Hi Jeff. It's three weeks until Seamus appears in "Annie." I think he's doing well, although a little concerned about the small amount of rehearsal time we have. I keep rehearsing him anyway, hoping he can generalize when the time comes. My question is about prepping for the show night.

The show is in the gym, a big open space, with lots of children, his favorite playmates. Sometimes he gets very excited in that environment and finds it hard to stay focused. Also, when he is extremely happy and excited, he tends to throw his head back and crow, "woo, woo, woo!" and sometimes he jumps up in the air. So, my questions are multiple:

 1. Do you think it's a good idea for me to take him to the park and tire him out the afternoon before the show, burn off some of that Wheaten energy?

2. Do you have any other pre-show/show recommendations?

3.  I'm going to try to answer the third question, after listening to you and reading your responses. In addition to turning my back and ignoring Seamus when he crows and jumps, reward him for being quiet before he crows and jumps.

We are getting excited for the show.

Jeanne 

Hi Jeanne,
You are getting close to the show, how exciting! Great questions. See my answers below and ask if you have more.

 1. Do you think it's a good idea for me to take him to the park and tire him out the afternoon before the show, burn off some of that Wheaten energy?

This depends on your history of training with Seamus. Some dogs do much better when tired, others lose focus when tired and the quality of behaviors plummet. Part of your decision-making process in the next three weeks is to find that perfect mix.  

2. Do you have any other pre-show/show recommendations?

Proof the behaviors as much as possible and also instill a rock-solid helper, if needed. Proofing behaviors is the process of helping a dog generalize the cue /response connection no matter what the situation. Dogs are notoriously bad at generalizing. In other words, "Sit" in the kitchen might not result in "Sit" in the living room unless the dog has practiced sufficiently. So, you need to come up with a proofing hierarchy based on the variables of performance night. Some are easier to reproduce than others. I think you can find people, noises, lights, etc. by working outside, on busy streets, in dog-friendly stores (Urban Outfitters, for example), you can also play loud music and practice, practice near traffic, etc. The big open auditorium might be difficult, but maybe you can gain access to the performance space at least a few times more than what is scheduled? For a performance where you have a limited amount of tricks that you want performed reliably, you can also strategically increase the rate of reinforcement for his trick(s) and not reinforce his other behaviors as much during the next few weeks. This is a strategic way of helping him "default" to the behaviors that result in a reward. The helper that I mentioned is a way to use a lure or gentle touch to get him to focus on performance night if he doesn't do the behavior on his own as designed. Keep in mind that hollywood dog trainers don't worry as much about fading out treats or getting behaviors to happen without any help. They just need it to look good for the camera. Even if you or someone else has to provide more "help" the night of the show, he will still be a crowd-pleaser. 

3.  I'm going to try to answer the third question, after listening to you and reading your responses. In addition to turning my back and ignoring Seamus when he crows and jumps, reward him for being quiet before he crows and jumps.

You got it.  

We are getting excited for the show.

Good luck! Take pictures, and/or video! 

Seamus did a wonderful job as “Sandy” last night. I learned many things in our first venture on the stage. One is that I have a very good dog. He is patient, smart, and loving. Another is that when you train every day, it really strengthens the bond between dog and guardian. We understand, trust and love one another more now.

The biggest challenge was a scene in which he had to run to “Annie,” sit with her for a song, stay while she has a brief conversation with someone else on stage, then come to her when called, then go sit with her again to reprise the song.

We only had two rehearsals with the set (on platforms in the gym) and the full cast. Also, the blocking of the scene kept changing. It was hard for Seamus to adjust to the changes and focus with 40 middle schoolers onstage in that scene. I knew that was going to be the case and I felt a little desperate trying to figure out how to reliably get him to do the behavior needed. Realizing that “Annie” was the only constant, I focused on their relationship and getting Seamus to trust her and see her as an anchor in all that chaos. We trained and trained and trained together (go to Maddie, sit, stay, come) – and she fed him lots of turkey. I also found that I needed to stay in his sight backstage because if he couldn’t see me he became anxious.

One of the biggest things I learned was about protecting him. There were 127 kids in the show and they all wanted to pet Seamus. He loves children and, in some ways, loved the attention. But there is also too much of a good thing. He was so stressed by the end that he developed an ear infection in both ears the night before the dress rehearsal and show. The day of the dress rehearsal and performance I kept him very quiet when he was not onstage and asked people not to pet him. If I had it to do over again, I would have done that all along and I feel a little badly that I didn’t protect him better because now he is so tired and not feeling well. He is a trooper and he did beautifully and I’m so proud of him. When I have pictures, I will send them.

I am so glad things went well. It sounds like overall the experience was positive, although Seamus got a bit stressed during the process. That is always a balance when working with a dog - how much is too much, and how do we know when they are stressed? Sounds like a good call to ask people not to pet him in the future if you ever do this again. 

Your ability to troubleshoot and come up with a workable solution to all of the training goals is fantastic. You should be very proud of all of the work that both of you did. I am excited to see the pictures and hear more about your training adventures in the future. 

Thanks for sharing. 

Jeff