Short Clicker Session

A cute baby Chrome picture from 2009.

I just did a short session (for a lot of reasons e.g. cold, headache, time, etc) with Chrome. I'll work with Zeppelin tomorrow when I hopefully feel better. I asked Chrome to smile three times and he did really well. Then I started working on "leave it" even though he took the treats nicely for smile (I need to start doing leave it first). He tried to grab at my hand with his teeth so I got after him. I didn't hit him, but I did chase him away.

He circled the barn and came right back to me. That time when I held my hand out he started offering head down all by himself so I clicked and treated. I'm hoping that by working on leave it that I will have a cue for stopping the biting (once I add a cue lol) and that he will be forced to start listening for the click. To make this work I have to be sure not to ever feed him treats of any kind without a click. I'm hoping gelding him will help a little with the mouthiness, but I know this will help.

After that I worked on his lateral flexion because it was something easy and quick and I just wanted to go in and lay down with an ice pack on my head. He did really well. I've also discovered that Zeppelin has learned to open Chrome's stall and chase him away from his food, so now I have to actually lock the stall gate instead of pushing it to. Now Chrome can't let himself out of his stall when he's done and I have to set a timer and go let him out. Thank goodness it's warming up fast around here lol.