I love living on the orchard! Liz lets me “go sniff” after I have toileted in the morning. I am starting to understand that right after I do my business on leash, which has been very hard for me to learn, Liz makes a big fuss. She gives more kibble than I get for just peeing and then she takes my leash off and says, “release”. Afterwards Liz and I have a very nice off leash walk in the orchard. I run with excitement because I am so happy.
Liz keeps working on what she calls, error less training. The commands she is working on are helping me to differentiate between the words, “Perch” and “Go In”. Liz realized that I was using environmental cues to figure out what to do. Liz went back to discrete trials of “Perch” or “Go In”, but not within the same session. Now, I think I am beginning to hear the difference between the two words. Liz has me generalize these commands whenever possible during the day to different situations. For example, while on a on-leash walk, Liz might stop beside a rock and ask me to “Perch”. While she puts on her shoes to go for a walk, she has me “Go In” using a chair on the deck. This also helps me relax so that I am not in her way. She keeps telling me that we have to pretend she is in a wheelchair.
I have been practicing walking nicely beside the wheelbarrow when Liz is moving wood. I pretend that it is a wheelchair too. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I am also expected to “Go In” when Liz is on a Zoom call. There is a picture showing me under the picnic table when Liz is working. I have to admit, it is nice to lay outside on the grass and be close to Liz when she is working. Her voice drones on and on! It’s actually kind of soothing.
Loose-leash walking? Well, that is a work in progress and I think Liz has something up her sleeve on that one for next month. Stay tuned!
Submitted By: Liz Zischka
