The ferrets want to play!
Ok, so it's not my favorite* ferret video, but I didn't think it was that bad. Next, I'm trying to motivate myself to train the fuzzbutts and put up a trick video of them. Too bad the only ferrets who want to participate in training are the deaf and dumb one, and the just plain dumb one. The smart girls don't want to play that game.
*in case you were wondering my favorite ferret video of mine is Extreme Ferrets
And we are on week five of our adventures! I can't believe that it's been 35 days of me entering and leaving the house repeatedly! So here is the daily reports for the week, skip to the bottom for the summary if you aren't interested...
Day 29, session 1: Worked for 22min with the gigantic bully stick. Started 2x10sec, 30. He chose a pigs ear for 30-N, 10-N, chose a plain rawhide chip for 30-N, back the the bully stick and also left the chip down for 10-N, 60-N, 30-N, 105-N, 10-N, 30-N. I discovered Vito had the hiccups so I sat with him for a bit. Then did 5-N, 20-N, 90-N, 15-N, 5-N, 120-N.
So Vito didn't really chew any bone at all. I don't know what to think anymore. You'll notice that I still did some "longer" trials just to see what he would do. Even though he wasn't eating the bone, he did remain on his dog bed the whole time. I've noticed though that when he's not eating the bone when I come in he tends to shrink back and curl up when I take away the bone. It's like he thinks I'm upset with him, although I know I am keeping my body language the same and even talking in a very happy voice. I generally give him one stroke on the head/back when I come in and this brings him out of his curl.
Day 29, session2: Worked for 21 minutes with a dried sweet potato, pig ear twist, and bully stick. Started with the potato for 5, 15, 5, 60, 10, 120, 180. (On this last trial he finished the potato, went to get some water, went back to his bed, lied down after a little bit, and then just started to nibble on his pig ear twist that I also left down on this trial). Since the potato was gone, I just left the pig twist for 10-N, 30-N. I then also put down the bully stick for 5, 60, 10, 5min-N (ate for 3min, then just stared at the door. some panting), 10-N, 5-N, 20, 10-N.
This was a little better. Vito's never had a sweet potato before so he was very interested in it. Unfortunately they don't last all that long so it was soon gone less than 10min into the session. He has also never had a pigs ear twist (but has had plain pigs ears) but didn't seem that interested. I figured he wouldn't eat the whole 5min I was gone one trial, but thought I would see what he would do. Again he remained on the dog bed but did start panting a little bit. He wasn't shaking and didn't seem that anxious, so I don't really know if I should make something of it or not.
Day 30, session 1: Worked for 24min with a variety of bones that he mainly didn't eat. Started with a pb rawhide chip for 5sec, 15. Bully stick for 5sec, 30. PB chip for 10, 60-N. Bully stick for 20-N, 5-N. Rst of the trials put down the bully stick, pb rawhide, and the pigs ear twist for 130-N, 20-N, 60-N, 10-N, 180-N (at 2.5min got up, went partway to the door, and immediatley went bck to his bed), 20-N, 10-N (little panting), 60-N, 5min-N (by door after 90sec), 10-N, 5-N, 20-N.
So Vito didn't chew at all after the first 5 trials. I'm keeping going under the premise that since I can't get him to eat at all, I might as well see how calm he can remain for longer trials. He did a little bit of panting by the end, but video shows he wasn't panting when I was gone. I am bummed that on the 5min trial he sat by the door instead of remaining on his dog bed. At least there is still no whining or pacing.
Day 30 session 2: Worked for 20min with a beef bone and then the bully stick. Started with a new basted beef bone for 10sec, 30, 10, 60, 5, 180, 20, 5. I then gave him both the beef bone and the bully stick and we did 5min (started chewing the beef, at some point switched the the bully), 10, 30, 5.25min.
This was actually a good session!!! Vito chewed a bone the entire time and I was able to do two 5min trials! I debated about doing another long one, but wanted to end on a good note. I also had a DAP diffuser plugged in for the first time, so this may have made a difference, who knows. I plugged it in right before starting the trial and don't really know how long it takes to have an effect.
Day 31: Worked for 30min with a variety of bones and the tricky treat ball. Started with a basted beef bone for 5sec-N, 5. Bully stick for 10, 30, 5, 60, 10. Pig stick for 15, 5-N. Bully for 120, 20. Pb rawhide chip for 10. Bully for 5.5min-N (ate for 4.75min), 5-N, 10-N, 5. Kibble in a tricky treat ball (his 2nd time using one) for 10, 5, 30, 60, 30, 4min, 5.
Ok session I guess. He wasn't really into his bones, and didn't eat the full 5.5min on his longest trial but it was ok. At leat he was willing to work for his kibble in the tricky treat ball!!! It's still very novel to him as it was only his 2nd time using it, but still he worked for boring kibble for 4min.
Day 32: No session done :(
Day 33: Worked for 26min with mainly a bully stick and also a dried sweet potato. Started with bully stick for 10sec-N. He chose the beef stick for 10, 5, 30-N. Back to the bully for 10, 30, 60, 20, 120, 20, 4.25min, 10, 60. Brought out the tater for 6.75min (finished tater in 4min, immediately chewed bully for rest of time). Bully for 20, 120.
Great session. Once he started chewing the bully stick he really got into it. I was extremely happy that even after the dried tater was all gone, he immediately grabbed the bully stick that I had also put down for that trial. yay!
Day 34: Worked for 23min with a bully stick and then the tricky treat ball. Started with the bully for 10sec, 30. Switched to pb rawhide chip for 20sec. Back the bully for 60, 30, 180, 20, 45, 6min-N (he ate for 5.25min and then I think the upstairs neighbors came home and the noise stopped him). Kibble (and a few treats) in the tricky treat ball for 60sec, 6min.
A good session. There was only one refusal to eat, but I'm not too worried about that trial. I'm pretty sure it was right as the upstairs neighbor came home and we can hear that pretty well from our place. He also was really into the tricky treat ball!
Day 35: Worked for 25min with a stuffed pigs ear (he's never had a "stuffed" one before). We did 15, 30, 20, 90, 20, 200, 45, 6.5min, 30, 7.25min.
Yay! Longest trial done was over 7min and Vito chewed his bone for the entire time. I was actually shocked that he ate the stuffed pig ear since he has refused to eat a pigs ear in a long time.
Week 5 Summary: We're not where I had hoped to be after 5 weeks, but I at least feel a ton better about this week than last week. The first part of the week still sucked, but then he did really well almost every day. I think that it helped using some things Vito's never had before (dried sweet potato, tricky treat ball, stuffed pigs ear) but I hope that he will still show interest in those objects next week. Longest trial done for the week was 7.25min.
Lance is still doing really well in agility. Basically he just makes me look good. We're doing a lot of sequences now, including some with obstacle discriminations, serpentines, pinwheels, and threadles. Lance seems to get everything perfect the first time we do it! He really is an amazing dog and is extremely responsive to my body language. We're not doing a ton of contacts in class, and when we are it's mainly the a-frame. Lance still flies over the contacts so we're still putting a jump after it for him. Right now I'm not worried about it, I just need to make time to work on Lance running a board at home at greater and greater heights. I've been neglecting this area of training for awhile. With the teeter Lance is doing pretty well. It's still his least confident obstacle, but in class (the few times we do it) he's doing a really low height one fairly fast. At home there is now a teeter in our backyard that Lance has been practicing on. Here I'm just standing at the end and slowly lowering it as he runs. He seems to be really enjoying it!
I'm also very happy that so far only a small number of dogs have been coming to class consistently. This has meant that Lance has been paired with a little dog who has some focus issues, and tends to run off, but overall can do the exercises. He's not having to wait forever for the dogs he was stuck with before who have some major confident and attention issues.
Vito is also doing great in agility. In this new session they restructured the class and basically bumped up 75% of the dog's in his original class to the next level. This has meant that the class got a ton easier, but is really what Vito needs. He's still a baby and NEEDS all this foundation work that we're doing now. Mainly we're working on one jump exercises, teaching the dog's to offer jumping, turn tightly afterwards, take it even when it's parrallel to the dog, etc. Today we also did the teeter (not quite at full height), which tuns out to be Vito's favorite obstacle of all time. We haven't done it in class for awhile, but Vito was insane. I decided to make him sit and wait to be released and this was extremely hard for him. When released he flew like a mad man to the end! At the end of class we did a very short sequence with the dogs: tire, tunnel, jump, teeter. The first time through Vito did it with great speed but was fine. The second time through as soon as Vito shot out of the tunnel he eyed the teeter and sprinted straight for it, leaving me and the jump in the dust. I started over and immediately called his name and gave him a treat next to me after coming out of the tunnel and then directed him to his jump and beloved teeter. What a naughty boy!
I finally got the dogs a tricky treat ball. I've been meaning to get one for awhile in hopes that I'll be able to use it on Vito's SA sessions. Well today I figured Vito should learn how to use it. I put 1/3 cup of his dog food in it and set it down. At first Vito kept wanting to retrieve it to me. He would pick it up and bring it to me, but I folded my arms and ignored him. Even when he stopped bringing to me, my little retriever still wanted to pick it up and carry it around the house. Then he tried whacking it with his foot, which he clearly liked but didn't give him that much kibble. Finally Vito settled on the proven strategy of rolling it around with his nose and only occasionally picking it up and pawing at it for fun.
I also gave Lance his dinner in it tonight. Lance was very very excited. He very quickly figured out how to get the treats, and then figured out that picking it up and putting it on the dog bed prevented it from flying all over the house. Unfortunately for Lance, when he nosed/pawed the ball it also went underneath the bed cushion and he had a difficult time trying to get it to roll. This did not seem to deter him from continually putting the tricky treat back onto the dog bed. I have never seen Lance so happy and determined.
And in other news I did some more retrieval work with Vito in the backyard. We attempted our first double with a thrower today. We've only worked with a thrower a couple times and so far our only doubles have been when I've thrown them. Vito failed twice, the first time picking up the 2nd dummy and then heading for the first (I called him back, he dropped the dummy, and we then did the 2nd throw), and the 2nd time heading straight for the 1st dummy. So I decided to try it one more time and then go back a step if he failed again, but Vito did it perfectly! He went for the 2nd dummy, returned to me, and then went out and brought back the 1st mark. I am working very hard though on having him sit and wait before taking off. I can tell this is extremely difficult for him to be patient!
Today Vito sang for his very first time! In daycare today 2 of his girl friends where barking at each other and when I went over to "yell" at them they suddenly burst into song. Quickly some of the other singers joined in and Vito just stared at the them intently. Usually the dogs only sing on Wednesdays when 2 mastiffs and their lab neighbor start up the group a couple times each morning. Vito has heard them sing before, but the main group was always on the other side of the fence. Today Vito was up close and could really observe :)
At first he just stared, but then he started moving his mouth but no sound came out. Soon Vito started barking, and at the end of a few barks a tiny little howl came out! I was so proud as I watched his head swing back and listened to his cute little puppy song.
Of course I soon had to thank all the choir members for participating and tell them that practice was over for the day.
I am very happy to finally have a singing dog. I love dogs who talk, and grumble a lot. I know it can be naughty, but I love it! Lance of course just ignores the commotion and waits until the rowdy kids quiet down so he can sleep in peace.
Oh, and I am happy to report that Vito's sudden love of the ferrets was not a fluke. While he is not playing with them a ton, he still shows a very marked interest in these cool little critters that are running around his house. He especially loves when they first wake up and get to come out of their cage to play!
Here is Week 4 of our progress. Again, a time-N means he stopped eating the bone, but remained on the dog bed unless otherwise noted.
Day 22: Worked for 23min with the gigantic bully stick. We did 20sec, 40, 2x10. Then I offered him a chicken rawhide and he took it for a 60sec-N. I was ok with this, as he remained on his dog bed and was very calm, jut not touching the bone. Back to the bully for 15sec, 150, 40, 10, 5min, 60, 5, 40, 5min!
So this was great! We did two 5min departures today!!!
Day 23, session 1: Worked for 26min with a variety of bones. Started with a pigs ear (half eaten) for 10sec, 30. He chose a chicken rawhide for 15-N. Back to the ear for 60, 150-N (ate for 105sec, then remained on bed). Switched to a beef bone for 20, 30-N, 10. Brought back out the gigantic bully stick which we used for the rest of the time: 10, 90, 30, 150, (took a 3 min break for a phone call, still in kitchen, but no bone), 20, 75, 10, 5.5min.
Also great! We did a 5.5min departure today!!! I've discovered that Vito likes pigs ears that have already been started, maybe it's easier for him to chew. However, he still is really only working for bully sticks.
Day 23, session2: Worked for 23min with the gigantic bully stick. We did 30sec, 10, 90, 20, 180, 10, 45, 5.5min, 10, 30, 40, 5, 6.5min, 5.
Hurray! We did 6.5mins this session! Also he chewed the bone the ENTIRE time!
Day 24: Worked for 26min with mainly the gigantic bully stick. Started with the bully for 30sec, 15, 90. Switched to a pb flavored rawhide chip for 20sec. Back to bully for 5min-N (ate for 3min, then remained on dog bed for last 2min), 10-N, 10, 10, 30, 5, 60, 20, 40, 120. Back to pb chip for 10, 60-N (ate for most of it), 30-N. Back to bully for 150.
This was ok. He wasn't as into his bone, so longest trial was only 5min, but he only ate for 3min of that. After that trial the longest time I did was 2.5min.
Day 24, session 1.5: I didn't do a real 2nd session, but decided to put Vito in the kitchen with a bone while I stayed in the living room. I started out ok, Vito chewed on the pb flavored rawhide chip for about 5 min. Then we sat by the outside door, quietly, for another 15min. I ignored him, and finally decided to see if he had to go out. He pooped right away outside, and then as we came back in he went straight for his bone. I popped over the babygate into the living room and Vito chewed his bone for maybe 2 minutes. He was then by the outside door for 10 minutes before he suddenly jumped over the babygate into the living room. I upset, shouted "ah ah" and carried him back over, setting him back on the doggy bed. I leave, and 2 minutes later he is standing by the babygate. I look over and he is just shaking. Seriously shaking his entire body, pupils dilated, and panting. I step over into the kitchen and sit myself on his dog bed. I have to call him over to me where he curls up into my lap and just shakes. I try not to really do much but gently stroke him. I know that it's impossible to reinforce fear, but I still don't want to be over the top. It takes him about 15 minutes to stop panting like crazy, and another 5 minutes to get off my lap. I've been sitting in here with him for a total of 40 minutes now, and overall he's just been lying here next to me, ocassionally starting to pant, but mostly just sitting here. I'm ignoring him and just sit here. I know he's not fully calm. Just now, 40 minutes into it he grabbed his rawhide and is chewing it. My plan is to sit here another 5-10 mintutes and then leave together.
I just can't believe his reaction. It's not like the first time I've put him in the kitchen without me. He doesn't always chew his bone, but he's never reacted like this, at least not since he was an itty bitty puppy. It also shocks me that he didn't whine at all before jumping the gate. I guess he really has learned that I never let him out unless he's quiet. This is also the first time he has ever jumped over the baby gate, he's been big enough for awhile now, but I don't think the thought has ever occured to him. I just hope that this doesn't destroy everything that we have done so far.
Day 25: Worked for 26min with mainly a pb flavored rawhide chip. Started with the gigantic bully for 10sec-N, 10, 10, 20-N, 10-N, 5-N, 10-N, 4xO/I-N, 2xO/I, 3xO/I-N. Switched to pb flavored rawhide chip for 4xO/I, 4x5, 2xO/I, 5, 10, 3x5, 10, 5-N. Back to bully for 5, 10-N, 5, 5xO/I-N. Back to pb chip for 3x5, 10, 2x5, 2x10, 5, 15, 5, 2x10, 2x5, 20, 5, 20, 2x10, 30, 5, 15, 45, 10, 30,10, 60.
Unfortunately, I think yesterday really was a setback for us. It took him forever to start eating a bone. Even doing a whole bunch of out/ins he wouldn't eat. He never got off the dog bed, but I didn't give him enough time too. The longest time today was a 1min trial at the very end.
Day 26: Worked for 26min with mainly the gigantic bully stick. Started with the bully for 5sec-N, 2x5, 10, 5, 10, 20, 10. He chose the pb rawhide chip for 10, 5, 30, 15-N, 5. Back to the bully for 10, 30. He chose the pb chip again for 30-N. Chose the cowhoof for 10. Back to the bully for 5, 30, 10, 65, 20, 90, 30, 10, 120, 2x10, 45, 180, 5, 60.
We're getting there. I took it very slow so we wouldn't back slide again, but longest trial today was 3min. I feel by the end string Vito was doing really well, but was worried he would get bored if I kept going. I want to try to keep all sessions under 30min.
Day 27: Worked for 27min with mainly the gigantic bully stick. Started with the bully for 15sec, he chose the pb chip for 10-N, back to bully for 20sec, 5. He chose the pigs ear for 10, and then we stuck with the bully for the rest of the time. 30sec, 60, 30, 10, 150, 20, 60, 4min, 40, 10, 30, 5min, 60, 20, 120.
Almost back! I'm still trying to keep it somewhat slow to make sure, but longest trial today was 5min and there was only one trial in the beginning where he stopped eating.
Day 27, session2: Worked for 27min with the gigantic bully stick. We did 10sec, 30, 10, 60, 20, 45, 20, 150, 10, 40, 4.25min, 15, 60, 20, 5.5min-N (chewed for about 2min, then remained on dog bed for rest), 2x10-N, 5-N, 5 (pb rawhide), 5 (bully), 5-N, 2x5 (pb rawhide).
Ok. Longest successful trial was just over 4min. On the 5.5min trial there were a ton of noises outside and the upstairs neighbor came home, so I don't know if that contributed or not. Unfortunately I couldn't get him back into it once he stopped.
Day 28: Worked for 28min with the gigantic bully stick. We did 20sec-N, 2x5, 10, 5, 20, 10, 60, 15 ,10, 120, 30, 60, 220-N (ate for only 120sec), 10, 2x5, 20, 10, 60, 45, 105-N (ate for only 75sec), 6x5-N.
Longest successful trial was only 2min. After that he wouldn't go longer than 60.
Summary:
So this week started out amazing! I was very quickly able to do 6.5min trials without a problem. However we soon had a major setback (day 24) where Vito was an absolute wreck from being left in the kitchen when we were home. I have no idea why he was so panic stricken that day since it is not the first time we have worked on him being separated from us, but still able to see and hear us. I am getting really frustrated as I expected it to taint the next few sessions, but Vito is still having issues 4 days later. He isn't whining or anything in the sessions, but it still really bugs me that he isn't eating his bones. I am really not sure if I am even doing things right.
Vito has suddenly discovered the ferrets. We have had Vito for 5 months now and overall he has completely ignored the ferrets. If you had asked Vito he would have denied their existence. The most he has ever done to acknowledge their presence is to jump on the couch when he sees Opie coming. Opie is notorious for picking on Vito, following him around and biting his feet. But in general the ferrets and Vito have lived in two separate worlds....until today.
After coming home from work with me this evening, Vito was in a very playful mood. He played with Lance for a little bit but Lance really didn't want to play a whole lot so Vito moved on to his toys. Zoe walked by, and it was like a ray of light shown down as Vito stared at her intently. Suddenly he pounced and batted her with his paws! He even did some little playbows and zig zagged away, encouraging her to chase him around the living room. I think Zoe was stunned by Vito's new behavior as she didn't really play back, but just stood and let him bat her around. To make things even more shocking, a few minutes later he tried to play with Opie! Luckily for him, Opie was acting tired and ignored him.
We will see if he still loves his newly found toy tomorrow!
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