Finally! … the video :)

It is pretty rough and I have much to learn about editing, but I am pleased with this first try at capturing a few of the games Emmett and I play.

My thoughts on games:

• learning goes easier when it is fun and there are rewards for progress (treats or pats and scratches!) AND we always end on a high note, even if that means doing something very simple that I know will be successful.
• I am asking Emmett for his full attention, so I need to remember to give him MY full attention. (Thank you @shelly.and.eiger: Instagram friends in Scotland)
• Small steps when learning something new. I spend pre-play time thinking about steps … then we do as much or as little as we are able without frustration or confusion. And if necessary, I stop and we do something easy. I rethink for the next session.
• Games and learning new things exercises brains as well as bodies. It is kind of interesting that Emmett gets tired after 5-10 minutes of a game … more tired than after a long (20-30 minute) walk. Even inside! So the games are a great way to get both of us up and moving, even a little bit. Sometimes, inside, we “play” for just 2-3 minutes. I keep a list of things to do and rotate.

So, the video:

The outside bit is our start at learning “STOP” and then sitting or down from a distance. The inside part entailed 4 cameras: my Canon 60D DSLR, Omni Action Cam, iPhone on Omni 4 Gimbal and iPad. I wanted to experiment with putting together snippets and telling a story as well as capturing the action as it happened while we played “Find it”.

The rewards for these particular sessions were pats, scratches and voice praise only. We have played or practiced these before. The other reward is more of a technique … the reward being doing the really fun thing (getting Wubba) after doing what I asked: stop, wait, find. It is a kind of riff on: “if you eat your vegetables, you get dessert”. The idea is that if you do as I ask, even if it is something you’d maybe rather not do … you often then get to do what you really want to do.

That’s it … about 1 hour of video between all of the cameras, condensed into 6 1/2 minutes :) .

Meanwhile, Spring!

All of the things that looked like dead sticks in the woods (little upright dead sticks, not Emmett’s kind of sticks) … now have green leaves ready to burst:

The Western Larch (deciduous pine) have baby needles.

Emmett’s kind of stick!