Post date: Mar 25, 2009 7:57:38 PM
Last night Trevor and I faced the chute in practice for the first time since his chute refusals last weekend.
I was ready. I had two fans (to simulate wind whipping the chute around), a cooler of raw food, cheese sticks, and the all-important squeaky ball.
First I sat Trevor in front of the chute, held it open, looked through it into his eyes through the chute, and called him to me. He went right through it. Phew!
Yeah, it seemed good at first, but the problem was that it was too good. He had no issues whatsoever with that chute. He went through it dozens of times during our practice, and he couldn't have cared less. We got a lot more training mileage out of The Cheete, frankly. This underscores the challenge of dealing with chute phobia: the chute is perhaps the least concrete, predictable obstacle. Every chute looks different. Add moisture or wind, and they are transformed into something else entirely. It's not like the teeter. Your dog may hate the teeter, but a gust of wind doesn't transform it into a scary monster. You can put your dog on different teeters to desensitize him, and feel assured that you are making progress. But with chutes, you're up against something else entirely. On top of everything, you can't count on chutes showing up on games courses. The teeter will always be there. But the chute only reliably appears on AKC Std courses.
Lots of questions remain. Does Trevor hate that particular blue chute from last weekend? Will he still like Tammy's pink striped chute? Or will he hate that one now too? Or is it just the wind he hates? By the time I find out the answers to those questions, we'll be in the ring trying to Q, and it will be too late.
Training note: forget using fans. Fans aren't powerful enough to move a chute around.
I'm not sure where to go from here. I'll keep working with The Cheete. I may get a cheapo practice chute and wait for a windy day--I think that would be useful. Beyond that, I'm not sure what to do.
On a happier note, Angela videotaped Trevor's AF at the end of practice. I've been using Rachel's PVC box method to train a running AF since Trevor's 2o/2o AF never really jelled (always slow and creepy; switched to running last winter). The running AF didn't really come together for us until we started practicing on the ground with the PVC box raised slightly between 2 jumps. This got Trevor pouncing into the box with both front feet together, instead of striding through the box. Since we started this, his AF has improved so much I can't believe it. It's faster and more reliable--he was leaping out of the top of the contact zone before, barely getting a paw in. Now I have to do more proofing on running ahead, crossing behind, front crossing, and so on. I'm still babysitting it during trials.
Video of Trevor's running AF.