Chewie and I have started to work on a new behavior — stay!
It’s pretty darn hot right now.
Stay is a good behavior to practice because it doesn’t involve a whole lot of movement, and we can do our sessions in the shade of the barn.
I’m using Chewie’s big platform for our stay training. We’ve done a lot of veterinary training on the platform, and Chewie is great about staying on the platform if I am near her.
However, if I walk away, she comes with me! She does not know how to stay on the platform when I am at a distance from her.
So, I started by just walking a couple of steps away from her. Then, I would immediately come back.
Over the past several sessions, we have gradually increased the distance so that I can now walk ten to twelve feet away from the platform.
Here’s a video from one of our recent sessions.
In this session, I’m practicing walking about 10 feet from Chewie, turning around, and then immediately walking back to her.
Chewie’s job is to stay on her platform until I return!
Watch on YouTube: Chewie practices staying on her platform
Our next goal will be to add more duration.
I want to be able to walk away from her, wait for a period of time, and then walk back.
I’ll post more updates and videos as we continue working on this project!
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