We haven't done any more work on duration yet, but we've been really giving that chair problem what-for. We spent several sessions just reminding Syn of how much fun a swing finish really is, and how she could use the swing to achieve a backing-up-in-heel-position. Once that was securely established, we worked some more on various walls around the house, and learning to spin in FRONT of the space and back into it.

Hmmm. Walls appear to be something solid-and-understood.

Then I set up two sections of a plastic exercise pen for her to back into. THAT was definitely NOT a wall. For one thing, it wiggled when she hit it. That's not, apparently, the way the universe is supposed to work. She tried pawing the stupid thing. No click. She tried staring at me. No click. She tried lying down. OK, lying down is her last line of defence when she has NO clue what to do, so I stood in front of the V and lured her to back up into it. That took a few minutes. Her tail developed a mind of its own and kept missing the opening (in spite of the fact that the opening was 3 feet wide and unmissable). Eventually, in very small steps, she got control of the wayward appendage and started getting it right. And the ex-pen didn't attack her. In fact, it was kind of fun backing into the space.

Then we stepped away from the pen and did a bunch more swing finishes.

Next I stood next to it again, with the pen in heel position, and we worked on getting her to swing AND back up into position. This is what I saw on my left side when she was getting it:
At this point she was volunteering to spin and wiggle her little behind in there as far as it would go. Then we tried it with various arrangements of chairs, with excellent success.

Next stop, back to the airport.

We went to the airport for some training this morning, and ran into several small glitches. First, she needs practise in doing nothing for longer periods of time. I tried standing in line to wend our way up to a ticket agent (we weren't going anywhere, and I'm sure the people behind me were thrilled when I stepped out of line instead of going to the agent when we got to the front of the line). Syn was working the entire time. Not excited, not obtrusive, but working. Diligently. She'd sit in heel position for about 20 seconds, then shuffle forward or stand up and move in front of me to look up to see what we were doing. Nothing. Get back in position. Stay. Yeah, quite willing to get back in position, but the next one didn't last any longer. One behaviour that's not quite ready for the big time.

The next one was chairs. In airport bench seating, there is frequently a space between THIS set of 4 or 5 seats, and the NEXT set. This space is usually only about a foot wide - not wide enough to put a suitcase in, or anything else, really, but just the right size for a Service Dog to back into and remain safe and out of the way. But Syn couldn't get into it. I sat in a seat with a space to my left and cued a swing finish, and she was perplexed. First, I was sitting. Having we never practised this with me sitting? Yes, we have. But we've never practised it with me sitting and no apparent way for her to get into the space, since the next set of seats was clearly blocking her way.

A third glitch was that we ran into a Big Man on security. While everybody else in security was waving and smiling at us, ready to watch yet another SD candidate practising going through an unused security gate, the BM told me in no uncertain terms that not only was I not allowed to practise there, but I wasn't even supposed to be in the security area to ask without a boarding pass. Everyone else looked befuddled and later downstairs one of the others stopped by to tell me to try again when the regular shift was on duty. Sigh. Sometimes I get very tired of being polite.

Anyway, we came home and I stood with a wall a foot to my right. Syn couldn't swing into position. 2 feet to my right. OK, she managed that, but she did it by walking forward (heading behind me) and turning around when she was clear, then walking forward into position. Nyuh uh. That's not the way to do it. But what IS the way to do it? I can't remember. It's so slick and easy when it's done right…

I sent Syn to her mat and invited Stitch to demonstrate. She took one look at the space, spun around IN FRONT OF ME and serenely backed in to perfect position.

Oh. Of course.

So I invited Syn back, "held on" to her nose with a treat in my right hand and cued the swing with my voice and left-hand signal. And she did it. And she got a little excited. Oh! Look! I did it! and then she backed up a bit into the exact correct position, just like Stitch had done. We practised it five or 6 times against different walls and getting tighter each time, and now I'll let her sleep on it for the night and see what she comes up with in the morning, but I'm pretty sure we've got that little glitch settled.

The first one - needs more duration on boring behaviours - will just take some practise doing boring behaviours. Note that she wasn't rowdy. She was quiet and unobtrusive (as unobtrusive as a very cute little brown dog with a mischievous eye and a cute smile can be)(no, I'm not prejudiced, why do you ask?) and certainly ready to do any of her service behaviours at the drop of a hat. Or leash. Or credit card. Or cane. The part I really need to concentrate on, though, will be telling her that the boring stuff is stuff she does when she's in uniform, and that stuff she does when she's NOT in uniform will NOT be boring.

I thought I was going to stop writing Syn's blog when she turned a year, but apparently she has fans, so here's a monthly update.

We've been working diligently on her obnoxiousness. Now that I'm noticing it, she does spend a fair amount of time bouncing off me (not quite as much springiness in this springboard as there was a while ago!). We're working on that.

We've also spent a number of meals working on conformation stacking, and we've been going to conformation class once a week and working on running around the ring without looking at me or thinking about Lazy Leash. She seems to be getting it.

She seems to have completely forgotten that she was ever afraid of picking up a dog bucket lest it fall to the floor and make a noise. She now waits eagerly for the setting-the-table cue of "Who's hungry?" or "dish" or "eat" or "What time is it?" or a sneeze… and then runs to get both buckets.

So we entered 6 conformation shows in 3 days two weekends ago. There were 3 PWD bitches entered - Syn, Stitch, and a friend's girl, Teva. The idea was for Syn and Teva to share points and in another couple of shows, they'd both be finished their Championships (they both outclass old Stitch, who is there to provide "cannon fodder").

The first show, Syn won. 2 points. Well, wasn't that nice! She seems to be really understanding the part about running around without looking at me, though she has to look back at me once in a while and then LEAP to tell me what a good time she's having. Didn't get a look in the Group, but didn't expect it. She's 13 months old, probably the ugliest time in a dog's entire life. Tall and scrawny, coat looking like Dennis The Menace.

The second show, Syn won. 2 points. Well! Wasn't that nice! She's starting to lean into her stack and show off her gorgeous withers. Then we went in for the Group and… what? ME? Oh, good, we made the cut, that's a nice little ego boost… what? THIRD? Yep. She got 3rd in Group over some very nice adult dogs with big wins behind them, for another 3 points. WELL! Wasn't THAT nice!

The third show, Syn won the breed again, 2 points to finish her Championship, and didn't place again in the Group, but her placing obviously wasn't a fluke since she made the cut. And a lovely time was had by all!

And then I should have boosted her up to Specials and let Teva have the rest of the points, but unfortunately I haven't gotten around to getting her registered in Canada yet, and she needs a Canadian number to show as a Special. Since she was obviously not going along with the "sharing" feeling we had going into the weekend, I pulled her from the rest of the shows so Teva could get in on the action.

Nice.

The next weekend she was entered in Rally Advanced. Within the last 6 weeks, she's finished her Rally Novice title and gotten her first leg in Advanced, plus I was tired from the weekend and had other priorities, so we didn't really practise. Which means that I got EXACTLY what I deserved the first day of the Rally trial. Syn went cheerfully into the ring and when I started walking, she went out to arm's length, pointedly watched where she was going instead of looking at me, and struck up a nice trot. She kept that up throughout. The third station was a moving down, which she ignored (and so didn't qualify) so I finished the course off feeding her about every second step and playing with her muzzle. That'll teach me not to let the dog know we switched sports in mid-stride.

We did do some practising at supper and breakfast the next morning, and when we went in the ring she redeemed us. Her performance was lovely, happy, tight and responsive. She got a perfect 200, but I lost us 2 points by giving her a second command she didn't really need, so a 198 and High In Class.

Which was nice, but what's making me smile is coming home on consecutive weekends with a rosette in 2 different sports with a year-old puppy.

And 5 different people called her "Red Fraggle", which is what my husband calls her, so I give up.Syn on the left. OK, work in progress, but so many people see it with no coaxing. Her ponytails will get bigger. Obviously she needs some red bows.