Distraction recall, iteration 6L2: 1/2.0/3.C: 6th training plan adaptation, 2nd location (L2), levels 1 (holding on to long line), 2.0 (back tie) and 3 (off leash) with distraction C (liver; difficult).
October 18, 2023: on to our second location!
New location – new post! Yesterday, Chai got an easy taco recall at the Urban Enrichment Jungle: I called her when she was already looking at me, tongue-clicked as she came running and ran away to make it more fun. She got a taco de canasta and lots of praise when catching up with me!
Today, recharged and ready for the next step in our game, we found ourselves a new location – the second one I want to proof the difficult distraction in. In this first round, Chai does not know it’s a set-up. The tripod is hidden in a hedge and I sneakily placed the liver slice when she was ahead of me; then caught up with her, long-lined her and meandered back towards the distraction. I wanted a spot that wouldn’t need a visual target this time, so we played on mowed grass. You can see Chai find the distraction by means of following her nose after recalling. I suspect it was the smell of the distraction that prompted her to check in when she did (which I used as a start button; calling her earlier than I had planned on).
(She knew to take the gap in the hedge on her way up the hill because that’s where we had come down as well.)
Difficult distraction – long line – location #3: success!
October 20, 2023: tether success (and SQUIRREL success!)
Yesterday, Chai got an easy taco recall at Urban Enrichment Jungle (no video). Today, we tackled our next distraction stage!
After our tether success – I would call it a back tie but it is actually a front tie because Chai is wearing her front-attachment harness! – we looped through the park off leash. As we were nearing the exit, I called her back informally and she didn’t come – I didn’t see the distraction that held her interest, and for some reason, my formal recall came out of my mouth. Chai turned on a dime and shot back to me; I saw she was turning away from A SQUIRREL! and emptied out the kibble left in my treat pouch for her (since I was all out of tacos) and then cued “Birds!” (the release to chase critters) and went looking for the squirrel together with her. It took us 30 seconds, but we found it and Chai had a good chase.
I wasn’t planning on using her formal recall in this kind of situation and without a taco reinforcer – but she rocked it! However, I will definitely do an easy taco recall next! Recharge, recharge, recharge!
October 21, 2023: easy taco recall in a new location
I bought tacos de pechuga de pollo con frijol y nopales at a subway stop and played at a park nearby that we’ve never been to – not the very best of ideas, it turned out, since Chai’s inital reaction told me that the meat may still have been hot when she took her reward.
I decided to make up for the potentially hot taco with another easy taco recall tomorrow before going back to our last distraction stage at location 2/3: off leash, unprotected liver!
October 22, 2021: another easy taco recall
I did another easy taco recall in the house – just calling Chai from the couch to the kitchen and surprising her with a delicious, chicken-breast-stuffed taco (no video). NOW we are ready to tackle our next challenge!
October 23, 2023: we DID it! Chai just nailed an off-leash liver recall at location 2/3!
Look how far ahead this puts us in the Tacos & Border Collies game! We’ve ventured across island #2!
Despite our detour (2 easy taco recalls before today’s off leash one), we are well on our way towards the treasure!
Our next recall will be an easy taco one – time to recharge at the shore before jumping into the ocean again! – and then we’ll tackle our third real-world location in the next post in this series!
