Today Spot, Shelby and I attended the NETC earthdog fun day.
Spot did master and Shelby did IQ.
Spot was pretty perfect. We were paired with a smooth fox terrier that was really playful and kept sniffing Spot's butt and bothering him, but Spot didn't react. He did a good job on the walk up, running ahead, but coming back to check out things I asked him to. When he got to the tunnel, he stuck his head in, saw the rat, but then left. He went back, but left again, so I went up and encouraged him, and he started barking, which is good. We'll work on that next week hopefully. Since he was first to the tunnel, he got to go first. He worked perfectly and I was able to open the cover and remove him easily. We had to honor after that, and he was so hot and tired he only barked a couple times, and I gave him treats for being a good boy.
Shelby tried IQ. I was hoping she would be interested in the rats after our training this winter. Shelby was definitely interested. She went into the tunnel right away and got to the rats, but didn't stay there. She just wasn't that interested. I tried to get her to go back in, but she was hot and not interested so I took her out. Oh, well. Not her day I guess.
After that they needed someone to judge the senior tunnel. So I got to do a briefing and then help people run their dogs. It was really fun. I could see being a judge.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Is a robot dog "real?"
What do children make of robot dogs?
Whether something is living or not is a crucial distinction, and it's one that children already understand by the age of five. What then do children make of the latest generation of robot pets - toys designed to be as "alive" as possible? It's a surprisingly little researched area, but with the shuttle rate of technological advance in toy-land, it's one that's bound to become increasingly relevant.
Gail Melson and colleagues filmed 72 kids, aged 7 to 15 years, playing for 45 minutes with a Sony Aibo robot dog and for 45 minutes playing with a real-life pooch of the Australian Shepherd breed. The Sony 210 Aibo dog was the most advanced robot dog at the time this research was conducted. It was capable of walking after a pink ball, kicking and headbutting it. It could also shake itself, sit down, lie down, offer its paw, learn, and display positive and negative emotion via lights.
As well as filming the children, the researchers also asked them questions about the biological (e.g. does X eat?), mental (e.g. can X feel happy?), and social (e.g. does X like you?) properties of the two dogs, as well as their moral standing (e.g. is it OK or not OK to hit X?).
The picture that emerged was mixed. On the one hand, the children clearly saw the real dog as more real and alive than the robot dog. They also examined the robot dog as if it were an object rather than a creature - prodding it and picking it up. On the other hand, there were signs that the children saw the robot dog as more than a mere toy. For example, over 80 per cent of the children spoke and gave commands to the robot dog as often as they did to the real dog. Nearly half the children petted the robot dog gently at least once, despite its metallic surface. Moreover, the children were no more likely to say it was okay to hit the robot dog than they were to say it was okay to hit the real dog! In all cases there was a trend for older children to see the robot dog as less real.
"These children were surprisingly willing to treat the robot dog as 'dog like'," the researchers concluded. "...[S]uch findings may be evidence of the emergence of a new ontological category, neither artifact nor living being."
_________________________________
Melson, G., Kahn Jr., P., Beck, A., Friedman, B., Roberts, T., Garrett, E., & Gill, B. (2009). Children's behavior toward and understanding of robotic and living dogs. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 30 (2), 92-102 DOI: 10.1016/j.appdev.2008.10.011
Whether something is living or not is a crucial distinction, and it's one that children already understand by the age of five. What then do children make of the latest generation of robot pets - toys designed to be as "alive" as possible? It's a surprisingly little researched area, but with the shuttle rate of technological advance in toy-land, it's one that's bound to become increasingly relevant.
Gail Melson and colleagues filmed 72 kids, aged 7 to 15 years, playing for 45 minutes with a Sony Aibo robot dog and for 45 minutes playing with a real-life pooch of the Australian Shepherd breed. The Sony 210 Aibo dog was the most advanced robot dog at the time this research was conducted. It was capable of walking after a pink ball, kicking and headbutting it. It could also shake itself, sit down, lie down, offer its paw, learn, and display positive and negative emotion via lights.
As well as filming the children, the researchers also asked them questions about the biological (e.g. does X eat?), mental (e.g. can X feel happy?), and social (e.g. does X like you?) properties of the two dogs, as well as their moral standing (e.g. is it OK or not OK to hit X?).
The picture that emerged was mixed. On the one hand, the children clearly saw the real dog as more real and alive than the robot dog. They also examined the robot dog as if it were an object rather than a creature - prodding it and picking it up. On the other hand, there were signs that the children saw the robot dog as more than a mere toy. For example, over 80 per cent of the children spoke and gave commands to the robot dog as often as they did to the real dog. Nearly half the children petted the robot dog gently at least once, despite its metallic surface. Moreover, the children were no more likely to say it was okay to hit the robot dog than they were to say it was okay to hit the real dog! In all cases there was a trend for older children to see the robot dog as less real.
"These children were surprisingly willing to treat the robot dog as 'dog like'," the researchers concluded. "...[S]uch findings may be evidence of the emergence of a new ontological category, neither artifact nor living being."
_________________________________
Melson, G., Kahn Jr., P., Beck, A., Friedman, B., Roberts, T., Garrett, E., & Gill, B. (2009). Children's behavior toward and understanding of robotic and living dogs. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 30 (2), 92-102 DOI: 10.1016/j.appdev.2008.10.011
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Spot's first class outside!
The weather was so nice on Friday we had class outside. I wasn't sure how Spot would do. I remember it kind of blew Shelby's mind and we didn't get too much accomplished. Spot did very well. He had a little sniffing and a couple of marking incidents, but he was very willing to work. We did a little work on obstacles. He wasn't as excited about the outdoor teeter, not sure why. We worked on a front cross sequence as well, but I wasn't really mentally into it for some reason, so I kept messing up. :-) It's still hard for me to get used to Spot's rythm, since it's faster than Shelby's.
Teaching a long lead out
On Friday, Shelby's class worked on lead outs. A lead out is when you leave your dog at the start line and walk out onto the course and release the dog from one or more obstacles away. The general rule is that if you do a lead out, it should be to a place where you intend to put a turn, otherwise you're not really providing any extra info to your dog, which is the whole purpose of positional cues.
So we had an opening of 3 jumps in a row, with a fourth jump set laterally from the third jump to create a 180. So the correct lead out position is to lead out to next to the fourth jump, which at first seems insurmountable. So we did backchaining.
First we worked on the lateral distance. I set Shelby up in front of the third jump, and moved the fourth jump closer-about 3 feet away. I released her, did a front cross, then threw the toy over the fourth jump. I progressively moved the fourth jump further away until it was about 8 feet away.
Once we had the lateral distance, we worked on getting the other 3 jumps in. So I moved Shelby back to the landing side of the second jump, then the take off side of the second jump, then the landing side of the first jump, and then finally all the way at the takeoff side of the first jump.
We broke this into 2 sessions, but in total it took about 15 minutes. I was amazed. I did have some broken start line stays once we were setting up at the first jump, but as I got further away and Shelby kept her stay, I jackpotted her, and that seemed to work.
So we had an opening of 3 jumps in a row, with a fourth jump set laterally from the third jump to create a 180. So the correct lead out position is to lead out to next to the fourth jump, which at first seems insurmountable. So we did backchaining.
First we worked on the lateral distance. I set Shelby up in front of the third jump, and moved the fourth jump closer-about 3 feet away. I released her, did a front cross, then threw the toy over the fourth jump. I progressively moved the fourth jump further away until it was about 8 feet away.
Once we had the lateral distance, we worked on getting the other 3 jumps in. So I moved Shelby back to the landing side of the second jump, then the take off side of the second jump, then the landing side of the first jump, and then finally all the way at the takeoff side of the first jump.
We broke this into 2 sessions, but in total it took about 15 minutes. I was amazed. I did have some broken start line stays once we were setting up at the first jump, but as I got further away and Shelby kept her stay, I jackpotted her, and that seemed to work.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Crazy JRT Video
This is pretty amazing. The dog isn't just sitting on the skateboard-he's really working it!
Super Duper Agility Fun Friday
I got back on track and took Spot and Shelby to agility class on Friday. I have to say the mood was much lighter than 2 weeks ago, which was good. I go to class to learn, but also to have fun, and it hasn't been fun lately.
Spot was first. We worked on the usual stations. He has a really nice teeter, with no help from me! He is a little daredevil and just loves it to death. If I look at, he's on it. I could be 20 feet away. We also did the dogwalk, and the A frame, and restarted the weave poles. I felt like he wasn't really getting it, so I started back at the beginning with 2 poles. He was kind of getting it, but not quite. I was using shaping, so no cuing. He barked at me a lot, and wandered off a couple times, but a few times did take the poles and got the reward. At the end, we did a sequence of 7 obstacles. We did a jump, then another jump at a right angle to a tunnel, then 2 jumps and the dogwalk to another tunnel. Spot was on fire! I consciously stayed behind him and it really worked. Also, I didn't stop and reward on course. He likes working so much that I don't necessarily need to reward him to motivate him every couple of obstacles. He was very focused and fast. Gives me hope that we can start trialing in a month or two.
Then it was time for Shelby's class. We had 25 obstacles and they weren't numbered!!!The instuctor likes to do that to keep us on our feet I think. It was a little harder because it looped around on itself, which makes it more confusing. It was a course with a lot of jumps with some challenging crosses. We did 6 weaves twice, as well as an obstacle discrimination with the tunnel under the A frame. Shelby did very well, much better than last time. She had one distraction going into a tunnel because there was a new dog in class who was behind the gate, but near the tunnel. Overall, a fun night, but very long! I was there for 3 hours!
Spot was first. We worked on the usual stations. He has a really nice teeter, with no help from me! He is a little daredevil and just loves it to death. If I look at, he's on it. I could be 20 feet away. We also did the dogwalk, and the A frame, and restarted the weave poles. I felt like he wasn't really getting it, so I started back at the beginning with 2 poles. He was kind of getting it, but not quite. I was using shaping, so no cuing. He barked at me a lot, and wandered off a couple times, but a few times did take the poles and got the reward. At the end, we did a sequence of 7 obstacles. We did a jump, then another jump at a right angle to a tunnel, then 2 jumps and the dogwalk to another tunnel. Spot was on fire! I consciously stayed behind him and it really worked. Also, I didn't stop and reward on course. He likes working so much that I don't necessarily need to reward him to motivate him every couple of obstacles. He was very focused and fast. Gives me hope that we can start trialing in a month or two.
Then it was time for Shelby's class. We had 25 obstacles and they weren't numbered!!!The instuctor likes to do that to keep us on our feet I think. It was a little harder because it looped around on itself, which makes it more confusing. It was a course with a lot of jumps with some challenging crosses. We did 6 weaves twice, as well as an obstacle discrimination with the tunnel under the A frame. Shelby did very well, much better than last time. She had one distraction going into a tunnel because there was a new dog in class who was behind the gate, but near the tunnel. Overall, a fun night, but very long! I was there for 3 hours!
Friday, April 03, 2009
Canine Cognition Project at Harvard-You Can Sign up!
I saw this video at Boston.com and found the site where you can sign your dog up to participate.
I think I'm going to submit my info.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Here in this house
This was posted on www.Championofmyheart.com, a blog I read often. The blog is written by a woman in Colorado who has a dog with fear issues and how she works with her to help her deal with her fear and feel safer in the world.
This poem touched my heart because Spot, who was my first dog of my own, was a shelter dog. I adopted Spot from the Animal Rescue League in Brewster, MA 7 years ago, when he was just about the same age Shelby is now, which kind of blows my mind when I think about the way he was when I got him as compared to Shelby now. He was very bossy, barking at me all the time to try and get what he wanted. He still does that occasionally, but I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say clicker training changed my life and his. I could see the lightbulb go off when he realized we could communicate with each other and not at each other. He's not as operant as Shelby, who started clicker training at 8 weeks, but he loves to work and use his brain. I definitely see the differences in my dogs when compared to some friends' dogs who were not clicker trained.
HERE IN THIS HOUSE
Here in this house... I will never know the loneliness I hear in the barks of the other dogs 'out there.' I can sleep soundly, assured that when I wake my world will not have changed. I will never know hunger, or the fear of not knowing whether I'll eat. I will not shiver in the cold, or grow weary from the heat. I will feel the sun's heat, and the rain's coolness, and be allowed to smell all that can reach my nose. My fur will shine, and never be dirty or matted.
Here in this house... There will be an effort to communicate with me on my level. I will be talked to and, even if I don't understand, I can enjoy the warmth of the words. I will be given a name so that I may know who I am among many. My name will be used in joy, and I will love the sound of it!
Here in this house... I will never be a substitute for anything I am not. I will never be used to improve peoples' images of themselves. I will be loved because I am who I am, not someone's idea of who I should be. I will never suffer for someone's anger, impatience, or stupidity. I will be taught all the things I need to know to be loved by all. If I do not learn my lessons well, they will look to my teacher for blame.
Here in this house... I can trust arms that hold, hands that touch... knowing that, no matter what they do, they do it for the good of me. If I am ill, I will be doctored. If scared, I will be calmed. If sad, I will be cheered. No matter what I look like, I will be considered beautiful and known to be of value. I will never be cast out because I am too old, too ill, too unruly, or not cute enough. My life is a responsibility, and not an afterthought. I will learn that humans can almost, sometimes, be as kind and as fair as dogs.
Here in this house... I will belong. I will be home.
This poem touched my heart because Spot, who was my first dog of my own, was a shelter dog. I adopted Spot from the Animal Rescue League in Brewster, MA 7 years ago, when he was just about the same age Shelby is now, which kind of blows my mind when I think about the way he was when I got him as compared to Shelby now. He was very bossy, barking at me all the time to try and get what he wanted. He still does that occasionally, but I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say clicker training changed my life and his. I could see the lightbulb go off when he realized we could communicate with each other and not at each other. He's not as operant as Shelby, who started clicker training at 8 weeks, but he loves to work and use his brain. I definitely see the differences in my dogs when compared to some friends' dogs who were not clicker trained.
HERE IN THIS HOUSE
Here in this house... I will never know the loneliness I hear in the barks of the other dogs 'out there.' I can sleep soundly, assured that when I wake my world will not have changed. I will never know hunger, or the fear of not knowing whether I'll eat. I will not shiver in the cold, or grow weary from the heat. I will feel the sun's heat, and the rain's coolness, and be allowed to smell all that can reach my nose. My fur will shine, and never be dirty or matted.
Here in this house... There will be an effort to communicate with me on my level. I will be talked to and, even if I don't understand, I can enjoy the warmth of the words. I will be given a name so that I may know who I am among many. My name will be used in joy, and I will love the sound of it!
Here in this house... I will never be a substitute for anything I am not. I will never be used to improve peoples' images of themselves. I will be loved because I am who I am, not someone's idea of who I should be. I will never suffer for someone's anger, impatience, or stupidity. I will be taught all the things I need to know to be loved by all. If I do not learn my lessons well, they will look to my teacher for blame.
Here in this house... I can trust arms that hold, hands that touch... knowing that, no matter what they do, they do it for the good of me. If I am ill, I will be doctored. If scared, I will be calmed. If sad, I will be cheered. No matter what I look like, I will be considered beautiful and known to be of value. I will never be cast out because I am too old, too ill, too unruly, or not cute enough. My life is a responsibility, and not an afterthought. I will learn that humans can almost, sometimes, be as kind and as fair as dogs.
Here in this house... I will belong. I will be home.
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