat as another target, gradually we increased the speed and excitements levels.
Stage Two: Max worked in the box (two touch targets, a mat and a 'go round' target) while Mirri carried on - no dog right beside Mirri or Max. Then introduced Finn. Max was a little distracted, but used the Give Me A Break game to allow him to sniff Finn calmly through the barrier, then everyone went back to working. Max was mostly off leash!!
Developed this by having Max and Mirri (dogs who have the most work to do) working either side of a barrier, off leash, doing various targeting tasks. FANTASTIC!
Stage Three: one dog recalling while other relaxes (with barrier), then both dogs recalling slowly at same time. Moved to walking head on and passing close by with no barrier - all dogs managed this beautifully!
Great session, everyone was clearly progressing nicely and I hope that by transferring the RP outside Max and Trish will be able to make a big jump forward. Planning a socialisation walk for this weekend to keep the vibe going.
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