The next step

So we are going great guns with putting the rug on and off, and unfolding it on her back etc. I can now put the rug on when it is folded in half, rather than in thirds. This is very good news, as it isn’t particularly easy to fold a Rhino wug into three, and frankly I have never been that good at origami!

As she was being so calm and good with the rug, I thought I would just see how she reacted to the Velcro at the front. I did it up so that just the very edge of the Velcro caught, then speaking to her all the time, I just pulled it open. She was really good actually, and just took a step back, so she got a jackpot for that. However, she obviously worked out what I was up to and became a little wary, so I didn’t try it again, instead just moved to putting the rug on and off on the other side.

So I think I will just spend next session playing with Velcro without having the rug on, just until the sound of velcro opening becomes the most boring thing in the world.

We also continue to work on feet, as she has become a little reluctant to have her front feet picked out, and has started kicking back with her backs. Her backs don’t worry me at all, as after a couple of little (if somewhat powerful) kicks, which aren’t aimed at me at all, then she is perfect.

With her fronts however, she is happy to hold them up, and held, but I think the force I have to use to get the cement like clay out, disturbs her balance a bit, and she has to pull back. However, rewarding the slightest try, we always get there in the end.

While putting her back in her stable (which she was reluctant to do, as she didn’t want to leave the nice new hay stacked on the yard), she took a shot at me and bit my arm. Fortunately, she didn’t quite get to close her teeth on me, and I think my quick reaction in turning to face her shocked her a little. This is a good reminder though, that I need to be scrupulously careful about treat delivery during clicker training. I also think that continued use of the clicker, and especially exercises like ‘Grown Ups are Talking’ will really help to develop her emotional control. There was nothing aggressive or nasty about the nip, it was quite obviously frustration at being put back in her stable where she didn’t really want to be. Twenty minutes later when lead her out into the field, she was as good as gold, and totally polite about it.