 |
| Say goodbye to peace and quiet! Moahahahahaaaa! |
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Today's Sunshine
Better focus on me today while working outside. Monster is still easily distracted, and needs to check out every sound and movement, but even a small improvement is improvement after all.
New Day, New Goal
In light of my great disappointment with my weak character (it's not like it's news, but I suppose that's all the more reason to do something about it), I think I'm going to try something new. I'll set up a goal each day, a kind of mini new year's resolution. Nothing big or impressive, just something small I'd probably do anyway. And it has to be concrete, no "I'll get better at x" or "I won't do y so much".
I'm hoping this will help me both make sure I get one specific thing done each day, and that the emphasis on this goal being reached (even though it's small and everyday) will act as a positive reinforcement on myself, making me better at... Well, everything ideally!
Today's mini resolution: I will... stop three times while out on our midday walk and work on obedience with Monster. No less than five minutes for each break, no more than ten.
(To be clear, this is not all I do with my dog in a day, it's just highlighting one thing. If you're new with dogs, and you're looking around to see how much time you have to spend with them, this is not enough.)
Aaaaannnnd..... Mission accomplished! Good Monstermom!
I'm hoping this will help me both make sure I get one specific thing done each day, and that the emphasis on this goal being reached (even though it's small and everyday) will act as a positive reinforcement on myself, making me better at... Well, everything ideally!
 |
| Wait seriously? I knew she was kind of dim, but... |
Today's mini resolution: I will... stop three times while out on our midday walk and work on obedience with Monster. No less than five minutes for each break, no more than ten.
(To be clear, this is not all I do with my dog in a day, it's just highlighting one thing. If you're new with dogs, and you're looking around to see how much time you have to spend with them, this is not enough.)
Aaaaannnnd..... Mission accomplished! Good Monstermom!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Forecast: Cloudy
Also, The Kid has the flu, so in a few days I expect to start really neglecting Monster... I hate being sick.
Today's Cloud
Plans for the day fell through again (The Kid's still sick), and I really do let Monster suffer for my weakness. How hard is it to replan a day? Apparently very, if you're me...
So Monster gets shorter walks and less training, basically just because I couldn't do it when I intended to... There are a lot of hours in a day (aren't there like 25 of them or something?), I'm not actually pressed for time!
 |
| Well? Are we, like, going somewhere or what? |
So Monster gets shorter walks and less training, basically just because I couldn't do it when I intended to... There are a lot of hours in a day (aren't there like 25 of them or something?), I'm not actually pressed for time!
Today's Sunshine
We've been working on a trick for a while, nothing impressive, just Monster sitting up straight (with his front paws off the ground). He got the basics of it quickly, however I've been having trouble getting him to stay up for any time. If he doesn't get the reward straight away, he'll try other things, either bouncing up and down alternating, or combining them and doing for example a silent bark while sitting up straight.
Now, unfortunately this is not a post where I tell you I have now succeeded in making him understand what's expected of him. It's a post where I tell you he showed me a better trick and I caved in!
It may not sound like Sunshine - in fact it probably isn't - to change intentions in the middle of training like this. But I like it, so you can all suck it!
This evening, Monster began applauding while sitting up straight. He claps his front paws together repeatedly, and it looks adorable! (Yes, I said "adorable". Live with it.) He quickly responded to reinforcement of this behavior, and after three short sessions, he now offers it fairly reliably. It may have messed up the chance of him ever doing the trick as I intended it, but I don't care - Monster's idea was better.
Is this what's called shaping?
(No photo, unfortunately. Not quick enough with the camera.)
Now, unfortunately this is not a post where I tell you I have now succeeded in making him understand what's expected of him. It's a post where I tell you he showed me a better trick and I caved in!
It may not sound like Sunshine - in fact it probably isn't - to change intentions in the middle of training like this. But I like it, so you can all suck it!
 |
| What? You got something to say? |
This evening, Monster began applauding while sitting up straight. He claps his front paws together repeatedly, and it looks adorable! (Yes, I said "adorable". Live with it.) He quickly responded to reinforcement of this behavior, and after three short sessions, he now offers it fairly reliably. It may have messed up the chance of him ever doing the trick as I intended it, but I don't care - Monster's idea was better.
Is this what's called shaping?
(No photo, unfortunately. Not quick enough with the camera.)
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Today's Cloud
I find it difficult to adjust when my schedule is interrupted. Today I was asked to go stay with The Kid for a while, because he was sick and no one could watch him. Monster is not welcome in their home, so I couldn't do anything with him. While we have of course been out later, it still makes for a bit of a wasted day - not because this used up every minute of the day, but because I'm bad at course correcting...
 |
| Aww... I wanna come too! I'll even share my carrots! |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)