Backing Up and Bluegrass

I am taking a long distance learning (on-line) puppy class with Gemini.  It's taught by Silvia Trkman and I'm really loving it.  The class involves doing homework and posting your progress in the "classroom" and Silvia then provides feedback.  It soon became apparent that the class was composed of very advanced dogs and handlers.  Gemini was the youngest puppy and it was obvious I was the least experienced handler.  It's what I assumed because post after post demonstrated how quickly the other teams had mastered the homework.  Their dogs skillfully backed up stairs, pivoted brilliantly on a bowl, and demonstrated stunning 2on 2 off positions, holding their stay despite a rain of cats and squirrels.  I was struggling teaching Gem to back up.  When this was apparent, I chose to ignore it and train other stuff where I was making progress, then I watched the videos of others, marveled at their skills, tried again and failed.  I quit trying which meant I couldn't do the other lessons that involved a "backing up skill."  As it turns out, I wasn't alone in my assumptions...many of the advanced teams were posting great stuff and others, like me, were too shy to post our struggles.  After some prodding by Silvia, more and more of us began posting our problems.  As painful as it was, I posted a video that demonstrated where we were with backing up--warts and all.  Silvia got back to me with some alternative ways to train it.  Low and behold in 3 short sessions Gemini was backing up!  Then we began working on backing up stairs and even a ramp against the wall.  Lesson learned!  Below are the videos that contain our struggling with backing up and our progress.

Training struggles with a creative solution
Gemini conquers the back up

My last post touched on the bold wild child Gemini is -- especially when she's on lead.  Heeling and sitting calmly at my side are not currently a part of her repertoire.  Last Saturday nite, enroute to Dairy Queen, we discovered a happening bluegrass concert in the town park.  Abandoning thoughts of a Reeses Blizzard, we parked at the elementary school and began the walk down to the park Gemini in tow.  No, I didn't have her nice martingale lead, I didn't even have a clicker, but I did have a few treats in my pocket from earlier in the day.  Getting to the park wasn't pretty.  We negotiated the neighborhood that was teaming with plants that begged to be sampled, dogs running behind little garden fences, and kitties who dared Gem to give chase.  Once at the park, we staked out our area with a blanket.  I decided that the blanket would mark the borders of Gemini's territory and I only gave her enough lead to reach the end of the blanket.  Gem immediately came unglued and tried to visit all the kids who whizzed by with glow sticks and hot dogs.  Then there were all the OTHER dogs who were allowed to romp on long leads.  I could hear her protesting as if to say "All the other dogs are running around!"  We got through the concert by having Gemini down and do some of her behaviors in the down position (paw touches, crossing paws, frog stretches).  I don't think I've ever made so few treats last so long.  Eventually she'd clearly had enough and we made our way back through the neighborhood and back to the car.  So all in all I felt good about the progress.

Big Bro Voltaire Checking out the sand and surf