I’m naming this post iteration 5.1/3 because we are still on our 5th attempt at distraction recalls and will now be working on levels 1 (long line, no barrier) and 3 (unprotected distraction, off leash dog) with the easiest new food distraction (A).

The plan …

… is vague for now. The first time I work without a container again – with something lower value than kibble this time – I will go back to a long line. When I get a long line success, I will try off leash right away in the same location. Whatever happens, I will then head back to headquarters and decide how to continue.

August 25, 2023

Dead Poultry Park

Since Chai has outsmarted me at the unprotected-distraction stage several times, I’m going to take it
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a
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slowly this time! I started with her lowest value food (that I have found so far): dried fish treats. I went back to Chai on a long line and scattered the treats under her favorite scavenging draws: trash cans.

Session profile:
Distraction: dried fish
Reinforcer: cream cheese followed by eating the distraction
Distraction safe-keeping: long line
Immediate response on a loose long line: NO

Round 1

Round 2

I did this one right after the previous session, but approached from the other side this time. Immediate recall success because Chai knows I have Philadelphia (if I had to guess why!)

Round 2 profile:
Distraction: dried fish
Reinforcer: cream cheese followed by eating the distraction
Distraction safe-keeping: long line
Immediate response on a loose long line: YES

Round 3

Same location; right after session 2; approaching from the original direction again.

Round 3 profile:

Distraction: dried fish
Reinforcer: cream cheese followed by eating the distraction
Distraction safe-keeping: –
Immediate off leash response: YES

It is fascinating to me that in the third session – the video above – Chai doesn’t even want the fish anymore. In only three recall rounds, I have turned fish from something she’d try and blow off my recall for even though she was on a long line into the most boring treat in the world that she has very little interest in.

I don’t want to jinx it, but if I were cautiously optimistic, I would say: found food (including fish) trumps anything except for cream cheese. I would love to be right about this one – it would solve all my recall “problems”! But I know I need to be careful. Chai’s recall is a flighty animal and needs to be approached with great caution! I know that today’s success is, at least in part, because – as Tracy (Tracy, in case you’re reading this: I love this metaphor you’ve used for Huck!) would say – I have used the earlier two sessions as scaffolding for the third (successful) one. And as I would say (to Tracy or any other student): a successful off-leash recall only bumps you up to the next level once you’ve succeed after a break, un-scuffolded!

I’ll think about this some more but I believe what I’ll do is try this same set-up in a different location and see if I get a recall on a loose long line on the first try. I won’t make the mistake of going directly to off leash in a new location!

August 26, 2023

Fresa Parque

Chai knew this was a set up. That said, she did GREAT in both sessions. Already doing better than yesterday by keeping the leash loose in the very first rep. I did the second one pretty much right after – using it as scaffolding as Tracy would say.

In both sessions (because Chai knows it’s a set-up), she offers eye contact while we’re still far from the distraction. I keep heading that way anyways to make it a little harder. If I wasn’t filming and trying to be clearly visible on screen, I might have marked the check-ins with a recall cue right away.

Round 1 profile:

Distraction: dried fish
Reinforcer: cream cheese followed by eating the distraction
Distraction safe-keeping: long line
Immediate response on loose line: YES

No break – round 2, off leash, same location:

Round 2 profile:

Distraction: dried fish
Reinforcer: cream cheese followed by eating the distraction
Distraction safe-keeping: –
Immediate response: YES

Notes for the next session:

For my next session, I’d like to have a helper set up the fish distraction, come across it as a true surprise for Chai on a long line and see if I still get the success I’m after. If this works, I’ll take a break and try the next session after – again with a helper – off leash.

August 27, 2023

Location 3: Kiba’s Park

My friend had to take his mom to the hospital right before we got a chance to do a set-up (no worries – all is well with his mom). I managed to sneakily set up anyways. This time, there is no way Chai knows there is a distraction set-up …

Session profile:

Distraction: dried fish
Reinforcer: cream cheese and eating the distraction
Distraction safe-keeping: long line (accidentally) dragging
Immediate success: YES!

The first rep in the video above shows that Chai didn’t realize this was a distraction recall: I called pretty early, Chai responded and then headed off in some other direction rather than going towards the fish or sticking with me.

I wanted a distraction recall that wouldn’t feel like a set up and where she actually knew there was a distraction! So I didn’t point the fish out to Chai, but looped back around and let her get really close this time. This time, she clearly knew there was a distraction (but hopefully not that it was a set-up)! She responded beautifully and then went back to eating the fish with much more gusto than in the previous sessions – maybe precisely because she thought she had found street food rather than a distraction I had placed? Who knows.

While this session went really well (as in: Chai did really well), I did not stick to my training plan: I was going to hold on to the long line, but in both these reps, I let go of it and just let her drag it. Which really doesn’t help anyone because Chai is too far ahead by the time I call. The long line isn’t long enough for me to step on it if I needed to. Its weight may still have helped create an on-leash feeling, but the session I ended up having today was not the one I planned on having. Note to self: ALWAYS read your session notes right before you train!

Notes for the next sessions:

I feel ready to give this a try off leash and without scaffolding. I will do the next session at Kiba’s park again, where Chai has already succeeded with the long line dragging, but probably in a different spot of the park. f Chai gives me the response I’m hoping for – a single-rep off-leash success – I will then go for a single-rep off-leash fish recall success in two more locations before making the distractions more difficult:

I very much dislike advertising, but I’ve got a freeby with no strings attached, so I’m letting you know! I’d love for someone who hasn’t taken an FDSA class yet or currently can’t afford one to get it! It doesn’t matter where in the world you are, and you don’t need to be Facebook friends with me to participate. (The only reason I’m putting this on Facebook is that I want it to be in one spot and it’s easiest there.) It’s a public post and everyone, FB friend or not, should be able to comment to play here.

I’m calling this post iteration 5.2 because I made the new plan (5) after completing my work with the first container. It’s .2 because we are at level 2 (barrier).

If I’m not mistaken, the reinforcer from my hand in all the videos below is liver (same value as chicken).

After working through the first container challenge, I decided to try something new with Chai. Chai’s distraction recalls need to be handled with care: she is a worthy opponent with her own agenda, after all: the kind of dog I most love working with!

The new strategy:

+ 3 kibble containers in 3 outdoors locations – maybe the last one will be a metal cage thingy to mix it up.
+ Always reward with what’s IN the container.
+ If I don’t get an immediate recall response and a turn on a dime – take a 10-15 minute break and repeat in a different spot of the same park (my current plan diverges from the distraction tracker).
+ Once I’ve gone through 3 kibble containers in 3 locations – up the value of the distraction in the container and repeat.
+ Then, depending on how things are going, decide whether to up the value a second time OR lower the value and increase accessability.

August 2, 2023

Kibble container #2, location #1

To be on the safe side and since this is a new container, I started on a long line. LOVE this video! The subtitles will tell you why!

After park-officing some more, we repeated the challenge off leash:

August 3, 2023

Kibble container #2, location #2

I was going to office from another park today, but it didn’t have any good tables. So we just did a quick recall session and then moved on to a third park I could actually work from! Here’s our session from location #2 – the one that, unfortunately, isn’t officeable. Since yesterday went so well, I didn’t start with a long line today.

Kibble container #2, location #3

After officing outdoors for a bit, I set up for our third location – and again, Chai aced it! I love how she is starting to expect me to help her get to the food. What a difference from the very first container (the one I secured with tape) that she treated like a food toy!

In the video above, Chai spins on a dime when I call but then basically freezes in place until I tongue click. It’s a little hard to see what’s going on because my tongue click is almost inaudible over the background noise. In any case, I am counting this as a success but will slowly move the click further and further from the moment of reorientation towards her moving in my direction if I see this happening in the future. It didn’t in location #2, so I’m not concerned. You never know with this clever puppy though!

ADVENTURES IN DOG TRAINING AND LIFE.

Tag: r+ recall training

Distraction recalls, iteration 5.2/3.A: inching back up to unprotected food distractions (our nemesis), part 1: boring food distraction (dried fish)