Lately, Katie has had some difficulty with signals and directed jumping over the high jump in competition. So I have resorted to practicing signals outside of Wal-Mart, gas stations, the gym, and PetsMart. Everywhere we go, I try to get her out and immediately do signals before she gets her bearings... it has been good practice for her. I've also had people she doesn't know very well put their finger on her head while she does her signals and she's been great with that distraction.
With the high jump, it seems that if there's a complicated visual on the other side, I think she's afraid that she might be jumping into something unsafe since she cannot see on the other side of the jump. So I've been hanging tarps, setting up other obstacles, and sometimes people where it appears she is headed straight for them and will land on them when she jumps, but of course it is completely safe and she's getting a better reward for that jump now.
I think we are making progress.
With the high jump, it seems that if there's a complicated visual on the other side, I think she's afraid that she might be jumping into something unsafe since she cannot see on the other side of the jump. So I've been hanging tarps, setting up other obstacles, and sometimes people where it appears she is headed straight for them and will land on them when she jumps, but of course it is completely safe and she's getting a better reward for that jump now.
I think we are making progress.
