August 27, 2023
Activity level: low average
The AM
I’m still sick so while we did more today than yesterday, things stayed on the lighter end of busy. Chai and Game spent half an hour in the almost completely empty Fresa Parque in the morning. No playmates this morning, but the dog park with the agility equipment was empty too and the three of us went inside for “tunnel” practice and luring Chai a little ways up the teeter. It’s still hard because unlike Game, she tends to slide off.
PM solo adventure
At noon, Chai and I met Alan and went for a half-hour long leash walk. I need friends around when I’m sick! He then had to leave to help his mom with something urgent and I got in a recall session in our third location before heading back home with Chai.
Home alone
Both dogs stayed home alone while I went to get groceries.
House training
August 28, 2023
Activity level: average
The AM
Chai and Game spent 15 minutes running around Kiba’s Park. Then I set up the fish distraction while both dogs were back in the car and hid the camera in some bushes. Got Chai back out for a surprise recall that wouldn’t feel like a set-up … Well! Turns out I had hidden my tripod so well that I didn’t see it and I didn’t find my distraction anymore. So we meandered around the area looking for it (me) and enjoying her run or potentially also following the smell (Chai). She ended up coming up to it from a different side than I did. I only realized she had found the distraction once she had started eating. I called (off camera) and she responded IMMEDIATELY! YAY! While I had planned to call her before reaching the distraction, this works as well. For most dogs, it will actually be harder to recall once they have started eating something – so we’ll call it a win! Chai enjoyed her cream cheese and then finished off the entire pile of fish. Unlike yesterday, I hadn’t touched it but poured it out of the bag – that alone (not smelling of me but of found food) may have upped its value. Or maybe she was just hungry. In any case – off-leash recall away from unprotected fish in location #1 is a win!
Chai had a total of 20 minutes outside. I’m planning on doing more trick training than running around today now that I’m feeling less sick. Which brings us to:
Shaping!
We worked on the “sit up” trick in five sessions and got feedback from Silvia.
Home alone
Both dogs stayed home alone for about 45 minute while I tried to hunt down the heartworm prevention of my choice.
The PM
Game, Chai and I spent 45 minutes at Fresa Parque and made it home just before the rain. Chai played a little with a dog she’s met before. On the way home, the girls waited outside a store for a few minutes.
Fitness
I lured 2 frogs – for the first time without a pillow under Chai’s belly!
Husbandry
+ Claws on right back paw. Chai did much, much better than last week!
+ After a pause claws on the left back paw. This one was harder but still better than last week!
House training
August 29, 2023
The AM
We spent 45 minutes at Fresa Parque and did another off-leash distraction recall.
Chai startled twice when two of the dogs at the park started alarm barking. She is very in tune with other dogs being alarmed (her reaction to a dog play-barking is different). When a dog alarm barks, she tucks her tail, starts looking for a thread and will possibly also bark. My strategy is to follow all barking fits by others up with generous scatters. Trace counterconditioning (“treats” is my scatter cue). The hope is that over time, barking will – even in this situation – cause Chai to look at me for treats rather than expecting the apocalypse. We’re alaready there in various other scenarios so I’m confident. This is just one that doesn’t happen very often, so not a lot of practice opportunities (which is a good thing).
El plomero
The owner of my apartment sent me the plumber in the morning to fix a bathroom thing. It went really well – Chai was great with yet another stranger coming into the apartment! (I brought them in; I always need to go downstairs to let people in and out because the outer gate only opens with keys.)
The PM
Both dogs got about 45 minutes of running around Toy Play Plaza. Lots of squirrels were chased and Chai played in the fountain. I also did the third rep of our distraction #1 (dired fish) off leash recall – success! Cream cheese might just be the golden ticket.
Home alone
Chai stayed home alone for about 45 minutes while Game and I went on a grocery shopping walk. I need to make sure that apart from Chai’s solo adventures, she also gets solo home-alone stays on a regular basis! As always, she did great.
Tricks and fitness
We did two sessions of the paws up trick and 2 frogs without a pillow under Chai’s belly over the course of the morning and afternoon.
House training
One more day to go!
August 30, 2023
The AM
We spent 20 minutes at Fresa Parque before work! No one to really play with, but Game had a zoomie morning and raced all over the park which Chai found absolutely delightful.
They continued wrestling at home and got out the remaining need to move!
Shaping
I did a single sit-up session. After reading Silvia’s feedback on the last one, I decided to not do more than one a day for now so Chai can build up her muscles. And then …
The PM
… both dogs and I went to Dead Poultry Park for 2 hours. It is SO nice and calm there during the hottest hours of the day! Lots of squirrels got chased, the dogs waited outside the bathroom and we had two VERY interesting recall sessions!
Jungle dog!
On the way back home, both girls got to go into a bakery with me. We’ve finally got everything to make our own yummy sandwiches!
Home alone
Chai stayed home alone for 45 minutes while Game and I ran errands.
More shaping
We went back to shaping 4 in later on in the afternoon, revisiting bowl #5.
House training
We DID it! Four 7-day streaks! Not without hickups – but we kept going!
I’ve also graphed the last month. I do not see a significant change (I may also not be able to interpret graphs, so there is that. I was pretty sure I would look at the graph and “know”: there is a trend and it is this or there is a trend and it is that or there has clearly not been a change.
Now that I actually look at my graph, I think, “I can’t see a trend. I think there has been no change to speak of.” But I’m suspicious of that interpretation too because I think rather than know (since graphs are not my forte). I’m pretty sure I graphed my graph correctly and I’m also pretty sure a graph is the way to go in terms of visualizing trends over time for this project. It’s just not as obvious to me as I thought it would be. I thought I’d visualize my data and – tadaaaaa – see crystal clear answers. I visualized my data but I don’t see a crystal clear answer, so there’s that. But hey – I made a graph and as far as I can tell, it looks good. Go me!
The Graph!
I made a graph. AND I did not throw my laptop out of the window. Ha! I watched a Youtube video and then I did it, and it almost looks the way I want it to. after I asked a friend for help, it looks exactly like I want it to! Go me! (If I can make a graph, anything is possible. Hell yeah, life! [Who knew how inspiring a graph could be!])
The graph below includes the nightly shower pees – usually 2. That is part of the reason the outdoors line is not consistently higher.
August 31, 2023
Activity level: average
The AM
Both dogs went to Fresa Parque for half an hour. Nothing particularly exciting to report – Chai played a little with her small, but incredibly fast Corgi friend and was otherwise more interested in looking for food and checking in for kibble.
Shaping
Over the course of the day, we did one “Sit up” session, one “4 in a bowl” session, two “one object in another” sessions and the – drumroll – reinforcer test we have all been waiting for (since yesterday):
I bought Chai a taco de birria with everything (even a little salsa) and squeezed the lime on top, and then I pitted it against what was left of my cream cheese:
Which one do you think won? Let’s find out:
We’ll see if I’ll wake up to lots of diarrhea tomorrow morning … This was a lot of cream cheese and an entire taco with two tortillas and spicy salsa. And when we went to the park later – Thursday is market day there – Chai found even more food (small snippets of all kinds of stuff and a relatively large amount of bread). Speaking of bread: when my dogs find the bread people leave for birds and squirrels, I have been sprinkling kibble among the bread pieces to determine what they like better. It seems to depend on the bread: some is better than kibble and some isn’t. Pieces of tortilla and tortilla chips are better than kibble.
Home alone
Chai stayed home alone while Game and I ran errands for 45 minutes, and then again for Game’s 15-20 minute evening walk.
Solo adventure
Chai and I played at Fresa Parque for an hour. She played a little bit with other dogs, we worked on the tunnel and the teeter since we had the dog park to ourselves, rolled in a dead bird and found A LOT of food on the ground. Lucky girl! She also aced a barrier recall challenge when I called her from outside the dog park from the other side of the entrance.
Adventures in peeing
While the game ended, I’d like to keep a tally for a little longer. I’m curious what, if anything, changes now that I don’t take Chai out to pee All The Time. I expected lots of inside pees, but today is already starting to make me doubt my hypothesis: she hasn’t peed inside a lot at all! Maybe I’ll simply get LESS pees overall now? Maybe even a “NORMAL” number of pees?
September 1, 2023
Activity level: average
The AM
We started with both dogs and half an hour at Fresa Parque. Chai played for a bit – she was in a playful mood today! – and Game got brushed.
Chai also had NO diarrhea last night! WOW, Chai can eat a taco and a bunch of cream cheese and be okay?! I am SO happy with how far her stomach has come!
Trick training throughout the day
We had a session of sit-up, a session of 4-in and a loooong session of one-object-in-another.
Park afternoon
Chai made a new friend!
Before heading out to meet people sans dogs, I took both dogs to Fresa Parque. We stayed for an hour and Chai had a great time running and wrestling with a young boxer! It makes me happy when she’s having a playful day (now that she is growing up and not all days are playful ones anymore!) Enjoy some dog/dog fun below!
Home alone
Both dogs stayed home for 3.5 hours in the evening.
September 2, 2023
Activity level: going for low today in order to catch up with what feels like 1 000 things. We’ll see if I succeed!
Note from the future (aka tonight): I succeeded! No excessive training or running for Chai today! Today’s activity level was low!
The AM
We spent 45 minutes at Fresa Parque. Chai had a great time playing with Dobi Sam.
Early afternoon: a recall fail(ish). My bad!
We took the first stab at a taco-reinforced kibble distraction recall on a long line. I let Chai get too close and she grabbed a mouthful of kibble … my bad! She VERY much enjoyed her taco de bistec con salsa roja though!
Home alone
Chai stayed home alone while Game and I walked errands for 45 minutes.
Adventures in peeing
… Fascinating observation (that has yet to be confirmed by the next few days of data): I really may be getting less pees overall now that I’m taking Chai out less. Did I create the insanely high number of pees over the last couple weeks because I was playing the streak game and encouraging, cueing and reinforcing a gazillion outside pees? We’ll find out soon …!